Orange County Continuum of Care System for Ending Homelessness. Presentation by Joe Colletti, PhD Institute for Urban Initiatives

Transcription

1 Orange County Continuum of Care System for Ending Homelessness Presentation by Joe Colletti, PhD Institute for Urban Initiatives

2 Pre-1995: Background Information Concerning HUD Funding Non-profit agencies submitted grant applications directly to HUD; Multiple grant applications were submitted from the same jurisdiction; Grant applications were scored individually and awarded individually.

3 Background Information Concerning HUD Funding 1995: HUD introduced the Homeless Continuum of Care System; Only one bundled application was submitted by a jurisdiction; Grant application was scored collectively and awarded collectively.

4 Background Information Concerning HUD Funding The grant application consisted of two (2) parts: 1. Exhibit 2 included all the project applications which were not individually scored All project applications received 40 points if they demonstrated need and passed threshold review which consisted of things like applying for an eligible CoC component and an eligible homeless subpopulation.

5 Background Information Concerning HUD Funding 2. Exhibit 1 received up to 60 points based on a coordinated continuum of care system which has evolved into the following: HMIS participation (86% for maximum HMIS points); Leveraging (150% of total grant request); 10-year plan implementation and best practices;

6 Background Information Concerning HUD Funding Performance measurements At least 65% of persons exiting transitional housing should be obtaining permanent housing; At least 80% of persons in permanent supportive housing should be staying six (6) months or more; At least 20% of persons exiting transitional housing should be employed at exit.

7 Background Information Concerning HUD Funding Decrease in total number of homeless persons; Decrease in the total number of chronically homeless households; Decrease in the number of homeless families.

8 Background Information Concerning HUD Funding NOTE: HUD no longer assigns 40 points to Exhibit 2 which is now referred to project applications and assigned 130 points to Exhibit 1 which is now referred to as the CoC application.

9 Background Information Concerning HUD Funding Today: Some homeless service providers may not know enough about how their programs should fit within the OC Continuum of Care System As a result providers are able to end homelessness for many of the persons that they serve but are unable to end homelessness in Orange County

10 Background Information Concerning HUD Funding CoC decision-makers are making decisions primarily about the CoC as a whole, whereas homeless service providers are making decisions primarily about their individual programs As a result, there may be a disconnect between CoC decision-makers and CoC service providers

11 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness Objective 10: Retool the Homeless Crisis Response System and rapidly return people who experience homelessness to stable housing Strategy: Encourage communities to transform transitional housing programs to permanent supportive housing or transition-in-place models where appropriate

12 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding Recent HUD Communication (see handout) it is time for CoCs to look at transitional housing programs with a critical eye look at recent research, review each program s eligibility criteria, analyze outcomes and occupancy rates, and make sure the services offered (and paid for) actually match the needs of people experiencing homelessness within the CoC.

13 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding Rapid Rehousing (paragraph 5) Housing First (paragraph 6) families and individuals who need more assistance than rapid re-housing offers but who do not qualify for permanent supportive housing (paragraph 7)

14 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding In FY 2013 CoCs may only use reallocation to create new permanent supportive housing projects that serve the chronically homeless or, for CoCs that are able to demonstrate that chronic homelessness will be adequately addressed through other resources, including other reallocated projects, to create new rapid re-housing projects for families.

15 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding What is Reallocation? means shifting funds from an expiring SHP renewal grant to a new project; must happen during the HUD CoC Homeless Assistance application process; CoCs are prohibited from reallocating administration costs to create new projects.

16 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding Reallocation Considerations for TH CoCs should reallocate TH projects that are underperforming, obsolete, or ineffective. In other words, if the CoC maintains any HUD-funded TH programs, they should be performing well. CoCs should seriously consider reallocating TH programs that serve families

17 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding TH projects that do not serve homeless youth, domestic violence survivors, and homeless populations with substance abuse issues. TH projects that do serve homeless youth, domestic violence survivors, and homeless populations with substance abuse issues.

18 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding Repurposing Considerations for TH TH projects that do serve homeless youth, domestic violence survivors, and homeless populations with substance abuse issues should consider repurposing in order to ensure that they perform well. means modifying an existing program model to increase capacity and effectiveness; requires an amendment to grant agreement; can be completed anytime during the year.

19 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding Reallocation Considerations for Supportive Services Only Projects The FY 2013 CoC Application will contain questions to determine the extent to which CoCs are making progress in implementing a coordinated assessment system A Coordinated Assessment System is a requirement under the CoC Program interim rule and it does not look like SSO projects can be reallocated to a Coordinated Assessment System like last year.

20 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding Recent HUD Communication (see handout) Coordinated assessment is a powerful tool designed to ensure that homeless persons are matched with the right intervention, among all of the interventions available in the CoC, as quickly as possible (in paragraph 2). It standardizes the access and assessment process for all clients and coordinates referrals across all providers in the CoC (in paragraph 2).

21 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding When providers intake and assess clients using the same process, and when referrals are conducted with an understanding of all programs, including their offered services and bed availability, participants can be served with the most appropriate intervention and not with a first come, first served approach (in paragraph 2).

22 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding Reallocation Considerations for SSOs CoCs should reallocate SSO projects that are underperforming, obsolete, or ineffective. In other words, if the CoC maintains any HUDfunded SSO programs, they should be performing well.

23 Options Concerning Reallocating and Repurposing HUD Funding In FY 2013 CoCs may only use reallocation to create new permanent supportive housing projects that serve the chronically homeless or, for CoCs that are able to demonstrate that that chronic homelessness will be adequately addressed through other resources, including other reallocated projects, to create new rapid re-housing projects for families.

24 Tier 1 and Tier 2 Process HUD will continue the Tier 1 and Tier 2 funding process; Tier 1 is equal to the CoC's Annual Renewal Demand (ARD) amount approved in Registration, less the national percentage funding cut which will be identified in the NOFA; Tier 2 is the amount of the funding cut.

25 Tier 1 and Tier 2 Process Each CoC is encouraged to conduct a comprehensive analysis of its existing projects to determine the extent to which each project addresses the CoC goals; CoCs may choose to eliminate or reduce one or more projects to create one or more reallocated projects.

26 Tier 1 and Tier 2 Process The amount eliminated or reduced for the purposes of reallocation will be retained by the CoC, provided that the new proposed project(s) meets eligibility and quality thresholds established by HUD in order to be conditionally selected for funding. The selection criteria will be described in the FY 2013 CoC Program Competition NOFA.

27 Summary CoCs need to look at recent research, review each program s eligibility criteria, analyze outcomes and occupancy rates, and make sure the services offered (and paid for) actually match the needs of people experiencing homelessness within the CoC.

28 Summary CoC decision-makers need to make decisions about the CoC as an entire system of care bearing in mind the evidence-based and best practices that have resulted in unprecedented decreases in homelessness that include:

29 Summary Housing First instead of a housing-ready approach for persons with high barriers such as chronically homeless individuals and families; Rapid Re-Housing for households especially families with low barriers Temporary housing for the in-betweeners as noted on the next slide.

30 Summary We know that there are families and individuals who need more assistance than rapid re-housing offers but who do not qualify for permanent supportive housing. Transitional housing should be reserved for those populations that most need that type of intervention-- programs that serve domestic violence survivors and youth and those that provide substance abuse treatment come to mind first--rather than being used either as a holding pattern for those that really need permanent supportive housing or those that need less intensive interventions.

31 Summary CoC needs to look at each renewal and see if it fits within the goals and expected outcomes set by the CoC; HUD awards renewals based upon how they relate to the overall performance measurements of best practices submitted in the Continuum of care application (formerly known as Exhibit 1); CoCs are encouraged by HUD to do the same.