With time running out, the state has found an operator for Hawai'i's first around-the-clock emergency homeless shelter in Wai'anae.

U.S. Vets Hawaii, a service provider with years of experience, has agreed in principle to run the Wai'anae Civic Center, said Kaulana Park, the state's homeless solutions team coordinator.

However, the agreement comes too late to open the shelter by month's end as planned. The actual contract must be worked out before U.S. Vets Hawaii can start, and the opening has now been pushed back to early February, Park said yesterday.

That makes the third such delay at the facility since construction got under way last November.

While U.S. Vets has considerable experience in housing homeless veterans, it has no background with a broad-based homeless shelter that includes families and couples.

Darryl Vincent, U.S. Vets Hawaii site director, said the group doesn't look at this "as a U.S. Vets venture alone."

"We'll be the parent organization and provide the oversight," Vincent said. "But when it comes to the social service delivery we want to partner with Wai'anae community providers who deal with case management of homeless families."

Park said the state has confidence in U.S. Vets Hawaii.

"They do a great job of moving clients toward jobs and independence, which is perfectly in line with what we want to accomplish at this site," he said.

STARTED OUT IN 1993

Hundreds of homeless people are still living in tents on the beaches and in beach parks on the Wai'anae Coast, and the state has been rushing to get the emergency shelter open as quickly as possible. But finding an operator took longer than expected.

U.S. Vets, the largest nonprofit homeless veterans provider in the nation, began in 1993 and operates in nearly a dozen locations in Texas, California, Arizona and Washington, D.C., as well as Hawai'i.

Its Kalaeloa facility, begun in 2002, serves dozens of formerly homeless veterans.

Vincent said he is enthusiastic about the prospects of Hawai'i being the national organization's first foray into operating a full-time, comprehensive homeless shelter.

EXPANDED FOCUS

The company is a venture between the United States Veterans Initiative, a nonprofit organization, and Cloudbreak Development, a special-needs housing corporation. Its field of expertise has been to quickly usher homeless veterans into its shelters and programs.

"We can take a guy off the street that day and put him into housing and give him services immediately, without having to go through a lot of bureaucracy," Vincent said.

He acknowledged that running a homeless shelter for singles, couples and families is not the same as running one for homeless veterans alone.

"To be completely honest, we're still looking at that," he said. "We would like to mirror what we do at U.S. Vets Hawaii, but we know there are going to have to be some changes.

"For the individual who's ready to go back to work and has issues, we're able to mirror exactly what we do at our Kalaeloa facility. Where we have families with a different dynamic and mitigating circumstances, we have to take another look at it."

For example, Vincent said U.S. Vets has a zero-tolerance policy with regard to drugs. Urinalysis tests are given once a week. For a shelter with families and couples as well as singles, that policy might be too rigid and may require modification, he said.

He said the national organization will be paying close attention to Hawai'i's shelter operation. He said a U.S. Vets corporate executive will fly in next week to learn more about the plan.

He said a site director and operations staff for the shelter will be hired in addition to selecting the local service provider teams. No personnel from the Kalaeloa facility will be moving to the Wai'anae shelter.

FAMILIES WITH KIDS

Vincent said none of the community service providers has yet been selected.

Vincent himself is a veteran in the homeless field, with a total of 14 years experience at U.S. Vets Hawaii, Habilitat and the Institute for Human Services.

Park said sticking points in negotiations between U.S. Vets Hawaii and the state were funding and staffing requirements. He said U.S. Vets would decide the specifics of how the facility will function. But he said some state-funded services — such as life skills training, on-site medical services, case management and counseling — will be expected.

"The shelter will mostly target families with children," he said. "U.S. Vets' main focus will be to provide the basic needs for people coming off the beaches."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.