Depicted as wary of strangers and protective of a small, worn suitcase, a fictitious 32-year-old homeless man named James was the center of attention as more than 30 people from social service agencies discussed how to help him.
For many gathered in the College of DuPage classroom last week, the reasons for James’ arrival at a transitional shelter were familiar: He was unemployed, separated from his wife and children, had hints of medical and mental health problems, lacked an extended family and support system and had no transportation.
“It’s reality,” said class instructor Amy Cornell. “His issues are so complex, and that’s why the strategy to help him will be so complex. We see a lot of people with so many issues, and all those issues can be encompassed in one person.”
Cornell’s class on effective case management is one of six courses in the Homeless Providers Certificate program. It’s designed for entry-level workers, case managers, and administrators who work with the homeless at emergency shelters and social service agencies.
Offered for the first time in the DuPage County area, the intensive yearlong program was developed in 1998 by a Chicago-based shelter organization.
Then, two years ago, the state’s Department of Human Services signed a contract with the group to teach the certificate program to homeless-care providers throughout the state. Participation is voluntary, and 236 caseworkers in about 100 different private and public agencies have completed it.
“The program promotes the best practices and builds skills and knowledge around the issue,” said Brenda Hanbury, chief of homeless services and support housing for the Department of Human Services. “We have relatively high staff turnover in our shelter system. Our new employees needed training and actual education around the issues of homelessness. Homeless people have very specific and different needs than many people who seek help from social services.”
The program includes classes on substance abuse, domestic violence, advocacy, housing assistance, daily living skills and human relations.
Experienced social workers say the program fills an educational vacuum.
“I am very excited about this because there is training out there, but not specifically for working with the homeless,” said Jean Rosio, a social worker and program director for DuPage PADS, a homeless-shelter organization. She had been a social worker with the county Health Department for 20 years.
“It’s a different ballgame when you are working with the homeless,” Rosio said. “There are skills that workers need to learn.”
“In school, we were taught about public policy, housing issues, how to reach out to people with mental illness and substance abuse. But the idea of dealing with all those things while a person doesn’t have a home and nowhere to go at night–those kinds of things I never learned at school,” she said.
The non-profit PADS organization led the effort to bring the program to the area. “All these agencies in DuPage will be coming together and it is our opportunity to create a more standard understanding of the issues of homelessness for those who are on the front line of providing service,” said Carol Simler, DuPage PADS’ executive director.
Networking, which Cornell says is key to achieving effective and efficient service to the homeless, was evident as participants talked about how they handle situations.
Those discussions stood out for Michael Myles, program coordinator for Helping Hands in Springfield.
“There were people from a lot of different social-service agencies and backgrounds,” Myles said. “It helped me know those people on a personal level.
“There are resources out there and you need to know how to access them. And that is what the class did, it brought us to the table as a group.”
