Detroit’s homeless hotline is changing how people can access shelter

For people facing homelessness in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park, the main way to access shelter and other housing help is through one central phone or in-person system.

Starting Monday, that system — known as the Coordinated Assessment Model (CAM) — will be changing how people can get into emergency shelters. When someone calls or visits a CAM location in Detroit, staffers will determine who needs shelter the most and follow up with those who weren’t able to get in once space opens up.

Currently, families and individuals are placed into shelters on a first-come, first-served basis. If there isn’t room, they have to call back every day to check for an available bed.

The shift comes at a time of high need during the winter — when more people seek a reprieve from the harsh elements — and after the closure of some shelters last year where single men could go. CAM, before a management handover, also received sharp criticism from users last year about their experience using the system.

“We're consistently filling all the beds …  and having more people who are still saying ‘I need shelter,’ who are not able to match. I think this new system will better track that by having a centralized list to manage that,” said Scott Jackson, coordinated entry manager for the Homeless Action Network of Detroit (HAND). It is a pilot project and CAM expects to monitor the process to make improvements.

How the emergency shelter referral system will work

Starting Monday, after calling CAM (313-305-0311) or visiting an in-person location, staffers will talk about alternatives to shelter, such as staying with a friend, family member or another safe place to stay. If that’s not an option, people will be placed on a “need shelter list.” Each day, CAM will look at bed availability, match people to openings and contact them to fill them. Follow-up communications will happen through call, text or email. CAM will also look for other ways to contact people, like through family members, case workers or street outreach teams.

Priority is based on who needs shelter the most, including those who are actively unsheltered, living in places not meant for human habitation, fleeing domestic violence or dealing with other urgent safety concerns. Then, CAM will look at medical needs and how long someone has been on the need-shelter list. However, shelter beds are limited, according to CAM, and change daily. Placement isn’t guaranteed to happen on the same day.

“On a daily basis, we don't have enough shelter space for everyone that is seeking that,” Jackson said.

Need for emergency housing is higher than the amount of available beds, although it’s hard to pin down exact data. Bed availability fluctuates and depends on who needs one at a given moment, such as veterans or young people. But shelters are currently full, HAND officials said. When people call CAM right now, they are not able to access shelters right away because beds are consistently being filled, while dozens of others are not able to get shelter referrals.

In January,  there were an average of 10 open shelter beds daily, according to data provided by CAM from the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, which manages the call center and in-person locations. This data is through Wednesday and doesn’t include weekends, New Year’s Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day when CAM was closed. Each day, an average of 95 people were unable to get shelter referrals because there were no openings. CAM tracked 161 in-person and phone engagements on average daily.

Another indicator of demand: When the city opened a temporary warming center at a recreation center during severe weather conditions last week, more than 100 people showed up on top of the regular shelter capacity.

“We are seeing more people, who are not in a safe situation, who are looking for shelter, who are not able to access it currently,” Jackson said.

The CAM change is meant to provide a clearer way for people to get help, although it doesn’t address the underlying need for more housing resources, he said. CAM and the city of Detroit will monitor the new pilot process at least weekly, and plan to track data, including how many people go to CAM, shelter bed availability, referrals and bed usage, Jackson said.

Last year, before a management change, the CAM system received criticism from users who said they experienced long wait times and that CAM failed to follow up. Some users also called their experiences “dehumanizing.”

HAND has said it seeks to make improvements during its first year of managing the system.

Amid demand, Detroit adds more beds 

Last year, three shelters where single men could go either closed down or were scaled back.

A temporary shelter for homeless and formerly incarcerated men, run by the nonprofit Operation Get Down, and another provider, Love Outreach, closed abruptly in the fall, according to HAND. Meanwhile, an overflow shelter, meant to provide beds during the COVID-19 pandemic, ramped down. However, 50 beds were added once again, and another 40 are expected within the next month, according to Detroit's Housing and Revitalization Department.

In 2022, more than 8,500 people were identified as homeless in shelters, transitional or permanent supportive housing in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park and, on any given night, more than 1,500 people experienced homelessness on the streets and in shelters. But these numbers are likely an undercount. Available data primarily tallies unhoused people in shelters and housing programs and doesn’t paint a true portrait of the scale of homelessness across the city.

STATE OF HOMELESSNESS: Detroit releases first-of-its-kind report on homelessness: 5 takeaways to know

Since December, Detroit added 294 beds to address the heightened need. Detroit runs a network of 16 shelters and warming centers, which provide 1,250 beds, according to the city’s housing and revitalization department. That’s an increase from the 900 beds available last winter, according to the city.

“Detroit has not experienced the large-scale homeless encampments seen in many other cities because of the coordinated outreach and sheltering efforts of our very committed homeless prevention partners, emergency shelter providers and special population advocates,” Terra Linzner, homelessness solutions director for Detroit's Housing and Revitalization Department, said in a statement Thursday.

People who need housing help can either call the CAM number (313-305-0311) or visit CAM Access Points to get a referral for an emergency bed, if one is available, or identify alternatives. The CAM call center is available Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Here are the in-person CAM locations and hours of operation:

• CAM Access Point NOAH Project: 23 E. Adams Ave. (second floor); 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Monday-Thursday

• CAM Access Point Cass Community Social Services: 11850 Woodrow Wilson St.; 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Friday

• CAM Access Point Veteran Affairs: 4646 John R St., Red Tower (second floor); 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday

On Feb. 16, the CAM call line and Cass location will be closed from 9:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@freepress.com; 313-348-7558. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @NushratR.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Shelter access in Detroit is changing. Here is what to know.