Introduction
Diversion is a strategy that prevents homelessness for people seeking shelter by helping them identify immediate alternate housing arrangements and, if necessary, connecting them with services and financial assistance to help them return to permanent housing. Diversion programs can reduce the number of families becoming homeless, the demand for shelter beds, and the size of program wait lists. Diversion programs can also help communities achieve better outcomes and be more competitive when applying for federal funding. This paper will describe how communities can begin diverting families from entering their homeless assistance systems.
Distinguishing Diversion from Other Interventions
The services families are provided with when being diverted are services that caseworkers in most poverty and homeless assistance organizations are already trained and funded to deliver. They include:
- Provision of financial, utility, and/or rental assistance; o short-term case management;
- Conflict mediation;
- Connection to mainstream services (services that come from agencies outside of the homeless assistance system, such as welfare agencies) and/or benefits; and
- Housing search.
The main difference between diversion and other permanent housing-focused interventions centers on the point at which intervention occurs, as Table 1 below shows. Prevention targets people at imminent risk of homelessness, diversion targets people as they are applying for entry into shelter, and rapid re-housing targets people who are already homeless.
Consumer’s Housing Situation |
Intervention Used |
Services Provided (In All Interventions) |
| At imminent risk of losing housing (precariously housed and not yet homeless) | Prevention | Housing Search Rental Subsidy Other Financial Assistance Utility Assistance Case Management Mediation Connection to Mainstream Resources Legal Services |
| Requesting housing (at the “front door” or another program/system entry point seeking a place to stay) | Diversion | |
| In shelter (homeless/in the homeless assistance system) | Rapid re-housing |