Chair Hudson questions DHS on PATH diversion and mediation

And when DHS diverts families with children away from shelter at the PATH intake center, what do diversion and mediation services entail?

Okay, thank you for the question.

We have diversion and mediation

policies, and that really helps to standardize the approach.

But again, each engagement with each individual household is going to be different depending on their circumstances.

But in terms of diversion and mediation, the goal is to avoid shelter, right?

Somebody came to us and said, I have a housing crisis.

I think I need shelter.

Our goal is to see how, if at all, we can reconnect you to community resources.

So at our resource room, we have social workers that can complete mediation with a primary tenant or a different housing option.

And that might be as simple as calling up the primary tenant to say, hey, I understand.

Christine was living with you and things weren't okay.

Can we make this work?

What could help resolve this situation?

So that's the mediation process that happens at Path at Resource Room.

And again, we're also making sure that that option is safe.

We ask very pointed questions about DV in the house.

In the housing option that we're on the phone with or communicating with, we don't want to send families into an unsafe situation.

We're also looking to make sure that there's sufficient space in that housing option.

So those are the ways we make sure that we're diverting to safe options.

Thank you.