Eclectic Homes

Policies & Procedures for Transitional Housing

March 8, 2022

Transitional housing is used for many different populations. Children aging out of foster care or juvenile facilities, inmates with an upcoming release date and displaced families looking for affordable accommodations are just some of the men and women who use transitional housing. The visual appeal and management of a transitional housing facility can affect the real estate values of neighboring properties.

Rigid Schedules

Most transitional housing facilities have rigorous schedules for the inhabitants. The Covenant House in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, requires its homeless teenage population to wake up at 6:30 a.m. and adhere to some 6:30 p.m. curfew. Other types of facilities, like those for grown men, require something of a inverse curfew: Guys are not permitted in the home during certain times of the day when they’re predicted to function as applying for jobs, attending classes or doing other productive pursuits. Chores and meal times are typical scheduled actions at transitional housing facilities.

Counseling

Many residents of transitional housing have a life-changing experience in their past that brought them into the residential facility. To tackle and manage the emotions and activities that might be at least partly attributable to previous occasions, many transitional housing programs require participants to enroll in counseling sessions. In the Marjaree Mason Center–a transitional housing program for women and children who are victims of domestic violence in Fresno, California–populations attend individual and group treatment sessions. Some facilities include nonresident friends or family members in the counseling sessions.

Coaching

To prepare inhabitants for another phase of life, transitional housing programs require them to choose courses that are catered to the particular people’s needs. Nazareth Housing–a program for homeless households in New York City–provides practical workshops on subjects like money management and job readiness. Unity Care Group, a transitional housing program in Santa Clara, California, for children aging out of foster care, provides courses on grocery shopping and life skills. Residents must attend such training sessions so as to remain in the program.

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