coalition on homelessness and housing in ohio cohhio

Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio

COHHIO

Rural Convening:Program Change

Matt White, Abt [email protected]

(301) 634-1827www.hudhre.info

Rural Convening Purpose & Outline To provide homeless assistance

providers in rural Ohio with strategies for implementing new homeless assistance models:– Considering new program approaches

Prevention Rapid Re-housing

– Measuring program change

Goals for Program Change:

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?

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– 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.


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.


3. Provide minimum assistance for shortest time period

– “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?


4. Maximize community resources

– Mainstream resources should be the foundation of assistance system

– Don’t duplicate services already provided by mainstream agencies


5. The right resources to the right people at the right time

– 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

Why do people become homeless?– Poverty– One-time financial set back– Household dispute– Release from institution with no resources to

re-integrate 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 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

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

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

Targeting – what subset of the eligible population will you specifically target?– A particular subpopulation (DV, Vets,

youth)– A specific geographic area


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


Services – To create or to refer– Family mediation– Legal services– Credit repair– Mental health treatment

Prevention services do not cure poverty, stabilize mental health or improve parenting.


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


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 Assessment1. How urgent is crisis?2. What is crisis and goal of

intervention?3. Does client meet eligibility criteria?4. 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?


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


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 assistance2. 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.


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.


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 Re-Housing (HPRP) Notice, March 19, 2009).


1. The individual or family is currently homeless.

2. The household is assisted to obtain permanent housing as quickly as possible.

3. The household is not able to rapidly find permanent housing without assistance.

4. Assistance is temporary.5. Assistance may be needed to retain

permanent housing.

Rapid Re-housing Design Principles

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 - #1Family loses own housing

Calls public shelter

Enters public shelter

Doubles up with friends or relatives

Finds a motel

Calls private shelter

Enters private shelter

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

Doubles up with friends or relatives

Housing search

Diverted with referral to prevention and stabilization services

Rapid Re-housing team assesses housing barriers

Re-Housing Advocate works with family to locate and secure housing, including financial assistance. Family Moves

into housing

Re-Housing Advocate helps family stabilize

Rapid Re-Housing Design Exercise

Shelter-Based vs. Freestanding Rapid Re-housing Programs 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

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

non-renewal of lease Housing History – landlord

references Credit History


Housing Retention Barriers:History of… Non-payment of rent Unauthorized tenant in apartment Alleged drug trafficking Frequent conflict with neighbors

and landlords


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


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


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.


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

Rapid Re-Housing Program Design: Financial Assistance Housing start-up costs Rental assistance Utility assistance Moving costs

Rapid Re-Housing Program Design: Landlord RecruitmentBenefits 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 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

Local Service Provider

1. Program Level APR or Other Performance Measurement Tool

CoC

2. CoC/System LevelCoC Application or Other Performance Measurement

Tool

3. State Level State-Specific Performance Measurement Tool

4. National Level GRPA and PART Reviews

Purpose of System Measurement

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?

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

ActivitiesOutreachShelters

Case ManagementRent Subsidies &

Services

Outputs# Clients Served by Program

Service LinkagesNew PSH Units/Subsidies

Vacancy Statistics

Outcomes30% exited to PH

40% increased income

25% reduction in CH25% shorter LOS

< recidivism

How do we

document our

efforts?

What did our efforts achieve?

Inputs

$ (CoC and Other)Programs

InfrastructureStaff

Should we adjust how

we spend our resources?

Should we add or change

use of resources to expand our

impact?

Framework for Converting Program Goals into Outcomes

Who is the base for measuring

results?

Step 1

What do you hope to achieve

with this population?

Step 2

Within the base, how many persons achieved it?

Step 3

Who is the base population for measuring results?

Within the base, how many persons achieved it?

Step 4

Outcome (%)

Converting Program Goals into Outcomes: Example

Program Goal: Exiting clients into “stable” housing

Persons who exited during the past year

(N= 40)

Step 1

Obtain stable housing

Step 2

10 persons obtained stable housing

Step 3

40

10

Step 4

25% obtainedstable housing at exit

Look Out for Ambiguous Concepts

For example, what do we mean by…

Developing and measuring performance outcomes often invites ambiguous concepts into the process.

…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 * Social Security Number Non-Cash Benefits *

Date of Birth Physical Disability Ethnicity & Race Developmental Disability Gender HIV/AIDS

Veteran Status Mental Health Disabling Condition Substance Abuse Residency Prior to Entry Domestic Violence

Zip Code of Last Permanent Add Services Received Entry Date Destination Exit Date Reasons for Leaving

Person, Program, & HH ID

*Collected at entry and exit

Wherever Possible Use HMIS to Define Your Concepts

Emergency shelter Apartment or house that you own

Based on the Destination HMIS data element, we can define stable housing (narrowly) using the following response categories:

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

Staying/living with family

Hotel or motel voucher paid for without ES voucher

Place not meant for human habitation

Other Refused

Group ExerciseEmployment 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 -- Unemployed --

4 7/7/07 9/18/07 Employed Same Employment

5 8/2/06 5/12/07 Employed Higher Paying Job


Define the Base Population for Each Goal

Client ID

Entry Date

Exit Date

Employment Entry

Employment Exit


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


Goal 1: Achieve employment at exit

Goal 2: Retain employment at exit

Calculate the Outcome for Goal 1

All unemployed persons at entry who

exited (N= 3)

Step 1

Achieve employment

Step 2

2 persons achieved employment

Step 3

3

2

Step 4

67% achieved employment

Program Goal 1: Obtain Employment at Exit

Calculate the Outcome for Goal 2

Persons who were employed at entry and exited (N= 2)

Step 1

Improve employment

Step 2

1 person increased earnings

Step 3

2

1

Step 4

50% gained betteremployment

Program Goal 2: Improved Employment at Exit

Program Performance Cycle

Inputs

Money: $250,000Staff: 4 FTEs

1 Facility

ActivitiesJob Training ClassesInterview Assistance

Job Placement Services

Outputs6 enrolled in

weekly services6 employment

assessmentsReferred to av. 4

jobs each

Outcomes67% achieved empl.50% improved empl.

coalition on homelessness and housing in ohio cohhio

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