ASHLAND — An Ashland home will soon be used to provide temporary housing for youth exiting foster care and individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.
The Ashland County Board of Commissioners on July 23 approved a $120,000 appropriation to the county’s capital acquisition fund for the purchase of a home on Sherman Avenue.
It will be used by the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Ashland County for crisis hospitalization diversion and/or transitional housing for young people leaving foster care.
David Ross, executive director of Ashland County MH&RB, said Appleseed Community Mental Health Center, one of the board’s funded partners, manages its transitional aging and crisis programs.
After consulting with Appleseed, Ross said it was the mental health center’s recommendation to have the home serve two purposes to get the greatest benefit out of one unit.
Transitional housing for youth exiting foster care
Transitional age youth are roughly individuals between the ages of 16 and 24, he said. As youth age out of the foster care system, usually around age 18, their outcomes are oftentimes “not good.”
“They don’t have a lot of family or they don’t have good, supportive and healthy family,” Ross said. “Oftentimes, if not for an intervening force coming alongside them, they can end up in the criminal justice system, unemployed, etc.”
Ashland County MH&RB years ago began funding transitional youth programming through Appleseed and Catholic Charities of Ashland County. The programs identify at-risk youth and provide case managers and workers to help them with things like education, employment and relationships.
“We’ve been using that program successfully for some time. It helps change, I think, the arc of their lives for a lot of these young people that oftentimes don’t have a lot of support,” he said. “Giving them that support at that critical age makes all the difference.”
When this programming initially began, the board was not providing any kind of housing.
Ross said they quickly recognized, especially for ages 18 and up, that housing posed a big issue — and all the things which come with it.
“They didn’t know how to do it, find it, first month’s deposit — all the things that come with being a young person that has no one really in their life to explain these things and how to do it successfully,” he said.
Another hurdle was finding landlords willing to take a risk to work with the board and these individuals, Ross said, which led it to considering the purchase of its own home.
In a small town like this, it does make a difference.
David ross, executive director of the mental health and recovery board of ashland county
The purchase of the home on Sherman Avenue will mark the second property the board now owns and utilizes for temporary housing.
“It’s intended to be short term. This is like their starter apartment,” Ross said. “We try to find a place that’s not too big or fancy — it’s not intended to be.
“It’s intended to be something so they can learn what it is to be in an apartment by themselves, pay rent and utilities and buy groceries, but they’re doing it with staff coming alongside, walking with them and helping them.”
Individuals who utilize this temporary housing typically stay for anywhere between six to nine months, Ross said. There’s often no rent assessed to the tenants. If there is, it’s invested straight back into the property.
As tenants begin to progress and gain employment, they may work with a case worker to gradually begin making some form of payment to help prepare them for the reality of their next housing arrangement.
“If they’re used to paying nothing, that’s not real life,” Ross said. “They need to understand how to budget and understand what they can get with the income they’re making. It’s a learning experience, but it gives them a safe way to do that.”
Homelessness may drive mental health crisis
The second purpose of the home will be to serve individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis — primarily a crisis driven by homelessness, Ross said.
These individuals would be temporarily moved into the home, at which point workers can help reassess what led to the situation and find out what housing challenges they’re facing.
“There’s no sense sending somebody to a psychiatric hospital or any hospital when what’s driving it (crisis) is not really mental health issues but their situation, their housing situation,” Ross said. “We call it crisis diversion because it diverts them going into that higher level of care which is very expensive and not always necessary.”
Ross said the board hopes to close on the Sherman Avenue home within the next few weeks. After a few minor refreshments, the goal is to begin welcoming individuals into the home by September.
“In a small town like this, it does make a difference,” he said.
Transitional housing — opposed to permanent housing — was more logical for the board to assist as many people as possible, Ross said. But permanent supportive housing is a need in Ashland County.
“We know that there is a permanent supportive housing, affordable housing issue, but that’s not what we’re trying to meet with this particular unit (on Sherman),” he said. “We’re very intentional at making this transitional because we want to help as many people as possible and be good stewards of the resources.”
