Friday, March 18, 2016

Greater Hartford CAN Meeting 3/9/2016

1.       Welcome and Introductions
a.       Our final two navigators have officially started at CRT. Welcome Kelly Gonzalez and Alicia Akers!
2.       Advocacy Days- Matt Morgan
a.       60 people and 17 legislators and/or their aides came and to have so many people in the small room in the Legislative Office Building was amazing.
b.      Thank you to those who came and who shared their stories and those who brought clients to the event.
c.       Towns represented included Enfield, Hartford, Bloomfield, West Hartford, Manchester and many more.
d.      Reaching Home campaign all lobbying together is the best seen from any social service sector.
3.       HMIS Questions and Concerns
a.       The switch to VI SPDAT 2.0 has been major change in the system.
b.      Since new version went live some problem areas that Nutmeg is working to solve.
c.       Mollie, Crane, and Amanda are on the coordinated exit committee.
d.      How quickly do people need new staff people to have access to HMIS- 2 weeks or less
e.       Crane is the chair of the HMIS steering committee.
                                                               i.      HMIS has grown 500 percent in number of users and trainings limited because of physical space.
                                                             ii.      Last training there were 5 no shows so make sure if you are registering people for training they are going to training. As of now we have no data on where the no shows are happening. Having someone not show up means the organization gets fined.
                                                           iii.      There is a pattern of high enrollment and high no shows, which looks very unprofessional.
f.        Some tricky things with the new version of VI SPDAT such as requiring men to answer pregnancy question before moving on in the assessment.
g.       Mollie has provided a form to submit with questions regarding HMIS but everyone is encouraged to keep submitting helpdesk tickets when they run in to issues.  Please do not yell at the Nutmeg staff. We are all adults here.
h.      There are reports of existing VI SPDATS going missing since the conversion.
i.         There will be an HMIS training on April 4 at New Haven but there is some confusion on what time the training will be held.
j.         Navigators are using paper VI SPDATs when they are working with clients.
4.       Zero: 2016 Housing Updates
a.       6 people have been housed since our last CAN meeting.
b.      Stephanie Corbin of CHN has stickers for the board and representatives from the organizations who housed these individuals can come up and add stickers to the board.
c.       The estimated number of chronically homeless individuals who need to be housed is 120 individuals. 53 are currently referred to a housing program and 67 are not currently matched.
d.      We are working on document fair on the heels of the success of the landlord breakfast. It may be held at My Sister’s Place if holding it at Pope Park is not possible. Any volunteers would be welcomed as we are still trying to figure out food and printers. The tentative date for the fair is May 20th.
                                                               i.      Last year the document fair served 125 individuals. This year we are aiming for 150 individuals.
5.       Housing Updates
a.       Navigator cases assigned- Mollie Greenwood, Kelly Gonzalez, Alicia Akers, Mark Jenkins
                                                               i.      Mark has been assigned 20 individuals.
                                                             ii.      Alicia and Kelly have been assigned 10 people and have been working together on them since starting as navigators on Monday. The individuals are mostly people at ImmaCare. Alicia is in contact with three of them and Kelly is in contact with 2.
b.      Changes to the Priority List- Lisa Quach
                                                               i.      8 new tabs were added to the priority list to provide more information. These tabs include navigator, document ready, chronic LHH verification, disability, identity, citizenship, CAN release, and UHA release. A notation of “true” indicates that those documents have been uploaded and accounted for.
                                                             ii.      A client is assigned a navigator if they do not have a case manage. It was suggested to change the navigator tab to indicate case manager or navigator
                                                           iii.      If you see something that should be marked as true, let Journey Home know so the priority list can be updated.
                                                           iv.      Yolanda suggested the addition of a veteran tab. We are hoping to pull together resources for veterans as some may not eligible for SSVF services.
c.       VI-SPDAT rages for Rapid Rehousing have changed for VI SPDAT 2.0
                                                               i.      The score range for rapid rehousing has changed because there are fewer total points. Short-term rapid rehousing range for a single individual and for families is 3-5. The score range for long-term rapid rehousing is 5-7 for single individuals and 6-8 for families.
                                                             ii.      Case managers can still submit exception forms as long as they are appropriate. Submitting an exception form typically means someone is referred to permanent supportive housing but does not need it and would be successful in rapid rehousing.
                                                           iii.      Family referrals are needed for the secure jobs initiative.
                                                           iv.      Do not do VI SPDAT version 2 if the person already has a VI SPDAT version 1. Call Lisa, Mollie, and Steve at Journey Home to figure out the conversion.
                                                             v.      CHR can still go by old score and old score range for rapid rehousing.
6.       Case Conferences
a.       One case involves an individual who is a one-nighter at most shelters and was seen a couple weeks ago at Open Hearth. He is chronically homeless with serious mental health issues and has been seen at Capitol Region recently. He was found in Middletown CAN and given to BOS. He was going to sign a certificate with but then was taken off. It was suggested to call Mobile Crisis at Capitol Region and he has a referral to Intercommunity. This client qualifies for FUSE and anyone who sees him should call Journey Home.
                                                               i.      Willem says this client had an apartment but wants to get out of the apartment and has been living in shelters. The client has a conservator but is now MIA.
b.      Rubi brought to the CAN’s attention a 24-year-old client who had been staying in a domestic violence shelter in Norwalk. She is now staying in her car and with friends but is reluctant to disclose where she was before. She has four kids, all under four, which has been a barrier for her getting into shelter. She comes to the Friendship Center to eat. She has domestic violence reports, and psychiatric reports from hospitalization and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She does not have a good relationship with mother due to previous trauma and the father of two of her kids took those two kids away. She now only has two of her four kids with her. Two client families might be able to get housing, need families with high scores
7.       Making a House a Home – Sara Salomons and Alison Scharr
a.       If clients need furniture, we have 2 large storage units in South Windsor full of donated items to be given away.  Sara can meet clients and case managers at the storage unit. There are beds, couches, coffee tables, utensils, chairs, loveseats, dressers, and anything else to help a client looking to get started in their new apartment. Clients can request items. It is easier to meet at the storage unit if you want to pick up items.  Clients do not need to sleep on floors. This is to be a barrier free experience and we can arrange for volunteers to help move furniture.
b.      Alison created a case manager form for clients who need furniture. If there are any issues with the form please let Alison know by emailing her at Alison.scharr@journeyhomect.org.  
c.       Sara also has boxes of brand new women’s jeans. Anybody looking to donate items can contact her at sara.salomons@journeyhomect.org.
8.       Announcements
a.       People who are scheduling CAN appointments are encouraged to write case notes to report what you are doing, who else is in the family, if the person was diverted, and if a referral was made. This helps with keeping track of data regarding these clients.
b.      Mollie is talking to CCEH about fundraising in regards to the Be Homeful Paddington Bear campaign.
c.       There are beds available at My Sister’s Place for single females who have Husky D insurance and have no cash income.
d.      Yesterday HUD announced award, got 4.5 million dollars out of the 7 million asked for. All renewals got funded and the planning grant got funded.  Shelter+Care grant did not get funded yet.

e.       There will be a ribbon cutting at the new Hands on Hartford location at 55 Bartholomew Avenue on March 22nd at 10am.

No comments:

Post a Comment