The needs of individuals and families for affordable, temporary and emergency housing is significant. In 2006 and 2007, over 50% of Field Services direct service dollar allocations went to support the immediate housing needs of families to prevent displacement, re-incarceration, child custody and a negative impact on the overall health and well being of families. Direct service dollars prevented many families from becoming homeless and requiring more intense and costly intervention from AHS. Additionally, Field Services is developing General Assistance (GA) pilot projects to test innovations that mitigate poverty and serve applicants more effectively than currently served with the same amount of General Assistance funds. In 2008, AHS introduced the HousingNow Initiative, a project to prevent the loss of housing and alleviate homelessness by coordinating services and support for tenants and landlords, and by creating community teams to address long term housing solutions.