Community Support & Homeless Assistance
The Cirrus Community Support Program: is a community based program providing rehabilitation and support services to people with severe and persistent mental illness and/or a substance dependence diagnosis. Community Support provides services that promote independent living within the community and links participants with services and supports that assist in developing healthy lifestyles and greater independence.
|
1509 1st Ave. ~ Scottsbluff, NE 69361 ~ 308-635-1488
Cirrus House, Inc.
SOAR Specialist: Cirrus House, Inc. employees a SOAR Specialist position that is funded by the State of Nebraska Homeless Assistance Program (NHAP). What is SOAR? Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) are disability income benefit programs administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) that also provide Medicaid and/or Medicare health insurance to individuals who are eligible.
The SSI/SSDI application process is complicated and difficult to navigate, particularly for people who are homeless or who are returning to the community from institutions (jails, prisons or hospitals). For those who have a mental illness, substance use issues, or co-occurring disorders that impair cognition, the application process poses an even greater challenge…
…yet accessing these income and health care benefits is often a critical first step on the road to recovery, stabalization, and future success.
The Cirrus House, Inc. SOAR Specialist helps homeless persons with mental illness get off the streets and start the process of rebuilding their lives.
Cirrus House, Inc. PATH: Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) – was authorized by the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1990.
PATH services are for people with serious mental illness, including those with co-occurring substance use disorders, who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless. PATH services include community-based outreach, mental health, substance abuse, case management and other support services, as well as a limited set of housing services.
Virtually all states use PATH funds to provide outreach services to contact and engage people who are disconnected from mainstream resources. Data reported in October 2009 for services provided with PATH funds from 2008-2009 reveal:
- 91 percent of all providers offer outreach to persons experiencing homelessness.
- 84 percent of providers offer case management services, including assisting with connecting individuals to mainstream benefits and services.
- 85 percent of providers assist clients in accessing primary health care services, job training, education services, and housing.
- 71 percent of providers assist consumers with navigating the housing application process.
PATH Providers are Strong Partners in Their Communities
The PATH program is a wide network of State and local agencies that contribute comprehensive community-based services for people who are homeless with serious mental illness. PATH providers engage community mental health centers and other mental health providers, community-based social service agencies, health care providers, substance abuse service providers, and housing programs.
PATH providers and State PATH Contacts are involved in local and regional planning efforts to end homelessness. They collaborate with homeless service providers in the local Continuums of Care, the homeless assistance planning networks of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Cirrus House, Inc. is
