‘Crisis,’ or ‘best practice?’ Why advocates are split on RI’s new homeless system

• Rhode Island replaced its single hotline for homeless services with seven regional hubs called Regional Access Points (RAPs).
• State officials say the new system is a “nationwide best practice” that has increased shelter enrollments.
• Advocates and volunteers argue the system is failing due to unanswered calls and a lack of available shelter beds.

Last year, the state made a major change in how it helps homeless people, or people at risk of becoming homeless, find housing.

Rather than using a single phone line for people to call, on Oct. 1, 2025, the state switched to “regional access points,” or seven hubs located throughout Rhode Island designed to be one-stop shops to connect at-risk people and families with shelter and supportive services.

Five months later, are the regional access points succeeding in their mission?

That depends on whom you ask.

Advocates say regional access points not working

The advocates and volunteers who worked in the Providence area during the bitterly cold winter to ferry unsheltered people to pop-up emergency shelters say no.

Nancy Krahe, a retired Providence teacher and advocate for the Rhode Island Housing First Coalition, is one of a handful of volunteers who placed calls to regional access points, or RAPs, over the last few months.

She and others documented calls going unanswered, messages remaining unreturned and various RAPs reporting that the beds in their communities were full. 

“You could have 15 people answering the phone. If there are no beds available, why are we funding a RAP?” Krahe said. “These people are giving up.”

State argues that regional access points are a best practice

The state, however, argues that RAPs are a “nationwide best practice” that serve as entry points to housing and other services, such as case management, mental health and substance-use treatment, as well as other supports.

“RAPs are structured as comprehensive, community-based service hubs that reduce system bottlenecks and improve responsiveness by offering a more accessible entry system for those experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness,” Emily Marshall, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Housing, said in an email. 

According to Marshall, “RAPs are structured as broad service hubs, better equipped to assess needs, provide referrals, and connect individuals to housing supports beyond emergency shelter, which helps individuals and families prevent homelessness before it begins,” she continued.

From October through December, shelter enrollments increased by approximately 38% from the prior year, “suggesting that more Rhode Islanders in need are successfully accessing shelter through this model,” she said.

Model relies on people physically visiting the access points

Still, Krahe and other volunteers grumble about unanswered calls and staff bouncing callers from one RAP to the next. What, they ask, if a person doesn’t have a phone or transportation to travel to a RAP? 

“The reality is, even if someone answered the phone, there’s no housing,” Paula Hudson, executive director of Better Lives Rhode Island. The response callers get is “full, full, full.”

Ideally, Marshall said, individuals should physically visit a RAP instead of placing a call.

“The emphasis is on building a stronger, person-centered connection that allows staff to fully understand someone’s situation and identify the most appropriate next steps, which may not always be shelter,” she said. 

She stressed that anyone in Rhode Island can seek assistance at any RAP location, and that they can access the state’s emergency shelter system by going directly to a shelter or by calling United Way’s 211 line.

“If someone is unable to travel to a site, RAP staff can coordinate with Street Outreach Teams to meet unsheltered individuals where they are, at a time and location that works for them,” she said.

She acknowledged that RAP phone lines are not staffed around the clock, but noted that they provide more hours than their predecessor, the single-line coordinated entry system that led to delays in people accessing shelter, she said.

How is the system working in Woonsocket?

At the RAP operated by Community Care Alliance in Woonsocket, messages seeking housing are forwarded by email to a handful of staff. The agency has seen 950 unique contacts since the system launched and makes “every effort” to call people back, said Michelle Taylor, vice president of social health services at Community Care Alliance.

According to Taylor, the problem with the system is that it exists in a state with a lack of affordable housing.

“There just isn’t enough housing to be had, affordable housing. The wait list is backed up. All of us are working as hard as we can,” Taylor said.

And as temperatures climb, winter shelters will close, making the situation even more dire, she said.

“There’s no more room at the inn. We can’t take anyone,” Taylor said, adding “We all have limits based on our facilities and our ability to meet the needs.” 

She noted, too, that the state does not have a RAP servicing the Warwick region.

How is the system working in Westerly?

The WARM Center in Westerly is caring for people as far off as West Warwick, said Amy Santiago, the organization’s regional access point navigator. A Journal reporter’s call to the line received a response within minutes, as did the call to Woonsocket.

Santiago and another staffer take the phone home with them at night and on weekends and respond to calls well into the evening, she said.

“There’s no one who doesn’t get a call back,” Santiago said. “I try to give them a dose of hope, but I can’t give shelter I do not have.”

She’s seen the needs climb during the housing crisis due to unscrupulous landlords, and others who are decent but simply can’t afford the taxes.

“We have more homeless families in this state than ever before,” she said.

Santiago tries to locate beds for callers wherever they may be in the state, she said. They transport people to shelters and hospitals if needed and try to travel to people who don’t have a phone to provide case management.

“We take them. We all have cars,” she said.

Newport Mental Health provides RAP services

The Newport Mental Health RAP is providing services, not only to Newport and Bristol County but to anyone who calls, according to David Boscia, chief clinical director.

Data shows that 98% of the calls to the line are answered and voicemails generally receive a response within 5½ minutes, he said. The agency also operates a 24-hour crisis line.

Partaja Spann, who manages the Newport RAP, said staffers first work with callers to see if there is someone they could stay with and, if not, can sometimes offer space at their warming center. They also have access to a list of available shelter beds and can arrange to secure one and pick up and transport an individual, regardless of the location, she said.

“From my standpoint, it’s a really positive change,” Boscia said. “I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it’s much easier.”

Where are Rhode Island’s RAPs?

The state has contracted with service providers to operate the RAPs. Here’s where, how much the contract is for, and a phone number, if available:

Community Care Alliance: $246,000

Crossroads: $1.2 million

Newport Mental Health: $210,000

OpenDoors: $113,000

Shower to Empower (House of Hope): $400,000

Sojourner House: $150,000  

WARM Center Inc.: $300,000

‘It’s a humanitarian crisis’

In the view of Harrison Tuttle, warming center coordinator for “Operation No One Dies” – a new effort by the Rhode Island State Council of Churches to provide beds for people in need – the RAPs aren’t working.

Volunteers reached out to various RAPs and were told “please don’t” refer people to shelters in their community, he said.

“They’re not working very well. … The state doesn’t have enough infrastructure,” Tuttle said. “There’s not enough beds.”

Tuttle would like to see all the stakeholders together in the same room “to develop a plan that meets the needs of the population.” 

“I just want people to be safe,” he said. “It’s a humanitarian crisis.”