GH CAN Operations 6/14/17

Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network

Operations Agenda

Wednesday, June 14^th, 2017

Attended: Janet Bermudez, Crane Cesario, Roger Clark, Tylon Crump, Rochelle Currie, Catherine Demato, Sarah DiMaio, Fred Faulkner, Angel Fernandez, Mollie Greenwood, Kelly Gonzalez, Amber Higgins, Steve Hurley, Gerilyn Maciel, Natalie Ramos, Alise Rangasammy, Chris Robinson, Amy Robinson, Maryilyn Rossetti, Iris Ruiz, Luz Serrano, Colette Slover, Jose Vega, Ymonne Wilson, Ben Hurley, Klaudia Lobeska, and Kelanda Santos

1.      Welcome and Introductions

a.      Leadership Updates – Mollie Greenwood

a.      Mollies says DHMAS had discussed their community support program.

1.      Mollie says the conversation was about the community support program help cover the gap for the CABHI program closing in the fall.

2.      Mollies says it may not cover all of the gaps.

b.      Crane says CAN Leadership is looking for a new chair for CAN Leadership

2.      Case Conferences – Fred Faulkner

a. HA - An outreach worker will be connected to this household.

b. Anonymomus Client - Journey Home will reiterate that until we know information about current homelessness, this household cannot be determined as eligible for homeless programs.

c. SF - Klaudia will work with CRMHC to get more information about this household.

3.      Coordinated Exit:

a.      Recently Housed - Lisa Quach

b.      Successful and Unsuccessful Exits from CAN Housing Programs (see p.3) – Mollie Greenwood

                                                    i.     Rapid Rehousing Success Rates Data – Amber Higgins

1.      Amber says served 601 households in GH CAN.

2.      Amber says we provided $103,000 for security deposit and the average assistance is $201,000.

3.      Amber says 90 percent of people who go into RRH are successful and only 1 percent of clients went back into homelessness.

c.      Disabling Condition Verification Attachment Forms – Lisa Quach

                                                    i.     Any households who receive Social Security or Veteran’s Disability, and who are using documentation from Social Security or the VA as the households disabling condition should continue to work on obtaining specific diagnosis information whenever possible.  The Disabling Condition form is sufficient to match a household to housing, but the majority of our housing programs are required to obtain information about what the specific disabling condition is before they can move forward with intake.

d.      Housing Matching Data – see p.2

e.      Domestic Violence Clients

     Sarah all the clients they took in this week at Marshall House were domestic violence situations. 60 percent of SAMH shelter has clients that have domestic violence situations. The clients are homeless due to domestic violence issues.

i.  Iris says their phone calls have increased and do not have space.

ii. Iris says an advocate from Interval House can go over to SAMH to work with the client to figure out a plan.

iii. Amber suggests a training on domestic violence.

iv. Iris says Interval House is over capacity.

4.      Coordinated Entry:

a.      Changes to Shelter Priority List - Steve Hurley

                                                    i.     Steve says Smartsheet training for shelter providers will be available on Thursday 6/29 from 9-10am and Friday 6/30 from 9-10 am at Journey Home.

5.      Announcements

a.      Hands On Hartford and a number of community partners are working on planning the Day of Sharing and Caring, and needs lots of help planning and pulling off the event.  If you’re interested in assisting, please contact swalker@handsonhartford.org

b.      Salvation Army is offering a Human Trafficking Training at Capitol Region Mental Health Center Thursday, 9/28 from 1-4 PM

c.      The time for the Rapid ReHousing Matching Meetings has changed- Rapid ReHousing matching will now begin at 1:15 PM and go until 2:45 PM.

---

 [MG1]Mollie to add case notes

GH CAN Leadership 6/14/17

Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network

Leadership Agenda

Wednesday, June 14th, 2017

In Attendance:

Brian Baker – South Park Inn

Crane Cesario – DMHAS

Cat Damato – CRT

Sarah DiMaio – Salvation Army Marshall House

Fred Faulkner – The Open Hearth

John Ferrucci – South Park Inn

Lou Gilbert – ImmaCare

Tenesha Grant – Mercy Housing and Shelter

Mollie Greenwood – Journey Home

Andrea Hakian – CHR

Dave Martineau – Mercy Housing

Justine Couvares – Chrysalis Center

Diane Paige-Blondete – My Sisters’ Place

Amy Robinson – US Department of Veteran Affairs

John Lawlor – The Connection

Ben Hurley – Journey Home

Ymonne Wilson – CRT

Michael Reilly - DMHAS

Alice Minervino - DMHAS

1.      Community Support Program – Alice Minervino and Michael Reilly (DMHAS)

a.      The Community Support Program consists of mental health and substance abuse rehabilitation services and supports to assist households in functioning independently.  CSP offers a wide array of rehabilitation services, most of which are provided out in the community (rather than in an office) by a mobile team.  Services are focused on skill building to develop independence. 

                                                    i.     Because the CABHI program will be ending this fall, DMHAS is hoping to share information about CSP in hopes that some CABHI clients can begin working with CSP specialists. 

b.      In order to be eligible for CSP, participants must have a mental health diagnosis or a co-occuring diagnosis, must engage in high-risk behaviors, exhibit moderate to high psychiatric symptoms, and present with frequent crises that may result in acute interventions, needs support coordinating clinical and recovery support services, needs support managing finances, needs support in reaching other goals. 

                                                    i.     These programs may be helpful supports for some of our homeless individuals as they enter housing.  Not all households will be appropriate for CSP.

                                                   ii.     CSP can provide residential supports, can support activities of daily living, can provide linkages to other supports in the community.  CSP also works with the participant on goal setting. 

c.      In the GH CAN, there are a handful of different CSP providers.  Capitol Region Mental Health Center, CHR in Manchester, CHR in Enfield, CHR in Bloomfield, the Chrysalis Center, and InterCommunity all have CSP teams. 

d.      We still need to get more detail around the intake process- Justine from Chrysalis indicated that intake and initial assessment can generally be set up pretty quickly, but in order to attend intake households need to have some paperwork (like a bio-psycho-social assessment) already in-hand. 

                                                    i.     Right now, we know there is a service gap for some individuals who are exiting homelessness and entering programs that do not have case management services, like Greater Hartford Rental Assistance (formerly Shelter Plus Care) and the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Preference.  CSP could be a good linkage for some of these individuals, but we may not be able to connect folks with CSP at the time of housing referral- the CSP referral may need to come first.

e.      CSP services are not time limited, and if there are delays in folks getting connected with CSP, please contact Michael Reilly at Michael.reilly@ct.gov

2.      Hartford No Freeze - Lou Gilbert

a.      The City of Hartford did not receive any bids on the No Freeze RFP that they released in May. 

b.      Lou Gilbert has been working with Journey Home, AIDS CT, CCEH, and the Department of Housing to come up with some other possibilities for Cold Weather season this year.  Lisa Tepper Bates and Lou had drafted a letter to the City initially, proposing the use of the No-Freeze funds to go towards Diversion and Rapid ReHousing.

                                                    i.     At the last CAN Leadership meeting, we talked about this letter, and there were concerns about switching all funds to Rapid ReHousing, because we are currently seeing delays in our RRH referral process.  Additionally, there was an interest in having some emergency warming space.

c.      Lou has been told that the city has an ordinance which requires them to open resources in case of an emergency cold weather activation, but we have not been able to read it and so the requirements are still unclear.

d.      Lou and Matt drafted a more recent letter outlining a suggestion for a Warming Center with tables and chairs, to be used throughout January and February.  The letter proposed having space for between 25-50 individuals, and proposed that in addition to January and February, this location could be opened whenever the governor activated Severe Cold Weather in the months of December and March.  Any remaining available funds after paying for the space and staffing could be allocated to transportation, hotel/motel funds, or Rapid ReHousing. 

                                                    i.     Sarah DiMaio expressed concerns about not having a space open through the whole period of December to March, particularly because some of our coldest nights this past year were in the month of March. 

                                                   ii.     Crane suggested, and others agreed, we ideally want a space that could accommodate 50 people at a time. 

                                                  iii.     We also discussed the helpfulness of having the Warming Center last year that also functioned as shelter triage to fill any unexpected shelter bed openings.  This is a service that was very helpful last year that we would not want to use. 

e.      CAN Leadership proposed requesting that the city provide some location, possibly a rec center, to use as a warming center.  We could use tables and chairs, which may disincentivize staying long term at a warming center rather than utilizing a traditional shelter bed.

f.       Lou Gilbert was going to work on these modifications with assistance from Sarah DiMaio.

3.      Chair Position Opening – Crane Cesario

a.      Because Theresa is no longer with us, there is an opening for CAN Leadership’s chair position.  If you’re interested in picking up this role, we will discuss further and decide on a chair at our next meeting.

4.      GH CAN Housing Data – see p.2

a.      Barriers to Housing - Mollie Greenwood

5.      Announcements

a.      Day Pitney will be hosting a GH CAN meet and greet for board members of all the different participating organizations.

b.      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

c.      Salvation Army is offering a Human Trafficking Training at Capitol Region Mental Health Center Thursday, 9/28 from 1-4 PM

GH CAN Housing Data

Data Element	Number	Notes
Chronically homeless households housed in 2015		This includes clients housed through GH CAN programs as well as through other subsidies or independent housing
Chronically homeless households housed in 2016		This includes clients housed through GH CAN programs as well as through other subsidies or independent housing
Chronically homeless households housed in 2017		This includes clients housed through GH CAN programs as well as through other subsidies or independent housing
Total Chronically homeless households housed in GH CAN
Verified Chronic Matched
Verified Chronic Not Yet Matched		We currently have 15 chronic verified clients who have not yet been matched to housing.
Potentially Chronic Matched
Potentially Chronic Not Yet Matched		Right now we believe 65 households have the chronic length of homeless history, but none of these individuals have their homeless and disability verifications completed.

Men’s Shelter Data: 12/1/16-3/31/17

*Includes McKinney (91 beds), Open Hearth (28 beds), ImmaCare (75 beds) and South Park Inn (45 beds).

** Assuming all beds at McKinney, Open Hearth, Immacare and South Park Inn are utilized and there are no No-Freeze Beds.

Recommendations to the City of Hartford for Winter 2017-2018

Purpose of this document:  To recommend a course of action to the City of Hartford for providing access to warm location(s) during the coming winter. 

Context: 

In the past few years, the primary purpose of the No Freeze Shelter has been to make sure men experiencing homelessness do not freeze to death during the winter.  The program has not included case management services.  Two and half years ago, the Coordinated Access Network (CAN) was created to better coordinate homeless services and improve access to shelter and housing resources for those who are experiencing homelessness.  The CAN has helped identify gaps in the homeless service system, as well as ways to make the system more efficient.  Data from last winter shows that some of the year-round shelters were under-utilized during most of the season that the No Freeze shelter was open.  If all the year-round shelter beds had been fully occupied during the winter, there would still have been a need for additional shelter capacity to accommodate everyone who was requesting shelter.  (See attached charts.)  There are no identified non-profit partners willing to run the No Freeze Shelter program in its current form.  There is no identified location for 2017-2018 where the No Freeze Shelter can be located.

Recommendations:

In order to maximize the utilization of year-round shelter beds (which include case management), the following program is recommended:

1.      Using the funding for the No Freeze Shelter, the City should open up Parker Memorial or Pope Park Recreation Centers[1] or any other City-owned and operated location as an overnight Warming Center during the months of January and February for 25-50[2] people.  In addition, the Warming Center should be open when the Governor activates the Severe Cold Weather Protocols (or when the City of Hartford determines local cold weather protocols it should be activated) during the months of December and March.[3]

2.      With any remaining funds, provide a pool of flexible funds for the following eligible expenses:

a.      Transportation assistance (bus fare, Uber, and/or taxis) during Severe Cold Weather

b.      Hotel/Motel funding for women, men, or families during Severe Cold Weather

c.      Shelter Diversion assistance, including security deposits, utility assistance, gas cards, and other funding that can prevent people from entering shelter during the winter months.  By preventing people from entering shelter, this diversion assistance will help reduce the demand for shelter beds.

d.      Rapid Rehousing assistance, including security deposits, utility assistance, rental assistance that can help people to exit shelter quickly during the winter months.  By quickly exiting people from the shelter, this rapid rehousing assistance will allow us to serve more people in the shelter system.

Program Administration:

The City of Hartford should RFP the program out to a nonprofit provider.  There may be a nonprofit provider offering to operate this model if the location is provided by the City of Hartford and the number of nights of service better match the available funding. If no nonprofit provider responds to the RFP, then the City should use its existing employees or hire temporary staff to staff the Warming Center. 

If the City of Hartford does not identify and agree to use a city location by July 31, 2017[4], then the total funding should all be utilized for flexible funds as described in number 2. above in order to allow enough time to procure the services.

Recommendation for the Warming Center Program at a City of Harford Location

The purpose is to provide a warm space that keeps people from freezing to death.  In order to encourage and maximize the use of the year-round shelters that include case management services designed to help the client solve their homelessness and move into more permanent housing, it is recommended that the warming center be simply a place to stay warm on the coldest nights of the year using chairs or similar accommodations.  When a No Freeze Shelter client is offered a shelter bed at a  year-round shelter through the existing CAN process, clients should be immediately transported from the Warming Center to these shelters that have availability and not be allowed to return to the No Freeze Shelter.

Submitted on behalf of the Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network

Co-Chair Matt Morgan

Dated: June ?????????, 2018

---

[1] All four of the year-round men’s shelters (ImmaCare, South Park Inn, McKinney, and Open Hearth) are located in the southern half of Hartford so the No Freeze Shelter may be best located at a North Hartford location such as Parker Memorial Recreation Center to provide better access to North Hartford residents.

[2] Question for the GH-CAN: What do people think about this number 25?, 35?, 50?

[3] Question for the GH-CAN: Should the GH-CAN recommend a threshold to the city for when to activate the local warming center/cold weather protocol, (temperature, wind speed, precipitation) in December and March?  There were many nights in December and March when there was still a need for extra shelter beds, as described in the charts.

[4] Question for the CAN:  Is this deadline OK?