Early Intervention & Rapid Exit
Reducing Inflow into the Homeless Response System
What is it?
Early Intervention helps individuals and families quickly find safe housing options so they can avoid entering shelter or experiencing homelessness for long periods of time. It is a problem-solving approach focused on helping people find safe alternatives to emergency shelter as quickly as possible.
Instead of assuming emergency shelter is the only option, trained staff work with each person to:
- Explore safe places they may be able to stay (friends or family).
- Identify what's getting in the way of those options and help problem-solve.
- Provide short-term support to help make a plan work.
Short-term support might include help with transportation, mediation or one-time financial assistance to bridge gaps for people to get back on their feet.
What does support look like? Support is short-term and meant to bridge gaps. It might include help with:
- Transportation
- Mediation
- One-time financial assistance
How does it work in OKC?
Oklahoma City launched an Early Intervention pilot program to strengthen our community's response to homelessness.
This effort is part of a broader strategy to:
- Reduce inflow into the homeless response system.
- Ensure limited housing resources are allocated to those with the highest needs.
- Help people find alternatives to shelter to free up capacity for the most vulnerable.
- Provide a more cost-effective alternative to long stays in emergency shelter.
The cost of this intervention is estimated to be less than $1,250 per person.
How is early intervention different from prevention?
These two approaches are closely related, but happen at different times.
- Prevention helps people remain housed before they lose their housing.
- Early Intervention helps people after they have lost their housing.
Early Intervention supports people who are or will be homeless tonight and are at the front steps of the homeless response system. It focuses on helping them avoid entering the system or exiting it quickly.
Supporting Early Intervention allows us to prioritize limited resources for people who are more vulnerable in our community.
Local Impact: A local dad lost his job and his relationship with his significant other in the same week. Unable to afford rent, he and his young son ended up sleeping in their car. He found a new job quickly, but just couldn't afford the deposit to get back into an apartment. Our Early Intervention program stepped in with one-time financial assistance, and within weeks, father and son were home.