HEADING HOME: MINNESOTA’S PLAN TO PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS
Cathy ten BroekeState Director
Minnesota Office to Prevent and End Homelessness
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless Annual ConferenceSeptember 15, 2014
Our VisionHousing Stability for All Minnesotans
• Prevent and End Homelessness for Families with Children and Unaccompanied Youth by 2020
• Finish the Job of Ending Homelessness for Veterans and for People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness by 2015
Heading Home:
Minnesota’s Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
www.headinghomeminnesota.org
12 Priority Focus Areas23 strategies
100 specific action items
Amy StetzelProject Manager
Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless Annual ConferenceSeptember 15, 2014
HEADING HOME MINNESOTAPROJECT MANAGEMENT UPDATE
50%: Work is well under-way and moving ahead
18%: Work has started, but is slow
10%: Action is com-plete
22%: Work has not started due to action not being due
Heading Home: Minnesota's Plan to Prevent and End HomelessnessProject Management Update for all Actions in the Plan
12 Goals, 100 Actions, 11 Agencies, 80 staffWork is completed or started on 78% of all actions in the Plan
Work is completed or started on 100% of the actions due in 2014
(55 Actions are due in 2014)18% (10) actions are completed55% (30) actions have work well underway and are moving ahead27% (15) actions have work started, but are moving slowly
Work has begun on 43% of the actions due in 2015(28 Actions are due in 2015)
43% (12) actions have work well underway and are moving ahead57% (16) work has not begun due to action not being due
Work has begun on 50% of the actions due in 2016(4 Actions are due in 2016)
50% (2) actions have work well underway and are moving ahead
Work has begun on 69% of the Ongoing Actions in the Plan(13 Actions are ongoing)
69% (9) actions have work well underway and are moving ahead
** Mapping the work of 3 other major state initiatives - Olmstead, Health Eq-uity Initiative and the Children's Cabinet** Incorporating and coordinating the work of 5 Federal grants into the work of the plan
MINNESOTA’S PATH TOEND VETERAN HOMELESSNESS
Eric I. GrumdahlSpecial Advisor on Ending Veteran Homelessness
Minnesota Office to Prevent and End Homelessness
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless Annual ConferenceSeptember 15, 2014
HEADING HOME: Minnesota’s Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
BECAUSE WE ARE POISED TO END VETERANS HOMELESSNESS IN THIS STATE…
• We will aggressively focus on finishing the job by ending homelessness for Veterans on a Veteran-by-Veteran basis. Collaboration between the VA and other homeless service providers will ensure that each Veteran experiencing homelessness has the tools they need to become stably housed.
• FOR VETERANS, ending homelessness means there are fewer than 100 Veterans experiencing homelessness in Minnesota, or that Veterans make up no more than 1% of the total homeless population, whichever is less.
Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness
• Launched by First Lady Michelle Obama on June 4, 2014
• Over 200 Mayors, County Executives, and Governors participating to date
• Intended to create opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and marshal local efforts linked to Federal resources
• Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton and seven Minnesota Mayors have joined
Minnesota’s Path to End Veteran Homelessness
1/2009 1/2010 1/2011 1/2012 1/2013 1/2014 1/2015 1/20160
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
499
596
449
309
369
317
Progress based on annual Point-in-Time count of Veterans experiencing homelessness
Actuals Linear trend Path to Zero
3.3xacceleration
47%reduction
Chronic and gender distribution for Veterans experiencing homelessness in Minnesota
Wilder Survey 2012
Key data points on Veteran homelessness
AmericanIndian
AsianAmerican
Black/AfricanAmerican
White/Caucasian
Other/Multiple
Hispanic(any race)
0
20
40
60
80
100
101
37 39
5 71 4 5
86
3 4
Racial disparities in Minnesota homeless population, 2012
% Homeless % Population
Aging Cohort of Veterans Experiencing Homelessness (National)
93
7
Men Women
4654
Chronic Others
Registry + Regional Strategies = Acceleration
CVSO, outreach worker, shelter, etc.
identifies a homeless Veteran
Veteran is invited to join the Registry and
sign a release of information
Identifying entity calls or faxes LinkVet with anonymous record
data
Identifying entity calls or faxes LinkVet with known information for
Registry entry
No
Yes
Subsequent outreach may yield willingness of the Veteran to add
identifying data
LinkVet updates Registry with new
information
Outreach andidentification
flow
Case management
flow
Identifying entity calls or faxes LinkVet to
update existing record with
identifying data
Regional team meets to assign
unassigned Veterans and
troubleshoot cases
Updates to Registry from team meeting
are conveyed to LinkVet
Veteran Registry
Datasystem
flowRegional lists are
regularly run against key data systems
(HMIS, HOMES, etc.) to capture housing
status changes
Housing status changes identified since last run are
conveyed to LinkVet
Regional list
Field name Field descriptionREGISTRY_ID Unique record ID for each rowREGION_ID Unique identifier for the region in which the Veteran is identified. Used for filtering
the lists shared with regional teams.ROI_EXPIRATION Date the Release of Information signed by the client expires.FIRST_NAME First name (if known)MIDDLE_NAME Middle name(s) (if known)LAST_NAME Last name(s) (if known)ALIASES Common delimited list of any known aliases used by the VeteranANONYMOUS_ID An anonymous ID established for any Veterans who opt not to sign a release of
information form, based on outreach worker’s name and date of encounter.BIRTH_DATE Veteran's date of birth, the the extent knownLAST4_SSN Last four digits of the Veteran's Social Security NumberBEST_CONTACT Best contact method for engaging and reaching this VeteranINTERVENTION Intervention needed, typically resulting from an assessment conducted by
Coordinated Assessment process.HOUSEHOLD_SIZE Number of household members, used to determine housing unit size
requirements.VA_ELIGIBILITY Pick-list of options for eligibility for VA homeless programs and health care.VETERAN_STATUS Confirmation of the Veteran's Veteran status and discharge by a qualified source.OTHER_ELIGIBILITY Comma-delimited list of codes designating eligibility: long-term homeless ("LTH"),
chronic homeless ("CH"), mental health ("MH"), or substance abuse ("SA"). Could also include additional free-form notes about client eligibility.
INCOME Estimated monthly income from all sourcesHOUSING_STATUS Current housing status, e.g, "Emergency shelter"; "Unsheltered / Outdoors";
"Transitional housing"; "Exiting a hospital or institution"; and "Housed"REFERRAL_SOURCE Name of the person and organization or entity that added this Veteran to the
Registry. Useful for follow-up.CURRENT_PROVIDER Comma-delimited list of provider(s) working with the Veteran to secure housing.NOTES Notes field
MAINSTREAM SYSTEMS REVIEW
Cathy ten BroekeState Director
Minnesota Office to Prevent and End Homelessness
Minnesota Interagency Council on
Homelessness MeetingSeptember 4, 2014
Heading Home
Priority Focus Area #4 Identify, assess and improve key mainstream programs by
each state agency that could prevent and end homelessness for families and individuals
How we Tackled the Goal
External Opinion Research Nine initial programs selected for review Conducted interviews across the State 10 cross-cutting themes and 50 program-specific opportunities were identified Assessment of each theme and opportunity’s potential to impact
homelessness and feasibility of implementation
This External Opinion Research informed the:
Development of Foundational Service Practices Developed using National Research, Current Federal and State Guidelines, and Program
Subject Matter expertise
Development of Priority Impact Areas
Priority Impact Areas
Promising Opportunities
Foundational Service Practices
“What’s hard for people who are housed is impossible for people
who are homeless.”
Foundational Service Practices
1) Know the housing status of the people you are serving
2) Actively reach out to people experiencing homelessness
3) Limit requirements for in-person appointments at a particular location or office
4) Assist with the process of gathering required verifications or documentation
5) Allow for multiple methods to communicate about benefits and services
2 Year Implementation Plan: Foundational Service Practices
Year One Self-Assessment by Agency
• Current Status – both across agency and delivery networks • Identification of Barriers and Opportunities for Improvement• Plans for Improvement
Year Two and on Report out to the Interagency Council or the Senior Leadership
Team on: Progress on Implementation of the 5 Foundational Service Standards How your Agency is Building on Successes and Improving Results
Priority Impact Areas
3 Priority Impact Areas5 Accompanying Recommendations
Priority Impact Area #1: Advance a “first, get stably housed” policy.
Recommendation A: Raise the MFIP grant and/or improve the way it is calculated
Recommendation B: Support the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) Results Initiative and track whether parents served in results-focused counties are more likely to have housing-related activities and goals in their employment plans. The evaluators of the Results Initiative will explore whether helping parents address housing stability correlates with strong employment outcomes.
Priority Impact Area #2: Stabilize childcare for children in families experiencing homelessness.
Recommendation A: Authorize childcare benefits for knowable, stable periods of time. Reduce the “in-out” cycling in childcare because of parent activity fluctuations.
Recommendation B: Increase access to early childhood scholarships for children ages 0-3 experiencing the crisis of homelessness. Increase dollars available and/or target children experiencing homelessness.
As an Interagency Council, support the development of a bold Minnesota response to the $200 million dollar USDA SNAP E&T RFA
that was just released to maximize access, continued connection, and impact for those SNAP recipients who are facing and already
experiencing homelessness
Priority Impact Area #3: Seize Federal funding opportunities for employment services.
Contact Information
• Cathy ten Broeke, Director, MN Office to Prevent and End Homelessness • [email protected]
• Amy Stetzel, Project Manager, MN Office to Prevent and End Homelessness
• Eric Grumdahl, Special Advisor on Ending Veteran Homelessness, MN Office to Prevent and End Homelessness
• Alison Niemi, Housing and Homelessness Policy Specialist, Minnesota Department of Human Services
