Program Example

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department refers inmates to the Cornerstone Program. Cornerstone Program staff go to the jail to assess the inmate for mental illnesses, and to give referred inmates a psychiatric evaluation. Candidates may also enter the program as walk-ins or be referred by other service providers. Many participants in the Cornerstone Program are dually diagnosed with co-occurring substance abuse problems.

Case managers ensure that all participants are placed in short-term, transitional, or long-term housing. Case managers also ensure that participants are connected with any benefits for which they are eligible, that they receive mental health counseling and the medication they need, and that if necessary they are referred to substance abuse treatment programs. In addition, case managers work with parole and probation officers and the court systems. When appropriate, the Cornerstone Program provides vocational training and/or job placement services.

For emergency housing, the Cornerstone Program has a contract with a Los Angeles family housing shelter that offers 25 available beds. They also have funding for hotels and motels as directed by California law AB 2034.

For short-term housing (up to three months) and medium-term housing (three to nine months), the Cornerstone Program has a memo of understanding (MOU) with a landlord who finds property for the program that accommodates the constraints of the participants. The landlord remodels appropriate structures and then rents them to the Cornerstone Program for slightly over market value, an arrangement that provides incentive for the landlord to participate. Because the Cornerstone Program rents each building in its entirety, they are able to decide who moves into each unit. They use these units mainly as transitional facilities. Participants may stay in these houses for a maximum of 18 months.

The Cornerstone Program also administers nine duplexes, which participants rent for 30 percent of their income. Through AB 2034, the Cornerstone Program has 85 Section 8 vouchers to distribute to amongst program participants, and these vouchers are used as an incentive to participants to comply fully with program suggestions and opportunities.

The Cornerstone Program is also building 36 apartment units through Community of Friends, a nonprofit developer. This construction is subsidized by the Supplemental Housing initiative for a span of 15 years and will be used for long-term housing.

The Cornerstone Program assigns resident managers to each house. Resident managers introduce themselves to neighbors but otherwise keep a low profile and do not initiate community meetings. One house did receive some opposition from the neighborhood, but the problem was resolved when the Cornerstone Program brought in its resident managers. Typically the Program promotes their service as serving the mentally ill and de-emphasizes the fact that its participants have served time in prison or jail.

In addition to housing assistance, the Cornerstone Program runs a full service outpatient dropin center which targets the needs of all mentally ill homeless individuals with a nonexclusive emphasis on those who have been incarcerated. The center provides immediate assistance for basic survival needs, such as food, clothing, showers, and laundry facilities seven days a week.

Outcomes