• Meet the Alliance’s New Economic Development Policy Fellow

  September 04, 2012

  Today’s post was written by Edward J. SanFilippo, Economic Development Policy Fellow for the Alliance. As we return to work after the Labor Day long weekend, we at the Alliance would like to recognize all those whose experience of homelessness is related to unemployment or underemployment. Labor Day is “a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country,” according to the Department of Labor. At the height of the economic crisis a number of years ago, we completed a short series of briefs called Economy Bytes, which explored various economic indicators and their relationship to homelessness: Doubled Up in the United States, Working Poor People in the United States, and Effect of State and Local Budget Cuts on Homelessness. Until now, we have been unable to explore these economic challenges in greater depth. After spending the summer as the Alliance’s Youth Policy Fellow, I am extremely pleased to have the opportunity to spend the upcoming semester in the new role of Economic Development Policy Fellow. In this new capacity, my primary emphasis will be on investigating employment initiatives for different sub-populations experiencing homelessness. I’ll also be examining federal policies such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, exploring projects devoted to asset building and microenterprise, compiling a brief assessment of what other countries have done to address similar issues, and so forth. This undertaking is long overdue, and we at the Alliance are excited to launch this new initiative. If your community or region has implemented innovative employment practices or economic policies for populations experiencing homelessness, we’d love to hear from you. We’d like to wish you a belated Happy Labor Day! ... Read More »
• New Alliance Website Features @endhomelessness.org

  August 31, 2012

  We are excited to announce that over the Labor Day weekend, the Alliance’s website, www.endhomelessness.org, will re-launch with a number of new features and navigation updates designed to improve our the user experience and provide more detailed information about upcoming events. Users will notice new drop-down navigation on the primary search menu and a new calendar feature with upcoming event details. Additionally, the Alliance blog will now be hosted on our website under News and Events. Please update your bookmarks and subscriptions to ensure you are linked to the right pages and getting the most up-to-date information. If you are having trouble reaching the right page or experiencing other technical issues, you might want to try refreshing your cache. We are optimistic about upgrading our website and excited about the new functionality it will offer users. However, we know that web sites are complicated things and that, in the transition, some disruptions or glitches may be inevitable. If you notice a page taking a bit longer than usual to load, or you stumble upon a broken link, please know that we already have a team working on it. Thank you for your patience! ... Read More »
• The Latest in Foster Care Data - AFCARS

  August 30, 2012

  An estimated 400,540 children and youth were in foster care on September 30, 2011, according to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) preliminary report released July, 2012. AFCARS is a child welfare federal reporting system that collects case-level information on all children in foster care for whom state agencies are responsible for placement, care or supervision. By and large, the number of children and youth in foster care has decreased over the years, as has the amount of time they spend in the system. However, challenges remain for older youth emancipating from foster care, who may not receive the proper tools and opportunities to succeed through the case planning process. Homelessness is a particular horrific outcome for youth who don’t receive strategic and thoughtful case planning. Selected AFCARS Data                                   (FC = Foster Care) Fiscal   Year  (Total # of Children & Youth   in FC) # of Youth   Ages 12-20 in FC # of Youth   in Supervised Independent Living # of Youth   w/ Case Goal of  Long Term FC # of Youth   w/ Case Goal of Emancipation # of   Children & Youth in FC over 2 Years* # of Youth   Who Exited FC  at the age of 17 and ... Read More »
• Field Notes: Moving to Common Assessment & Coordinated Access

  August 29, 2012

  In today’s guest blog Iain De Jong discusses ways communities might begin to plan coordinated assessment processes. De Jong is President & CEO of OrgCode Consulting, an international consulting firm focused on ending homelessness, driving change to promote community prosperity and challenging the status quo. As regulations change for Continuums of Care (CoC) and Emergency Solution Grant (ESG) recipients through the HEARTH Act, communities need to focus their attention on acting like a system – not a collection of independently operating projects. In a lot of instances, this means that the way which most CoCs and service providers operate must change. The ESG Regulations, released in December of 2011, include a requirement for communities to develop and implement a centralized assessment system. All ESG recipients are required to participate in the community’s coordinated assessment system to initially assess the needs of each household seeking prevention or homelessness assistance. The CoC Regulations, released in July of this year, also indicate that a centralized or coordinated process must be implemented to handle program intake, assessment, and referrals. The coordinated assessment process has to cover the CoC’s geographic area; it has to be easily accessible by households seeking housing or services; it has to be well advertised; it has to use a comprehensive and standardized assessment tool; it must respond to local needs and conditions; and, it needs to cover all ESG and CoC programs. Simply put, coordinated... Read More »
• In the rearview mirror: the 2012 National Conference

  August 28, 2012

  Today’s guest blog is by Daniel Kelly, an MSW student at the University of Michigan and Intern for the Corporation for Supportive Housing Michigan Program. 2012 was my first year at the National Alliance Conference on Ending Homelessness. I’ve been involved in homeless services since after my undergraduate in 2006, but I hadn’t been able to make the trip until this year when I interned with the Corporation for Supportive Housing. Unfortunately, I had a full class load the first two days of the conference. In fact, Tuesday was the final exam for one of my classes! My plan was to leave straight from class in Ann Arbor, Mich., and make the drive out to Washington D.C. for the conference. In preparation, my excited Mother took my car into the shop to ensure it was ready for the road. Everything checked out, so after I turned in my exam at about noon, I got in my already packed car and began the nine-hour journey to the Capitol. The experience was inspiring. At the conference, being surrounded by so many people committed to ending homelessness got me fired up. This feeling of inspiration continued during our Michigan Capitol Hill Day visits. I was fortunate to meet with Congresspersons Gary Peters and Hansen Clarke, who were both very receptive to the messages we brought to them about the negative effects of sequestration efforts. After the conference, this... Read More »
• Interns: What I learned at the Alliance

  August 27, 2012

  Today’s post was written by Christian Brandt, Federal Policy Intern, Amanda Jensen, Federal Policy intern, and Maulin Shaw, Federal Advocacy Intern. Christian Brandt, Federal Policy Intern This summer I had the immense privilege to be a Federal Policy Intern at the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Though I arrived at the Alliance with some independent research on homelessness under my belt (with projekt UDENFOR in Copenhagen, Denmark), I didn’t know that much about homelessness in the States. I came to the Alliance hoping to learn a lot more about the American homeless service system and homelessness in general. From my first week to my last day, I’ve learned more than I ever could have imagined when I started. If I were to make a list, it would go on forever, so I’ve distilled my experience into a few key points: Numbers are important. I remember writing in my first college research paper on homelessness that “counting” homeless people was “slightly irrelevant.” Boy have I been proven wrong this summer! Not only do numbers matter to direct service organizations (how else would they be able to figure out demographics, gauge area need, or measure institutional progress?), but numbers are the driving force behind political advocacy and policymaking on issues surrounding homelessness. The solution to homelessness is housing! In the back of my head,... Read More »
• Join the Alliance in Tulsa, Okla.

  August 23, 2012

  The Alliance is proud to be a partner in From Housing to Recovery, a conference running from Sept. 19 through 21 in Tulsa, Okla. In many ways, this three-day event exemplifies the kind of collaboration and focus we need if we are to address the problem of chronic homelessness and meet the goal of ending it by 2015, as set in the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. From Housing to Recovery, though initiated by private and non-profit champions in the Tulsa mental health community, is more than a local affair. It’s a national meeting as well, co-sponsored by Mental Health America. The event is about recovery, and it’s about housing, featuring policy, practice and partnership in equal measure. It’s about solutions that work for people and for communities. Tulsa is an apt setting for a conference of this scope and vision. The 100,000 Homes campaign has recognized the city as a leader among communities making progress in ending chronic homelessness. At the Alliance’s 2012 National Conference on Ending Homelessness, Greg Shinn from the Mental Health Association in Tulsa presented on the ingredients of Tulsa’s success in the workshop, Chronic Homelessness: Getting to Zero by 2015. According to Shinn, they include: Community planning and housing investment Integrated recovery for people experiencing mental health and housing crises Housing First approaches with person-centered services and coordinated care A focus on economic impact and sustainability An... Read More »
• Field Notes: Risk Adjusting Performance Measures

  August 22, 2012

  One of the challenges to measuring the performance of homelessness assistance programs is comparing performance between programs that serve different populations. Risk adjusted performance measures can help. Risk adjustment means that different performance standards are set for programs depending on the population they serve. For example, a program that serves people with no income would have fewer people exiting to permanent housing than a one that serves people who are currently employed. One of the easiest ways to do risk adjustment is to base it on the barrier screening tools your community is using. Barrier screening tools are used to identify how many barriers a household has to moving into, and stabilizing in, permanent housing. Many communities are already using barrier screening tools them as part of a centralized intake or coordinated assessment process, and the new CoC regulations brought about by the HEARTH Act require that communities use some sort of a coordinated assessment process. (For those who are interested, here is an example of a barrier screening tool.) If your barrier assessment tool has three categories, you can then use those categories to do the risk adjustment. For example, you could compare performance serving people in each category to other programs or benchmarks for that category. You might get an extra point for being above average, 2 extra points for being more than 10 percent above average, etc. You can also combine the categories using a weighted average. ... Read More »
• Family Options Study:  Research Update

  August 21, 2012

  In July, researchers contracted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development provided an update on a study that examines the comparative impact of various housing and service interventions on families experiencing homelessness. To date, more than 2,000 families in 12 communities have enrolled in the Family Options Study. While the current data available is limited to the baseline level, some findings do raise questions about how well we are using our homeless and mainstream resources to prevent and end homelessness. Readers interested in listening to an audio recording of HUD's July 19 presentation on this study can download Part 1 of the recording here, and Part 2 here. Here’s a look at the study's findings: Resources for homelessness prevention: As in other studies, the data indicate that parents in homeless families are very young. Nearly 30 percent of the mothers are under the age of 25. They are also very poor, with an annual income averaging around $7,500. Significantly, more families are coming from doubled-up situations than are being evicted from housing they hold in their own name. This is useful information when it comes to assessing our use of homelessness prevention resources and the characteristics of the kinds of families most likely to fall into homelessness. It tells us that we should be targeting our resources at multi-generational and doubled-up families, families with very young parents, and families with minimal incomes. Resources for vulnerable and low-income families: The findings also provide further... Read More »
• The beautiful thing about working with veterans

  August 20, 2012

  Today’s guest blog is from Dana L. Niemela, homeless veterans reintegration program coordinator at the the Denver Department of Human Services. After spending eight years on active duty, I decided to put the military far in my rearview mirror. I didn’t access the services to which I was entitled until I had been out for five years. When I finally did, I found it to be a tremendous struggle. Fortunately, I’m a resourceful, assertive individual who doesn’t respond well to stagnation or hearing the word “no.” I pressed on, but often wondered to myself, “what is happening to the veteran who may be 24 years old, served multiple combat tours and doesn’t feel as empowered as I?” The short answer is that I imagine that veteran would give up. In my opinion, that is completely unacceptable. So I got into the business of ensuring access to services for all veterans. In doing my work, I learned that there are a tremendous number of resources for veterans in the community. We are very fortunate that we live in a time where being a veteran and helping a veteran is “sexy.” Everyone wants in on the game, for better or worse. It was not the same for those veterans who came before us. These veterans were disenfranchised from the system, spent decades fighting it only to be... Read More »
• Photo Campaign: How are YOU working to end homelessness?

  August 17, 2012

  During our 2012 conference, many of you shared with us that you proudly wear your Alliance ‘End Homelessness’ t-shirts on the job, while you volunteer, and have even given them as gifts and prizes to colleagues and family. We've sold over 700 shirts over the last year, and we're proud that so many of you are spreading the message that we can and must end homelessness. Now we want to see where you are wearing your shirt. So send us a picture! How does it work? All you have to do is grab your phone or camera and take a photo of yourself in your shirt wherever you are working to end homelessness (workplace, state capitol, new housing location, etc.) and then share it with us directly via social media or email. Sharing your photos is easy! Facebook: Search “National Alliance to End Homelessness” into Facebook’s search-bar, and simply post it to our Wall. Don’t forget to tag yourself and ‘Like’ our page too. Twitter: Simply upload the photo in a tweet and include the hash-tag #workingtoend. Email: Not into social media and would rather email your photo directly to us? Just send it to info@endhomelessness.org with “End Homelessness Photo Campaign” in the subject line. Tell us how YOU are ending homelessness! Don’t forget to tell us how YOU are helping to end homelessness... Read More »
• Photo Campaign: How are YOU working to end homelessness?

  August 16, 2012

  During our 2012 conference, many of you shared with us that you proudly wear your Alliance ‘End Homelessness’ t-shirts on the job, while you volunteer, and have even given them as gifts and prizes to colleagues and family. We've sold over 700 shirts over the last year, and we're proud that so many of you are spreading the message that we can and must end homelessness. Now we want to see where you are wearing your shirt. So send us a picture! How does it work? All you have to do is grab your phone or camera and take a photo of yourself in your shirt wherever you are working to end homelessness (workplace, state capitol, new housing location, etc.) and then share it with us directly via social media or email. Sharing your photos is easy! Facebook: Search “National Alliance to End Homelessness” into Facebook’s search-bar, and simply post it to our Wall. Don’t forget to tag yourself and ‘Like’ our page too. Twitter: Simply upload the photo in a tweet and include the hash-tag #workingtoend. Email: Not into social media and would rather email your photo directly to us? Just send it to info@endhomelessness.org with “End Homelessness Photo Campaign” in the subject line.   Tell us how YOU are ending homelessness! Don’t forget to tell us how YOU are helping to end... Read More »
• How to take advantage of the August recess

  August 15, 2012

  This summer, we’ve heard a  lot about how there may not be enough funding in fiscal year (FY) 2013 to cover all Continuum of Care renewals within HUD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants. With the release of the CoC interim rule (HEARTH Regs) and the prolonged August congressional recess and seeming quiet from Capitol Hill, it is easy to forget that this short-funding remains a very real possibility. Fortunately, there’s still plenty we can do about it! The House’s proposed funding level for the McKinney program of $2.005 billion – aka the increase that isn’t really an increase – is not yet finalized. Anyone concerned about potential funding cuts to their CoC program should act now! Members of Congress are home in their states and districts until Monday, Sept. 10, so advocates and any concerned stakeholders have a perfect opportunity to show them the positive impact these programs are having in their districts! Conduct a Site Visit! The Congressional Management Foundation recently reported that Members of Congress rate site visits (tours of or visits to local, federally-funded programs) as one of the most valuable ways to collect constituent views and information. Take this opportunity to join the McKinney Site Visit Campaign and invite your Member of Congress to tour your McKinney-funded program! To help you plan... Read More »
• Field Notes: Coordinated Assessment and DV Survivors

  August 15, 2012

  When it comes to coordinated assessment, one of the trickiest questions advocates must consider is how best to serve survivors of domestic violence. The safety and, in some cases, the lives of survivors of domestic violence depend not just on ready access to crisis-oriented services and a safe place to sleep at night, but also on the confidentiality of sensitive information. We at the Alliance are developing a checklist that will help you ensure that your coordinated assessment system is equipped to meet the needs of survivors of domestic violence, but in the meantime, I would like to share with you what our friend Joyce Probst MacAlpine says staff at provider agencies in her community of Dayton/Montgomery County, OH, are currently doing to integrate their domestic violence (DV) and homeless assistance systems. In Dayton, their domestic violence shelter is one of the community’s “gateway” shelters to their coordinated assessment system, meaning it is one of the shelters where people experiencing homelessness must go before gaining access to homeless assistance services. Here staff use the same assessment tool and decision tree process for referrals as at all the other gateway shelters, but they do their assessments on paper, not in the Homeless Information Management System (HMIS), a precaution designed to protect the private information of DV clients. Staff at the domestic violence shelter also conduct a lethality assessment to determine how much danger a DV client... Read More »
• Adapting Host Homes to Meet Rural Needs

  August 13, 2012

  Today’s post was written by Edward J. SanFilippo, Youth Policy Fellow for the Alliance. Over the last few years, host homes have gained traction as a means of housing youth experiencing homelessness in rural areas. Host homes entail a formalized, mutual agreement between a community member and a service provider. The community member provides shelter, food and sometimes transportation for youth, while the provider delivers case management services. Community members typically receive a small stipend and undergo training and background checks. One of the great strengths of host homes is their flexibility, since communities can adapt the model to fit localized needs and budget limitations: Example 1 The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) initiated the Rural Host Home Demonstration Project to serve youth who live in rural areas not served by shelter facilities. In this program, youth under age 18 can receive: Shelter for up to 21 days; Transportation; Counseling; Assistance staying connected to their school; and An aftercare plan with continuing support upon exiting the program. Example 2 Youth Advocates of Sitka, Inc., in Sitka, Alaska, implemented a resource home program through their Transitional Living Program (TLP). Youth up to age 21 can receive: Housing for up to 18 months; Active resource parent involvement through age 18; Mentoring to develop independent living skills through age 21; Counseling and case management; and Access to housing vouchers and affordable housing. Resource homes receive: A stipend of $30 per day per child; and Extensive training opportunities,... Read More »
• Keynote Remarks and Workshop Materials

  August 13, 2012

    It has been almost a month now since the Alliance’s National Conference on Ending Homelessness, and we have been doing our best to make sure that you have access to as much of our conference materials as possible. All the workshop materials that presenters provided to us have been placed on our website here, where they are available for download. We will continue to update the page as we receive materials. Finally, we have already received numerous requests for the keynote remarks that our CEO and President Nan Roman delivered at the conference, so we thank you for your patience. We have finallypublished them on our website, and we are including them in this blog post below.   KEYNOTE ADDRESS NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENDING FAMILY HOMELESSNESS NAN ROMAN President and CEO July 16 2012 Good afternoon and welcome to the 2012 National Alliance on Ending Homelessness. I want to extend our most heartfelt and deep thanks to all of you for being here today. We have over 1400 people in attendance – a record! Most of you are here because you have a burning desire to learn from your colleagues what you can do to improve your own approaches to ending homelessness. You want to know about the most effective practices and the most promising innovations that will work for you. Many of you have traveled far and put a lot of resources into making... Read More »
• A detailed look at Veteran Homelessness

  August 10, 2012

  The following blog post is adapted from “Tackling Veteran Homelessness with HUDStat,” the lead story of the summer issue of Evidence Matters, a publication by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. More than 2.4 million American soldiers have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom since September 11, 2001.2 Hundreds of thousands of these men and women have returned from Iraq, and many more will be returning from Afghanistan in the next few years. “Soldiers are returning with higher rates of injury after multiple deployments with severe economic hardships,” says John Driscoll, president and chief executive officer of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. Studies show that nearly 20 percent of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have experienced a traumatic brain injury, and 10 to 18 percent suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A recent Pew Research Center survey showed that post-9/11 veterans found the transition to civilian life harder and had higher rates of post-traumatic stress than veterans who served in previous wars. Rates of military sexual trauma, which is associated with an increased risk of developing PTSD, are high among female veterans, who make up more than 11 percent of veterans of these two wars. For both male and female veterans, PTSD is linked to an increased risk of depression and substance abuse, which exacerbate .   The economic downturn and high unemployment rates add to the challenges these soldiers face on returning from... Read More »
• 
  Much ado about Data: Responses to the Individuals Ending Homelessness Survey

  August 09, 2012

  Today’s blog is from Jeni Gamble, the Alliance’s Director of Development and Communications.

  As a new member of the Alliance team, and someone who is relatively new to the housing first movement, I wanted to get a better understanding of what advances advocates believe have had the greatest impact in our fight to end homelessness. Last month, I sent out a short survey to the 2012 Annual conference presenters and scholarship recipients, more than 200 individuals in total. The survey was designed to garner qualitative responses regarding the improvements and changes we are seeing in housing and homelessness, and to help us learn what these leaders in the field saw as being essential to our progress.

  Like many of you, I entered this field somewhat by accident. I started in an emergency shelter in the late 1990s where I worked with domestic violence survivors and their families. Often a client would spend months in an emergency shelter before moving on to transitional housing, where she would stay for nearly a year, and only then, after months of appointments, applications and interviews, would she receive a voucher for housing assistance. Needless to say, Housing First was not the approach we used back then.

  I am only beginning to review the 44 unduplicated responses and identify themes, but one thing is clear, the use of data in decision-making is one of the most significant advances in the field.

  Read More »
• Field Notes: Subsidies and Rapid Re-Housing

  August 07, 2012

  Over the past few months, we at the Center for Capacity Building have been releasing short modules devoted to various aspects of rapid re-housing. Here is the third in our five-part series, which covers how to structure and pay for rental subsidies.  (If you’d like to learn more about the first two modules in the series, please see Kay’s blog post). Clearly subsidies are a big part of any successful rapid re-housing program, but many providers remain skeptical. For instance, some providers are doubtful that any subsidy short of a Housing Choice Voucher will be enough to end someone’s homelessness. However, our data show that this is not the case. Temporary, short-term, or medium-term subsidies are often enough to lift households out of homelessness. Another frustrating part for providers is the matter of figuring out how much each household should be receiving. The trick here is to be flexible. No two households are the same, and programs need to devote time to assessing each household’s needs, or at the very least be prepared to adjust the amount of financial assistance they offer, especially if a crisis arises. A successful program is one that stabilizes the household with the minimum amount of money possible, while also standing ready to increase the amount of assistance provided if such an increase should become necessary. I’ll save the rest of... Read More »
• Preparing for Your Community’s Point in Time Count

  August 07, 2012

  January 2013 will be here before you know it. And what does that mean? In January many communities across the country will be conducting point in time (PIT) counts of persons experiencing homelessness. Why Are PIT Counts Important? Collecting and using data on both sheltered and unsheltered unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness can help communities improve policies and programming; Data can provide communities with a baseline of the number of unaccompanied youth to determine if there are increases or decreases over time; Data can be used to help with requesting funding through the grant process; Results of the PIT count can raise awareness of the issue of youth homelessness. Why is Including Youth Important? Historically, unaccompanied youth are undercounted during PIT counts; therefore, many communities do not have an accurate estimate of the prevalence and nature of youth homelessness. Annually, HUD is mandated to submit a report to Congress called the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR). The report describes the number and characteristics of all people experiencing homelessness across the nation. If youth are left out, then Congress is not provided with that data within the report and they will have less information to make informed decisions about funding and resources at the federal level. Alliance Tools and Resources The Alliance has developed tools and resources to help communities purposefully include youth in their PIT counts. Over the next few months we will do even more to help everyone plan, organize and... Read More »

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