Transcript Part 11 CoC Plan - Coalition On Homelessness and Housing

Coalition on Homelessness and
Housing in Ohio
COHHIO
Rural Convening:
Program Change
Matt White, Abt Associates
[email protected]
(301) 634-1827
www.hudhre.info
Rural Convening
Purpose & Outline
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To provide homeless assistance
providers in rural Ohio with strategies
for implementing new homeless
assistance models:
– Considering new program approaches
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Prevention
Rapid Re-housing
– Measuring program change
Goals for Program Change:
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Divert people from shelter
Assist people to maintain existing housing, if
appropriate
Reduce the length of stay in shelter
Increase the number of people exiting shelter to
stable housing
Others?
What are the major barriers or
challenges?
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Resources/funding
Lack of safe, decent, affordable housing
Distribution of programs and services across
a broad geographic area
Rural issues aren’t addressed by today’s
program models
Lack of reliable transportation systems
Others?...
Homelessness Prevention
Approaches to Program Design
and Operations
Homelessness Prevention
Principles
1. Crisis Resolution
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rapid assessment and triaging;
instant focus on personal safety as the first
priority;
de-escalation of the person’s emotional
reaction;
definite action steps the individual can
successfully achieve;
assistance with actions the individual is
temporarily unable or unwilling to attempt;
returning the person to control over their own
problem-solving.
Homelessness Prevention
Principles
2. Client Choice, Respect, &
Empowerment
– help people in crisis regain a sense of
control and feeling of empowerment;
– focus on the client’s goals, choices, and
preferences, and ideas;
– promote respect for their strengths;
and,
– hold accountable for the natural
consequences of their actions.
Homelessness Prevention
Principles
3. Provide minimum assistance for
shortest time period
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“let go” as soon as the person has the
resources, knowledge and tools to continue
their lives;
Provide “just enough” to prevent homelessness
enables a program to help far more people in
crisis;
Will provision of non essential assistance to
one client cost someone else in the community
their housing?
Homelessness Prevention
Principles
4. Maximize community resources
– Mainstream resources should be the
foundation of assistance system
– Don’t duplicate services already
provided by mainstream agencies
Homelessness Prevention
Principles
5. The right resources to the right
people at the right time
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The earlier the intervention, the lower the
cost;
Research shows most current homeless
prevention programs serve clients who would
not have become homeless;
Good prevention programs strive to target
people who have the highest risk of becoming
homeless but who also have a good chance of
remaining housed if they receive assistance
Understanding Homelessness: …the
nature of Prevention assistance
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Why do people become homeless?
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Poverty
One-time financial set back
Household dispute
Release from institution with no resources to reintegrate
Individual causes of homelessness vary, but
the result is the same: without money for
the rent or help to mend the relationship or
assimilate or stabilize, housing is lost
Understanding Homelessness:
…the route to homelessness
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Shelter is rarely the first step in seeking help
– Most people turn to their existing safety net when in crisis
(family, friends, church, community)
– When safety net is unavailable or exhausted, loss of
housing is result
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You can predict which households in crisis will
become homeless by estimating the strength of
their finances and support network and then
estimating how soon those resources will be
exhausted
Prevention as a local issue
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What are the local causes of housing
loss?
Who are the at-risk populations in
your community?
What are local barriers to securing
housing?
– Criminal history
– Poor rental history
– Poor credit history
– Low income
Prevention Program Design
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Targeting – what subset of the
eligible population will you specifically
target?
– A particular subpopulation (DV, Vets,
youth)
– A specific geographic area
Prevention Program Design
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Program Depth and Breadth –
short-term intervention versus a
longer level of involvement
– Smaller subsidy allows you to serve more
clients
– Larger subsidy allows you to serve clients
with greater needs
Prevention Program Design
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Services – To create or to refer
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Family mediation
Legal services
Credit repair
Mental health treatment
Prevention services do not cure poverty,
stabilize mental health or improve
parenting.
Prevention Program Design
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Staffing - generalist staff who can
assess a variety of situations and
creatively intervene in all
– Negotiate with landlords
– Assess and verify financial need of clients
– Engage and build rapport with clients
– Cultural competency
Prevention Program Design

When to let go – outcomes and
closing a case
– Goals and intended outcomes of the
program dictate when to exit clients
– Exit when immediate crisis is resolved
and provide linkages to other ongoing
stabilization services
Prevention Operations

Screening and Assessment
1.
2.
3.
4.
How urgent is crisis?
What is crisis and goal of intervention?
Does client meet eligibility criteria?
What is the immediate response needed
to preserve housing or relocate the
household?
5. What info is needed to assign priority or
approve assistance amount?
Prevention Operations
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Developing a Household Housing
Plan
Level 1 - one-time financial
assistance/negotiation will be sufficient to
resolve crisis
Level 2 - short-term financial assistance is
necessary to maintain housing.
Level 3 – household must relocate to different
housing
Prevention Operations
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Rules and Program Guidelines
– Specify what the program expects of the
client
– Specify what staff will do if expectations
not met
– Provide due process for clients including a
policy of clients’ rights
Prevention Exercise
Prevention Goals:
1. Identify clients that will be homeless
“but for” your assistance
2. Of the population of eligible clients,
determine those who you will serve?
Rapid Re-housing
Approaches to Program Design
and Operations
Rapid Re-housing Principles
Rapid Re-Housing is simply another approach
to Housing First – homelessness is ended,
directly and immediately, through housing. All
persons are seen as “housing ready”, albeit
with varying levels of assistance needed to
obtain housing quickly. Any information and
skills the individual may need to successfully
maintain housing is acquired after they move
into permanent housing.
Rapid Re-housing Principles
The goal of Rapid Re-Housing is to help
homeless families and individuals obtain
permanent housing and stabilize relatively
quickly—in months rather than years.
Most rapid re-housing households do not need
permanent supports to remain in housing.
Rapid Re-housing Principles
HUD Definition:
Rapid Re-Housing is for “individuals and
families who are experiencing
homelessness (residing in emergency or
transitional shelters or on the street) and
need temporary assistance in order to
obtain housing and retain it” (HUD
Homelessness Prevention and Rapid ReHousing (HPRP) Notice, March 19, 2009).
Rapid Re-housing Principles
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The individual or family is currently
homeless.
The household is assisted to obtain
permanent housing as quickly as possible.
The household is not able to rapidly find
permanent housing without assistance.
Assistance is temporary.
Assistance may be needed to retain
permanent housing.
Rapid Re-housing Design Principles
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People move directly from homelessness to housing. There
are no intermediate programs to prepare them for housing.
The key to successful re-housing is understanding the
individual’s barriers and finding ways to eliminate or
compensate for those barriers.
Rapid Re-Housing provides the minimal amount of
assistance—amount and length—needed to obtain and retain
housing.
Households are empowered to make their own choices and to
respond to the consequences of those decisions.
The focus is housing; household problems that are not directly
related to housing are addressed only if and when the client
chooses.
Mainstream resources are a critical part of stability for
everyone living in a community.
Landlords are a Re-Housing program’s most valued resource.
Map the Path from
Homelessness to Housing - #1
Family loses own housing
Calls public
shelter
Calls private shelter
Finds a motel
Enters private
shelter
Enters public
shelter
Doubles up with friends
or relatives
Self-directed
Housing
Family Moves
into housing
Map the Path from
Homelessness to Housing - #2
Family loses
own housing
Calls central
intake for
homeless
services
Enters public
or private
shelter
Rapid Re-housing team
assesses housing
barriers
Doubles up with friends
or relatives
Housing
search
Diverted with referral
to prevention and
stabilization services
Re-Housing Advocate works
with family to locate and
secure housing, including
financial assistance.
Re-Housing Advocate
helps family stabilize
Family Moves
into housing
Rapid Re-Housing Design
Exercise
Shelter-Based vs. Freestanding
Rapid Re-housing Programs
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Shelter-Based – shelter operates their
own rapid re-housing program for
their own clients
Freestanding – program not attached
to a shelter; must develop
relationships with all shelters in
community
Rapid Re-Housing Program Design:
Screening and Assessment
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Screening determines program
eligibility
Assessment determines barriers to
obtaining and retaining housing
Rapid Re-Housing Program
Design: Assessment
Barriers to Obtaining Housing:
 Criminal History
 Housing History – eviction and nonrenewal of lease
 Housing History – landlord references
 Credit History
Rapid Re-Housing Program
Design: Assessment
Housing Retention Barriers:
History of…
 Non-payment of rent
 Unauthorized tenant in apartment
 Alleged drug trafficking
 Frequent conflict with neighbors and
landlords
Rapid Re-Housing Program
Design: Assessment
Using barrier information…
 Should program accept household for
rapid re-housing?
 How difficult will it be to find a
landlord who will rent to the tenant?
 Assessment info helps to focus the
client’s housing plan
Rapid Re-Housing Program
Design: Assessment
Level 1 - The household will need minimal
assistance to obtain and retain housing.
 Financial assistance for housing start-up
(e.g. first month’s rent, security deposit,
utility deposit)
 Initial consultation related to housing search
(e.g. where to find rental information, how
to complete housing applications)
 Time-limited rental assistance – up to 3
mos.
 May have limited home visits
Rapid Re-Housing Program
Design: Assessment
Level 2 - The household will need routine
assistance to obtain and retain housing
 Financial assistance for housing start-up
 Time-limited rental assistance
 Initial consultation and ongoing assistance with
housing search, including bus tokens as needed
 Weekly home visits for first two months; then
reduce to bi-weekly or monthly as most Housing
Plan goals are met.
 Services available for up to 6 months, depending on
housing problems and progress toward Housing
Plan goals.
Rapid Re-Housing Program
Design: Assessment
Level 3 - The household will need more
intensive and/or longer
assistance to obtain and retain
housing – up to 9 mos.
Level 4 – up to 12 mos.
Level 5 – may need PSH
Rapid Re-Housing Program
Design: Housing Plan
Housing Plan is primarily designed to
minimize or compensate for Retention
Barriers.
– Use of Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix to
develop a Housing Plan
Income
 Family Relations
 Employment
 Mobility
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Rapid Re-Housing Program
Design: Financial Assistance
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Housing start-up costs
Rental assistance
Utility assistance
Moving costs
Rapid Re-Housing Program
Design: Landlord Recruitment
Benefits for landlords:
 Eliminate advertising costs
 Clients have access to time-limited
subsidy
 Guaranteed rent payments
 Clients attached to needed services
 Neutral party for mediation
Rapid Re-Housing Program
Design: Housing Stabilization
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Education, Employment, Training
Healthcare access
Mental health resources
Chemical dependency treatment
Legal services
Budgeting and credit repair
Measuring Program
Performance
What is Performance
Measurement?
Performance measurement is a
process that systematically
evaluates whether your efforts are
making an impact on the clients
you are serving.
Multiple Levels of Performance
Measurement
1. Program Level
Local Service
Provider
CoC
2. CoC/System Level
3. State Level
4. National Level
APR or Other Performance
Measurement Tool
CoC Application or Other
Performance Measurement
Tool
State-Specific Performance
Measurement Tool
GRPA and PART Reviews
Purpose of System
Measurement
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Are your actions achieving your
intended goals?
– Does the program work?
– If yes, what makes it work?
– If no, what part doesn’t work, and how
do you fix it to make it work?
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Note that you may have goals that only relate to
certain types of clients or parts of the program
(e.g., different goals for severely disabled persons)
Performance Measurement
Process
Activities
Should we
adjust how
we spend our
resources?
Outreach
Shelters
Case Management
Rent Subsidies &
Services
How do
we
document
our
efforts?
Outputs
Inputs
# Clients Served by Program
Service Linkages
New PSH Units/Subsidies
Vacancy Statistics
$ (CoC and Other)
Programs
Infrastructure
Staff
Should we
add or change
use of
resources to
expand our
impact?
Outcomes
30% exited to PH
40% increased income
25% reduction in CH
25% shorter LOS
< recidivism
What did
our efforts
achieve?
Framework for Converting
Program Goals into Outcomes
Step 1
Step 2
Who is the base
for measuring
results?
What do you
hope to achieve
with this
population?
Step 3
Within the base, how
many persons
achieved it?
Step 4
Within the base, how many
persons achieved it?
Outcome (%)
Who is the base population for
measuring results?
Converting Program Goals into
Outcomes: Example
Program Goal: Exiting clients into “stable”
housing
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Persons who exited
during the past year
(N= 40)
Obtain stable
housing
10 persons obtained
stable housing
Step 4
10
40
25% obtained
stable housing at exit
Look Out for Ambiguous
Concepts
Developing and measuring performance outcomes
often invites ambiguous concepts into the process.
For example, what do we mean by…
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…obtaining stable housing?
…obtaining employment?
…increasing income?
…accessing services?
…becoming more self-sufficient?
Which data elements and responses will count?
HMIS Data Elements Are the
Building Blocks of Performance
Measurement
Universal Data Elements:
Program-Specific Data Elements:

Name

Income & Sources *
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Social Security Number
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Non-Cash Benefits *
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Date of Birth
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Physical Disability
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Ethnicity & Race
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Developmental Disability

Gender
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HIV/AIDS
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Veteran Status
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Mental Health
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Disabling Condition

Substance Abuse
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Residency Prior to Entry
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Domestic Violence
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Zip Code of Last Permanent Add
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Services Received
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Entry Date

Destination
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Exit Date

Reasons for Leaving

Person, Program, & HH ID
*Collected at entry and exit
Wherever Possible Use HMIS to
Define Your Concepts
Based on the Destination HMIS data element, we can
define stable housing (narrowly) using the following
response categories:
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Emergency shelter
Transitional housing
Permanent housing
Substance abuse facility
or detox center
Hospital
Jail, prison or juvenile
detention center
Room, apartment, or
house that you rent
Don’t Know
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Apartment or house
that you own
Staying/living with
family
Hotel or motel voucher
paid for without ES
voucher
Place not meant for
human habitation
Other
Refused
Group Exercise
Employment Program
The goals of the program are to help unemployed clients obtain
employment and help employed women get “better” jobs. During the
past year, the program served 6 (unduplicated) persons:
Client
ID
Entry
Date
Exit
Date
Employment
Entry
Employment
Exit
1
1/31/07
9/15/07
Unemployed
Employed
2
3/15/07
6/28/07
Unemployed
Unemployed
3
7/11/07
4
7/7/07
9/18/07
Employed
Same
Employment
5
8/2/06
5/12/07
Employed
Higher Paying
Job
6
11/7/06
8/2/07
Unemployed
Employed
--
Unemployed
--
Define the Base Population for Each
Goal 1: Achieve employment at exit
Goal
Goal 2: Retain employment at exit
Client
ID
Entry
Date
Exit
Date
Employment
Entry
Employment
Exit
1
1/31/07
9/15/07
Unemployed
Employed
2
3/15/07
6/28/07
Unemployed
Unemployed
3
7/11/07
--
Unemployed
4
7/7/07
9/18/07
Employed
Same
Employment
5
8/2/06
5/12/07
Employed
Higher Paying
Job
6
11/7/06
8/2/07
Unemployed
Employed
--
Calculate the Outcome for Goal 1
Program Goal 1: Obtain Employment at Exit
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
All unemployed
persons at entry who
exited (N= 3)
Achieve
employment
2 persons achieved
employment
Step 4
2
3
67% achieved
employment
Calculate the Outcome for Goal 2
Program Goal 2: Improved Employment at Exit
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Persons who were
employed at entry
and exited (N= 2)
Improve
employment
1 person increased
earnings
Step 4
1
2
50% gained better
employment
Program Performance Cycle
Activities
Job Training Classes
Interview Assistance
Job Placement
Services
Outputs
Inputs
6 enrolled in
weekly services
6 employment
assessments
Referred to av. 4
jobs each
Money: $250,000
Staff: 4 FTEs
1 Facility
Outcomes
67% achieved empl.
50% improved empl.