The full Cincinnati Council is endorsing a proposal to double the amount of money the city provides for human services funding. But it will also change the priorities for how those dollars are spent.
Right now 54 programs share the city's $1.5 million. It will likely double to $3 million for the next fiscal year.
Those funds would be split evenly between efforts to reduce homelessness and to increase employment opportunities.
Georgine Getty is the executive director of GLAD House. She welcomes the decision.
“We agree the priorities of achieving gainful employment and reducing homelessness are key to helping many in our community move toward self-sufficiency,” Getty said.
City funding for violence reduction will be temporarily suspended while such programs are reviewed and the city finds ways to further increase human services funding.
Matt Flege with Saint Vincent de Paul also welcomed the news. He said his organization is getting ready to release a study soon on family homelessness in the city.
“The programs we have in Cincinnati to address family homelessness are working,” Flege said. “9 out of 10 families served by homelessness prevention programs at St. Vincent de Paul and Strategies to End Homeless, 9 out of 10 of those families are able to maintain housing. Families that do go to shelter, 4 out of 5 of them are able to get back on their feet and maintain housing.”
Flege said the study finds such programs are badly overwhelmed, and in some cases "there's no room in the inn."
The city's human services funding changes will take effect July 1st, when the city's new fiscal year begins.