Greater Hartford CAN Meeting 4/8/15

GREATER HARTFORD COORDINATED ACCESS NETWORK

MEETING NOTES

WEDNESDAY, April 8th, 2015

NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY, April 15th, 1:30 – 3:30 pm

In Attendance: Rubi Alegria – Mercy Housing Sandy Barry – Salvation Army Marshall House Janet Bermudez – Hands on Hartford Aisha Brown – CHR Sonia Brown – CRT Crane Cesario – DMHAS Stephanie Corbin – CHN Bryan Dixon – InterCommunity Alfredo Echevarria – ImmaCare Bryan Flint – Cornerstone Rosemary Flowers – My Sisters’ Place Chris Fortier – The Open Hearth Nate Fox – Center Church Clarissa Garcia – ImmaCare Mary Gillette- Consultant for 100 Day Team Amanda Girardin – Journey Home Ruby Givens-Hewitt – My Sisters’ Place Tenesha Grant – Mercy Housing Mollie Greenwood – Journey Home

LaQuista Harris – VA Amber Higgins - CHR Steve MacHattie – ImmaCare Philomena McGee – Community Health Resources Matt Morgan – Journey Home Theresa Nicholson – Chrysalis Center Roxan Noble – Chrysalis Center Philip O’Brien – Chrysalis Center Heather Pilarcik – South Park Inn Patricia Pollicina – Chrysalis Center Chris Robinson – Chrysalis Center Amy Robinson – CRT Iris Ruiz – Interval House Sara Salomons – CRT Sarah Trench – Journey Home Jose Vega – CRT McKinney Shelter Tamara Womack – My Sisters’ Place

1.       Introductions & GH-CAN Meeting Notes for last week, 3/25/2015 (emailed)

a.      Eight of our chronically homeless and highly vulnerable clients have been housed since the start of our 100 Day Campaign! 

b.      Moving forward, Crane and Matt are switching roles, with Matt facilitating the GH CAN meetings.  This plan has been in development for several weeks in the hopes that this transition will help balance responsibilities to our community processes, both the GH CAN and Hartford CoC.

2.       GH CAN Stats Update

Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network Statistics
Updated as of April 7th, 2015
Changes from last week have been bolded
Topic		Data	Comments
Coordinated Entry	Total Number of GH CAN Assessment Appointments Per Week	90	There are 90 scheduled slots each week
	Total Number of Hours at Drop In Centers	21 Hours per week	12 hrs at Chrysalis Center Tues. and Thurs. 3 hours at CHR Manchester on Thurs 3 hours at Hands on Hartford 3 hours at Center Church
	No-Show Rate 11/17/14 – 3/30/15	75%	1752 Appointments Scheduled in Nov – Mar 435 Appointments Completed Nov – Mar 25% Attendance to appointments
	No-Show Rate for March, 2015	65%	557 Appointments Scheduled for March 194 Appointments Completed 35% Attendance to appointments
	Next Available Appointment Slot: Individual Men	6/22/15	Booking out 0 days further since last week
	Next Available Appointment Slot: Individual Women	6/22/15	Booking out 0 days further since last week
	Next Available Appointment Slot: Families	6/18/15	Booking out 0 days further since last week
	Total Number of CA HMIS Data System Modifications	173	That is 11 fewer cases to resolve compared to last week.
Coordinated Exit	Total Number of New Available Housing Units Reported to GH CAN this week	3	2 Chrysalis Project HEARRT 20, 1 MSP TLP
	Housing Units Awaiting Referrals	24	ImmaCare RAP, Shelter Plus Care, Next Steps Enfield, CHR Manchester, Chrysalis Project HEARRT, My Sisters’ Place TLP
	Total Number of Available Housing Units Reported through GH CAN in 2015	60	Available Units have been reported in the following programs: MSP TLP, CRT PSH, CRT Project Teach, Chrysalis Veteran’s Support, Chrysalis Family Matters, Mercy DMHAS  RAP, CRT Bloomfield Scattered Site, Mercy St. Elizabeth, Shelter Plus Care, Chrysalis Project HEARRT 20
	Total Number of Available Housing Units expected for 100 Days Team	92	These are from a variety of programs. Some units are available immediately, others in the next few months.
	Total Number of Rapid Re-Housing Referrals this week	1	Please note, CHR is unable to accept new referrals to CT RRH at this time.
100 Day Campaign	Total Number of Clients on Prioritized List	87	This list is comprised of clients who have a length of time homeless that could classify them as chronically homeless.
	On Prioritized List, number of clients with UHA	46
	On Prioritized List, number of clients with a navigator	38
	On Prioritized List, number of clients conditionally matched	19
	On Prioritized List, number of clients housed	8

3.       Homeless and Disability Verification Forms – Piloting new statewide forms

a.      On April 7^th, the Balance of State Continuum of Care (CT BOS CoC) distributed an updated set of possible state-wide forms.  These forms are the disability verification and homeless verification, both of which are needed to confirm Chronic Homelessness and are usually required by permanent supportive housing programs to accept clients.  We will field test these new forms from Balance of State, with the understanding that forms may be modified over time.  Please send suggested changes to Crane Cesario.  The forms will be distributed via email on 4/9/15.

b.      Additionally, the Initial Document Checklist was distributed to all attendees.  This form was developed by the 100 Day Team Leadership’s reducing barriers work group that met prior to the 100 Day Campaign.  This checklist specifies the minimum initial documents that housing programs need to begin working with a client. 

4.        Updates from 100 Day Team – Today is day 29

a.      On Tuesday, members of the team and leadership met at the Chrysalis Center to scope out the location for the Greater Hartford Homeless Resource Fair. 

b.      The fair is scheduled for May 8^th and a number of agencies have volunteered to provide much-needed materials. 

c.       It is important that all staff and volunteers who will be attending this event pre-register prior to May 1^st.   Staff and volunteers can register here: http://goo.gl/forms/k596N4HZWf

d.      There will be transportation provided to the event, and the team is working on a system to manage traffic control and waiting times, triage, and directing people to the correct documentation areas.

5.       GH CAN Process Review –  Over time, we have been modifying our process as we have been operating as a Coordinated Access Network, so today Matt presented on the overview of the process.

a.      Clients who are literally homeless will attend an assessment appointment and complete a VI-SPDAT.   If a Rapid ReHousing referral is appropriate, it would be made at this appointment.

b.      Next, a client would complete a Universal Housing Application, and staff would upload as many documents as the client has available.   Please note that whenever a UHA is completed, staff will need to print the Release of Information, have it signed and witnessed, and upload it as one of the client’s documents.  This is because housing programs need to print out the signed release for their files (HUD requires paper files).

c.       Any new GH CAN assessments are pulled from CA HMIS on Monday and entered into the Master List.  Journey Home staff looks to identify whether the client self-reported as chronically homeless.  If so, staff will look through HMIS records to make a timeline of shelter enrollments for that client.  All new Universal Housing Applications are pulled on Tuesday and entered into the Master List.  If any clients self-report that they are chronically homeless, Journey Home staff will search HMIS and assemble a timeline of shelter enrollments.  Periodically, Journey Home receives a report from CCEH with new shelter enrollments that identify clients who have self-reported as chronically homeless.  Journey Home then compiles these HMIS records and makes a timeline, as well.

                                                              i.      Because Journey Home staff has been generating these lists from HMIS, it may not capture the information of clients that have spent time outside or who were homeless in other states.  For this reason, it is important for outreach staff to review the list and see who they believe should be on the list. 

                                                            ii.      Additionally it is important to note that all users do not see the same enrollments.  CAN, PSH, TH, and shelter providers can often see different shelter enrollment data, according to releases signed and sharing restrictions.  Ideally, in the future, all staff would be able to complete the new statewide homeless verification forms based on the information in HMIS.  

                                                          iii.      Statewide HMIS Steering Committee is working to make the Release of Information  (ROI) consistent with the CAN ROI, so we can see more data and have CAN-specific reports.

                                                           iv.      We’ve requested that an HMIS report is developed, to print out the shelter enrollments for a specific client. This will help reduce staff time for this task. 

                                                             v.      In addition, JH has submitted a list of people with multiple ID’s in HMIS, to have them combined.  This may take several more weeks.

d.      After the lists have been generated, Journey Home brings the list of prioritized clients (those who appeared to have a length of time homeless that qualifies them as chronically homeless) to the GH CAN meeting in the hopes of assigning a navigator.  Once clients have a navigator, that staff person will work with clients to gather necessary documentation for them to be matched with a housing program.

e.      Meanwhile, housing programs are reporting any units that will become available soon through a Housing Availability Report survey, available here: https://docs.google.com/a/journeyhomect.org/forms/d/1G4L9g2IMkah_-ROMAi1BHD9_rr8CfoDWG8Yfzu4iBYI/viewform

                                                              i.      Programs that have existing waitlists should be housing clients from those waitlists.  Programs that had purged their waitlist are going through this centralized GH CAN process to house the next highest priority client.

f.        After openings are reported, clients with a UHA and VI-SPDAT completed (and appear to be Chronically Homeless) will be conditionally matched to supportive housing programs.  Within 2 weeks of clients being conditionally matched to housing programs, navigators should work with clients and housing program staff to ensure that clients have the remaining documents needed to be fully accepted into the program. 

                                                              i.      Ideally, housing programs will report the status of housing referrals on a weekly basis using the Report Housing Outcomes form, available here: https://docs.google.com/a/journeyhomect.org/forms/d/1Ob9qxQSnU49TNhElr-K3t-4gZj8NwTxu9VINb8hhu1s/viewform

g.      Staff at housing programs expressed frustration because this process is encouraging housing programs to accept clients who are not initial- document ready.  As we start to use the Initial Document Form and have the basic minimum (some form of identification, disability verification and homeless verification forms), it will help speed up the process. These housing programs will have poorer outcomes if housing units are not utilized for too long while clients are working to gather their documentation. 

6.        Review 100 Day Priority List – Who do we believe is missing from this list?

a.      The work group that was identified last week will meet next week to review the list, try to expedite those who are on it, and work with outreach staff to identify people who are homeless and living outside of the shelter system.  In addition, we want to see if long-term shelter residents are missing from the list.  These groups of people may not be on the list yet, and we want to make sure to include all chronically homeless households.  ImmaCare has offered to host the meeting. Outreach staff are requested to make a list of the known long-term out of doors people and fax it to Crane Cesario at 860-297-0930.

7.       Working Groups:

a.      Housing Referral Group:

                                                               i.      The 100 Day Team stayed to see the housing process and get a better sense of how things were currently taking place.

                                                             ii.      Housing Referrals – this week, Journey Home brought a list of all the openings currently available in the GH CAN, as well as a list of our top clients.  Each client’s listing indicates which housing programs they are eligible for.  The group matched/referred some clients to housing and identified clients to ask about their preferences for openings if they were pre-screened eligible for more than one program.

                                                            iii.      Housing Outcome Forms – Please update these new forms to help us track the outcome of a housing match through GH CAN.  Available here: http://goo.gl/forms/yaaux0M27Y

b.      100 Day Team:

                                                               i.      Document Fair – updates from Tuesday’s tour and meeting at Chrysalis

1.       After Tuesday’s meeting, the group decided they need to iron out what volunteer roles are available for the day of the event. 

2.       The team wants to have a number of experienced frontline staff operating a triage center right as clients arrive, helping to register them and figure out what pieces of documentation they still needed to gather throughout the course of the fair.

3.       All volunteers need to bring their own pens, staplers, and power cords and laptops if applicable. 

4.       The team still needs paper towels and bus passes for the day of the event.

5.       There are 80 spots available for staff parking on the day of the event, in the upper lot.  All staff and volunteers should carpool as much as possible.

6.       It may be helpful, rather than bringing in agencies who cannot serve a large percentage of the population, to have an “Other Needs” table where people can go to find out about immigration questions and other common concerns that aren’t being addressed by any attending agencies.

a.       It might be helpful to have a 211 staff present to answer some of these questions, given their many resources for other community agencies.

7.       As we approach the event, the team will assemble a large flyer including all the kinds of documents that clients should bring with them to this fair.  The flyer will be distributed to all shelters.  Shelter staff were asked to announce and discuss the event as often as possible.

                                                             ii.      Budget for flexible funding

1.       After reviewing a draft budget, the team has chosen to allocate available flexible funds as follows:

a.       Transportation costs: $400

b.      Security deposits: $5,000

c.       Utilities: $10,000

d.      Documentation Fees: $8,000

e.      Application Fees: $4,000

f.        Personal Care Items: $100

g.       Furniture: $12,000

h.      Other: Document Fair: $2,500

i.         Other: Miscellaneous: $3,000

2.       In addition to the $45,000, there will also be 20 mattresses available over the course of this 100 Day Campaign for clients who are housed.

                                                            iii.      211 modified script- Wendy sent the 100 Day Team a script with a few modifications; the team will review this version as soon as possible.

8.       ANNOUNCEMENTS

GH CAN Coordinators:

Matt Morgan, Journey Home  matt.morgan@journeyhomect.org 

Crane W Cesario, CRMHC – DMHAS  crane.cesario@ct.gov