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In many communities, the best way to find help if you are experiencing a housing crisis is to start with a long list of phone numbers. You start from the top, and hope that you fit the requirements, that they have enough resources to serve you, that they are open on Tuesdays. It is exhausting work for the household and an inefficient use of resources for the providers.

Some communities have moved to centralize the process households use to access services. This is called coordinated entry, and it has many advantages, like improving the efficiency of a community’s homelessness assistance system and improving its ability to perform well on HEARTH Act outcomes. Additionally, in the interim rules for the new Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program, HUD explains that it will include in an upcoming rule for the Continuum of Care program, a requirement for communities to develop and implement a coordinated entry system.

As guest blogger Iain DeJong mentioned last week, the Center for Capacity Building at the Alliance held a training during our February conference on Coordinated Entry, the materials from which are now online. During the training, a number of communities had questions about training 211 operators in their communities to handle intake, assessment, and referrals to services. This is may be a good model for larger communities, or those without transit systems that make it possible for households to travel to a centralized location.

Alameda County in California is one example of a community that has used their 211 line as a part of a decentralized coordinated intake. People experiencing a housing crisis can call 211 for help, which conducts an initial screening before referring a person to one of eight Housing Resource Centers (HRCs) that can provide prevention, rapid re-housing, and other services. All HRCs use the same assessment tool, data collection methods, and targeting strategy for financial assistance, case management, prevention, rapid re-housing, and other housing services. Staff from the HRCs meet monthly for in-person meetings and also communicate online.

The slides from the coordinated entry training can be found on our website, as well as our brief about coordinated entry, “One Way In: The Advantages of Introducing System- Wide Coordinated Entry for Homeless Families.”

Is your community looking at implementing a coordinated entry system? Let us know in the comments!

It’s been a big week at the Alliance!

We wrapped up the loose ends from our Los Angeles conference and we followed the release of the President’s Budget Proposal, trying to analyze how proposed funding levels and changes to regulations would impact our goal of ending homelessness. Make sure you didn’t miss any of the following:

• Guest blog posts from the conference written by attendees and colleagues
• A recording of the webinar on the President’s Budget Proposal
• Conference presentations
• A budget rundown and chart outlining proposed funding levels.

And in traditional news:

Obama Budget Splits Homeless Advocates, Huffington Post
Homeless Advocates Divided Over Bill Aimed at Helping Kids, Huffington Post
Obama’s 2013 budget would boost Veterans Affairs funding 10.5%, Washington Post
Economic Reports Show a Brightening Outlook, Associated Press

Happy Friday!

Today’s post was written by Mike Shore.

As communities redouble their efforts to achieve the goals of Opening Doors, one thing is abundantly clear: we need all hands on deck to truly end homelessness in this country.

This includes our partners at public housing agencies (PHAs) both as providers of mainstream housing resources and as key collaborators within our existing systems of care.  As we continue to focus on permanent solutions like permanent supportive housing and rapid re-housing strategies, we must expand the tools and resources available to support these efforts.  This includes broadening and deepening our connections with our PHA partners.

This past week’s National Conference on Ending Family and Youth Homelessness saw some of the most exciting and influential thinkers in the field come together in Los Angeles. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) convened public housing agencies and Continuums of Care (CoCs) from targeted communities for a special pre-conference session to highlight the ways in which communities have successfully worked across HUD programs to create more opportunities for housing and services targeted towards persons experiencing homelessness.

The session began with a roster of terrific speakers. USICH Director Barb Poppe reminded us that while we have seen progress in reducing overall homelessness, especially among the chronic and veteran populations, additional collaboration and new partnerships are needed to significantly move the needle to meet the goals of Opening Doors.

Sandra Henriquez, Assistant Secretary for HUD’s division of Public and Indian Housing, reminded us that while the targeted McKinney Vento homeless programs provide significant solutions, they do not represent the entire solution.  Sandra strongly encouraged PHAs to examine their current operations in both the Housing Choice Voucher and conventional public housing programs to determine how they can further increase access and expand opportunities for those experiencing homelessness in these mainstream housing programs.  Finally, we were incredibly fortunate to have Estelle Richman, Acting Deputy Secretary for HUD, echo this encouragement.  Estelle brings a tremendous breadth of knowledge and experience in the public health and social services arena for vulnerable populations to HUD.  She passionately spoke of the importance of housing as a stabilizing force for individuals and families facing challenges with chronic health conditions and mental health needs on their path to recovery and economic self-sufficiency.

After a rousing kick-off from our partners at the federal level, panelists from two bright spot communities, Salt Lake City and Fresno, provided some examination of innovative PHA activities in their communities.  The Housing Authority of the County of Salt Lake has been instrumental in the creation of permanent supportive housing by project-basing significant numbers of Housing Choice Vouchers and Shelter Plus Care rental assistance for new developments for homeless individuals and families in their community.  The Fresno Housing Authority has created set-asides of vouchers for homeless individuals and families in their community through the establishment of local preferences in their Housing Choice Voucher program. The Fresno Housing Authority also cited their leadership role in their local 100,000 Homes Campaign initiative, Project P4: People, Place, Public Partnerships, as an excellent example of how to effectively target those in their community with the most severe housing needs.  Both of these PHAs are actively involved in their local CoCs, a point that has clearly been essential to their success in tackling homelessness.

Following the panel, staff from USICH, HUD, the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) and Community Solutions facilitated small group discussions around topics related to PHAs effectively serving households experiencing homelessness.  Topics included:

• PHA administrative policies (admissions and occupancy) as they relate to homeless/vulnerable households
• Creating and operationalizing local preferences
• Project-basing Section 8
• Building/service provider partnerships
• Strategies for using public housing
• Serving homeless families
• Serving chronically homeless
• PHA participation in CoC activities and programs

These discussions provided an excellent opportunity for practitioners and policy makers from communities throughout the country to share and learn from one another.  Challenges were acknowledged, but the focus of these breakout sessions truly centered on solutions and opportunities to explore new strategies.  Many committed to exploring these solutions upon their return to their communities, and plans are underway to form several new affinity groups and learning communities.

In her remarks to the group, Sandra Henriquez acknowledged that her plea for further collaboration and partnership for many in attendance was a little like singing to choir.  She implored us, though, to lift our collective voices so that they rippled beyond the choir and throughout the land. Together, she insisted, our voices could transform this country’s response to homelessness.  I like the sound of that music.

Mike Shore is the Western U.S. Field Organizer for the 100,000 Homes Campaign, a national movement of change agents working together to house 100,000 vulnerable and chronically homeless individuals and families by July of 2014. Mike also leads HOM, Inc., a leader in permanent supportive housing and innovative solutions to end homelessness for individuals and families in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Today’s guest post comes to us from Shahera Hyatt.

I would first like to start off by thanking the Alliance for explicitly including youth in this year’s conference on ending homelessness. For those of us who work day in and out on this issue, it was great to be with others to share our knowledge, experience, and passion for this work.

There were a few themes over the course of the conference regarding youth homelessness, with the first being the need for more timely and consistent data on this population. Not only was there a workshop on this topic, but Nan Roman gave considerable time to the issue in her plenary speech on the first day of the conference. She stated that even though the current data on the size and scope of youth homelessness is severely lacking (and I whole-heartedly agree), moving forward with the data we’ve got is absolutely critical.

To that end, she presented data from the NISMART-II in a new way, stating that about 96 percent of runaways under the age of 18 return home within one week (although many cycle in and out of homelessness). Policy Analyst Samantha Batko translated the data in a way that hasn’t been done before by identifying characteristics about the trajectory of youth homelessness in the hopes to shed new light on where interventions should be targeted.

This information indicates that supporting crisis interventions to help facilitate the process of returning home is essential. While in the case of the 400,000 who are unable or unwilling to return home for various reasons such as abuse or parental incarceration, utilizing housing strategies such as transitional living or permanent supportive housing would be most useful. While many of us wonder how the NISMART data holds up today, we hope that there are still valuable lessons to be learned that can be applied and implemented immediately.

The second theme was the need for a variety of different housing strategies for homeless youth and young adults to get them into stable living conditions. There was a particular emphasis on rapid re-housing, a model that has been successful for other segments of the homeless population.

The third theme was the heterogeneity of the homeless youth. This was repeated time and again by various presenters. The workshop on creating a blueprint to end youth homelessness focused largely on creating a new typology that recognizes these differences, subtly urging the audience to consider the unique needs of each youth in determining interventions. This typology identified three groups: the temporarily disconnected (this population generally retums home on their own), the unstably connected (for which family reunification may be most helpful), and the chronically disconnected (best served by permanent supportive housing or transitional housing).

I look forward to seeing how these ideas continue to evolve both in policy and in practice.

Shahera Hyatt is the Director of the California Homeless Youth Project where her focus is translating research on homeless youth for the legislative audience. Hyatt is also the co-chair of the Sacramento Gay & Lesbian Center’s Homeless Youth Initiative, and is a member of the Alliance’s National Advisory Council on LGBT youth.

On Monday, the Administration released its fiscal year (FY) 2013 Budget Proposal. This is the start of the Alliance’s advocacy season and we’re excited by some of the numbers! This year is a great time to start getting involved with advocating for homeless assistance programs – join us today!

If you’re wondering what the President’s Budget Proposal is – and why it’s important –  you’re not alone. This big document is released every year by the Administration in early February . It officially kicks off the federal budget process for the upcoming fiscal year, which will start on October 1.

A couple of weeks ago, we discussed why this proposal matters. The President’s budget Proposal is not law. It’s meant to serve as a guide for Congress as it makes its own decisions about appropriations and the federal budget.

The President’s FY 2013 Budget Proposal includes suggested funding levels for many key programs targeted toward low-income or homeless people. This year, we at the Alliance were really excited to see some impressive increases proposed to homeless assistance programs:

• $2.23 billion for HUD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants, a 17 percent increase over the FY 2012 level;
• $1.35 billion for targeted homeless veteran programs within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a 33 percent increase over the FY 2012 level; and
• $19.07 billion for Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, including $75 million for about 10,000 new HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers.

These increases of about $330 million to VA’s homelessness programs and HUD’s McKinney-Vento programs each (not to mention funding for additional HUD-VASH vouchers) are a clear sign of the Administration’s commitment to implementing the HEARTH Act and the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness – even in a time of extremely tight budgeting.

The Budget Proposal also included flat funding (the same as in FY 2012) for countless other federal programs, including many that are important to homeless and at-risk people:

• Runaway and Homeless Youth Act programs;
• Homeless programs within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration;
• Education for Homeless Children and Youth programs; and
• Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME programs.

In addition, it proposed some cuts to key programs, including Project-Based Rental Assistance, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), Section 811, and the Emergency Food and Shelter Program.  For more details on the Administration’s proposed funding levels, click here.

So, what happens next? Congress has already begun to hold hearings on the Budget Proposal, and soon they’ll start to craft their own proposals. The Alliance is planning to launch major advocacy campaigns around several high-priority funding issues, including for HUD’s McKinney-Vento programs, RHYA programs, and VA’s Zero Homelessness Initiative. If you are interested in participating in any of these campaigns, please contact us!

Do you know how many alleys there are in the average city?  Well, ok, neither do I…but after last night, I have a much better idea.  Last night, instead of just bustling by these dark passages as I usually do, I traipsed up and down every alley I came across here in downtown DC.

As you’ve probably guessed, I was exploring these alleys, and every other nook and cranny of the Golden Triangle (which also happens to be, more or less, the Alliance’s neighborhood) as a volunteer with DC’s annual PIT Count.  Still relatively new to the field and working on federal policy here at the Alliance, I don’t often venture over to the practice side of the field.  I do, however, rely heavily on data and experiences gathered by practitioners every day to make the argument for increased funding for key federal homelessness programs.  Last night was my opportunity to match each number with a face.

After more than three hours and more than 30 people counted (yes, that’s unfortunately more than one person for every square block I covered in a neighborhood a stone’s throw from the White House), I was beginning to sympathize with the challenges that every homeless person faces, but particularly those living on the streets.  There were common themes: bureaucratic delays within departments like Veterans Affairs, long waits (years and years) for Section 8 or Public Housing, and a distinct lack of housing, affordable of otherwise, into which one might be placed. As Leroy, a man who made his home for the night in front of a Subway, noted to me, “I don’t need food kitchens or a place to shower, I need housing.”

It was frustrating for me, having these conversations with veterans, the elderly, parents disconnected from their children, and everyone else to know that the solutions are out there and the programs are, for the most part, in place.  We just need the right resources and investments to take them to scale to assist people like those I met last night.

Before we departed for the Count, Scott Gould, the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, spoke briefly about the importance of conducting these count. Deputy Secretary Gould hit upon the crux of the issue by saying, “good data leads to good policy.”  We couldn’t agree more! We think the staggering numbers of people experiencing homelessness in America speak for themselves.  We know what needs to be done. Now, more than ever, is the time to make the right federal investments so that next year, or the year after that, I have a very boring, quiet night counting.

To everyone that has helped or will help conduct counts in your community this January: thank you.  Our work here at the Alliance wouldn’t be possible without your efforts. But as we know, data collection is just the first step to addressing the problem.  Now is our opportunity to take what we’ve seen and learned to Congress to make a national impact. Here in DC last night, we had it easy – walking around a beautiful city in unseasonably warm temperatures, ending the night at home in our beds. But people like Henry, Lana, and Leroy don’t have it so easy. Simply put: sequestration and balanced budgets shouldn’t keep them, or anyone else I met last night, on the streets any longer.

Join us in 2012 as we work with Congress and the Administration to improve the lives of these and others across the nation.  Together, we can make the need for PIT Counts a thing of the past.

Here’s a smattering of clips about homeless point-in-time counts conducted this week. Did we miss your community? Tell us in the comment section below or shoot us a note on Facebook or Twitter!

• Homeless tally ‘not an accurate account’ of population in Delaware County (Star Press, DE)
• Point in Time homeless count offers opportunity to help (News Leader, MO)
• Camden County begins 24-hour count of its homeless (Philadelphia Inquirer, PA)
• Harford, Balto. counties survey homeless for annual census (Baltimore Sun, MD)
• Connecticut social service providers set for annual count of homeless (Associated Press, CT)

In the vast majority of our advocacy blog posts, we discuss congressional advocacy. But there is also another important kind of advocacy:  efforts aimed at the Administration and government agencies.

Late last year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released an interim regulation for the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program, as required by the HEARTH Act updating HUD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants. Normally, HUD releases a draft regulation, the public then comments on the regulation, and, finally, HUD takes those comments into consideration before publishing a final regulation – which only then goes into effect.

In this case, though, Congress specifically gave HUD more money to run the new ESG program, so HUD had to act quickly. HUD released this interim regulation, which officially went into effect on January 4, but they are still taking comments!

We’ve received a lot of questions from people who aren’t sure their comments matter this time, since the regulation is already in effect. So, we want to be clear: your comments are really critical!

The public has until Friday, February 3 to comment on the regulation. HUD will then consider those comments before eventually publishing a final, updated regulation. So, although comments won’t immediately affect the program, they’ll have a significant impact in the way the program is ultimately designed over the long run. If you or your community had any concerns about the regulations, now is your time to address them!

We’ve put out a lot of resources about the ESG regulation itself and recommendations and resources for communities beginning to implement the new ESG program. They can all be found at www.endhomelessness.org/ESG.

To provide people with an easy starting point and helpful guidance, the Alliance has released a draft of our own comments – the newest resource at www.endhomelessness.org/ESG. But just as you may use our comments to craft your own, we would love additional feedback from our partners across the country as to what we should include in the Alliance’s final comments. We want to hear your feedback and concerns about our comments and the regulation itself.

If you have thoughts of suggestions, please email Amanda Benton at abenton@naeh.org and include “ESG Comments” in the subject line.

Even though this is a different kind of advocacy, it’s just as important. It will have a long-term impact on the communities tools have at their disposal to prevent and end homelessness. We hope you’ll take the time to submit comments to HUD, and we can’t wait to hear from you with any questions, concerns, or feedback.

Our new Capacity Building Associate, Kay Moshier McDivitt, joins the Alliance’s Center for Capacity Building with a strong background in community planning and programming to prevent and end homelessness. Throughout her career, she has worked to develop systems change and implement best practices specific to vulnerable populations. Kay was an early advocate for the Housing First approach, pioneering the “Shelter to Independent Living Program,” a best practices model of rapid re-housing.

Building on her community experience with the Lancaster County Coalition to End Homelessness developing systems change and shifting the local community direction to a system of prevention, diversion, and rapid re-housing, Kay has provided consultation and technical assistance to a number of communities in ten year plan development and systems change. Kay passionately believes that ending homelessness is possible and has committed her professional career to helping communities find the tools and strategies to accomplish this goal.

The Lancaster, PA resident enjoys travel (including her commute to the Alliance office), spending time with her family, and Saturday morning breakfast with friends.

Iain De Jong at an Alliance conference.

Today’s post is guest written by Iain De Jong.

In less than a month, hundreds of folks will be gathering in LA for the National Conference on Ending Family and Youth Homelessness. Six months after that, several hundred more will gather in DC for the National Conference on Ending Homelessness in July. It is a huge undertaking for the Alliance to organize these conferences and find quality service providers, researchers, and consultants to provide the sessions. It is a big commitment on the part of attendees to take time away from their work to attend. In a time of fiscal restraint it is also a big deal for organizations to set aside funds for people to attend.

So why attend? Is the investment of time and money worth it?

Yes. Absolutely. Undoubtedly. Let me tell you why.

Of all the conferences that I attend throughout North America, I can say without a doubt that the Alliance is able to pull together premier speakers that exceed every other conference I have ever attended. If you want to learn from people who really, really know their material and are masters within their field and/or informing practice within their field, these are the conferences to attend. Does that mean you will love every session that you go to? Probably not. I’ve never been to a perfect conference anywhere. But I am convinced I have considerably less disappointment at Alliance conferences compared to others.

The speakers also have integrity and are doing it for the right reasons. To be transparent, I have been a speaker at their conferences for quite a number of years now. I don’t get paid a cent to do it. I do it because this is one of the vehicles I choose to use to give back to the profession. No one is paying me to say things in a certain way or to massage a message in a particular fashion. You get what I honestly think and have learned through practice and research.

There is a little something for everyone at the conferences, and it shows in how the agenda is put together. Consider the agenda for the conference in LA next month. There are sessions on everything from improving permanent supportive housing to the role of shelters in Housing First programs; from rapid re-housing approaches for people surviving domestic violence to employment strategies that work; from understanding what data is and how to use it to the HEARTH Act; from using new media to blueprints to ending homelessness for families and youth; from reunification strategies to the role of faith-based service providers; from protecting youth from sexual trafficking to working with mainstream anti-poverty organizations. And that is just a sample.

Alliance staff are worthy of my highest esteem and it shines at conferences. These are dedicated professionals who have made it their career choice to advocate, educate, research and inform service providers, elected officials and others on how ending homelessness is possible. They are remarkably intelligent. They are innovative in how they examine issues. They are passionate about ending homelessness, and it shows. It is energizing to engage with them.

And then there are the networking opportunities that happen on a scale at Alliance conferences that doesn’t occur at other conferences. When I was a direct service provider I was always able to seek out kindred spirits to share ideas and service approaches. We jointly problem-solved and collaborated. We share ideas to this day. As a consultant and educator nowadays, I am able to also connect with service providers, policy makers and others in the same field. Some of us will always be smarter than one of us, and I believe this is proven in spades at Alliance conferences.

I hope you or someone from your organization will make the trek out to sunny California in February and we have the chance to meet. Pop by my session on Data Simplified (one of the most fun sessions at the conference – yes, I make data fun!!!) If that isn’t possible, start saving your pennies now to come to DC in July. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

Iain De Jong is the President & CEO of OrgCode Consulting, Inc., an award-winning practitioner and policy-maker, a long-time friend of the National Alliance to End Homelessness and a frequent presenter at Alliance Conferences. Learn more about Iain and his work at www.orgcode.com or @orgcode on Twitter or www.facebook.com/orgcode