Rural Homelessness Roundtable2010 Homelessness Program Managers

Training ConferenceThe DuPont Hotel, Washington, DC

March 16, 2010

Introductions John Bassett, Director

Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless &Georgia Department of Community Affairs

Shonterria Charleston, Housing SpecialistHousing Assistance CouncilAtlanta, Georgia

Aisha D. Williams, Capacity Building AssociateNational Alliance to End HomelessnessWashington, D.C.

About Georgia Largest state in the Southeast

57,906 square miles Population of over 9.5 million

Over 1.3 million people living in poverty 159 Counties – 2nd only to Texas

Over 100 Counties are Rural Almost 1.8 million people live in rural

Georgia Poverty rate of 20% in rural areas

* Source: USDA – ERS, Georgia Rural Health Association

GA Department of Community Affairs Includes the GA Housing and Finance Authority Administers Bond Finance (single family), HUD CPD, Tax Credit,

Section 8, Homeless, and other related programs Administers the $3 Million State Housing Trust Fund for the

Homeless Co-leads the Georgia State Interagency Homeless Coordination

Council Staffs the Governor’s Georgia Rural Development Council which, in

part, facilitates public and private initiatives to strengthen rural communities

Leads a 6-CoC HMIS Coalition (includes 158 of 159 counties) Operates 67 S+C programs state-wide with 1300 units under

contract 151 balance of state HPRP program ($19 MD) Over 200 grants each year, state-wide, for homeless housing and

service programs Sponsors www.GeorgiaHousingSearch.org; a free database for

renters, landlords and CBOs

GA CoC Homeless Planning 6 local Continuums of Care

Atlanta/Fulton/DeKalb Cobb Athens Augusta Savannah Columbus

Georgia’s DCA leads a 152 county Balance of State Continuum of Care (CoC) Plan

The Balance of State CoC contains both urban (Macon, some Atlanta MSA counties, others) and rural (Plains, GA) communities

“Homeless in Georgia 2009” www.dca.state.ga.us/housing/specialneeds/programs/homeless_count.asp

DCA compiled count and inventory data with additional sources of information about homelessness to produce the “2009 Report on Homelessness.” Also includes data from …

Department of Human Resources Department of Education Homeless Management Information System Research Studies

First report was for 2008. Next report will be for 2011. For Counts, Partnering with Kennesaw State University

Using cluster analysis to create county groupings In 152 county Balance of State CoC, using service count

methodology for counts within counties sampled within each cluster

To populate clusters, also using count data in each of the 7 remaining counties counted by local Continuums of Care

In 2009, over 21,000 people estimated to be homeless in

Georgia at a point-in-timewww.dca.state.ga.us/housing/specialneeds/programs/homeless_count.asp

Actual and Estimated Counts of Unsheltered Homeless by County

Sheltered - Census 8,994

Unsheltered -Predictive Model12,101

From DCA’s

“2009 Report on Homelessness”

This analysisclearly demonstratesthat the percent of need within rural areas of Georgia is significantly higher than the percent of need within urban areas of the state.

Rural Homelessness in GA –Strength of Existing Efforts

Comprehensive lead agency knowledge of local planning and government, rural needs

History of CoC planning. Regional DCA-led meetings. Familiarity with homeless, grass roots, and mainstream service

providers. Participation in local planning Strength of ongoing ESG, SHP and homeless-related (re-entry,

Olmstead, etc.) initiatives to serve persons with disabilities For tenants, landlords and CBOs - www.GeorgiaHousingSearch.org Shelter Plus Care in all CoCs and many rural areas DCA’s HPRP implementation has reached 99 counties at last count.

With the addition of the 8 locally entitled HPRP counties, 107+ of GA’s 159 counties have now been served by HPRP.

Near-statewide shared HMIS. Southeastern collaborative. Leverage and resources as a state agency – CDBG, HOME, Section 8,

local government partners, state agency partners ‘Shelter diversion’ strategies in place!

Rural Homelessness in GA –Ongoing Challenges (half empty) Poverty / (Really and Truly) Affordable Housing Jobs … this recession! General limitations of mainstream services, exacerbated by …

Distances to DFCS, DOL, Job Training, Employment, etc. No or Limited Transportation – Personal and Public Child Care – Limited Public, Private is Cost Prohibitive

Access to housing / barriers Many counties lack dedicated homeless housing and service

programs – mission conflict Lack of, and capacity of existing, service providers Awareness of rural homelessness Current HUD programs better designed for urban areas Limited or poor housing stock in many communities Limited resources vs. magnitude of the job

Funding, staff, size of state, and large number of local governments (159 counties, and 529 cities)

Rural Homelessness in GA –Promising Next Steps … (half full) Continue to implement ‘strengths’ Learn and, through HEARTH, implement HPRP best practices going

forward … Prevention / shelter diversion / rapid re-housing Piloting state-wide, toll free screening / intake / referral Regional programs that support efficiency Forget the arguments about ‘who’s homeless’ … expansion of HUD’s

definition is serving to enhance participation by mainstream providers in outreach, assessment, referral and case management

Near-Statewide HMIS facilitates movement across the state to match the needs of participants

Improved measurement (outputs/outcomes) through HMIS Improved planning and research to support new strategies Strengthening interagency councils (state and federal) National Housing Trust Fund Other strategies include capacity building for CBOs, improved

access to state funding, technology advances, other

Name Area Email Telephone

John Bassett HTF Director john.bassett@dca.ga.gov 404.679.3170

Jonathan Cox HPRP jonathan.cox@dca.ga.gov 404.679.0571

Brian DiNapoli HPRP brian.dinapoli@dca.ga.gov 404.327.6811

Chantell Glenn SPC Renew, Contract, Reimb chantell.glenn@dca.ga.gov 404.327.6815

Elayne Miller ESG Contracts, Payments elayne.miller@dca.ga.gov 404.679.4942

Tina Moore HOPWA, ESG, CoC tina.moore@dca.ga.gov 404.327.6870

Lindsey Stillman HMIS, HSS and CoC lindsey.stillma@dca.ga.gov 404.327.6813

Phillis Thomas ESG, HOPWA, Connect phillis.thomas@dca.ga.gov 404.679.0651

Dave Totten HMIS Data Analyst dave.totten@dca.ga.gov 404.679.4945

Bonnie Woods S+C New, S+C Train, ESG bonnie.woods@dca.ga.gov 404.679.3150

Patricia Wright NPO Review, Audits, FM patricia.wright@dca.ga.gov 404.327.6856

  Questions? Please contact DCA Housing Trust Fund Staff. State-wide toll free number for all DCA staff is (800) 359-4663. Fax for all HTF staff is (404) 679-0669.

Call or email us any time …