1999 Best Practices
Success Stories

Program Name:	Alaska Community Team Training Institute on Homelessness (CTTIH)
Program Focus:	Homelessness
Geographic Area:	Northwest

State:	Alaska
City:	Anchorage

Executive Summary
Federal and local agencies partnered with citizens in Anchorage Alaska to empower the homeless population to identify their own needs, reduce homelessness and improve services to its population.

The Alaska Community Team Training Institute on Homeless (CTTIH) was developed through the collaboration of federal agencies to help five communities address the needs of homeless persons with multiple diagnoses, including chronic alcoholics with psychosis, the mentally ill, the elderly and Alzheimer patients.

Anchorage was one of the five communities selected, and the Northern Endeavor Team (NET) was established to develop a comprehensive plan to address the needs of its multiply diagnosed homeless population. NET is a partnership of 13 agencies.

NET trained and employed 15 multiply diagnosed homeless persons to design a survey that would help them accurately identify the services needed for their specific population. The Net Survey Project became locally known as "The Word from the Streets."

NET offered a two-day training that included basic communication, interpersonal and self-advocacy skills, as well as interviewing skills and information about the current services available in Anchorage. The goal was for the participants to each complete ten surveys.

All 15 individuals completed the training and 12 of them remained involved for the majority of the project. The interviewers received 112 completed surveys over the course of two months and collectively earned $1055.

A third party firm analyzed the responses to the survey. The entire survey and the analysis of the responses can be seen on the Internet at ww.csmgt.com/archiveframe.htm

NET also received a grant to develop a CD ROM presentation of the project results. A two-person team, a NET member and surveyor, presented the results to the different agencies, such as the Alaska State mental health board, the housing and neighborhood development Commission for Anchorage, and the Mental Health Authority.

Partners: Homeward Bound/Rural CAP, Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, UAA Center for Human Development, Municipality of Anchorage, Anchorage Police Department, Alaska AIDS Assistance Association, Covenant House, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, Anchorage Neighborhood Health Clinic, Anchorage Community Mental Health, Inc., Alaska Psychiatric Institute ,Municipality of Anchorage, and the Catholic Social Services.

Financing: Various Funding Sources.

Point of Contact: Hillary Morgan, Phone: (907) 279-7535