Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network
Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, August 26th, 2015
Next Meeting: Wednesday, September 9th, 2015
In Attendance:
Brian Baker – South Park Inn
Janet Bermudez – Hands On
Hartford
Suzan Bibisi – Tabor House
Cordelia Brady – The Open
Hearth
Crane Cesario – DMHAS /
Hartford COC
Roger Clark – ImmaCare
Stephanie Corbin – Community
Health Network
Rosa DeJesus – Mercy Housing
Nate Fox – Center Church
Amanda Girardin – Journey
Home
Ruby Givens-Hewitt – My
Sisters’ Place
Tenesha Grant – Mercy
Housing
Tomiko Grant – Salvation
Army Marshall House
Mollie Greenwood – Journey
Home
|
Mimi Haley – Connecticut
Coalition to End Homelessness
Amber Higgins – CHR
Brittany King – The Open
Hearth
Steve MacHattie – ImmaCare
Matt Morgan – Journey Home
Toni Orlando – The Door of
Hope and Courage
Heather Pilarcik – South
Park Inn
Patricia Pollicina –
Chrysalis CABHI / FUSE
Amy Robinson – CRT SSVF
Chris Robinson – Chrysalis
CABHI
Iris Ruiz – Interval House
Sarah Simonelli – Chrysalis
Center
Sandra Terry – CRT
Jose Vega – CRT McKinney
|
1. Introductions
a. We usually start our meetings with announcements and the problems we’re
trying to solve, and as a result our housing matching work gets pushed to the
end of the meeting. Today, we decided to
start with housing matching, and then work through some systems issues.
2. Review Unsheltered list, MIA/On Hold List, Chronic Maybes list,
Prioritized list
a. We reviewed the list of clients that we know are unsheltered.
i.
There may be other people
in the community who are unsheltered. If
you have a CAN Release of Information, please share that name with Journey Home
so we can add it to the list. If you do
not have a release, try to get one so we can put them on our radar.
ii.
There will be a meeting on
Thursday, September 3rd at 10:30 AM at ImmaCare. It’s an outreach meeting to make sure we have
captured everyone who is unsheltered in the lists we are currently maintaining. We are hoping to gather information from
outreach staff about who they believe is chronic, and to figure out who still
needs to complete a UHA, a VI-SPDAT, or gather documents.
iii.
A few staff reported that
they had recently been to Bradley Airport and had not seen any clients staying
there, a dramatic change from the reports we heard during the colder
months.
b. The second item is to review the MIA/On Hold list. This list is made up of clients who have been
identified as chronically homeless, but who are MIA, or currently On Hold (for
example, clients who are incarcerated, clients who refuse to pay a portion of
their rent).
i.
We asked that if any staff
had any updates about clients on this list that they make a note by the client
name, write their name at the top of the list, and return their papers to
Amanda of Journey Home.
1. Trish Pollicina of Chrysalis announced that there were FUSE openings
that were already available, or would be available soon.
a. Brian Roccapriore of CCEH has said that he can help communities
crosswalk their priority lists against the FUSE eligible list to help determine
candidates for those programs. Journey
Home will send him our priority list soon to start generating referrals for the
FUSE program.
2. Stephanie Corbin of CHN expressed that she could help look up client
medical records as needed, but in order to do that the client needs to have
signed a Community Care Team release of information.
ii.
Next, we reviewed the
Chronic Maybe list. This list is
comprised of all clients who self-reported as chronically homeless in their CAN
appointments or when completing the UHA.
As a result of limited access to client records in CTHMIS, Journey Home
is not always able to verify whether a client is chronically homeless based on
what is visible in HMIS. If we cannot
verify their homelessness through CTHMIS, they are added to this list.
1. If any staff believed that a client on this list is chronically
homeless, we need staff to help gather the necessary evidence of chronic
status, and to then share that information with Journey Home.
3. Housing Referral Group
a. Since the GH CAN switched to meeting twice a month, there were some
times when housing providers needed referrals for their housing program before
the next meeting time. The way that
Journey Home provided these referrals was by sending out an email to everyone
in the Housing Referral Group with the suggested referrals, asking that staff
reply to the email if they had concerns about any of the referrals that were
being made.
i.
We determined that we would
continue making any interim referrals through this same process, and can
revisit this issue as needed in the future.
If you have feedback or suggestions for improving the interim referral
process, please contact Mollie Greenwood at mollie.greenwood@journeyhomect.org
b. New Referrals - Moving On, CHR Manchester Rental Assistance, Catholic
Charities Cathedral Green, Project Teach TLP, Project HEARRT
iii.
We reviewed a handful of
specific cases that we wanted to review as a group. Some of these clients had completed the
VI-SPDAT multiple times and received different scores which would make them
different priority levels.
a. We wanted to take some time with the group to review the suggested
protocols on when to complete a full SPDAT.
We still need to figure out what is going to happen in these cases for
clients who are unsheltered.
b. One thing we didn’t talk about before the SPDAT training is that we had
a limited number of spots at those trainings.
It’s a general question and problem for us as a CAN to deal with. We are getting more and more pressure to work
together, but all organizations have existing commitments and capacity limits. We need to keep this conversation going. If folks could commit to doing a couple of
SPDATs outside their agency each month that would be doubly helpful, but we
also recognize that agencies can’t necessarily commit to that here, at this
meeting.
2. Mimi Haley of CCEH reminded us that the SPDAT tool can be used in
sections. If staff thinks that the
client was really underrepresenting their needs on a portion of the VI-SPDAT,
then someone need only complete the related portions of the full SPDAT tool,
not necessarily each piece. At this
point, the full SPDAT tool is not available in CTHMIS, although that
functionality is expected with the next upgrade.
iv.
Available units:
v.
CRT’s Project Teach TLP has
6 openings – Six referrals were made, but GH CAN staff indicated that they did
not believe one client would be employable, and so that referral may not work.
vi.
CHR Manchester Rental
Assistance has 1 opening– Two referrals were made to CHR.
vii.
Project HEARRT has 1 opening–
Two referrals were made to Project HEARRT
viii.
Family Matters has 1 opening–
One referral was made to Family Matters
ix.
Cathedral Green has 1
opening- No families were referred to Cathedral Green at this meeting, Journey
Home will revisit the list of families on the Master List to try and find
families who fit the eligibility criteria for the program.
x.
Moving On has 3 openings- Three
referrals for Moving On were made at the meeting.
4. Announcements
a. GH CAN Meeting Schedule – switching to bi-weekly meetings (see p.5-6)
b. Diversion funding at CHR Enfield is available. If you have a client at a CAN appointment
that you believe is eligible for this assistance, please contact Philomena
McGee (860) 253-5020 x136
c. Zero: 2016 Chronically Homeless Veteran Check-In
d. Develop a sub-group to discuss a regional shelter wait-list option
e. Homeless Outreach Meeting September 3rd at 10:30 AM at Journey Home, 241 Main St., 5th
Floor
f.
CAN Policy Sub-Group “CAN
Goals and Objectives” Document – Posted on Journey Home’s CAN website.
g. HMIS Evaluation Survey has been emailed to all HMIS users. Please complete this survey by the end of the
month.
5. CCEH visit
a. Mimi Haley of CCEH met with Matt Morgan, Crane Cesario, Amanda Girardin,
and Mollie Greenwood last week to discuss the requirement from Department of
Housing that all regions develop a prioritized, by-name registry of all
chronically homeless clients and all literally homeless clients by October 1,
2015.
i.
We also discussed a list of
areas that we’d like CCEH to provide technical assistance- a full list of those
requests can be found on p. 10.
1. Regarding HMIS, the top request for technical assistance was changes to
the training process. CCEH hopes to work
with Nutmeg to provide more advance notice on upcoming trainings, as well as
increase awareness about existing refresher webcast.
2. Another HMIS-focused situation is reducing duplicate IDs in the system,
and Nutmeg is working on this now.
3. Mimi also discussed conversations that they are helping to facilitate
with 211, regarding turnaways from shelter as well as how 211 can better assist
to limit churning between shelters.
ii.
Additionally, Mimi talked
about areas that we suggested for best practice sharing, including how other
regions prioritize available shelter beds, and how outreach is operating in
other areas.
iii.
As a component of Zero:2016
the Department of Housing has announced more resources will be available, and
will be distributed to different CANs.
In order to be considered for these resources, all CANs need to compile
a comprehensive by-name prioritized registry of clients by October 1, 2015.
1. Greater Hartford is at a slight advantage, because a lot of work went
into creating and maintaining a by-name registry during the 100 Day Campaign,
and that work has continued in recent months.
The main thing for the region to focus on in anticipation of this
October 1 start date is making sure we have captured as many people as possible
in our lists.
2. Mimi of CCEH distributed a graphic showing CANs in different phases of
development, and we think we’re doing well in terms of adopting a standard
assessment tool and developing a by-name registry. There are still areas we could improve,
including coordination of outreach efforts and making sure we are truly
capturing our whole population with our by-name lists.
a. In terms of compliance for this October 1st deadline, Mimi
indicated that other staff from CCEH would be reaching out to CAN leadership to
talk about what sorts of things the Department of Housing will be looking for
as they review the progress of different CANs.
b. At the most recent Balance of State Continuum of Care meeting, there was
a discussion that if sub-CANs have separate prioritized lists, rather than one
unified priority list for the region, their funding may be in jeopardy.
c. We discussed holding some sort of registry event to try and capture
everyone in our region who is homeless that is not yet on the radar. A number of staff raised concerns that
planning a major event can be very time intensive, and there isn’t a long
turnaround time between now and 10/1.
For our region, it may be helpful to think about how to accelerate and
catch up to live appointment times. Our
registry activities may be more focused on inreaching to people already in
shelter.
d. Jose Vega of McKinney shelter asked CCEH how they could help to start
conversations with the police, and Mimi said she would like to connect with him
to start planning.
6. Announcements:
a. GH CAN Meeting Schedule – switching to bi-weekly meetings (see p.5)
b. Diversion funding at CHR Enfield is available. If you have a client at a CAN appointment
that you believe is eligible for this assistance, please contact Philomena
McGee (860) 253-5020 x136
c. Zero: 2016 Chronically Homeless Veteran Check-In
d. Develop a sub-group to discuss a regional shelter wait-list option
e. Homeless Outreach Meeting September 3rd at 10:30 AM at ImmaCare, 168 Hungerford St.
f.
CAN Policy Sub-Group “CAN
Goals and Objectives” Document – Posted on Journey Home’s CAN website.
g. HMIS Evaluation
h. A new staff person asked whether anyone knew of programs to assist a
single female client in her 50s, a couple of providers offered to touch base
with her after the meeting.
i.
Mimi Haley announced that CCEH
will have trainings coming up on fair housing and safe shelters for transgender
individuals in September, training information is available on CCEH.org
j.
On September 24th
there will be a HUD grantee meeting at Elmwood Community Center. Any agency with Shelter Plus Care grants,
Supportive Housing Program Grants should attend. The HUD email blast went out, and Crane
Cesario forwarded it to the COC. Any
agencies with HOME, HOPWA, or COC funding should also attend.
k. Another announcement is that CHR’s Rapid ReHousing program will be open
soon, and staff would like to visit local shelters to talk about what Rapid
ReHousing is, to make sure they get as many referrals as possible. Please contact Amber Higgins at ahiggins@chrhealth.org to set up a time for her team to visit your agency.
l.
There has been an update in
No Freeze planning for this year. The
City of Hartford has been looking at available state properties in Hartford,
but unfortunately a church that had previously hosted a No Freeze shelter does
not have water, and so could not serve as the site for this upcoming year. The City of Hartford is working with ImmaCare
to see if they can come to an agreement that would allow ImmaCare to host No
Freeze for one more year.
7. Journey Home distributed some draft language for 211 to try and reduce
churning through different shelters. The
suggestion is for 211 to ask anyone who shows a recent shelter enrollment if
they were discharged by the shelter.
That text is attached on p. 9.
8. Staff from CHR reported that at last week’s CAN Assessment Appointments,
a DSC called over to Tri-Town shelter in Vernon seeking shelter for a client,
and reported that after speaking with staff, they were informed the client
needed to make the call themselves.
Tri-Town also indicated that they were no longer doing VI-SPDATs with
clients who came to their assessment appointments. GH CAN leadership will follow up on this
update.
GH
CAN Chairs:
CCEH Technical Assistance Suggestions:
1.
HMIS
Reporting/ Duplicate IDs
2.
Registry
Information
3.
Zero:
2016- Coordinated Exit Specifically
4.
Appointment
Backlog
5.
Leadership
– How are other regions coordinating CAN leadership?
6.
Rapid
ReHousing for high priority when PSH not available
7.
Shelter
Waitlist/ Prioritization
8.
Outreach
– How are other regions coordinating homeless outreach?
9.
211
Tracking of Turnaways from Shelter
10.
Churning
as an unintended consequence of 211 as front-door to shelter
11.
HMIS
training- annual schedule and refreshers available by webinar
GH CAN Parking Lot: Items for Continued
Discussion
#
|
Category
|
Challenge
|
A
|
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF CAN
PROCESS
|
|
1
|
Shelter search through 211
|
Clients churning, high shelter turnover
|
2
|
Shelter search through 211
|
People staying out of doors to avoid the 211 process
|
3
|
Shelter search through 211
|
Clients calling to get a hotel instead of shelter
|
4
|
Shelter search through 211
|
Empty beds in shelters
|
5
|
Client choice
|
Clients declining housing options – refusing to pay a portion
|
|
|
|
B
|
ACCESS AND DELAYS
|
|
1
|
Documentation
|
Challenges gathering documentation of homeless history
|
2
|
Client choice
|
Clients referred for a shelter bed who no show (Time frame
established)
|
3
|
Case Conferencing
|
Clients who no-show for multiple appointments
|
4
|
Identifying appropriate clients for CAN
|
Backlog of CAN appointments
|
5
|
Navigation
|
Identifying clients who are not attached to navigation / need help
gathering documentation
|
|
|
|
C
|
DATA AND PERFORMANCE
MEASUREMENT
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
Data Quality
|
Multiple client records in HMIS
|
2
|
Data Quality
|
Misrepresentation of homeless status due to HMIS assessments not
checking current status.
|
3
|
Data Collection
|
Identifying/validating progress matching clients housed through CAN
to Zero 2016
|
4
|
Assessment
|
Apparently inaccurate VI-SPDAT Scores: Concern Form / Full SPDAT
|
|
|
|
D
|
FUNDING
|
|
1
|
Funding
|
Need staff allocated for CAN Functions (navigation, management, etc.)
|
DRAFT
GH CAN Protocols on the Full SPDAT
Assessment:
The full SPDAT assessment should be administered in the following
cases:
·
When a staff who has previous experience working
with a client does not believe the VI-SPDAT score accurately reflects client
barriers or needs. Used in this way, with proper consent, the staff
person can collect additional information including medical documentation and
statements from other service providers as they relate to the needs of the
client
·
In cases where a client has completed multiple
VI-SPDATs and have disparate scores that
suggests further assessment for different housing interventions
The full SPDAT
assessments can also be used in the following way:
·
As a case management tool for clients who have gone
from homelessness into housing, as a way to measure progress made in different
domains
Who completes the full SPDAT with a Client?
·
The full SPDAT assessment should be completed only
by staff who have been trained on how to conduct the SPDAT
·
The full SPDAT assessment should be completed by
the/a staff person who is trained to administer the SPDAT at the agency of the
staff person who has raised concerns about the client’s score and who is
working with the client.
·
In the event that a CAN provider has concerns about
a client’s VI-SPDAT score but is not currently working with that client, the
provider should raise this concern at a CAN meeting so that this client can be
referred to a SPDAT trained staff to administer the SPDAT
QUESTION: (HOW DO
WE WANT TO MAKE THESE REFERRALS IN A WAY THAT IS FAIR ACROSS CAN PROVIDERS AND
MAKE SENSE IN TERMS OF CLIENT CONNECTIONS?)
How should the full SPDAT be administered:
·
The full SPDAT should be completed in CT- HMIS,
once this functionality become accessible.
Only in extreme cases when internet is not accessible should a full
SPDAT be completed on paper. In this
instance the agency completing the full SPDAT is responsible for the entry of
this data into HMIS within a week from the time it is completed.
·
The gathering of external documentation from other
providers who have worked with this client is highly suggested, but not
required, to assist with a comprehensive and accurate SPDAT assessment. With client permission to release and share
this information, any external, supporting documentation may be uploaded into
the CT-HMIS system.
·
The full SPDAT can, and in some cases should, be
completed over a longer period of time and multiple conversations with the
client or other providers for whom releases have been obtained.
·
In the instance the SPDAT is being used as a case
management tool to track the client’s progress across domains, the total and
component scores may be shared with the client to assist with demonstrating
improvements or areas on which they may want to focus. For the purposes of determining a client’s
status on the priority list, the client’s score SHOULD NOT be shared with the
client.
DRAFT
GH CAN Protocols for 211 in cases where a client has an open shelter
enrollment
·
If 211
is able to see an open shelter enrollment* in HMIS, they should ask the client
if they are still staying in the shelter listed on HMIS.
·
If the
client says no, 211 staff should ask whether the client has been discharged
from that shelter
o
If
client reports being discharged, 211 should contact the appropriate triage
center to see if any other shelters have availability
o
If
client reports that they have not been discharged from shelter, they should be
informed that shelter beds are a limited resource, and there is no guarantee
that there will be another bed available in the region. 211 and triage staff should not attempt to
locate an additional shelter bed if clients are currently enrolled in, and have
not been discharged from, a Greater Hartford regional shelter.
*An open shelter
enrollment will have the shelter name listed as the enrollment name, and will
have “Present” listed as an end date, and the enrollment status will be
“enrolled”.
Current GH CAN Meeting
Schedule – Twice Monthly
A bi-weekly schedule
proposal is attached, on back, to increase clarity.
The proposed schedule for the Greater
Hartford Coordinated Access Network (GH CAN) plans meetings on the second
and fourth Wednesday of each month. Meetings are held on Wednesday
afternoons from 1:30 to 3:15 p.m. at Sue Ann Shay Place Apartments Community
Room, 76 Pliny Street in Hartford.
The GH CAN is working on methods to
fill vacancies with an immediate need. We expect to have a plan in place
for July 2015, including a conference call protocol. Please contact Mollie
Greenwood at
mollie.greenwood@journeyhomect.org to
schedule an interim meeting or to confirm meeting time and location if you need
an update.
