What is CATCH

Charitable Assistance To Community’s Homeless (CATCH) is a community-wide, collaborative effort designed to rapidly re-house homeless families with children, and support them for up to six months with rental assistance and intensive case management. CATCH represents an unprecedented public/private partnership between city, state, and federal governement, area congregations of faith, local businesses, and the United Way.

CATCH families are referred by local, emergency homeless shelters. Upon acceptance into the program, families are immediately moved into a housing unit (typically an apartment with a lease in their name) and provided basic household furnishings. If not already working, adults are given up to sixty days to find employment and are provided a wealth of community resources. The ultimate goal of CATCH is self sufficiency, and participants are expected to pay their own rent within six months. Approximately 86% of homeless families (since 2006) who enter CATCH are able to pay their own rent within six months.

Local businesses and congregations of faith agree to sponsor a participating family’s rent for up to six months. Leases are signed between the family and landlord, and typically range in market value between $500-$800 per month, depending on the size of the unit needed.

The City of Boise originally developed and implemented CATCH in November 2006. In November 2008, CATCH was honored by the National League of Cities and CH2MHill in Orlando, Florida with the prestigious Silver Award for Municipal Excellence. In August 2009, CATCH was successfully replicated by the City of Caldwell, and continues to receive inquiries from cities all over the country interested in implementing a similar approach to address family homelessness.

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