Devil is in the details

Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

An application for federal stimulus money finalized in May by local-government planners stated that the funding would be used to help prevent homelessness. The planners, representing Clark County, Henderson and North Las Vegas, requested $4.1 million.

Of that, $314,000 would be spent on upgrading a computer system shared by “upward of 15 agencies” that deliver services to people on the brink of homelessness. The upgrade would enable the agencies to better communicate with one another and with their clients, ending the “fragmentation” that had historically characterized their operations.

The rest of the money, the application stated, would be distributed by nonprofit agencies to people who need emergency help in paying their rent and utility bills.

Certainly the application satisfied the intent of the pot of stimulus money that had been set aside by Congress for homelessness prevention. It presented a plan that not only would provide direct help to financially desperate people, but that also would improve how services are delivered.

Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, helped advise Congress on the funding. She praised the Clark County-led plan, saying it “holds the promise of preventing a massive increase in homelessness.”

But as Las Vegas Sun reporter Timothy Pratt wrote in Monday’s paper, the application was strong on concept but weak on details. Over the past couple of months, the Clark County Commission has been bogged down while trying to iron out details such as the process for choosing the nonprofit agencies that would distribute the money.

Pratt reported that belatedly working out the details has delayed any distribution of the money until at least January, but there is urgent need right now. The commission will vote today on a plan to have the Clark County Social Service Department take the lead in getting the money where it is needed — a plan that should have been solidly in place before the application was even sent.