Eviction prevention
Hennepin County works with renters and landlords to prevent evictions and find a resolution to prevent a court order. Several resources are available, including the county’s eviction dashboard that provides data on where, when and how evictions happen within Hennepin County.
The Tenant Resource Center
This virtual resource supports Hennepin County residents who are at risk of eviction or homelessness through a collaborative partnership among community, nonprofits, government and higher education. The goal of the Tenant Resource Center is to help people maintain stable housing and avoid the “service run around” that sometimes comes with the need to access multiple community resources.
Emergency rental assistance programs
Emergency programs that offer help with housing costs such as rent payments, damage deposits, home repairs and utility bills are available to Hennepin County residents.
Intervening on eviction filings
The county conducts outreach and provides services at court hearings for residents who receive an eviction notice. County staff are available to assist eligible households with applying for benefits so they avoid being displaced from their residence.
Continuous improvement
Hennepin County remains focused on improving access to eviction prevention resources. Strengthening partner connections to implement a more coordinated response is key in this effort. Design of a central application that will allow residents to access multiple eviction prevention programs is underway – check back for updates!
Homeless to Housing Program case management
Hennepin County remains focused on expanding access to case management for residents experiencing homelessness, which means being able to connect them to housing programs faster. A new program – Homeless to Housing – was created this year to assist with this initiative. The goals of the program include:
- Providing housing-focused services to single adults experiencing homelessness
- Connecting people to mainstream case management resources to assist with housing stability and maintenance after H2H case managers phase out
- Supplementing the housing-focused services that currently exist in the system
- Being accessible and physically present in both sheltered and unsheltered settings
The Homeless to Housing Program is organized into three teams: the short-term homeless team, the long-term homeless team and the Homeless Access team. The short-term homeless team works with clients who have been homeless for less than a year and are not yet “stuck” in the system. The long-term homeless team works with clients who have been homeless for more than a year and those on the Chronic Index. The Homeless Access team is specialized in several areas, including street outreach, veterans, library outreach, targeted youth cases, the elderly and the Native American population.
These three teams within the Homeless to Housing Program will work collaboratively with one another to achieve the following goals:
- House 1,000 people each year
- End veteran and chronic homelessness
- Increase exits to permanent housing
- Be accessible and transparent with the people we work with and the community as a whole
- Offer low barrier, housing-focused services
- Be data informed and use system-wide data to adjust practices, prioritization and eligibility
To learn how to refer an eligible resident to the Homeless to Housing Program, visit Emergency programs | Hennepin County.
Salvation Army women's shelter
Learn more about the plan to relocate existing program to 24th and Stevens (PDF)
Youth homelessness
Hennepin County is committed to ensuring that all youth can access safe and stable housing. We work with our public and private partners to build systems that address the diverse needs of each young person so that homelessness is rare, brief and non-recurring.
Youth Homeless Demonstration Program
The Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) is a HUD initiative designed to reduce the number of youth experiencing homelessness. In 2021, Hennepin County was selected as a YHDP community and will receive $1,732,344 on an annual basis. The initiative kicked off in October with plans for developing a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness.
Connecting youth with foster care experience to stable housing and services
HUD’s Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) initiative invests in local, cross-system collaborative efforts to prevent and end homelessness among youth with a current or prior history of foster care. Hennepin County, in partnership with six youth-serving agencies and four public housing authorities, anticipate assisting approximately 100 youth per year with securing affordable housing and providing case management services for up to three years.
Implementing shelter diversion for youth
A shelter diversion program for youth facing imminent homelessness is in development. The goal of the program is to eliminate the need for these youth to go to a shelter by instead helping them to identify safe and suitable housing options, and providing immediate return-to-housing aid.
Accelerating access to services through Community Cards
Community Cards are identification cards that simplify and accelerate entry into housing. Hennepin County is working to implement this concept across all agencies serving youth who are experiencing homelessness. By using Community Cards, youth will receive more streamlined coordinated services and be connected to interventions more efficiently.