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ShelterTonight: At-a-glance shelter bed availability info #66

Open fureigh opened 9 years ago

fureigh commented 9 years ago

One-sentence summary: ShelterTonight is a simple tool to show which shelters have beds available tonight, with relevant eligibility filters and contact info.

Project needs:

Status:

Pie

Why? In the absence of such a tool, shelter seekers either get referred to shelters that don't actually have room for them and people who might otherwise make referrals hesitate to do so. This use case has come up several times in conversations about social service referrals.

Extended mix possibilities:

greggish commented 9 years ago

there's some sort of shelter hotline program at SF 311...

mathias gibson may know more about it

fureigh commented 9 years ago

Thanks, @greggish. I could've sworn I heard someone say there's a place to see this info for San Francisco, but the online resources I found all just say to call 311. I'll try Mathias and calling 311 to ask them how that works.

lippytak commented 9 years ago

SF HSA uses a homegrown shelter reservation system called CHANGES (acronym for something...). 311 and the designated shelter reservation sites use that. The info isn't public as far as I know (confirmed as of ~1 yr ago)...but hopefully I'm wrong!

On Wed, Mar 4, 2015 at 8:32 PM, Fureigh notifications@github.com wrote:

Thanks, @greggish https://github.com/greggish. I could've sworn I heard someone say there's a place to see this info for San Francisco, but the online resources I found all just say to call 311. I'll try Mathias and calling 311 to ask them how that works.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/project-ideas/issues/66#issuecomment-77304963 .

daguar commented 9 years ago

CCing @mathias-gibson here — Matthias, can you shed light on whether shelter space info is available?

mathias-gibson commented 9 years ago

So SFHSA engaged SF311 on a project for 90 day shelter beds and it launched about a year ago, so there should be a decent log of data to look at. They were trying to make shelter beds reservation process more equitable and accessible by having one central waitlist for all of the shelters, so someone would call in to put their name on the waitlist, then get an sms message via Twilio when a bed was ready. I can put you in touch with the Deputy Director who managed the project over there for an up to date status on the project, Im sure he'd love to sit down and chat (Andy Maimoni). So yeah, that info is totally available and centralized at 311

daguar commented 9 years ago

Looks like the waitlist itself may even be online: http://www.sf311.org/index.aspx?page=809

On Mar 8, 2015, at 12:16 PM, Mathias Gibson notifications@github.com wrote:

So SFHSA engaged SF311 on a project for 90 day shelter beds and it launched about a year ago, so there should be a decent log of data to look at. They were trying to make shelter beds reservation process more equitable and accessible by having one central waitlist for all of the shelters, so someone would call in to put their name on the waitlist, then get an sms message via Twilio when a bed was ready. I can put you in touch with the Deputy Director who managed the project over there for an up to date status on the project, Im sure he'd love to sit down and chat (Andy Maimoni). So yeah, that info is totally available and centralized at 311

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

mathias-gibson commented 9 years ago

bingo, should have included that on my reply

On Sun, Mar 8, 2015 at 1:31 PM, Dave Guarino notifications@github.com wrote:

Looks like the waitlist itself may even be online: http://www.sf311.org/index.aspx?page=809

On Mar 8, 2015, at 12:16 PM, Mathias Gibson notifications@github.com wrote:

So SFHSA engaged SF311 on a project for 90 day shelter beds and it launched about a year ago, so there should be a decent log of data to look at. They were trying to make shelter beds reservation process more equitable and accessible by having one central waitlist for all of the shelters, so someone would call in to put their name on the waitlist, then get an sms message via Twilio when a bed was ready. I can put you in touch with the Deputy Director who managed the project over there for an up to date status on the project, Im sure he'd love to sit down and chat (Andy Maimoni). So yeah, that info is totally available and centralized at 311

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/project-ideas/issues/66#issuecomment-77772386 .

fureigh commented 9 years ago

Neat, thanks! @mathias-gibson, does that waitlist mean that the answer to "are there any unclaimed shelter beds available tonight" is pretty much always "no?" (This may be a question for Andy Maimoni.)

daguar commented 9 years ago

@fureigh — @mathias-gibson can jump in if I'm wrong, but I think the waitlist is for 90 days out, more long-term shelter bed stuff. The same-day shelter availability seems to be all done in person.

On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 11:34 AM, Fureigh notifications@github.com wrote:

Neat, thanks! @mathias-gibson https://github.com/mathias-gibson, does that waitlist mean that the answer to "are there any unclaimed shelter beds available tonight" is pretty much always "no?" (This may be a question for Andy Maimoni.)

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/project-ideas/issues/66#issuecomment-77914615 .

Dave Guarino Engineer, Health (2013 Fellowship alumnus) Code for America http://www.codeforamerica.org/ dave@codeforamerica.org LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/daveguarino/ | GitHub https://github.com/daguar/

RebeccaCoelius commented 9 years ago

+1 @daguar

Its the "emergency" (<90 day) shelters that are relevant to this thread, and most require you to line up in person early in the day, or get lucky later in the day.

http://www.sf311.org/index.aspx?page=452

From 7am to 11pm a reservation can only be made by going in person to any of the 7 city wide Single Adult Homeless Shelter Reservation Centers. Disabled clients can make reservation by phone as an ADA accommodation http://www.sf311.org/index.aspx?page=452#selectaresourcecenter.

Rebecca Coelius, MD Director of Health Code for America 415 298 2872 LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccacoelius Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/RebeccaCoelius

On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 11:46 AM, Dave Guarino notifications@github.com wrote:

@fureigh — @mathias-gibson can jump in if I'm wrong, but I think the waitlist is for 90 days out, more long-term shelter bed stuff. The same-day shelter availability seems to be all done in person.

On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 11:34 AM, Fureigh notifications@github.com wrote:

Neat, thanks! @mathias-gibson https://github.com/mathias-gibson, does that waitlist mean that the answer to "are there any unclaimed shelter beds available tonight" is pretty much always "no?" (This may be a question for Andy Maimoni.)

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub < https://github.com/codeforamerica/project-ideas/issues/66#issuecomment-77914615

.

Dave Guarino Engineer, Health (2013 Fellowship alumnus) Code for America http://www.codeforamerica.org/ dave@codeforamerica.org LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/daveguarino/ | GitHub https://github.com/daguar/

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/project-ideas/issues/66#issuecomment-77916784 .

mathias-gibson commented 9 years ago

Yup, Dave and Rebecca are both right. 311 only handles reservations for a 90 day bed right now (with plans to possibly add more services), shorter reservations have to be made through CHANGES reservation sites and Homeless Resource Centers.

Lots of great info is stored on this pdf for some reason: http://www.sfhsa.org/asset/HousingHomelessServices/311_Waitlist_-_Combined_Document_-_5-1-14.pdf

On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 12:03 PM, RebeccaCoelius notifications@github.com wrote:

+1 @daguar

Its the "emergency" (<90 day) shelters that are relevant to this thread, and most require you to line up in person early in the day, or get lucky later in the day.

http://www.sf311.org/index.aspx?page=452

From 7am to 11pm a reservation can only be made by going in person to any of the 7 city wide Single Adult Homeless Shelter Reservation Centers. Disabled clients can make reservation by phone as an ADA accommodation http://www.sf311.org/index.aspx?page=452#selectaresourcecenter.

Rebecca Coelius, MD Director of Health Code for America 415 298 2872 LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccacoelius Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/RebeccaCoelius

On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 11:46 AM, Dave Guarino notifications@github.com wrote:

@fureigh — @mathias-gibson can jump in if I'm wrong, but I think the waitlist is for 90 days out, more long-term shelter bed stuff. The same-day shelter availability seems to be all done in person.

On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 11:34 AM, Fureigh notifications@github.com wrote:

Neat, thanks! @mathias-gibson https://github.com/mathias-gibson, does that waitlist mean that the answer to "are there any unclaimed shelter beds available tonight" is pretty much always "no?" (This may be a question for Andy Maimoni.)

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub <

https://github.com/codeforamerica/project-ideas/issues/66#issuecomment-77914615

.

Dave Guarino Engineer, Health (2013 Fellowship alumnus) Code for America http://www.codeforamerica.org/ dave@codeforamerica.org LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/daveguarino/ | GitHub https://github.com/daguar/

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub < https://github.com/codeforamerica/project-ideas/issues/66#issuecomment-77916784

.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/project-ideas/issues/66#issuecomment-77919950 .

fureigh commented 9 years ago

Thanks for the clarification, all! And @mathias-gibson, thanks for that PDF. And for the phrase "Lots of great info is stored on this pdf for some reason," which I'm now imagining framed at the CfA office.

I wish the reservation-by-phone system designed as an ADA accommodation could be leveraged with some Twilio transcription magic to yield the newest read-only phone-based API, but I strongly suspect it's a manual system. (The link bizarrely links to the same page, but it sounds like the "MAP Shelter Reservations Center" is the same system.)

Which begs the question, when a MAP reservation agent "go[es] offline to find an available shelter," how do they get information about shelter availability? Are they consulting an online system, calling around, or...?

mathias-gibson commented 9 years ago

Twilio is utilized by SF311 for notification of people on the 90 day shelter waitlist, but thanks to procurement hassles its coming off Andy Maimoni's (Deputy Director) personal credit card. Procurement!

On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 11:50 PM, Fureigh notifications@github.com wrote:

Thanks for the clarification, all! And @mathias-gibson https://github.com/mathias-gibson, thanks for that PDF. And for the phrase "Lots of great info is stored on this pdf for some reason," which I'm now imagining framed at the CfA office.

I wish the reservation-by-phone system designed as an ADA accommodation could be leveraged with some Twilio transcription magic to yield the newest read-only phone-based API, but I strongly suspect it's a manual system. (The link http://www.sf311.org/index.aspx?page=452#selectaresourcecenter bizarrely links to the same page, but it sounds like the "MAP Shelter Reservations Center" is the same system.)

Which begs the question, when a MAP reservation agent "go[es] offline to find an available shelter," how do they get information about shelter availability? Are they consulting an online system, calling around, or...?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/project-ideas/issues/66#issuecomment-78003988 .

RebeccaCoelius commented 9 years ago

@daguar want to be sure you see the Twilio bit above

On Tuesday, March 10, 2015, Mathias Gibson notifications@github.com wrote:

Twilio is utilized by SF311 for notification of people on the 90 day shelter waitlist, but thanks to procurement hassles its coming off Andy Maimoni's (Deputy Director) personal credit card. Procurement!

On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 11:50 PM, Fureigh <notifications@github.com javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','notifications@github.com');> wrote:

Thanks for the clarification, all! And @mathias-gibson https://github.com/mathias-gibson, thanks for that PDF. And for the phrase "Lots of great info is stored on this pdf for some reason," which I'm now imagining framed at the CfA office.

I wish the reservation-by-phone system designed as an ADA accommodation could be leveraged with some Twilio transcription magic to yield the newest read-only phone-based API, but I strongly suspect it's a manual system. (The link < http://www.sf311.org/index.aspx?page=452#selectaresourcecenter> bizarrely links to the same page, but it sounds like the "MAP Shelter Reservations Center" is the same system.)

Which begs the question, when a MAP reservation agent "go[es] offline to find an available shelter," how do they get information about shelter availability? Are they consulting an online system, calling around, or...?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub < https://github.com/codeforamerica/project-ideas/issues/66#issuecomment-78003988

.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/codeforamerica/project-ideas/issues/66#issuecomment-78156096 .

Rebecca Coelius, MD Director of Health Code for America 415 298 2872 LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccacoelius Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/RebeccaCoelius

fureigh commented 9 years ago

Eesh, procurement.

Unless someone has a personal connection, I think I'll call a MAP reservation agent and try to chat with them.

rcackermanCC commented 9 years ago

@lippytak Would it be worth it to have @fureigh talk to Bevan Dufty? He'd probably know a fair number of people at the shelters. (Apologies if y'all are already talking to him.)

fureigh commented 8 years ago

@jamiealbrecht, you mentioned someone reaching out to you with a similar need. Do you remember who that was?