GH CAN Leadership - Shelter and RRH Meeting with DOH 3/22/17

Shelters in attendance:  McKinney, East Hartford, The Open Hearth, South Park Inn, Marshall House, YWCA (Chrysalis for case management), Immacare and Interval House

Other programs in attendance:  Journey Home, Community Health Resources for RRH and Mercy Housing for the Diversion Center

Meeting facilitated by the Department of Housing

Summary of meeting:

1)      There was discussion by all on the subject of shelter discharges to homelessness.  The community is responsible for the homeless clients.  Each shelter must look at the big picture before discharging for nonviolent reasons.

a.       Shelter discharge due to the client’s reluctance to engage in case management or missing appointments

                              i.      Ensure case managers are using person centered planning so the client is deciding on their action plan goals

                             ii.     There needs to be trust in the case managers for clients to engage

                           iii.      Case managers need to try many different ways to engage the clients, not just a case management appointment sheet hanging on their office door.  They should go and find the clients and engage

                           iv.      There should be evidence in the case notes of the different ways the case management attempted to engage with the client, including building rapport, recognizing stages of change, and meeting the client in the shelter/community

                             v.     Bring the client’s situation to the CAN meeting and case conference for some feedback and ideas on how to get the client to engage

                           vi.      More trainings on engaging clients in case management

b.      Shelter discharge due to violence, harmful behavior, illegal behavior in the shelter

                              i.      The safety of the clients and staff in the shelter is very important. 

                             ii.     Handle the situation as needed with law enforcement

                           iii.      Immediate removal from the shelter

                           iv.      Bring the client information to the CAN meeting so that they can be connected to outreach or at least stay on the list so the community can continue to reach out and connect the client to services

c.       Shelter discharge due to meeting the length of stay policy

                              i.      This should no longer be a reason for discharge.  DOH understands that LOS will be longer.  Shelter case managers should be referring to rapid re-housing programs to move clients along in the system. 

d.      DOH read the proposed contract language around case conferencing for discharges.  This is a proposed contract language change for 7/1/17.  All were in agreement that the policy is fine.  There are concerns about when case conferencing will happen and that staff are already pushed to the limit with so many meetings.  There is still time to work this process out

                              i.      Journey Home will work with providers to review all existing meetings, review what the goal/purpose of each meeting is and opportunities to merge meetings or terminate some meetings.

2)      Length of stay policies – DOH read the proposed contract language for 7/1/17 and it states that LOS must be flexible with the goal of permanent housing

3)      Chronically Homeless individuals cycling through the system because the Smartsheet prioritizes them to the top of the list.  Journey Home will look at this process and work with DOH to make changes.  This should address the ongoing issue of individuals getting a shelter bed, receiving a social security check and not coming back to the shelter for a couple weeks than going back to 2-1-1 and getting a diversion appointment and another shelter bed because they will be prioritized to the top of the list.  There should be talking points for this population so they know the homeless system is in place to end homelessness and permanently place homeless clients.  Once they give up a shelter bed, it will be harder to get the bed back.  These individuals should be connected to a Navigator to help build rapport and help them remain connected to staff, despite cycling through the shelter.

4)      Consistent communication in all shelters when clients ask to stay long enough to “become chronic”.  Ensure clients understand that chronic also entails having a “severe and persistent” disability.  Not all people who have disability verifications completed are meeting this threshold.  Work with clients who can work to pursue rapid rehousing first.  The CAN will discuss this further to set up procedures to check disability verifications.

5)      Rapid Re-housing in a resource to quickly move people out of shelter.  GH CAN has multiple RRH programs to refer shelter clients to.  RRH case managers and shelter case managers need to work very closely in order to successfully house clients.

6)      Furniture is a huge need in GH CAN.  Shelter providers should approach Goodwill as one group and request prioritization for homeless clients.  A Flex fund for furniture may be a good idea.  DOH is happy to work with any DOH funded shelter to reallocate existing funds.