Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool (FHSP), a one-of-a-kind supportive housing rental subsidy model that combines both housing/rental subsidy expertise and intensive case management to effectively house residents who are experiencing homelessness. The FHSP establishes a rental subsidy source that allows the City of Chicago to quickly house and provide supportive services to some of Chicago’s most challenging and costly homeless populations, including individuals who are high utilizers of emergency rooms and the criminal justice system. The program brings together an unprecedented partnership that includes the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS), the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) and the Corporation for Supportive Housing. Currently, no one governmental entity in Chicago provides a combined housing and supportive service model nor manages a third party that provides both housing/rental subsidy expertise and intensive case management. The FHSP will provide the City and its partners with the ability to quickly house and provide supportive services to challenging homeless populations, by:

• Streamlining approvals and retention by eliminating administrative processes and requirements that have limited value;
• Consistently adding units citywide to the homeless housing inventory to create an inventory of available, affordable housing to more quickly match persons experiencing homelessness to housing;
• Managing the entire housing process from beginning to end – to include intensive case management, housing navigation, and permanent supportive housing;
• Providing streamlined processes for both landlords and tenants to keep number of days to housing as low as possible; and
• Building upon HMIS data to identify individuals seeking services for the homeless.