Douglas County commissioners on Oct. 1 held an informational study session on supportive housing partnerships and the roles of property managers and service providers, as county staff and community partners outlined gaps in services for people exiting homelessness and justice custody and described a budget request to add a supportive housing rental management specialist position.

The discussion built on a 2022 needs assessment referenced by county staff showing that about 120–130 people at any one time experience chronic homelessness in Douglas County and that the county’s goal is to “break that cycle” by combining housing with coordinated supports, county staff member Jill Jolliker said. Jolliker (county staff, housing program) told commissioners the presentation was a follow-up to budget deliberations and intended to clarify distinctions between one-time capital requests and ongoing operations and service needs.

Why it matters: Providers and county staff said people being housed after long periods unsheltered often require intensive, ongoing supports—coordinated case management, transportation, medication assistance and crisis response—that typical rental management does not provide. Without coordination, participants said, shelters and housing placements can fail and people can return to homelessness.

Key details
- Tenants to Homeowners supports about 73 units of supportive housing in the county; that agency and other mission-driven landlords have taken on trauma-informed property-management functions that overlap with supportive services, speakers said.
- County staff and providers emphasized a housing stabilization plan as the central coordination tool: it lists goals, who is responsible for each task, crisis plans and expectations for tenants and providers.
- County staff described ongoing training with the Corporation for Supportive Housing and local partners to standardize best practices for supportive-housing case management.

Provider perspectives
- Angie Bauer, supportive housing rental manager for Tenants to Homeowners, said individualized housing stabilization plans bring providers together, create accountability and give tenants a say in the supports. “We take no joy in housing people just to have to turn around and unhouse them,” Bauer said.
- Kristen Egan, Douglas County housing and human services program manager, said housing chronically unsheltered people “is just a really big task” that requires multiple agencies working together and warned that case managers are often overcapacity without coordinated supports.
- Shelby Osborne, reentry case manager with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, described reentry’s role in bridging custody release and community services and said reentry teams commonly remain involved longer than expected because of service gaps.

Gaps and resources
Speakers identified persistent gaps: transportation to treatment and appointments, coverage for residents who cannot pay rent during an initial stabilization period, and capacity to provide at least five days per week of consistent supports for high-acuity clients. Hannah Bolton, founder and program director of Cardinal Housing Network, told the commission that Douglas County has far fewer beds for women in recovery housing than neighboring counties and that Cardinal’s model relies on community partnerships, donation-sponsored beds and county reentry sponsorship for initial stays.

Budget request discussed
County staff and Tenants to Homeowners discussed a supplemental budget request tied to rental-management activities that support supportive housing. Jolliker and Egan said the requested title has been clarified in a revised packet to “supportive housing rental management specialist” (rather than a generic care coordinator title) to reflect that the position focuses on trauma-informed property-management tasks and close coordination with case managers. No formal vote or funding decision occurred at the study session; study sessions are informational only, commissioners noted.

What commissioners asked
Commissioners asked for clearer templates and shared language for occupancy agreements, leases and expectations for tenants and landlords, and for examples of how accountability is documented and enforced among providers, landlords and tenants. Several commissioners encouraged continued work to standardize the housing stabilization plan and to build capacity among providers to meet high-acuity needs.

Next steps and context
Staff said the presentation was intended to clarify operations and staffing needs ahead of forthcoming budget decisions. The discussion referenced the county’s “A Place for Everyone” supportive housing goal area and a 2022 KU Center for Public Partnerships and Research needs assessment cited in the meeting.

Ending note: the Oct. 1 session was informational; no motions or funding decisions were taken at the study session.