Greater Hartford CAN Operations Committee
Wednesday, June 1st, 2016
1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Zero: 2016 Updates – Tenesha Grant
3. Smart Sheets Shelter Waiting List – Steve Hurley
a. Looking for feedback on smart Sheet. Roger brought up people who are banned from all shelters. We discussed a specific who has been offered housing but has refused housing. Kelly Gonzalez volunteered to be his navigator.
b. Cordelia brought up people who already had CAN assessments but just wanted to be added to smart sheet. Is there any way to just have 211 add client to SmartSheet?
Kara said no, it is always the CAN assessment first. The purpose of CAN is to attempt to divert and then get added to waitlist for shelter if there are no other options available. The original reason that we made such major changes to our assessment process was that we were finding that people were telling different things to the 211 operators compared to when they sat one-on-one with a staff person.
Jose Vega brought up someone who leaves and wants to come back to shelter on a Monday but can’t be added until Wednesday.
Amy Robinson of the US Department of Veterans Affairs stated that last week she had a veteran with a 2 month old baby that couldn’t get into shelter because Yolanda was in Washington and they had to wait to come back to add her to Smartsheet - the client had been told (incorrectly) that she needed to meet with her original Duty Services Coordinator to be added to the shelter waitlist. Client was staying in Walmart Parking lot all weekend as a result of the system challenges. This was a perfect example of the system not functioning as it was supposed to.
We also discussed that right now the SmartSheet does not automatically prioritize households for shelter- prioritization has been an ongoing manual task for Steve Hurley of Journey Home to maintain. Because of this, the list is not prioritized on the weekend, which is a concern for staff.
How many CAN assessments does someone have to do when they exit one shelter and try to access another shelter? We determined that we still want folks to meet with someone, because we want to discourage shelter hopping to the extent that is possible.
Amy Robinson brought up the Vet having to have a CAN assessment yesterday at the VA and then another CAN assessment today because no one at CRT could put them on the list because the original person who did the CAN assessment has to be the one who put them on Smartsheet.
We talked about what to do about the people who churn the system and shelter hop. How do we educate the folks who exit and enter shelter? One suggestion was to re-assess people who have left from the system and are now returning to homelessness.
What kind of outreach have we done with the local government because South Park Inn is getting calls from City Hall for people who are not prioritized? Matt Morgan volunteered to take point on communication to leadership within the City of Hartford.
Iris suggested doing a PSA to local community about the changes in the CAN.
CABIN offered a public forum about the CAN. Mollie met with her yesterday.
4. Long Time Homeless Clients Who Don’t Report A Disability – Lisa Quach
5. Zero: 2016 Homeless Document Fair – Rubi Alegria
a. For the upcoming document fair, it is essential that transportation to and from the event is well publicized to all of our clients, particularly chronically homeless clients. Transportation will be available to and from the South Green in Hartford all day, but it is also essential that clients bring with them any documentation that they already have, as it may be essential to help them get new documents.
6. Announcements:
a. Shelter Diversion Training is being offered by CCEH, check out www.cceh.org for more information, or to register.
b. A schedule for all GH CAN Meetings is now available online at www.journeyhomect.org/provider-resources
c. Coordinated Exit Meetings for Individuals take place every Tuesday at 11:30 AM. Coordinated Exit Meetings for Families take place on non-CAN Wednesdays at 10:00 AM.
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