This FREE SAMHSA HRC webcast aired on Tuesday, April 12th. Presenters explored the interplay between disability, homelessness, and the criminal system, focusing on collaborations to divert individuals into services leading to stability, as well as on strategies to address the employment and other barriers which result from “having a record.” This webcast was co-sponsored with the US Department of Labor, Veterans Employment and Training Service and Syracuse University’s Burton Blatt Institute.

Serving Homeless Clients with Criminal Justice "Issues":
Slowing the Revolving Door

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How can homeless service providers best help clients who have legal issues? Presenters Stephan Haimowitz and Steven Samra examined the interplay between disability, homelessness, and the criminal system, focusing on collaborations to divert individuals into services leading to stability, as well as on strategies to address the employment and other barriers which result from “having a record.” This webcast was co-sponsored with the US Department of Labor, Veterans Employment and Training Service and Syracuse University’s Burton Blatt Institute.

About the Presenters

Stephan Haimowitz, J.D. is a Research Associate at Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University and provides training for the Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program. Steve has worked for 30 years at the intersections of human service delivery, disability policy, and the legal system, in diverse roles including hospital administrator, class action litigator, research ethics consultant, state agency counsel, educator and program evaluator. His currently leads the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Project National TA Center funded the US Dept. of Labor, and is involved in efforts to end the misuse of restraint on people with mental illness, and to assist collaboration between behavioral health and criminal justice agencies.

Steven Samra, M.P.A is a Recovery Specialist at the Center for Social Innovation where he provides training and technical assistance to grantees of SAMHSA’s Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness. Steven spent more than 30 years in and out of homelessness while battling addiction. Since stabilizing his life in 2000, he has dedicated himself to serving those who are still on the street. He has worked in street outreach assisting civilians and veterans experiencing homelessness in and around Nashville, Tennessee. Steven received a B.A. in Sociology and a M.P.A. from California State University, Chico. He serves on the board of the Nashville Coalition for the Homeless, and co-founded The Contributor, a street newspaper produced and sold by people who are homeless. He writes occasionally for Change.org and blogs at Stone Soup Station.