Adjusted Gross Household Income- all income that is received in the form of money, property, and services and that is not explicitly exempt by law.

Affordable Housing – Housing costs, including utilities and rent or mortgage expenses, are no more that 30% of the adjusted gross household income.

At-Risk for Homelessness – On the edge of becoming homeless, often because of extremely low incomes and having to pay a large percent of the adjusted gross household income for housing expenses.

Bureau of Human/Social Services - Created to reflect the City’s commitment to addressing the social services and health needs of the community. Services include alcohol and drug rehabilitation services, the Center for Families and Youth, child care services, social services, homeless assistance, and other facility centers which provide community services specific to the demographic make-up of the surroundings.

Case Management – Services focused on identifying goals, developing action plans and coordinating resources to assist clients in attaining greater self-sufficiency.

Continuum of Care – A comprehensive system for the delivery of services to the homeless.

Chronic Homeless – An unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more OR has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years.

Community Development Block Grant - (CDBG) A federal block grant program administered by HUD and provided to local communities to support community development through acquisition, construction, rehabilitation and operation of public facilities and housing.

Disability – A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as caring for oneself, speaking, walking, seeing, hearing, or learning.

Discharge Planning – Activities designed to facilitate and coordinate the release and aftercare needs for individuals from any publicly funded institutions or systems of care following any length of stay to prevent homelessness.

Domestic Violence – Pattern of coercive control in an intimate relationship. This control may be seen in physical assault or in more subtle, but equally devastating ways. Verbal, emotional, financial, and sexual abuse, as well as isolation, falls under the realm of abusive behaviors. Domestic violence crosses all racial, ethnic, economic, and religious communities.

Emergency Shelter – A facility designed to provide over night accommodations for a short period of time, usually up to 30 days.

Episodic Homelessness – An individual or family who is homeless for a short period of time.

Extremely Low Income – Households earning 30% or below of the median area income.

Fair Market Rent – The amount determined by HUD per state, county, or urban area that determines the maximum allowable rent for HUD-funded housing programs.

Focus Group – A carefully planned discussion designed to obtain perceptions on a defined area of interest in a permissive, non-threatening environment.

Foster Care – 24 hour care to children who cannot remain in their own homes due to the risk of abuse or neglect, or due to behaviors that may result in danger to self or others.

Homeless Coalition – A group comprised of Service Providers, Homeless Activists, Community Members, and local Government officials who meet monthly to coordinate services for the homeless.

Homeless Management Information System – (HMIS) A coordinated computerized system utilized to compile demographic data and track homeless clients through the service delivery system.

Homeless Person – A person sleeping in a place not meant for human habitation, in an emergency shelter; or transitional housing for homeless persons who originally came from the street or an emergency shelter or being released from an institutional situation having resided in the institution for more than 30 days and having no fixed permanent residence to which they can return

Homeless Prevention – Assistance, financial or educational, developed to prevent the loss of the housing.

Homeless Youth – One who is under age 18 who meets the definition of a homeless person. Children and youth who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations.

Household – An entity that includes all the people who occupy a housing unit.

Housing First – An approach designed to place homeless persons into permanent housing from emergency situations and providing transitional support (case management and housing assistance) for at least one year to stabilize the housing placement.

Housing Subsidy – Funds typically paid from federal or other sources to help make a housing unit affordable to a low-income household. The subsidy is the difference in the amount of the rent that is affordable to the tenant and the actual rent amount.

HUD – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a federal agency responsible for administering a variety of government-subsidized housing and related programs.

Institutions – Any of the following: Jails, Prisons, Hospitals, State-Operated Facilities, and Long Term Care facilities.

Intensive Case Management – The long term, time intensive service used to assist in goal identifying and the development of action steps, the completion of which leads to self-sufficiency through resource coordination.

MSC - The Multi-Service Center is operated by the City of Long Beach, Department of Health and Human Services, with several co-located nonprofit agencies. The MSC is designed to provide one-stop access to resources for individuals and families experiencing homelessness within the City of Long Beach. The MSC serves as the point of entry for homeless services city-wide, providing a wide range of services. The MSC mission is to provide comprehensive supportive services to promote progress towards permanent housing, self-sufficiency, by creating a community where health, safety, and well-being are established.

Point-in-Time Count – A one-day count of all homeless people in a defined area.

Safe Haven – A form of supportive housing serving hard-to-reach homeless people with severe mental illness or other debilitating behavioral conditions who are on the streets and have been unwilling or unable to participate in supportive services.

Steering Committee – The Steering Committee will identify objectives based on the current continuum of care system and gaps in the system of care. The committee will then recommend strategies to the Mayor and City Council for implementing recommendations to prevent new people from becoming homeless, while ending homelessness for those already living on the streets.

Supportive Housing Program – (SHP) A competitive grant program that specifically funds homeless programs identified as permanent housing, transitional housing or supportive services.

Strength Based Model – A theory of service delivery that focuses on the individual strengths instead of weaknesses.

Substandard Housing – A unit which is either dilapidated or does not have one of the following plumbing facilities: Hot and cold water inside the unit, usable flush toilet inside the structure for the exclusive use of the occupants of the unit, usable bathtub or shower inside the structure for the exclusive use of the occupants of the unit.

Supportive Housing – Permanent, subsidized housing that has on-site supportive services and flexible management that assists the tenant in overcoming barriers that previously led to homelessness.

Transitional Housing – Living units that provide temporary housing support, up to two years, and provide case management and skill development and training determined necessary to eliminate barriers to self-sufficiency and independent housing.

Working Groups – Specially organized groups that are designed to look at the specific issues of homelessness. The groups are asked to determine what data is available, what data they need, how best to gather it, explore best practice models, determine a community outcome for their area of expertise, identify strategies for preventing homelessness among their sub-population or how best to provide assistance, identify indicators to measure effectiveness of their strategies, and set benchmarks for achievement.

Wrap-around Services – Services which are coordinated to meet all of a client’s needs in order to remain housed and not return to homelessness

Worst Case Housing Needs – Those who rent and do not receive a housing subsidy, have incomes below 50% of local median area income and pay 50% or more of income toward housing OR lives in a severely substandard unit.

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