2019 MassHousing Annual Report - Flipbook - Page 24
The Hub in action
Bringing social services, law
enforcement together to aid the
most vulnerable in Jamaica Plain
MassHousing’s Keyla Jackson (pictured above) leads a
recent Hub meeting in Jamaica Plain in Boston where partners
meet to discuss people and situations in the community in
order to prevent crises.
On Tuesdays in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood,
MassHousing’s Keyla Jackson and Isaac Yablo lead a
meeting of local human services providers and law
enforcement. Though it might look routine, it is
thresholds at which progressive levels of information
sharing must occur while still respecting the person’s privacy.
anything but.
MassHousing first saw the success of the Hub model in
This is the weekly meeting of the JP Hub, which follows the
Chelsea and worked to persuade Boston Police and others
Hub + COR (Center of Responsibility) public safety model
to participate. In 2018, under Keyla’s leadership, the JP
first used in Scotland, then Canada, and now increasingly
Hub began its weekly meetings. So far, 81 situations have
in cities in Massachusetts and elsewhere in the nation.
come before the group.
At any given JP Hub meeting, between 10-18 people
representing human services providers, the courts and law
enforcement discuss situations involving individuals and
families who are struggling with complex issues that span
multiple service disciplines. These are people facing
immediate and compounding risks of an incident of harm.
For example, an undocumented single mother from
Guatemala and her three boys were experiencing food
insecurity. Hub members connected them with a small
food bank that distributes donations from Trader Joes.
A man in his 20s was struggling with chronic alcohol
abuse. After a visit and intervention from two Hub
members, he is now on the road to recovery. A woman
The Hub does not perform case management. Rather, its
in her 60s had been living in her car. Thanks to the work
purpose is to mitigate risk within 24-48 hours and connect
of the JP Hub, she is now in temporary housing.
individuals and families to services. The most prevalent
risk factors are mental health, substance abuse and
homelessness. To honor confidentiality, members introduce
new cases anonymously, using numbers, and then use the
22
Hub + COR method of ‘Four Filter Process’ to determine
We are proud to be leading this group, which is helping
to improve the lives of some of Boston’s most vulnerable
residents, with plans to expand into three additional
neighborhoods.