GREATER
HARTFORD COORDINATED ACCESS NETWORK
MEETING
NOTES
WEDNESDAY, June 17th, 2015
NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY, June 24th, 12:30 –
3:00 pm
100 DAY SUSTAINABILITY REVIEW at CRT’s Lumsden Center
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In Attendance:
Janet Bermudez – Hands On Hartford
Kevin Bedon – Journey Home
Suzan Bibisi – Tabor House
Sharelle Blatche – Salvation Army Marshall House
Cordelia Brady – The Open Hearth
Aisha Brown – CHR Enfield
Crane Cesario – DMHAS / Hartford COC
Roger Clark – ImmaCare
Stephanie Corbin – Community Health Network
Alfredo Echevarria – ImmaCare
Fred Faulkner – The Open Hearth
Amanda Girardin – Journey Home
Ruby Givens-Hewitt – My Sisters’ Place
Mollie Greenwood – Journey Home
Mark Jenkins – Greater Hartford Harm Reduction
Coalition
Mercedes Johnson – Interval House
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Brittany King – The Open Hearth
Steve MacHattie – ImmaCare
Philomena McGee – CHR Enfield
Matt Morgan – Journey Home
Karis Neufield – Journey Home
Heather Pilarcik – South Park Inn
Patricia Pollicina – Chrysalis Center
Jamie Randolph – CHR
Chris Robinson – Chrysalis Center
Iris Ruiz – Interval House
Sarah Simonelli – Chrysalis Center
Rob Soderberg – CHR
Sandra Terry – CRT
Sarah Trench – Journey Home
Tamara Womack – My Sisters’ Place
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1. Introductions & GH-CAN Meeting Notes for last week, 6/10/2015
(emailed)
2. GH CAN Stats Update – See p. 2 and p. 3-4
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Population
Housed through GH CAN Programs
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During 100 Day Campaign- 3/11/15 – Present
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CHRONIC
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PSH
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35
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Rapid
ReHousing
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7
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Others
Housed
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7
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Subtotal
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49
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NON-CHRONIC
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Transitional
Housing
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89
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Rapid
ReHousing
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47
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Other
Housed
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Subtotal
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136
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a. We reviewed the list of clients that
we had designated as housed. Two clients
had been reported as housed at a previous CAN meeting, but so far we have not
been able to confirm their housing status.
We are looking into those cases.
b. Moving forward, the Greater Hartford
CAN stats will be updated online, rather than on the agenda.
3. Announcements
a. The 100 Day Campaign Wrap Up will be held on Wednesday, June 24th,
from 12:30-3:00 PM at CRT’s Lumsden Center, 555 Windsor St., Hartford
b. Move-In Kits-
Journey Home has donated move-in kits available. Case managers should feel free to take them
after the meeting!
i.
A
number of case management staff took the move-in kits with them, and more are
available at the Journey Home office. If
staff is interested in additional kits, please call Mollie Greenwood at Journey
Home at 860-808-0336.
c. Zero: 2016 – Chronic Homeless Veteran Update
i.
In
the future, if staff interacts with a veteran they can be referred directly to
SSVF or the VA. If clients have been
determined as ineligible for VA or SSVF services, they will be referred back to
the GH CAN. For some veterans with a
dishonorable discharge, they may be eligible for a new RAP program.
a.
Airport Outreach – Crane announced that soon the
airport would not be allowing anyone to stay there overnight. Staff are
encouraged to go Thursday and Friday to help explain to clients that they would
not be able to stay longer, and help explain the 211 system for accessing
shelter. There is a plan for Thursday morning outreach, please talk with
Crane after the meeting if you plan to do outreach there.
4. Future Meeting Schedule and Contingency Plan (see p. 10)
a. We discussed bi-weekly meeting
schedule which would call for GH CAN housing matching meetings every two weeks,
rather than weekly.
b. At these meetings, we have asked that
all involved agencies send at least one staff person who can help facilitate
the matching process. Because meetings
will be less frequent, it will be essential that agencies allow for at least
one staff person to be available for these meetings.
c. In instances where there are no
meetings for more than two weeks, there may be a GH CAN conference call so that
referrals can be made in the interim.
5.
Help us Identify the Resources that Supporting the Client Identification for
GH Prioritization Flow Chart (See p.5)
a.
We discussed the Flow Chart that outlines the
process for identifying clients to add to the Priority List. It may be helpful to figure out how many
staff are currently involved in certain steps of this process in order to
identify any areas that are adding time to the housing process.
6.
Brainstorming: Ideas to Reduce CAN Referral Appointment Backlog
a.
Right now we are booking out about one week each
week. If we could cut down on our
appointment backlog, appointments would likely be scheduled in real-time.
b.
Philomena McGee of CHR Enfield shared some of
the challenges she has seen with appointments in Enfield. For the most part, clients who are Enfield
locals are showing up for their appointments, and clients form other locations
are not. CHR Enfield staff volunteered
to start calling clients prior to their appointments to figure out if they’re
still able to and planning to attend their appointments.
c.
One reason that clients who are not native to
Enfield have been booking appointments up there is that some 211 operators have
informed clients that they can possibly get an earlier appointment time if they
schedule their appointment for the suburbs.
Appointments in the City Of Hartford have consistently booked out
further than suburban appointments.
d.
It is possible that clients agree to suburb
appointments while on the 211 call, but transportation may still be a barrier
to arriving for those appointments outside of the city.
e.
It would be interesting to investigate the
no-show cases further, to determine how many of them called multiple times, and
scheduled multiple appointments. A few
months ago, we had discussed trying to build in some accountability for clients
who no-showed to more than 3 appointments, but have never enacted that
plan.
f.
211 is implementing our changes regarding no longer scheduling an
appointment for clients who have already completed a VI-SPDAT. We are optimistic that this will lessen the
time between calling 211 and attending a GH CAN appointment.
g. A number of assessment sites reported
that they are still getting a lot of clients who aren’t appropriate for our
programs at the GH CAN appointments.
Many clients are not literally homeless, and will not be within 2
days. Other clients arrive at these
appointments thinking that it is a path to Section 8 or other rental subsidy
program.
i.
We
discussed the need for another appointment outcome in CA HMIS. In addition to the existing options (Accepted
for Enrollment, Diverted Before CAN Appointment, Diverted At CAN Appointment,
Waitlist, or No-Show) GH CAN staff sees the need for an “Inappropriate
Referral” or “Ineligible Referral” option.
This option would be intended for clients who present at the appointment
site, but after learning the purpose of the appointments, they choose to leave
the appointment. These clients are not
technically no-shows, but also aren’t truly being diverted, since they were not
seeking the services we have available.
ii.
The
Statewide CAN meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, and Crane will bring up this
issue to learn what other CANs are doing and think about this option.
7. Soup Kitchen Sign-Up
a. Journey Home brought around a
calendar so that staff from different agencies could sign-up to help with soup
kitchen outreach, if they are able to.
b. Many of the staff who attend the CAN
meeting would need to know what kinds of responsibilities are needed to help
with this soup kitchen outreach. It
would be helpful to prepare this information and send it around to GH CAN
leadership, along with an online calendar to sign-up.
8. 100 Day Update
a. The 100 Day Team extended a huge
thank you to everyone who has been involved in this campaign. So many staff members have stepped up way
above and beyond their traditional roles to help with this process, and we
couldn’t have made the kind of progress we made without such collective
involvement.
b. Amy Robinson, a member of the 100 Day
Team who is out on medical leave, sent a letter letting us know she’s hanging
in there, and staying positive. She
appreciates all the well wishes, and looks forward to seeing everyone again
soon.
9. GH CAN Training Agenda
a. Journey Home currently offers
trainings in the Universal Housing Application, and includes training on the
VI-SPDAT as a component of this training.
In the future, Journey Home is hoping to offer a more comprehensive
CAN-focused training that starts at the front end of CAN, with assessment
appointments and the VI-SPDAT, and continues through document gathering and
completing a Universal Housing application.
Journey Home distributed a draft of this updated training schedule, and
asks that if anyone has feedback on the proposed training, they should send it
along to mollie.greenwood@journeyhomect.org.
i.
The
current training is not designated as a navigation-only training, but is
instead intended to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the CAN
process.
b. Stephanie Corbin of Community Health
Network expressed interest in her team getting training, because they have the
flexibility to meet with clients where they are. Journey Home will plan to talk with staff at
CHN about how they can get involved with the Universal Housing Application.
c. Journey Home hopes to offer this as a
free two-day training. In the past, CRT
has allowed Journey Home to host trainings in their building- if this is a
possibility moving forward, there is a food kiosk available for lunch, as well
as a refrigerator so staff who attend the training could buy or bring a lunch.
10. Housing Referrals
a. New Referrals
i.
For
one client who was in process, the paperwork came in to confirm status and who
has a VI SPDAT score of 10 or over was referred to Greater Hartford Shelter
Plus Care between CAN meetings.
ii.
Another
client was supposed to move into an apartment at Sue Ann Shay Place through
Shelter Plus Care, but due to water-heater problems, was unable to move
there. Crane Cesario was hopeful that
she could use this client’s cert to move her to another unit and get her housed
more quickly.
iii.
There’s
an opening coming online at Mary Seymour Place, but clients need to have been
clean for a year before they are eligible to live there, per requirements of
the property manager.
iv.
CABHI
– New CT BoS Certificates – Referrals
1.
Programs
implementing new Balance of State units are instructed to only accept referrals
with a VI-SPDAT score of 10 and higher. Documentation needs to be
reviewed in advance to confirm CH eligibility. Until further notice,
please contact Crane and fax her the verification forms to 860-297-0930. Please
also send an email notifying her that the fax has been sent.
v.
A few referrals were made to CRT’s Project
Teach Transitional Living program.
vi.
A
few referrals were made to My Sisters’ Place’s Transitional Living
Program. A number of formal referrals
fell through because client’s pre-existing utility bills were too high.
vii.
Homeless
Verification Form: Client Self-Verification (see paper clipped packet)
b. Review Pending Referrals
i.
Staff
at CHR Enfield has had difficulty with clients being very reluctant to leave
the city. Unfortunately, the CHR Enfield
certificates are designated for outside the City Of Hartford.
ii.
Staff
at Interval House expressed that they were having difficulty helping one client
to find a location to use her voucher, as she needs all utilities
included. Amanda Girardin of Journey
Home offered to share some landlord information who have included utilities in
the past. If utility bills are a
barrier, sometimes it’s possible to have friends or family offer to help pay
utilities if a household is unable to pay themselves.
iii.
To
access the Security Deposit Guarantee Program at My Sisters’ Place, the contact
person is Beverly Ramsey, and she can be reached at 860-895-6629.
iv.
Staff
at ImmaCare indicated that while past referrals have been FUSE clients, they
may have some flexibility to work with clients who have a history of involvement
with the criminal justice system, even if they are not on the FUSE list. ImmaCare offered to set some guidelines for
what level of involvement is needed to satisfy their funding obligations, and
will bring this information back to the group.
v.
At
the next meeting (July 8th) Mollie of Journey Home will be bringing
the prioritization criteria that was adopted by the CAN in earlier months as a
reference point for housing discussions.
GH
CAN Coordinators:
GREATER HARTFORD COORDINATED ACCESS NETWORK
SCHEDULE FY 2016
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, 67 Pliny Street in Hartford.
There are five instances throughout
the coming year in which there are more than 2 weeks between CAN
meetings. We are proposing to meet during two of those gap periods,
between 9/23/15 and 10/14/15 and between 3/23/16 and 4/13/15, when we plan to
meet on the fifth Wednesday of the month. Additionally, the fourth
Wednesday in November is the day before Thanksgiving, and so we will not meet
on that date.
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.
2015
July 8th
July 22nd
August 12th
August 26th
September 9th
September 23rd
*September 30th – proposed
fifth week meeting
October 14th
October 28th
November 11th
November 25th - NO
MEETING
December 9th
December 23rd
2016
January
13th
January
27th
February
10th
February
24th
March 9th
March 23rd
*March 30th
– proposed fifth week meeting
April 13th
April 27th
May 11th
May 25th
June 8th
June 22nd
July 13th
July 27th
Effective Date: June 17, 2015
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