GH Leadership Meeting 1/20/2021

 

GREATER HARTFORD COORDINATED ACCESS NETWORK MEETING AGENDA

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 via Zoom

 1PM – 2:15PM

 

1.       Welcome and Introductions – 5 minutes

2.       Cold Weather/Winter Planning Updates – Lisa Cretella, Bryan Flint, Kara Capone, Mark Jenkins, Emily Soucy– 15 minutes

a.       Lisa – no major update. At capacity at warming center. Some facility issues. Overflow and triage are going well. Low volume at triage. Warming Center is now operating 24 hours. People will be allowed back in their beds, can miss one night, must arrive by 5pm.

b.      Emily – Enfield emergency center will open next week, for 20 clients, 10 rooms. Working on protocols. Revised protocols will be sent out by Amanda. Placement at hotel, will be open 24 hours.

c.       ACT has some funds, reach out to Melanie when they come to diversion. Can connect them to case managers. Placement in Berlin and Newington. 14-21 day stay based on case and then will move transitional housing.

d.      Bryan – warming center and bringing resources to Manchester. Had a meeting to discuss what Vernon is doing. Town is working on MOU. Pushing to open on Friday. Working with facilities to prepare space. Hopefully will open by next week.

e.       Kara – family triage still open and going well. Comparing numbers to last year’s outcome. Past week has been slow.

f.        GHHRC – staffing hotels. Referrals from hospitals, using for COVID positive clients.

3.       COVID – 19 Agency Updates – 5 minutes

a.       Agency updates

                                                              i.      Weekly testing at ImmaCare. Coming in every Tuesday. First round of test on the 5^th.

                                                             ii.      McKinney has one staff in quarantine. One positive in shelter. 2 residents were relocated at hotel because they refused quarantine rules. Weekly testing being done. Will receive vaccine at the end of the month through HHC.

                                                           iii.      HOH meal program and day program are operating as usual.

                                                           iv.      CRT – 1 PSH client tested positive.

                                                             v.      DMHAS – vaccine roll out has been delayed for staff. Griffin Hospital is the provider for vaccinations.

                                                           vi.      Mercy – some staff at St. Mary's were able to get the vaccine because they are located in a skilled nursing facility. Mercy still have yet to hear anything from VAMS system.

                                                         vii.      CHR – lots of staff have been vaccinated and have scheduled vaccination.

                                                       viii.      CRT – staff at behavioral health in process of receiving vaccine. Most staff are scheduling appointment or have received vaccine.

                                                           ix.      Matt met with Liany to discuss cleints who tested positive. If someone has tested positive in homeless program, please email Liany and Tung with information.

 

4.       Hartford Civilian Crisis Response Team Focus Group – 5 Minutes – Patricia McIntosh

a.       Mission for team has been identified by City of Hartford. Reviewing programs nationwide. Town Hall meeting last week to discuss what is going on with focus group. Have several focus groups. Funding has been committed for the next 4 years.  Invitation for Wednesday Jan. 27^th at 1pm to hear about unsheltered population. Link will be emailed.

5.       CT BOS Steering Committee Vote on Reallocation Decision – 5 Minutes – Lisa Quach and Crane Cesario

a.       Vote on how they will reallocate grants. Lisa and Crane are reps for GH. Deadline is next Tuesday. BOS has provided 3 options.

1. Steering Committee (SC) is made

aware of the projects that are being

proposed for reallocation and votes on

whether to reallocate their funding.

2. Steering Committee makes the

decision to reallocate the funding

WITHOUT knowing the projects to be

reallocated.

3. Steering Committee yields the

reallocation decision to the SC Chairs.

b.      Kara C. concern – needs a strategic plan in place for reallocation. Need a non-conflicted committee. Not enough descriptions on the three options. Kara supports the first option. Types and path of reallocation needs to be discussed. Is it based on scoring? Other methodologies that will be used?

c.       Please email vote or chat the vote to Lisa. Lisa and Crane will take a vote with CT BOS.

6.       ESG-COVID Program Updates/FLASH –Jane Banks/Yoshi Bird, Andrea Hakian, Stephanie Corbin, Lisa Quach, Lionel Rigler, Barbara Shaw, Kara Zichichi, Matt Morgan – 7 minutes

a.       COVID Beds – Yoshi Bird

                                                              i.      Working on developing COVID beds. Received award funds and would like to use the money for COVID ward. Total of 17 beds available in isolation and quarantine wards. Can be used by other providers as well. Looking to prioritize those who have tested positive in the last 10 days. Some vaccinated employees are working in this ward. CAN is responsible for taking care of COVID positive for those who have received results that was literally homeless. Doubled up will be referred to CRC. Protocols will be sent out soon. Hotels will be a last option if needed.

7.       Dedicated Plus – 3 minutes - Lisa Quach

a.       LIVE! Lisa is identifying clients thorough HMIS. Training will be next week. Enrollment and exit have to happen within 12 months. Will present new BNL and how it will be prioritized. Will present on Tuesday at the Solutions meetings and will be presented at other solutions meetings as well.

8.       HIC/PIT Updates – 5 minutes – Lisa Quach

a.       Alexis has been working Amanda for outreach clients.

b.      Working on cleaning up inactive.

c.       Unsheltered PIT training going on today.

9.       Round 4 of COVID-19 Waivers – 5 minutes – Lisa Quach

a.       Email was sent out with COVID waivers. Some have been extended.

10.   Future Agenda Items or Additional Announcements – 2 minutes

GH CAN Leadership Meeting 1/6/2021

 

GREATER HARTFORD COORDINATED ACCESS NETWORK MEETING AGENDA

Wednesday, January 6, 2021 via Zoom

 1PM – 2:15PM

 

1.       Welcome and Introductions – 5 minutes

2.       Cold Weather/Winter Planning Updates – Lisa Cretella, Bryan Flint, Kara Capone, Mark Jenkins– 15 minutes

a.       SAMH / Warming Center – Warming center has not been at capacity. Approaching 60-person capacity. Triage has seen families. Families are being hoteled or going to overflow. Overflow = 18 individuals. 1 family self-identified as positive and have been sent to hotel.

b.      Mercy – triage has several families now. Had a family that was not in HMIS. Faster in HMIS can identify to place in RRH. Will help expedite process. Recruiting for a triage position – have a possible candidate. Triage is going well so far. Transitioning clients to open beds from triage. Also diverting those who are divertible.

c.       Hoping for Enfield hotel to open soon. Identified staff and working on onboarding.

 

3.       COVID – 19 Agency Updates – 5 minutes

a.       Agency updates

                                                              i.      HOH –  Waiting to hear from city for eligible vaccinations. Would like to receive onsite testing. Soup kitchen and day shelter remains open since October. Working with city for testing on site and vaccination information.

                                                             ii.      JH – Reimbursement – waiting for DOH to determine funding for second quarter (2nd quarter being July – Sept). COVID task force meeting today to discuss reimbursements.  Need a listing of what expenses will be from agencies. Kathy Shaw’s team would like reimbursements for cleaning, extra sanitization, covid related activities, would like additional support. Fred Faulkner team has reinstituted crisis pay. DOH might not cover crisis pay – Matt will discuss it today at the Task Force meeting. Spike in COVID, agencies like Mercy and EH Shelter would like to cover crisis pay. Matt will advocate for funds.

                                                           iii.      CHR – no major updates

                                                           iv.      YWCA –  No other positive cases

                                                             v.      TOH – no positive cases

                                                           vi.      EH Shelter – part time worker no contact with any residents

                                                         vii.      McKinney – 

                                                       viii.      Mercy – Rotating staff, staff who can work from home is continuing to work from home.

                                                           ix.      SPI –  everyone has recovered from COVID.

                                                             x.      ImmaCare – waiting for results from Charter Oak testing. 1^st test for ImmaCare. 1 per diem staff tested positive. Case management staff is rotating days in office.

                                                           xi.      GHHR – .Other tests have come back negative.

                                                         xii.      Interval House – some clients had close contact with positive people, but all have come back negative. Advocates are working remotely. Onsite staff are taking necessary precautions.

                                                        xiii.      SA – Referring shelter guest for testing, no onsite testing. Guest have had negative results.

                                                        xiv.      Cornerstone – no positive cases

*** Reach out to Sofina B. for full notes on reported COVID cases. 

 

b.      Vaccines – tracking information in HMIS for congregate settings. Advised to not track clinical data (which vaccine from provider/1^st vs 2^nd shot) helpful to have information of who has completed vaccine. Will not be required but recommended. Will this be helpful to track in HMIS? If it is yearly – it might be a lot to track. Might be too early to tell. Crane – if client receives a copy of the passport of vaccines maybe we can upload as a regular document.

Amanda – will it be tracked statewide? Yes.

Matt has requested a list of data needed to be asked before vaccination.

Other CAN have submitted names list. Has anyone heard anything for our region? Some providers that have healthcare/medical programs have provided names. Matt will raise this at the meeting today.

                                                              i.      Unsure if vaccines will be needed yearly. Timing will depend on vaccination. Strains will also need to be tested.

4.       HIC/PIT Updates – 5 minutes – Lisa Quach

a.       Training yesterday for unsheltered count.

b.      Will not have canvasing this year. Will rely on smart sheets and HMIS for data.

c.       Will reach out to Outreach workers to discuss tasks. Will have 14 days to collect data

d.      New enrollment for those who are sleeping outside.

e.       Working with providers to make sure data is correct. All hotels will have data in HMIS nights of PIT.

5.       ESG-COVID Program Updates/FLASH –Jane Banks, Andrea Hakian, Stephanie Corbin, Lisa Quach, Lionel Rigler, Barbara Shaw, Kara Zichichi, Matt Morgan – 7 minutes

a.       Andrea – fully staffed. Lots of clients in housing search.

b.      Yoshi – 4 referrals for prevention program. Big issue – how to manage those who meet eligibility and rent qualifications. Eligibility – need to call 211, being evicted or have received a notice to quit for non payment of rent due to COVID. Up to 4k of rental payments and can help to relocate participants. SPI providing case management and financial help.

c.       Barbara – street outreach project is beginning. Coordinating with outreach and diversion staff. Will provide updates.

d.      Kara – hiring for RRH positions.

e.       Matt – working on ESG contract from city.

6.       Process for Alerting Outreach Workers/Case Managers about COVID Positive/ Quarantine Clients – 5 minutes – Jen Greer  

a.       Before agencies meet with clients a screening should be done virtually.

7.       Future Agenda Items or Additional Announcements – 2 minutes

a.       GPD beds are under-utilized at the moment. Can take Veterans after hours and hold them. General SPI number 860 724 0071.

b.      Warming Center – a few clients have had seizers. Lisa reached out to Epilepsy agency and provided an identification list of how to recognize seizers.

c.       Add Dedicated Plus to the agenda next meeting

d.       Statewide Shared Housing meeting – anyone interested in training please reach out to Matt for 10:30am on 1/28.

e.       COACH program – fully staffed. Staff are going to locations. Anyone interested in staff onsite please reach out to Tara Tulay.