By CRAIG FREILICH

A Jefferson County agency that helps the homeless is taking ownership of three transitional housing facilities for 49 men and women in Canton and Ogdensburg and a 32-unit family housing development in Ogdensburg.

“They are in the process of being transferred to us at no cost as a result of the dissolution of the corporation that currently owns them, the Association for Neighborhood Rehabilitation based on Ogdensburg,” said Deputy Executive Officer of Transitional Living Services of Northern New York Maureen P. Caen.

“In a lot of ways they function very similarly to shelters,” she said.

If, for instance, a homeless single person seeks help from St. Lawrence County Social Services, “they will do an eligibility determination” to see if the person qualifies for help. “Social Services pays the rent if they don’t have other sources of income,” Caen said. Some occupants can pay all or part of their rent with Unemployment Insurance or other income.

Then “they pick up the phone and call us to see if we have an opening. Just this morning we had a single female” they were able to place in their single-room occupancy (SRO) facility at 627 Ford St. in Ogdensburg, which has nine beds for women.

The people TLS helps find themselves without housing for a variety of reasons, Caen said.

“The primary reason for homelessness across the complete continuum, in my opinion, is a lack of affordable housing and quality housing stock,” Caen said.

Rents are typically set above what many people can afford, she said.

People TLS helps might lay out “more than 30 percent of their income to pay for rent. Landlords are asking for money that people just don’t have.”

In addition to the housing for women in Ogdensburg, Transitional Living Services has other SROs in St. Lawrence County with 28 beds for males at 834 Ford St. Ogdensburg and 12 beds for males at 15 Commerce Lane, Canton. They are, as the organization’s name implies, short-term solutions. The average stay is about nine months.

Turnover at the SROs is usually pretty quick. “It’s unusual to have a waiting list,” Caen said. “Turnover can be a couple of days or a couple of weeks. That means it’s functioning optimally” as transitional housing.

Most people come to TLS through referrals, and most them through Social Services. Over a recent one-year period, Caen said, 72 percent of referrals were from Social Services, 11 percent from the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center and Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center’s mental health unit. Ten percent were self-referrals; 2 percent came from prison or jail and 1 percent from other justice sources such as courts, probation or parole authorities. The rest are referred by hotels or motels, drug rehabilitation centers, domestic abuse agencies and other sources.

During their stay, case managers will work with the men and women to help them figure out what they might need “to get them back on their feet and into permanent housing,” Caen said.

“Our primary goal is to teach a person how to be a good tenant,” she said.

Their case managers will work with clients to overcome “their inability to find a good-paying job, and other barriers, such as chronic and disabling disorders,” problems with drugs and mental health, “and not having acquired adequate independent living skills.”

These are disorders “that might prevent them from being a good tenant, and they can get into a cycle that can repeat itself,” Caen said.

The case management is supported by funding from the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance and other sources.

TLS also has 32 two-, three- or four-bedroom units for families at Gaslight Village in Ogdensburg which are permanent housing, not transitional.

“There is no expected length of stay” there, Caen said, as opposed to an expected maximum of 24 months at an SRO.

The case management for the families is less formal, but Caen said they are trying to increase the level of help with “a good chance” of more funding.