GH CAN Operations 8/23/16

Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network

Operations Committee Agenda

Wednesday, August 23^rd, 2016

1.      Welcome and Introductions

Alicia Akers, CRT

Rubi Alegria, Mercy Housing

Janet Bermudez – Hands on Hartford

Cordelia Brady – The Open Hearth

Roger Clark – ImmaCare

Stephanie Corbin – CHN

Tylon Crump – CRT McKinney

Rochelle Currie – The Connection

Jacqueline Farmer – Veteran’s Inc

Ruby Givens-Hewitt – My Sister’s Place

Kelly Gonzalez, CRT

Audrey Kennedy, SPI

Je’Naya King – CHR

Cynthia Lazore – Chrysalis Center

Nicole Milton – CHR Enfield

Malika Nelson – CHR Enfield

Roxan Noble – Chrysalis

John Oliver – Chrysalis Center

Maureen Perez – CRT McKinney Shelter

Cathy Shanley – Columbus House

Sandra Terry – CRT

Wendy Walker – CRT McKinney

Tamara Womack – My Sister’s Place

Leslie Wilper – Cornerstone

Bryan Destin – My Sister’s Place

Angel Fernandez – The Open Hearth

2.      Zero: 2016 Updates

a.      Recently Housed – Tenesha Grant – 6 clients

b.     Housing Data (see p. 2) – 200 chronic clients housed!

-        CCEH Data Dump increasing numbers. 57 PSH referrals into HCV so hopefully 57 unit turnovers.

-        Barriers to ending homelessness –

·        Difficulty verifying unsheltered time

·        High utility bills

·        Money management issues – active addiction, not having up-front costs

·        Security Deposit              

·        Application fees

·        Fees to secure unit, usually a one-month hold

·        Credit scores, past evictions

·        Lack of landlord history

·        Lack of Handicap accessible units

·        Landlord relationships (suggested contacting realtor for notice of change of ownerships for buildings)

·        Landlord complaints regarding delay of payment – 6 weeks for S+C

·        Challenging clients          

c.      Coordination between shelters and navigators. The Open Hearth being flexible and bending rules for chronic clients. It’s easier to get clients housed when you’re able to find them so if you have them at the shelter, please hold onto them. Let navigators know if a chronic client has left shelter.

3.      Agencies on the Release of Information – Mollie Greenwood – The Connection to be voted to add to the GH CAN HMIS ROI. All voted in. Update the current release to add The Connection and add to website – The Connection Youth Shelter program – Outreach & 2-year program – Case management is daily in Outreach, up to 30 days.

4.      Changes to Shelter Waitlist – Steve Hurley – Smartsheet training last week. Shelter waitlist is now separated into men, single women, and families. No longer need to call Steve to make sure someone gets moved up. Once you submit the questionnaire, it will automatically prioritize. No longer box to add notes, now a Chat Box. The first row on far left looks like a chat window. All timestamped and no need to write who from what agency is writing. Remember to “Save and refresh.” This is an easier process for everyone. For families, make sure you put age and family composition when completing questionnaire so that shelters don’t have to reach out to families.

5.      Next Steps Tool – Rochelle Curry – Vi-SPDAT for young adults. This feature will go live on 9/1/16. Should be use for any single adult 18-24 years old. If they have children, continue to use VI-SPDAT for families. The Next Steps tool has questions more specific to youth population. Only for single adults with no children. For young adults who have completed a VI, can still use VI or can complete Next Steps tool. Training on Friday coming up. Live training in Middletown from 11-12. Programmed into HMIS. Are the Next Steps tool scores aligned with VI-SPDAT scores? Yes. Outreach workers being trained now. 860-878-4042 is the referral line for outreach. Phone is 24/7. Can also use Youth-help.org hosted through CCEH and Reaching Home.

6.      Changes to the By-Name-List in CT HMIS – Lisa Quach – Using for RRH – FACE Sheet that lists all enrollments. The By-Name-List feature is fixed on HMIS. Anyone can run the By-Name-List. If you need assistance, please contact Lisa Quach. This list will be uploaded into HMIS ID for Greater Hartford CAN under ID #140129 under Files and Documents. We are trying to transition everyone into using the By-Name-List as the priority tool to refer literally homeless clients to housing programs such as rapid rehousing. The By-Name-List can be exported into excel and sorted by whatever you want but the list uploaded into the Greater Hartford HMIS will be sorted by VI-SPDAT scores. Also a feature known as FACE sheet that is now available. FACE sheets displays all of a client’s enrollment on that ID. Go to client’s CAN enrollment on HMIS and click on gear and then select option for FACE sheet. This should assist in completing homeless verifications. 

7.      Coordinated Exit Group – Rapid ReHousing Referrals- 8/31/16 @ 2pm. In an attempt to get more rapid rehousing referrals, we will be having an in-person meeting for long term rapid rehousing referrals. Please review the By-Name-List on HMIS and compare it with your shelter roster to see who is eligible and would succeed in rapid rehousing. We will be case conferencing clients so we will need shelter case managers in attendance or a representative who knows the clients currently in shelter.