Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network
Leadership Agenda
Wednesday, July 12th, 2017
Sonia Brown - CRT,
Kara Capobianco- DOH,
Crane Cesario – CRMHC, DMHAS
Cat Damato - CRT,
Fred Faulkner – The Open
Hearth,
Louis Gilbert - ImmaCare,
Mollie Greenwood – Journey Home,
Andrea Hakian- CHR,
Matt Morgan – Journey Home,
Amy Robinson- US Department of
Veterans Affairs,
Iris Ruiz – Interval House,
Kathy Shaw – My Sisters’ Place,
Cathy Zeiner - YWCA,
John Lawlor – The Connection,
Ymonne Wilson - CRT,
Justine Couvares[MG1]
– Chrysalis Center
1. HUD
Standards for Housing and Shelter Accessibility-Kara
a)
Following up on the article that we distributed
last week, Kara wants to make sure shelters are following the American
Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Housing Act (FHA) laws regarding clients in
shelter and housing accommodation requirements for clients with disabilities
such as clients with oxygen tanks and emotional support and therapy pets. In some parts of the state there have been
issues with accommodating different kinds of disabilities lately, so Kara wants
to remind everyone to let their staff know that if they are not sure what to do
they should elevate the issue to their shelter manager.
b)
If a shelter or housing program is unable to accommodate
an individual because of their disabilities, Kara says that programs should
bring these clients up to CAN meetings to figure out a solution to the client.
c)
Sonia says that happens in housing programs as
well with landlords and the agency speaks on behalf for the client to make that
accommodation.
d)
Kara says if any shelter has any questions or
concerns about these issues is to contact the shelter director.
a.
Coordinated Entry requirements for accessibility
and language line- Matt
a)
Matt says a gap that needs to be covered at CAN
appointments is accommodating clients who have language barriers such as English
not being a client’s primary language, clients who are deaf, and clients who
are blind.
b)
Sonia asked if the problem is the fee for the
language line?
a.
Kara suggests to add the language line to the
Diversion Center budget.
b.
Andrea says the Diversion Center can use the
language line when CHR staff is there at the Diversion Center[MG2] .
c)
Andrea asks if 211 is able to flag these clients
on the CAN appointment schedule for clients that need these other resources.
d)
Mollie says right now there is no way to flag these
clients in HMIS for the CAN appointments.
e)
Andrea asks if 211 can add another question to
their script of whether or not the client needs special accommodations at their
CAN appointment.
f)
Matt proposes to contact 211 and CCEH to get
this new option in HMIS. Mollie will
work with Laura of 211 to figure out how to flag households who need special
accommodations and will submit a request to Nutmeg’s Release Bin to have some
sort of identifier added statewide.
2. Balance
of Stated COC Representation
a)
Cat says Manchester is still its own Sub COC and is meeting regularly. Andrea Hakian regularly attends those meetings.
b)
Cat says Manchester Sub COC can stay separate
from the CAN.
c)
Cat says the next Hartford sub-COC meeting is next August.
d)
Crane suggests if Andrea can’t attend a
BOS COC meeting on behalf of Manchester Crane or Matt can represent the CAN at that meeting.
e)
Crane says the Hartford Sub COC Chair position
needs to be filled and this position will be discussed at next month’s meeting.
f)
Sonia asks about the maximum pay that agencies
can pay for the CT BOS RRH and whether exceptions to the maximum this need to
go through the CAN.
g)
Crane suggests the authorizations should come to
the CAN Leadership meetings.
h)
Kara says she thinks the purpose is to keep the
CAN informed when difficult cases come up.
i)
Kara says DOH is trying to balance the budgets
for RRH since more RRH programs will be growing.
j)
Sonia suggests to bring this issue at the
Operations or RRH meetings.
k)
Matt suggests that this may be better resolved at the housing matching meetings and that leadership may benefit from hearing if this is an issue with RRH programs.
l)
Andrea suggests to bring that information back
to the Leadership Meeting to look at the information.
m)
Crane suggests to create a form and send it CT
BOS to approve it and send it back to the CAN.
3. The
Open Hearth Program Changes
a) Fred
says as of July 1st Open Hearth no longer has a TLP program and has
expanded its shelter beds from 25 to 55 beds.
When clients walk into the shelter the case managers will assess the
level of need for the client to determine what tier of the shelter seems like a
good fit for case management.
b) Fred
says
c) Fred
says that in addition to these changes to their shelter, they have a new SRO-style Extended Program. This program is designed for clients have
income and who are focused on sober lifestyles.
Residents will pay to stay at The Open Hearth and stay as long as they
would like, get to vote on new individuals joining the program, and will live
in a sober environment, similar to Oxford House. Anyone can make a referral to this program.
a.
Matt says if a client is being matched during a
housing matching meeting would you want a referral if client seems appropriate.
i.
Fred says yes they would take those referrals
and they have 10 to 15 beds.
4. Young
Adult Shelter Beds
a) John
ask if any shelter provider would be interested to set aside a bed or two for
young adult youth.
b) Brian
from South Park and Lauren from Salvation Army Marshall House said they would
be interested in prioritizing some beds for young adults if there was funding
available to support this.
c) Kara
says to also think about the logistics for shelters if that is possible, and to
consider if your shelter is a place where youth may feel more comfortable. Some shelters have had success with
prioritizing shelter beds for youth if those beds are able to be separated from
other beds and have a little more privacy.
This is not feasible for all shelters, so it’s something to keep in mind.
d) Cathy
from YWCA says they may be interested as well.
5. GH
CAN Housing Data
a) Mollie
says it is the first time that potentially chronic not yet matched is under 40.
a) Mollie
says the issue is that some of these clients are not in a shelter and are
unaware of where these clients are staying right now.
b) Matt
says in an estimated trend we could reach zero chronically homeless in 12 to 18
months.
6. Announcements
a.
Hands On Hartford is working on planning the Day
of Sharing and Caring and needs lots of help planning and pulling off the
event. If you’re interested, please contact swalker@handsonhartford.org
b.
Salvation Army is offering an Anti Human
Trafficking Training at Capitol Region Mental Health Center Tuesday, 9/26 from
1-4PM
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