FACETS will manage the Bailey’s Shelter
The Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development’s Office to Prevent and End Homelessness (OPEH) has contracted with FACETS to manage the Bailey’s Shelter and Supportive Housing facility in Bailey’s Crossroads.
That shelter was formerly operated by New Hope Housing. OPEH terminated its contract with New Hope Housing in September for mismanagement. New Hope failed to carry out improvements cited in a corrective action plan that charged the organization with the misallocation of funds and failure to provide shelter residents access to housing options, among other deficiencies.
OPEH also contracted Shelter House to manage the Eleanor Kennedy Shelter and Mondloch House in Alexandria. Those facilities were previously managed by New Hope Housing.
The new contracts took effect Nov. 15, OPEH announced.
After terminating New Hope Housing’s contract with the three shelters, OPEH assumed management and hired, through its temporary staffing partner Acro Service Corp., former New Hope staff to continue in their positions.
Employees will have the opportunity to interview with the new partner agencies, OPEH states. Procedures for employees to re-apply for these jobs will be announced in the coming days.
Related story: New Hope Housing contract terminated
In addition to taking on management of the Bailey’s Shelter, FACETS will operate the Homeless Healthcare Program, the Hypothermia Prevention Program, the Medical Respite Program, Operation Stream Shield, and street outreach in Human Services Region 2 (covering the Bailey’s Crossroads, Annandale, Falls Church, and Lincolnia areas).
Shelter House will continue as the operations lead at the Fair Ridge Shelter, Katherine Hanley Family Shelter, and Kate’s Place, as well as the Kennedy Shelter and Mondloch House.
Shelter House will also manage the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing programs in Regions 2 and 4, the Diversion First and Housing First permanent supportive housing programs, shelter units for Adult Protective Services, and street outreach in Region 1.
Related Story: Homeless shelter staff complain about late paychecks, lack of supplies
OPEH invites Fairfax County residents to participate in upcoming community engagement meetings in preparation for the development of the agency’s next strategic plan aimed at strengthening the community’s response to homelessness.
One of the in-person meetings will be on Dec. 3, 7-8:30 p.m., at the Thomas Jefferson Library, 7415 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church. There will be a virtual meeting on Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. Access the meeting here.
The community engagement process, to be conducted by Oryx Solutions, will collect input from people experiencing homelessness, homeless service providers, the Continuum of Care board, and the general public.
This is a positive step in accountability.
Thank you for the story.
New Hope Housing was epically failing their contract with the county for years. They never make any progress on complying even after the county had sent them two notices that they were failing. Instead of finding another provider immediately, the county continued to extend their contract every six months. Why wasn’t the county already entertaining bids from other providers to take over the contract?