Housing and Rental Assistance Program (HRAP)

The International Rescue Committee, Inc. in Oakland (IRC) will provide housing assistance and related services to survivors of all forms of human trafficking, including foreign-born and domestic, sex and labor, male, female, and LGBTQ adult victims in San Francisco and Alameda counties.

The funding will enable IRC to create a housing and rental assistance program (HRAP) that will provide short-term housing support and assistance to each client for 6 to 12 months and enhance the housing services and supportive services available for victims of all forms of trafficking. The HRAP utilizes the core components of rapid rehousing: identifying flexible, appropriate housing options; providing rent, move in, and basic needs short-term assistance; and optional case management and supportive services. This program will provide short-term housing for 30 victims and their households.

Utilizing a housing first, rapid rehousing model, funding will allow IRC to help victims of human trafficking move toward safety and security through short-term housing and optional case management and follow-up services. Victims will have access to essential services that both promote wellbeing and support engagement in the program. Supportive services will include but are not limited to: basic needs and sustenance, employment support services, job training, mental health, medical care, legal services, and community integration.

Over the project period IRC will also hold 21 trainings for local partners and service providers to aid with victim identification and referral, reaching 350 individuals. IRC will develop five new partnerships, join one to two homeless prevention coalitions to expand housing options and services available to clients, and conduct eight meetings per year with new landlords and five meetings per year for landlords with which the IRC has previously established relationships. Through these collaborations and partnerships, IRC will ensure trafficking victims in the service areas are properly identified and referred to appropriate housing and support services.