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RIVERSIDE COUNTY 8 I I 13

SOLUTIONS Multidisciplinary Teams Head off Risks

A growing number of Riverside County’s 2.5 million residents are at risk of becoming homeless. Poverty impacts one in every ten older adults, and one in five disabled adults between 18 and 64, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. These fragile populations represent a growing number of cases for DPSS Adult Protec- tive Services (APS). Without immediate solutions that include affordable, long-term housing tailored for the aging, their ranks in Riverside County will continue to grow. DPSS-APS is working with our partners to head off these crises. Collectively, we are strengthening housing supports and the safety net for our aging and disabled communi- ties. The new APS Crisis Response and Intervention Services (CRIS) unit plays an import- ant role by serving APS clients who are determined to be experiencing homelessness or at-risk of becoming homeless at time of referral. The APS-CRIS unit supports clients when traditional APS social workers determine that homelessness or housing instability are at the root of the crises they’re experiencing. APS-CRIS social workers offer clients intensive and targeted short-term interventions to prevent evictions. They help stabilize clients and offer short-term case management and housing stabilization. The APS-CRIS unit links clients with longer-term needs to providers and partners who advocate and expedite services on their behalf. A comprehensive multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach is crucial to providing solutions in short-term complex cases of home- lessness. DPSS also implemented the County’s Homeless Focused Curtailing Abuse Related to the Elderly (CARE) Team comprising of county partners in housing and home- lessness; coordinated entry systems; justice and law enforcement; behavioral health and others. The panel accepts referrals of complex cases to review and develops solutions that focus on best outcomes. We are forging innovative solutions with partners such as Office on Aging, Riverside University Health System and others to meet the needs of a population that has been made more vulnerable by the coronavirus pandemic ensuing economic instability and social isolation. While we are working to strengthen the safety net for these at-risk members of our communities, it is necessary to create a coordinated system of service delivery that focuses on long-term engagement, assistance, and support to seniors to address both immediate conditions and future medical and cognitive decline.