Douglas County partners outline network to expand supportive housing for women

Douglas County commissioners on June 10 heard a multi-agency plan to expand supportive housing for women and better coordinate services for people leaving custody, survivors of violence and others in early recovery.

The presentation, led by county staff and a coalition of providers including Cardinal Housing Network, DECA, Family Promise of Lawrence and Amethyst Place, outlined a network model that pairs housing units with on-site or nearby stabilization services, therapy and recovery supports. Jill Jolliker said the work stems from the county’s strategic plan “a place for everyone” and a needs assessment that showed women in Douglas County experience homelessness at higher rates than state and national averages.

The presenters said the county’s strengths include a dedicated behavioral-health sales tax and existing partners that can scale services; they also identified persistent weaknesses and threats. Carrie Nice, re-entry director at the Douglas County Correctional Facility, told the commission that capacity and a lack of long-term wraparound services are major gaps. “If we aren’t able to release somebody into a sober space or a safe place, we often lose track of them upon release,” she said.

Presenters gave a snapshot of current housing capacity and program models. Kim Freeze, DECA behavioral health chief, said DECA’s transitional housing campus provides about 10 units (figures presented varied by program), and Hannah Bolton said Cardinal Housing Network has three apartments at 1128 Ohio (all currently filled). Presenters also said there are five Oxford houses in the county, two of which are configured for mothers with children, yielding roughly 15 beds across the mentioned programs; DECA’s campus can serve up to about 20 people. Presenters characterized these as early gains but far short of county need; one presenter gave a rough estimate of about 250–300 women experiencing homelessness in Douglas County annually.

Program design differences drew particular attention. Cardinal’s current structure asks residents to begin paying rent after roughly 30 days, a policy Hannah said can limit how much early recovery participants can save and slow transitions to independent housing. By contrast, Amethyst Place in Kansas City uses vouchers to cover rent for the first six months and an 80/20 savings model for residents, which Sarah Nafomalong said supports psychological safety and access to therapy and services during early recovery.

Speakers described the referral pathways and where the system breaks down. Carrie said sober living is the primary referral for women leaving jail; when Oxford homes and similar slots are full the shelter is often the fallback, but the shelter model’s short respite period can mean people are lost to follow-up. She outlined re-entry practices to secure vital documents (birth certificates and Social Security information can be obtained while someone is in custody; IDs are obtained after release) and noted timelines vary: “If they were born in another state, the backlog is real and it takes months,” she said.

The group emphasized data and coordinated entry as tools for measuring need and tracking progress. Presenters recommended continued use of the county’s coordinated entry system and HMIS to monitor inflows and outflows from homelessness and to standardize intake information across partners so referrals are more reliable.

Funding and scaling strategies were a central theme. Presenters encouraged braided funding, shared grant applications, and county administration of complex federal or state grants while partners manage program delivery. Practical tactics suggested included master-leasing a building with committed vouchers and leveraging private donors or corporate sponsors to furnish apartments. The county noted it has used flex vouchers in some Cardinal units and expects the Ninth Street project to expand capacity soon.

Speakers also raised equity and access concerns. Zach (STA Care Center) highlighted a disproportionately high representation of Native American and indigenous people among recent shelter guests in Lawrence, calling for culturally informed outreach and service design. Workforce shortages were flagged as another implementation risk; presenters proposed expanding peer-support pathways so people with lived experience can form part of the care workforce.

Commissioners asked for follow-up data on exact unit counts, coordinated-entry lists and the size of the population cycling through the county jail so the commission can evaluate capacity gaps and funding decisions. Presenters said they would provide additional detail and noted more budget-level materials on partner roles and grant strategies will appear in the upcoming budget process.

The work session recessed to the regular 5:30 p.m. business meeting after the discussion. The network-model presentation did not include any formal motions or votes.