The Chautauqua County Homeless Coalition is one step closer to joining a program that could bring in additional resources to help the homeless in Chautauqua County.

A vote occurred at the most recent meeting of the Chautauqua County Homeless Coalition to decide on joining the New York Balance of State Continuum of Care, an effort that may improve the resources and reach of assistance that can be provided for the county. The decision comes as county officials learned that safety net spending in Chautauqua County is roughly $3.5 million more than was included in the 2025 county budget (see associated story on Page 1).

The Balance of State Continuum of Care was created by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in October 2018. The goal of the organization is to provide community plans and resources for communities to address the issue of homelessness. The organization currently covers nine counties: Cattaraugus, Clinton, Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Otsego, Putnam, Schoharie and Sullivan counties. Chautauqua County Homeless Coalition approval means the list is likely to expand to 10 counties.

Joining the Balance of State Continuum of Care is likely to provide better structure of management as well as oversight planning and submission applications in an attempt to help reduce homelessness rates on a larger scale, according to the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. One task of the Balance of State Continuum of Care will be designating a lead agency for, and performing continuous oversight of, a Homelessness Management Information System. This will likely allow for more effective data management and reduce the burden on the county. Homeless Management Information System data will be used for the county’s Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan, which reports on homelessness statistics for the county.

“There is so much support that we can get from the balance of state that, I think, is going to address a lot of what we are dealing with in our county right now,” said Amanda Straight, director of housing and community development at Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. “They work with the same population, they get the same or similar funding, and the more people that we have to work together to solve the issues with homelessness, I think the better off we will all be.”

The vote to join the balance of state passed during the meeting with no opposition, with Tony Taylor of Recovery Options and Director of Community Mental Hygiene Carmelo Hernandez not being in attendance but still sending votes in favor of joining the BoS.

“So the next step in this process is that we all take a deep breath and then we will bring this to the Chautauqua Opportunities board meeting,” Straight said.

Earlier this year, members of the Chautauqua County Homeless Coalition met virtually earlier this week, with part of the meeting including a comparison of 2022-23 statistics with 2023-24 numbers. The average length of stay in both emergency shelters and safe havens has notably increased, suggesting that individuals are facing prolonged hardships that prevent them from transitioning to more permanent housing solutions.

Amanda Straight, director of housing and community development at Chautauqua Opportunities Inc., said enrollment in emergency housing or safe haven shelters increased from 783 individuals in 2022-23 to 870 in 2023-24. The average bed night stay rose from 60.84 to 112.20, while the median length of stay increased from 37 to 77 during the same period.

For any further information contact Chautauqua Opportunities at (716) 366-3333.