Supportive-housing providers present requests — Cardinal Housing details Baldwin project and staffing needs

Supportive-housing providers urged Douglas County commissioners on July 6 to continue and, in some cases, increase funding to sustain and expand programs that serve justice-involved residents, families and people with serious mental illness.

Jill Jolliker, assistant county administrator, opened the partner panel and framed partner requests within the county’s “A Place for Everyone” goals, providing a table that separated one-time capital requests from ongoing operating needs.

Jake Broadbent, presentation staff, said the county provides about $15.4 million annually in ongoing support to more than 40 local nonprofits, and that roughly $8.9 million of that supports behavioral-health and substance-use partners. Partners at the table included Tenants to Homeowners, Cardinal Housing Network, Family Promise of Lawrence, Lawrence Douglas County Housing Authority and Mental Health America of the Heartland.

Hannah Bolton, program director at Cardinal Housing Network, described a recently acquired five-bedroom Baldwin property with three unfinished accessory dwelling units. She said the property could serve single mothers and small families and emphasized the importance of in-house living managers and transportation to link Baldwin-based residents to treatment and supports in Lawrence. Hannah disclosed the property was purchased through an LLC she and her father used; she described limited fundraising capacity (about $45,000 year-to-date) and said utilities are a recurring cost (about $1,000 per month per property). She said the organization seeks funding for live-in house-manager positions, one-time safety upgrades (including a fire suppression or alarm system for multi-unit requirements), and administrative support to free staff for fundraising and partnership development. On the Baldwin project she said: “the project has a ton of potential,” and explained the program’s model will focus on intensive case coordination and transportation for residents released from jail or engaged with re-entry services.

Commissioners pressed partners on sustainability and capacity. They asked whether county dollars would simply replace private fundraising, how Cardinal would partner with Baldwin leaders, and whether live-in managers would be ongoing county-supported positions. Hannah said volunteer partnerships (including a KU-affiliated volunteer program) and targeted grant strategies would supplement operations but that some core staffing will be necessary for stabilization and property management. She said many Cardinal clients have co-occurring serious mental illness and that a large share of referrals come directly from the jail and re-entry services; early internal analysis presented by staff showed crisis contacts (ED and jail stays) dropped from 66 before housing to 42 after among a cohort of 23 individuals served.

Family Promise’s representative described a one-time capital request for family-focused transitional housing and explained their model’s emphasis on supportive services alongside temporary lodging; county staff explained the city of Lawrence has considered separate emergency-shelter projects but has not funded them fully.

Mental Health America representatives and county staff described how the flexible housing pool program transitioned between providers and how the county controls a set of 12 master leases for high-need households while the Housing Authority manages additional voucher placements. Simon Besmer of Mental Health America confirmed that county funds supporting flexible-housing units are spent locally and that master leases are an administrative tool for serving the most complex tenants.

Several partners warned that organizations that receive more than half their operating revenue from a single local government face sustainability risks, and they encouraged the commission to consider braided funding strategies that combine county support with grants, re-entry program dollars and charitable giving.

No formal votes were taken. Commissioners said they would continue partner hearings and deliberate on supplemental requests during the budget deliberation period scheduled through July 15.