Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network
Operations Committee Agenda
April 6th, 2016
In Attendance:
Alicia Akers- CRT
Rubi Alegria- Mercy Housing
Janet Bermudez- Hands on Hartford
Steve Bigler- CRT
Cordelia Brady- The Open Hearth
Aisha Brown- CHR
Manuel Cadema- Catholic Charities
Crane Cesario- DMHAS
Roger Clark- ImmaCare
Kara Copabianco- DOH
Stephanie Corbin- Community Health
Network
Catherine Damato- CRT
Anna Ebora- Journey Home
Fred Faulkner- The Open Hearth
Angel Fernandez- The Open Hearth
Valorie Gaines- CHR
Ruby Givens-Hewitt- My Sister’s Place
Kelly Gonzalez- CRT
Amber Higgins- CHR
Steve Hurley- Journey Home
Mark Jenkins- Blue Hills Civic
Association
Jenaya King- CHR-PATH
John Lawlor- The Connection
Gerilyn Maciel- Salvation Army
Marshall House
Margarita Morales- Catholic Charities
Shannon Oliver- Salvation Army
Marshall House
Yolanda Ortiz- SSVF
Heather Pilarcik- South Park Inn
Patricia Pollicina- Chrysalis Center
Lisa Quach-Journey Home
Camille Roach- Salvation Army
Marshall House
Chris Robinson- Chrysalis Center
Iris Ruiz- Interval House
Cathy Shanley- Columbus House
Sandra Terry- CRT
José Vega- McKinney
Wendy Walker- CRT
Leslie Wilper- Cornerstone
Ymonne Wilson- CRT
1. Welcome and
Introductions
2. Zero: 2016
Updates
a. Recently
Housed- Lisa Quach
i.
4 people have been housed since the last CAN meeting
and one will be housed very, very soon!
b. Document
Fair Updates – Rubi Alegria
i.
The date for the document fair has been finalized for
Friday, June 17th from 9am-1pm at My Sister’s Place. The Department
of Social Services, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Social Security
Administration have been confirmed as participants. Anybody interested in
volunteering should contact Rubi or Mollie.
3. Shelter
Entry Process: Challenges and Possible Improvements –Steve Hurley
a. There are triage
centers at ImmaCare and SAMH that are connecting people to shelters and we are
working to fine-tune the system as it has been in place for some time now.
b. Shannon
from Salvation Army Marshall House reports that while record keeping is so far
smooth there are a few challenges regarding space, the lack of diversion, and
where to place sex offenders (both adult women and men).
c. We
discussed the issue of where to place parents with adult children who have a
disability (for example a mother with a 24-year-old son who has cerebral
palsy). The Department of Housing allows people to define families for
themselves and the new federal law prohibits the breaking up of families.
Triage should ask family shelters who they will take in and it falls on people
conducting CAN assessments to ensure a safe placement for these cases.
d. As challenging cases are identified, assessment staff should reach out to shelter, the Department of Housing,
and reach out to other CANs regarding the issue of families with adult children.
e. Another issue we discussed was shelters
are holding beds for no shows and there is about a 50% no show rate. People are not
being matched appropriately to beds in all cases. With this new process we are working to implement, the client should go through a CAN appointment
first to assess their level of need and then only people who need shelter
desperately should be given beds.
f.
An issue came up regarding clients claiming they have
been told they have a bed when they are given a CAN assessment. We need their
client ID number to listen to the 211 call to determine what was actually said by 211 in the course of the call, so we can figure out how we can improve the communication process.
g. ImmaCare’s
No Freeze beds just finished and they only have 75 year round beds so there is a big reduction in currently available beds. Shelters are
calling people on the waitlist but cannot track them down.
h. Clients
cannot call for a shelter until after they are on the streets. They cannot call
for another shelter bed until they are out of the shelter they are currently
staying at.
i.
José brought up the issue of a shelter having no beds
but having a chair available for a client who may be sleeping outside. It was
recommended to let the client sleep on the chair for the night but to not
administer an assessment or enter them into HMIS. In the morning the client
should talk with diversion-trained person to assess their situation.
j.
The CAN in Fairfield developed a spreadsheet that prioritizes
people for shelter beds. It prioritizes people who are staying outside as
having the highest priority then people staying in a place not meant for human
habitation or a car, then people who are doubled up in an unsafe situation, and
people who are safely doubled up. Tie breaker factors include someone who is
elderly, the presence of a severe mental or physical illness, families with
children younger than school age, and women who are pregnant. It was suggested
that other factors to be considered are the mental state of the mother, access
to needed medications, and experience of domestic violence.
k. Domestic
violence cases are prioritized for families coming out of a domestic violence
shelter to make room in the shelters for people who may be in immediate danger.
l.
Prioritization will occur with the CAN assessment
staff. They will ask a set list of questions and be added to the priority list
spreadsheet. All the shelters can access the spreadsheet but will be limited in
what they can edit on the sheet. When shelters attempt to call the client, they
will place a note on the sheet indicating the attempt and if they were placed
in a bed or not. If the client does not have a phone, obtain where they might
“live.”
m. Clients
stay on the list until after two attempted contacts or if they were scheduled
for an intake but did not show. After that, they are taken off the list.
Clients should be given information about being taken off the waitlist after
two attempts to contact.
4. CAN
Assessments
a. My Sister’s
Place and Open Hearth are now holding drop-in CAN assessments. So far the
number of people coming in for drop-in appointments has not been overwhelming.
b. Nobody
calling 211 right now is getting an appointment past next week. The goal is to
have a CAN appointment set up within a day of calling 211. Please note that
clients should be informed that a CAN assessment does not guarantee housing.
Also emphasize to clients who may remember the olden days of long waits on the
phone that calling 211 now is a different experience.
c. The average
waiting time for people calling 211 in March is 11 minutes (English queue and
after dialing 3 then 1). The longest call was 29 minutes. 211 can check status
on calls and assess why some may be longer than average.
5. By Name
List (Registry) in HMIS – Mollie Greenwood
a. By April 8th
there will be a list of everyone with a VI-SPDAT done in this region on HMIS.
As of now, 80% of the list is done and will indicate clients who are referred,
active, or inactive. There is still more work to be done with clients who have
assessments in other CANs.
b. People with
questions about how to access the list should contact Mollie or Lisa for
assistance as it is not an intuitive process.
c. All paper
VI-SPDATS need to be reported electronically as soon as possible.
6. Adopting
the TAY-SPDAT Assessment Tool
a. This
assessment is for single youths and not parenting youths.
7. Case
Conferencing – Alicia Akers, Kelly Gonzalez, Mark Jenkins
a. Alicia got
Crane’s card to get in contact with a clinician to get someone document-ready.
b. Alicia met
a client who turned out not to be the client she was looking for.
c. Amber is
looking to connect with a client who is currently staying at ImmaCare.
8. Announcements
a. The West
Hartford Housing Authority Section 8 Waitlist will be open online only from April
19th to April 21st.
b. Nominate
your Housing Hero for the Reaching Home dinner on the website for Partnership
for Strong Communities.
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