Annual Report to Community

8/7/2019 Annual Report to Community

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20th Anniversary Report to the Community

2009


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James Gibson, Board Chairman

Center or the Study o Social Policy

Oliver T. Carr

Chairman Emeritus

Grace Contee

Jobs Have Priority

Stacey Davis

Oce o Community & CharitableGiving-Fannie Mae

Judith Dobbins

Covenant House DC Retired

Michael Ferrell

Coalition or the Homeless

Vincent Keane

Unity Health Care

Gerald McCorkle

U.S. Veterans Afairs Administration

Beatriz Otero

Centro Nia

Marian Urquilla

Living Cities

Louvenia Williams

Edgewood Brookland Family Support Collaborative

Phyllis Wole

Independent Consultant

Leslye Wooley

The Salvation Army

Incoming Board Members

Peter Banks

Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Audrey C. Drake

Department o Veteran Afairs

John McCoy

Fight or Children

Harry Sewell

DC Housing Finance Agency

Board o Directors

StafSue A. Marshall, Executive Director

Cornell Chappelle, Deputy Director or Operations

Darlene Mathews, Deputy Director or Policy & Programs

Munkhtoya Bandikhuu, Staf Accountant

Miga Bold,Accounting Assistant

LaKeisha Brown, Program Coordinator

Mary Foster, Receptionist

Tom Fredericksen, Research Associate

Brittany Hill, Program Specialist

Shane Johnson, Shelter Plus Care Program Coordinator

Edith Lane, Oce Manager

Cliton Lewis, DHS Programs Coordinator

Rui Ma, Senior Accountant

Stacey A. Matthews, HMIS Coordinator

Shantaye Pelzer, Project HOPE Receptionist

Michele Salters, DHS Programs Manager

Tomeka Seaborn, Prevention Program Coordinator

Brunilda Sepulveda-Irene, HOPE Case Manager

Cecelia Smith,Accountant

Pat Smith, Property Administrator

Clarence Stewart, Chie o Prevention Programs

Latekia Tisdale, Prevention Specialist

Tamura Upchurch, Chie o Federal Programs

Leona Williams, ERAP ManagerXiaowei Zheng, Controller

A Mission of Service...A Legacy of Achievement


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www.community-partnership.org

Dear Community Members,

On behal o the Board o Directors and sta, the Community Partnership

or the Prevention o Homelessness is pleased to present this 2009 Report

to the Community, commemorating our 20th anniversary.

From its inception, the Community Partnership has sought to cra a culture o

excellence in our programs and our services. By mixing community engagement,

sound data collection and reporting, and respect or the population we serve,

the Community Partnership has become an expert at addressing issues related to

homelessness at the local level.

Te combination o strong values and high quality work has steered the

organization and its programs over the past 20 years, allowing it to become one

o the countrys most successul local entities in garnering ederal unds or local

services and as a respected steward o more than $50 million annually o govern-

ment unds. Te Community Partnership has been honored several times by

HUD or our strong data collection and as a National Best Practice Model by the

National Alliance to End Homelessness or our work to keep amilies rom alling

into homelessness.

Te theme o our 20th anniversary isA Mission of ServiceA Legacy of

Achievement. In that spirit, this report highlights our evolution, accomplishments

and hallmark programs while ocusing on the work that still must be done. TeCommunity Partnership will continue working to remain a trusted partner to both

government and homeless service providers in order to ensure quality services to

our citys residents in need. Tough there is much to celebrate, great challenges

remain in order to achieve the Districts objective o ending homelessness in

our community.

Sincerely,

James O. Gibson Sue A. Marshall

Chairman Executive Director

20th Anniversary Report to the Community | June, 2009 | 1


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The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness

he Community Partnership orthe Prevention o Homelessnesscame into being in 1989, at the end

o a decade that saw homelessness

move to the oreront o Americas

social problems. Te number o

persons experiencing homelessness

had grown considerably, especially in

Washington, D.C.

In 1988 Oliver . Carr, a private

business leader who was then chair-

man o the Homeless Coordinating

Council, commissioned the McKinsey

& Company report that identied new

ways to end homelessness. Te report

yielded sobering inormation about

the state o homeless services in the

city. Tere were not enough shelters,

and those that existed were in poor

condition and understaed. Homeless

men and women were dying o

hypothermia in the streets each winter.

Permanent solutions to homelessness

had not developed.

Key among the recommendations

in the report was the creation o a new

nonprota Community Partnership

or the Homeless. Tis new organiza-

tion would leverage public dollars and

private partnerships to allocate limited

resources quickly and eectively, and

would also promote innovative solu-

tions to prevent and end homelessness

in the District.

Homelessness was being reexamined

at the Federal level as well. Te U.S.

Department o Housing and Urban

Development created the Continuum

o Care model, a new approach aimed

at encouraging localities to create more

coordinated and diversied homeless

service systems. In 1993, the District

was chosen as the rst jurisdiction to

receive unding to demonstrate this

new initiative.

Te U.S. Department o Housing

and Urban Development allocated $20

million to transorm a ragmented,

emergency-based system into a

comprehensive new system that

would serve as a national model

or restructuring the ederal-

local relationship in addressing

homelessness.1 Te unding came with

one critical proviso - a public-private

nonprot entity would be responsible

or adopting and implementing the

Continuum o Care policy. Given its

origins, the Community Partnership

oered its services as the Continuums

lead agency, and in 1994 HUD and the

District government accepted.

A Mission of Service:wenty Years in the Making

In the years that ollowed, the

Community Partnership has accom-

plished a great deal to prevent and end

homelessness or thousands o District

residents. Now, in 2009, we celebrate an

organizational anniversary having been

a vehicle or productive and permanent

solutions to homelessness or many

people, as imagined by the McKinsey

November 1989:McKinsey & Company issues its Final

ReportDeveloping a Community Partnership or the

Homelessto the D.C. Homeless Coordinating Council,

establishing the need and mission or the

Community Partnership.

A 20-Year Time Line o Milestones December 1989: The Community Partnership or thePrevention o Homelessness is incorporated with an initial

Board o Directors chaired by developer Oliver C. Carr and

with members representing government, business and

nonprot providers.

Vernon Hawkins, DHS Director addressing a

community meeting o D.C. Initiative Partners(seated l-r; Sue Marshall Oliver Carr Jim Banks)

Russell Simmons, City Bank; Andrew Cuomo,HUD Secretary; Rev. Tom Knoll, CFLS;

Charlene Drew Jarvis, City Council Member;Sue Marshall, TCP at the opening o the CFLS

Milestone Program

2 |A Mission of Service...A Legacy of Achievement


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June 1993: U.S. Department o Housing and Urban

Development (HUD) Secretary Henry Cisneros and District Mayor

Sharon Pratt Kelly announce that the Community Partnership

will receive $20 million rom HUD over a three year period

to establish a Continuum o Care consisting o three basic

components: (1) outreach and assessment, (2) transitional

housing with support services, and (3) permanent housing.

September 1993: The D.C. Initiative: Working Together to

Solve Homelessness report is issued, establishing additional

prevention, outreach and system coordination objectives as

well as 2,050 new units o transitional and permanent housing

to be created within the rst two years.

May 1994: The D.C. Initiative ocially begins with a

Memorandum o Understanding signed between HUD, the

District o Columbia and the Community Partnership. The rst

12 grants o the D.C. Initiative are awarded.

& Company report. As the lead agencyor the Districts Continuum o Care

we believe that we have grown and

changed along with needs o the

consumers we serve, and the local lead-

ership rom whom policy is developed.

We pride ourselves on not only being

pliable to the changing times and shis

in policy ocus, but on remaining true

to our most original intended purpose:

creating meaningul and innovative

solutions to homelessness.

oday we are, more then ever beore,

a permanent housing and homeless-

ness prevention agency or special

needs and extremely poor populations.

Over 1,000 ormerly homeless persons

retain their housing across the city

as a result o payments issued by the

Community Partnership and more

than 100 checks are issued monthly to

prevent consumers rom entering the

homeless system or to quickly exit it.

Tese are no small accomplishmentsconsidering the scal, administrative

and program oversight required

to manage such vast resources.

Expending these resources quickly,

eciently and ethically has become the

Community Partnerships greatest as-

set. Our success is not only measured

in the numbers identied throughout

this report but rom the retention o

many years o clean nancial audits.

Te original vision o the

Community

Partnership or

the Prevention

o Homelessness

has endured and

is still providing

value to our com-

munity. Te agency

remains an inclusive

orum in which the

entire community

Oliver Carr, Chairman Emeritus

Jim Banks, Former

Board Chair

Steve Cleghorn and Ann Oliva at House

o Ruth or the 1994 Super NOFAAnnouncement

Peter Banks, Incoming Board Member (son o Jim Banks); Sue Marshall, Executive Director; JimGibson, Board Chair; BB Otera, Board Member during the lming o the 20th Anniversary video

can respond to the present realities ohomeless people while working toward

the end o homelessness itsel. We are

mindul however, that our work is not

yet complete as many continue to enter

the shelter system. In 2008, more than

4,300 single persons and 400 amilies

entered shelter or the rst time.3 At

20 years, the Community Partnership

recommits itsel to do what we can in

mobilizing our community and helping

our government end homelessness.

Since 1994, the Community Partnership has earned $177,553,228 or the District through

the HUD competitive application or homeless assistance unding.2



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In 1993 the U.S. Departmento Housing and Urban

Developments Innovative

Homeless Initiatives Demonstration

Program was launched to establish the

Continuum o Care model, and the

District o Columbia was chosen to

pilot the new policy. In this new model

HUD would und projects within the

context o how local planning entities

identied gaps in services as well as

the needs and priorities in their com-

munity. As noted in a national study

o the new policy, the Continuum o

Care model was based on building

cooperative relationships among

providers, unding sources, advocates,

government, and the homeless people

they were attempting to serve.4

Tis intention accounts or why

the Community Partnership or

the Prevention o Homelessness

came to lead the D.C. Initiative.

Te Community Partnership well

understood, and had incorporated

into its ounding mission, the idea

o building inclusive, collaborative,

public-private and community-based

partnerships to prevent and ultimately

end homelessness. Te D.C. Initiative

was an opportunity to marshal major

new resources toward the vision upon

which the Community Partnership

was ounded.

In its role as the lead agency or the

District o Columbias Continuum

o Care, the work o the CommunityPartnership was guided by three

principles articulated by the D.C.

Initiative Operational Plan:

1) o achieve better services and to

better the lives o homeless people

through a Continuum o Care

approach that went ar beyond

emergency measures;

2) o see homeless people not as

a poor apart rom other poor,

and to better connect them to

mainstream social services,

housing and health agencies that

had important resources to help

them; and

3) o prevent homelessness, as well

as make progress toward ending

it, by involving and strengthening

community-based institutions to

serve their homeless neighbors.

Looking back at the D.C. Initiative,

we can see progress on each o these

principles. Te Districts Continuum

o Care has changed dramatically,

shiing rom a concentration o public

unding at the emergency shelter level

to more transitional and permanent

supportive housing (rom an 80/20

percent distribution in 1994 to a

46/54 percent distribution today).5

Signicant collaborations with District

mainstream agencies such as the

Mayors Oce, the Department o

Human Services, the Department

o Mental Health, the Department

o Housing and Community

Development and the Child and Family

Services Agency continue to make the

Community Partnership an invalu-

able partner to a government that is

serious about ending homelessness.

Community-based nonprot service

agencies and neighborhood institutions

have grown in strength and eective-

ness as the Community Partnership has

succeeded in stabilizing and increasing

support or them. As the Community

Partnership coordinated a network o

homeless services providers, we also

established a sophisticated administra-

tive and management structure that

plays a pivotal role in paying rental

subsidies or clients in permanent

housing and providing unding or

new initiatives.

In such ways the D.C. Initiative

was a transormative period

within the District o Columbia that

provided important lessons or other

jurisdictions across the country. Te

Community Partnership considers it

a privilege to have played a signicant

role in leading that transormation. Te

model o ending homelessness is still

a work in progress, but the substantive

gains o the D.C. Initiative provide real

hope that it will be possible to do so.

Te D.C. Initiative:Local Results, a National Model

August 1994:The D.C. Initiative Operational Plan is released,

laying out a set o our guiding principles and a set o practical

steps or achieving the benchmarks.

September 1994: The Community Partnership realizes its rst

success in obtaining ederal competitive homeless unding or

$2.9 Million in Shelter Plus Care unding, beginning a 15-year

success story o obtaining ederal competitive unds to build the

Continuum o Care.

June 1994: The Districts City Council, chaired by Councilman

David A. Clarke, arms the selection o the Community

Partnership as the entity which will implement the

DC Initiative.

Cornell Chappelle and Sue Marshall at thenaming ceremony o the Virginia Williams

Family Resource Center



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February 1995: The Community Partnership issues a revised

D.C. Initiative Operational Plan in light o the Districts severe

nancial crisis; despite $4 million less in expected District

unding, all emergency services are preserved and progress

toward achievement o the D.C. Initiative benchmarks.

April 1995: The D.C. Initiative Outreach Demonstration Program is launched, working with seven

outreach agencies to identiy, house and deliver ongoing services to chronically homeless persons living

in the streets. As with the HOME Program or Families, this program took a housing rst approach to

get people o the streets.

AdmirationinAccomplishment...

WhenIheardabouttheCommunityPartnershiporthersttime,sometimein1996,

Ithought:whatanamazingeat,bringingallthosepeopleand

systemstogetherto

workonsomethingsoimportant.Overtheyears,myadmiratio

nhasonlyincreased

asIvecometounderstandtheoperationalcomplexitiesrequired

tomakethevision

oacontinuumocareintoareality.TeCommunityPartnersh

iphashelpedcreate

commonentrypointsandinterconnectedhomelessservices,alo

ngwitharobustdata

system,andithasnurturedso-calledspecialtyservicesorsome

othemostvulnerable

membersoourcitywhowouldotherwisegounserved.TeCo

mmunityPartnership

hasalsoservedasasourceoinnovationnotjustorourcitybu

torcommunities

aroundthecountry.Troughpilotanddemonstrationeorts,D

C,thankstothe

Partnership,hasbirthedsomeothemostrobustHousingFirst

workintheeld.

ButperhapsthemostimportantcontributionothePartnershiphasbeenitsinsistence

ontakingacontinuumorsystems-buildingapproachtohome

lessness.Byliingup

thedierentinterconnectionsbetweenpreventionandinterven

tionorbetweenstreet

outreachandamilyshelters,whileatthesametimeorginglin

kswithkeypublic

systems,suchaschildwelareandmentalhealth,theCommun

ityPartnershiphas

wovenapowerulsaetynetorourwholecommunity.

Teorganizationanditssupportershaveremainedaithultoa

wayoworkingthatis

nowmoreurgentthanever.Intheaceoincreaseddemandan

ddramaticallyreduced

resources,citiesallacrossourcountryaregrapplingwiththeu

rgencyoknittingto-

getherdisconnectedsystemstoservethemostvulnerable.Te

CommunityPartnership

hastwodecadesoexperienceinthatwork.Andthatissomethingworthcelebrating!

Sincerely,

MarianUrquilla

MarianUrquillaisthe DirectoroHumanDevelopmentorLivingCitiesan innovati

vephilanthropic collaborativeo21otheworlds

largestoundations andfnancial institutions whichis ocusedonimprovingtheli

vesolow-incomepeople andtheurbanareasin

whichtheylive. Ms. UrquillaservesontheBoardoDirectorsothe CommunityPa

rtnership.



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he Community Partnership hasbeen successul at managinglarge and complex homeless programs

because o three well-integrated

hallmarks o our agency: providing

comprehensive housing-based

services, maintaining responsible scal

controls, and operating an integrated

data system. Tese three divisions are

seamlessly joined so that innovative

program designs can be implemented

eectively and eciently.

Comprehensive Housing ServicesIt is the Community Partnerships

belie that the housing component o

a program must be addressed with

the same ocus and commitment that

is placed on services. A successul

supportive housing program is

dependent on clients

being placed in and

retaining stable hous-

ing while receiving

coordinated service

delivery. Housing

provides the stability

rom which consum-

ers can develop

comortable and

secure relationships

A Mission of Service:Proven Results

with case managers, which oen

results in greater access to supportive

services. ypically, vulnerable clients

with limited income and resources

are not oen viewed as the ideal

tenant. However, the mission o the

Community Partnerships housing de-

partment is to advocate or vulnerable

populations by encouraging landlords

to see homeless and low-income

consumers as benecial tenants.

Te Community Partnership

considers private landlords to be a key

constituent group with legitimate prop-

erty and management issues that must

be addressed in a collaborative ashion.

Landlords seek tenants who will pay

rent promptly and be responsive to

their concerns. Te housing liaison

role that the Community Partnership

plays assures landlords that any client

issue can be addressed swily and that

problems are rarely raised to a level

where eviction is considered. Success

in this role has resulted in a retention

rate o 90 percent or homeless clients

in the Community Partnerships

housing programs, exceeding the

national housing stability average by

almost 20 percent.7 Te Community

Partnership also makes a practice o

conducting surveys o landlords to

evaluate their satisaction and solicit

eedback on leasing operations. Our

agency has established itsel as a leader

in supportive housing or vulnerable

groups and as such, has a large network

o landlords who actively seek to rent

units to us.

Another central component to the

Community Partnerships housing

services is the work that we do or

clients. Housing sta conducts unit

inspections to make certain that clients

in programs that we manage directly

live in units that meet housing qual-

ity standards. Additionally, i clients

have problems communicating with

March 1996: With the Districts Department o Housing and Community Development, the HOME Program or Families is launched,

one o the earliest models in the nation o Housing First as a route away rom homelessness. The $1.4 million in HOME block grant

unds provided rental assistance or 141 amilies who moved out o shelters into housing and were assisted or up to two years with

case management services unded by t he D.C. Initiative. The program provided valuable lessons that would be incorporated into

later housing rst programs managed by the Community Partnership.

June 1996: The central intake acility or amilies at 25 M Street

SW is re-dedicated as The Virginia Williams Family Resource Center,

issuing in a total makeover that includes a new interior design with

welcoming colors, a childcare area, comprehensive social services both

or intake to shelters and prevention o homelessness, job services and

housing counseling.

Clarence Stewart, TCP, Kevin Green, Global

Management at a service air assistingclients in selecting units and signing leases

The Community

Partnership provided

5,096 hours o

housing support

assistance to

landlords in 2008.6



9/32


landlords, the housing sta acts asintermediaries to resolve issues.

o collect housing inormation, the

Community Partnership manages

a database that is regularly updated

with available units. At any given time,

the agency has at its disposal a roster

o at least 50 units that are within

air market rent that can be utilized

or housing initiatives. oday, we

have relationships with over 400 area

landlords. As the maps throughout

this report demonstrate we are proud

that we have placed ormerly homeless

individuals and amilies in units all

over the District.

Responsible Fiscal ControlsTe Community Partnership man-

ages the rent payment unction or a

complex set o homeless assistance

programs. Tese range in structure

rom one time emergency rental

assistance payments or clients on

the brink o becoming homeless, to

bridge-subsidy unding or amilies

in community-based transitional

housing, to long-term permanent

housing or persons experiencing deep

disabilities or whom sel-suciency

and independent rental payment will

never become an option. Te common

element in all o these scenarios is that

the Community Partnership is the

single point o payment and adminis-

tration or housing. Te scal controls

Changing lives, one property at a time...

In 2007, the Community Partnership launched the System Transormation Initiative

and reached out to landlords in the District o Columbia in order to nd scattered

site locations or amilies entering the transitional program. Among those landlords

was Derrick Nicely who was completing renovations on his six unit building on Buena

Vista Terrace in Southeast DC.

I was working with a community organization that helped place clients o the

Community Partnerships Community Care Grant Program and they reerred me directly

to the Community Partnership or this new program. I was really excited when I

learned what the program was about. We have a motto changing lives, one property at

a time so I was glad to get involved.

And get involved he did. Not only did Mr. Nicely rent to STI program participants,

he ensured that they had support as they made the transition rom shelter to livingon their own. I wanted the building to be a place they would be happy to come to

each day, I wanted it to be beautiul and or them to eel like this was their home,

their community.

A year into the program, Mr. Nicely took his dedication to the program one step

urther. When he heard that there was a need or accessible units, he made an

investment and renovated two units in one o his buildings adding ramps, wider

doors, handrails and other xtures to meet ADA regulations. Its important to me that

everyone have a place, an opportunity to make a better lie or themselves and their

amilies. Every person deserves a home that is decent, sae and aordable and meets

their needs.

Mr. Nicely hopes to increase his involvement with the Community Partnership My

rent is on-time and as a businessman, that means a great deal, but it goes beyond

that. I I have a need or questions I know I can pick up the phone or send and e-mail

and Ill get assistance quickly. My tenants have that same sense o support; its

reassuring to know that the Community Partnership is dedicated to ensuring that this

relationship works.

Derrick Nicely was one o the frst landlords to work with the Community Partnership on the System

Transormation Initiative

November 1997: The Fannie Mae Foundation releases its Where Homeless Families Come From report, based on homeless amilies

point-o-origin data provided by the Community Partnership and the Virginia Williams Family Resource Center. The data show

concentrations o amily homeless in distressed neighborhoods suggesting that amilies might avoid shelter i housing assistance and

services were available to them at the point o crisis. Beore the end o 1997 the Community Partnership issues a concept paper called

Community-Based Care or Homeless Families: An Alternative to Emergency Shelter.

June 1997: The D.C. Initiative Outreach Demonstration Report

is released. The report showed that the program had brought

40 persons into housing in its rst year and recommended that

the program be continued as theSpecial Outreach Program . This

program laid the groundwork or the Community Partnership to

establish the Chronic Homeless Initiative.



10/32


11/32


in place that allow or timely rentalpayment, coupled with the well-staed

property administration arm o the

agency, allow or the most vulnerable

clients to thrive in community settings.

For clients on the brink o losing their

housing or in dire predicaments, the

Community Partnership has been able

to issue checks in less then 24 hours.

A great benet o working with

the Community Partnership is that

landlords can develop a relationship

or multiple tenants with one entity,

which centralizes communication on

consumer issues and rent collections.

Consolidation o the payments and

contacts or the landlord creates a

competitive advantage that assists our

agency in attracting and retaining

landlords. A single-payer system

with a strong housing and property

administration department allows the

landlord to have one source to contact

or rent collections and concerns about

tenant issues.

In addition to issuing rent payments,

the Community Partnership also

manages a complex collection o unds

and coordinates a portolio o over 145

locally and ederally unded contracts

or services or homeless persons.

Tese contracts range rom shelter

and housing programs to job training

programs and day care.

oday, the Community Partnership

is considered a low risk auditee under

the A-133 standards due to its manyyears o completed audits without nd-

ings. Te Community Partnership also

prides itsel on being very cost eec-

tive. While the agency issues over 1,200

checks per month in rental assistance

and supportive housing payments,

and manages over 145 contracts, we

maintain an overhead cost o less than

ve percent.

Data ManagementTe Community Partnership

operates an award-winning Homeless

Management Inormation System

(HMIS). Te District o Columbias

HMIS stores client level data on every

person served through publicly unded

shelter and housing programs in the

District, and is the primary reposi-

tory or homeless client inormation.

Trough the HMIS, the Community

Partnership is able to produce the

annual Point in ime enumeration,

submit data to HUD to inorm the

Annual Homeless Assessment Report

(AHAR) and complete the ederal

application or homeless assistance

dollars. Te HMIS also helps the

city meet local and ederal reporting

guidelines. In addition to meeting

government reporting requirements,

the Community Partnership uses the

HMIS to operate a comprehensive

perormance measurement system.

Te purpose o the perormance

measurement system is to monitorprogram outcomes, expand reporting

capabilities and improve data analysis

and quality across the Continuum

o Care. Under the direction o the

Community Partnership, HUD

has awarded the Districts HMIS a

2006 Innovation Award, the 2007 &

2008 Annual

Homelessness

Assessment

Report All Star

Awards or data

collection; and

in a case study o

HMIS systems,

HUD named

the District o

Columbia as one o nine communities

at the oreront o developing innova-

tive ways to use homeless data.

With HMIS, housing and account-

ing data, the Community Partnership

has been able to develop a home grown

nancial administration system that

integrates program, housing and rent

inormation to assist in paying rents

quickly and eectively. Te system

allows the Community Partnership

to do broad and intersecting analysis

on the clients served in programs

based on demographic inormation,

geographical location and level o need

through inormation gleaned rom

one system.

May 1999: The Community Partnership along with

nine other CoC jurisdictions around the country drated

a National Request or Proposals or the development o

a database management system to collect data on the

homeless population.

May 1999: The D.C. Initiative ends. HUD unding or the D.C. Initiative is closed out, but all the major new

programs started during the Initiative are continued with other HUD or District unding. The Community

Partnership continues to administer the system under a 6-month contract awarded ater a competitive

procurement process.

Each month, the Community Partnership issues 1,200 checks or clients receiving rental

assistance and living in transitional and permanent housing programs.8

To assist homeless serv

providers in meetingreporting requirements

the Community Partne

awarded 148 Technolog

Grants rom 2001-2009



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Housing First

Long beore the term became widelyused, the Community Partnershiplaunched a Housing First program

called the Special Outreach Program.

Te program was Special because it

sought to engage the hardest to house

homeless personsthose without

personal identication, with deep

disabilities and an aversion to services

and provided them with permanent

housing and fexible supportive

services. Tis unique program was the

rst to demonstrate the D.C. Initiative

mandate to transorm the Continuum

o Care rom an emergency based

system to one ocused on housing.

In 1995, the Community Partnership

collaborated with outreach agencies

to identiy the most

vulnerable homeless

consumers that were

in dire need o, and

would accept, housing

as the rst step

toward engagement in

services. oday, these

homeless individuals

would be identied

as chronically

homeless by HUDs

denition, but back then we simply

sought to house those most at risk o

losing their lives on the street.

Te pilot program was the rst o its

kind in the city to invest heavily in en-

gagement o the street-bound homeless

rather than just oering basic reerrals

and services on the street. Te fexible

program paid or almost anything that

would incentivize a homeless consumer

to enter housing. Te Community

Partnership made available unding

through the D.C. Initiative or engage-

ment, housing identication, urniture,

household items, service assistance

animals, housing subsidies and ongoing

case management. Between 2001 to

2004, 117 homeless persons were

housed through the Special Outreach

Program. In 2005, the Community

Partnership was able to secure unding

rom HUD to expand on this innovative

program and developed the Chronic

Homeless Initiative. Te Chronic

Homeless Initiative provides permanent

housing to chronically homeless

individuals with mental illness and

co-occurring substance abuse disorders

that are living on the streets. Like the

Special Outreach Program, the Chronic

Homeless Initiative provides housing

A Mission of Service:Innovative Programming

as the rst intervention and later wraps

around intensive supportive services.

Since it began, the Chronic Homeless

Initiative has successully housed 155

homeless individuals.

oday, the Community Partnership

is excited by the outgrowth o Housing

First programs that are being developed

throughout the city and the nation. We

are most pleased to be a partner in the

Mayors Permanent Housing Program.

Presently, the Community Partnership

is assisting the Department o Human

Services (DHS) in their tremendous

eort to house vulnerable, chronically

homeless consumers. Te Community

Partnership participated in program

design, identied housing, secured gi

cards to pay or household items, identi-

ed and negotiated urniture packages,

and continues to pay the ongoing rent

or 400 clients in the Mayors Permanent

Supportive Housing Program.

Te System ransormationInitiativeIn the spring o 2007, Mayor Fenty

announced plans to close DC Village.

Originally opened as a hypothermia

space or amilies in need o shelter,

DC Village quickly became the central

October 1999: The D.C. Initiative Winter Plan is published, beginning what would become an annual process o ormulating a Winter

Plan that continues to the present day. The planning process includes government, providers, advocates and ormerly homeless people

who work together beore the onset o winter to plan the provision and coordination o outreach services and shelters to protect the

lives o homeless people living on the streets.

October 1999: Ater an open competition, The Department

o Human Services awards a 5-year contract to the Community

Partnership to continue its management o the Continuum

o Care.

The Community

Partnership manages

a permanent housing

tock that is comprised

o 802 units o housing

or ormerly homeless

gles and amilies with

deep disabilities.10



13/32


point o entry to the shelter system

or amilies in need. Te shelter was

extremely large in size and was oen

lled to capacity with amilies in need o

a place to stay. Te large population and

congregate setting made management

dicult and provided little privacy or

amilies residing there. On October 26,

2007, the DC Village Family Shelter

closed its doors, ullling one o the

Mayors policy priorities since he

was Chair o the Human Services

Committee o the City Council.

Te closure o the DC Village Family

Shelter brought orth a new and

exciting program called the System

ransormation Initiative (SI). Te

SI program is based on the premise

that amilies stability and housing

retention increases when rapid re-

housing is coupled with home-based

case management. Trough unding

provided by the District o Columbias

Department o Human Services, SI

provides two-year rental subsidies

and supportive services to homeless

amilies moving out o the shelter

system. Te purpose o the program

is to provide intensive case manage-

ment and integrated mainstream

wraparound services to assist amilies

January 2000: Culminating a process o community input by more than 100 stakeholders that began

in 1998, the Community Partnership assisted the Oce o the Deputy Mayor or Children, Youth and

Families in ormulating a2000-2004 Strategic Plan as a guide or maintaining and continuing to

improve homeless services ater the D.C. Initiative.

November 1999: The Community Care Grant Program is

established. From 1999 to 2008 the program helped hundreds

o amilies at imminent risk o homelessness avoid shelter

and get back on track to sel-suciency. The National Alliance

to End Homelessness designated this program as a National

Best Practice.

in achieving one o three housing

outcomes: independent rental housing,

permanent housing or permanent

supportive housing. Tere are no

prerequisites or participation in SI

except a amilys tenure in a publicly

unded emergency program.

Te Community Partnership

was able to utilize existing landlord

relationships to identiy 230 units o

housing at or below the air market rent

standards throughout the city within a

very short time rame o eight weeks.

Family Support Collaboratives who had

previously operated successul preven-

tion programs, including the nationally

lauded Community Care Program,

were the rst group o service providers

identied to help transition amilies

rom shelter into housing and a new

neighborhood.

Prior to participating in the System

ransormation Initiative, all amilies

in the shelter system were assessed

using a locally adapted version o the

nationally recognized Arizona Sel

Suciency Matrix. Te Community

Partnerships adaptation o this tool

was used to determine every amilys

level o need or supportive services.

With this inormation, community

based organizations (CBOs) providestrength based, intensive, home based

case management. Case managers

maintain regular contact with amilies

to assist them in meeting the goals in

their case plans. Families identied as

vulnerable or in crisis situations are

engaged weekly. Case management

services are oered throughout a

amilys participation in the System

ransormation Initiative and even aer

a amilys tenure in the program has

ended, they may continue to contact

the CBO or ollow up assistance or

up to six months. ransitioning such

a large number o amilies was no

small task, and mainstream agencies

such as DC Public Schools, the

Department o Mental Health and the

Addiction Prevention and Recovery

Administration played active roles in

connecting clients to services as quickly

as possible.

While the SI program is still in its

rst term, evaluations o the program

have yielded ndings that demonstrate

that even though many amilies are

working through deep barriers to

sel sucient living, the scattered-site

housing model coupled with services as

needed is one that works well because it

provides amilies with intensive services

in a private home based, integrated

setting. (See the Data section for more

information on SI.)

Cornell Chappelle, TCP and Regine Clermont, Catholic Charities, DC



14/32


A ray o hope or my amily....

Sheila Bryant is a loving and dedicated working mother who is doing the best she can

to maintain a loving and happy home or her three daughters. More than a year ago, a

stray bullet penetrated two windows in her Southeast DC home and shattered her hot

water heater and her eeling o saety along with it.

In order or the landlord to make the necessary repairs, she and her daughters had to

move out. She had to use her rent money to pay or a temporary place to stay. Upon her

return to the home, she received notice that she would have to pay the rent or the month

she was out o the apartment or ace eviction.

Ms. Bryant tried her best to make the payments but, living paycheck to paycheck, she

couldnt manage it. She called everywhere she heard could give her some assistance but

was unable to nd it until the contacted the Community Partnerships Emergency RentalAssistance Program. When I spoke to the Community Partnership worker, she said to come

in and let her see what she could do. It was the rst ray o hope or me and my amily.

Indeed, the Emergency Rental Assistance Program was able to assist Ms. Bryant and

restore a eeling o securing to her lie. Ms. Bryant represents hundreds o working amilies in

the District o Columbia who are aided by the Community Partnerships prevention services.

I hope they are around or a long time because [The Community Partnership] was the only

place that would help me and they treated me with kindness and dignity. I have reerred

other people there and will continue to do so. Without them, my children and I could have

ended up on the streets.

Sheila Bryant is an Emergency Rental Assistance Program Recipient

we opened the Project HOPE (HousingOpportunities and Prevention Eorts)

oce located at the Virginia Williams

Family Resource Center. Project HOPE

provides rst months rent, security de-

posit, utility cut o prevention and rent

arrearage assistance to individuals and

amilies experiencing a housing crisis.

Tis unding assists vulnerable amilies

and individuals at risk o becoming

homeless by maintaining their current

housing situation or by nding a more

aordable one (See the Data section for

more information on Prevention.)

In addition to the Project HOPE

program, the Community Partnership

also administers the Child and Family

Services Rapid Housing Program.

Tis program is modeled aer the

nationally recognized Community

Care Grant program administered

by the Community Partnership since

1998. Te CFSA prevention program

is ocused on helping youth transition

out o the oster care system and into

the community through time limited

nancial assistance and home based

case management. Services are provided

through neighborhood based amily

support collaboratives. Te Child and

Family Services Rapid Housing

Program is the only homeless preven-

tion program in the city targeted at

youth that provides a short-term rental

subsidy and case management to youth

aging out o the oster care system.

January 2001: The Community Partnership, working with the Metropolitan Washington Council o Governments, conducts its

rst annual Point-in-Time Count o the Homeless. In the years since then the Community Partnership has provided regional leader-

ship in analyzing the annual point-in-time data or the Metropolitan region and this report has become the basis or measuring

fuctuations in the regions homeless population and developments in the regions Continuum o Care systems.

May 2001: The Community Partnership launches

Bowman Internet Systems Service Point as the Homeless

Management Inormation System (HMIS) to gather data on

the homeless population in publicly unded programs.

Since its inception, the Community Partnership has provided 7,651

prevention grants to individuals and amilies at risk o becoming homeless.11

PreventionTe Community Partnership believes

that one o the best strategies or

ending homelessness is to prevent its

occurrence. As a result, our agency has

been providing homeless preventiongrants to amilies to keep them rom

becoming homeless since 1997. In

2006, through unding rom the local

Emergency Rental Assistance Program,



15/32


raining and Support to theContinuum o Care

Another undamental componento the Community Partnershipswork is the trainings and support

that we oer to providers in the

Continuum o Care. Over the last ve

years, the Community Partnership

has expanded its training curriculum

to oer in-depth instruction on

a number o topics important to

providing homeless services. rainings

are tailored to dierent levels o

sta including ront line sta, case

managers, program directors and

executive directors.

In 2007 and 2008, the Community

Partnership paired with Canavan

Associates to provide emergency

preparedness trainings or shelter

and housing providers. rainings

ocused on developing strength based

approaches to dealing with emergen-

cies, developing internal and external

communication systems and accessing

city resources. Canavan Associates

also provided one-on-one technical

assistance to agencies that operated

homeless shelters that aced barriers

to developing preparedness plans such

as those located in high trac areas o

the city or programs serving particu-

larly ragile populations. In 2008, the

Community Partnership purchased

almost 2,000 emergency kits or

communal shelters or singles located

throughout the city. Te emergency

kits provide ood, water and other

basic essentials to survive or 72 hours.

Kits were distributed based on needs

assessments completed by shelters.

Since 2005, homeless providers

have also received sensitivity training

on assisting persons with disabilities

through Ardinger & Associates. Tese

trainings ocused on how to process

accommodation requests, resources

available to obtain auxiliary aides

and services, and how to respect-

ully interact with persons with

disabilities. In 2005, the Community

Partnership developed a Reasonable

Accommodation Policy and accompa-

nying procedure or clients to access

when requesting a disability.

More recently, the Community

Partnership oered Motivational

Interviewing raining through the

National Healthcare or the Homeless

Council. Tis training was spe-

cically geared to case managers, and

ocuses on developing a client-centered

A Mission of Service:Quality Services

approach to engaging clients and

developing motivation to change

behavior. Motivational Interviewing

has been a renowned skill in working

with dicult to serve populations

because the technique helps service

providers establish rapport with

a client, engage in more in-depth

conversations and discuss dicult is-

sues. Te modules help case managers

deal with dicult clients, avoid confict

and combat resistance utilizing creative

and nonthreatening methods.

Te Community Partnership sta

also provides

regular training

on the Homeless

Services

Reorm Act,

the Homeless

Management

Inormation

June 2003: The Center or the Study o Social Policy and the

Casey Foundation produces An Assessment o the District

o Columbias Community Care Grant Program. The report

applauds the fexible structure o the prevention program and

recommends its continued unding.

October 2003: With District cabinet-level ocials and department heads, the Community Partnership sta attends the

ederally-sponsoredPolicy Academyin Denver, Colorado, Improving Access to Mainstream Services or People Experiencing Chronic

Homelessness. Out o this meeting came the ormation o and nucleus or MPACTthe Mayors Policy Academy Teamwhich

would take on the task o developing the Districts 10-year plan to end homelessness.

In 2008, the Communit

Partnership provided

263 hours o training

or homeless service

providers.12

Michele Salters, TCPs DHS Programs

Manager providing training on Reasonable

Accommodations



16/32


System and Housing Quality

Standards. Most recently the

Community Partnership teamed with

the Department o Mental Healths

(DMH) Homeless Outreach eam

to conduct emergency rounds or

homeless amilies. Family Emergency

Rounds is a concept based on Grand

Rounds used in hospital and medical

settings where care providers meet on

a regular basis to update colleagues

and ellow care providers on clinical

issues and dicult problems with

high-risk patients. In a similar way,

Family Emergency Rounds provides a

orum or shelter providers to meet on

a monthly basis to discuss important

clinical issues concerning dicult-to-

serve amilies who are at a high level o

risk or harm due to mental illness.

Under the co-acilitation o the

Community Partnership and DMH

sta, Family Emergency Rounds

provides education on harm reduction,

risk awareness, access to services,and mental wellness and sel-care.

Te trainings also provide on-going

technical assistance, peer support

and capacity building to emergency

amily service providers. DMH and

the Community Partnership hope to

expand this training service to other

parts o the Continuum o Care.

A Mission o Service:

Financial AccountabilityTe Community Partnership manages

a complex collection o unds that

support numerous programs adminis-

tered by the agency. Te Community

Partnership directs a portolio o

over 140 contracts or services to thehomeless and is responsible or paying

monthly rents or an average o 1,200

households every month.

Te total annual unding port-

olio managed by the Community

Partnership in 2008 includes at least

eight unding streams, each with its

own set o regulations. As a steward

o government unds, the Community

Partnership takes seriously its

commitment to ensuring that the

agency and all subcontractors comply

with all unding requirements. Te

agency is also dedicated to providing

timely payment to landlords hous-

ing ormerly homeless clients and

December 2004:Homeless No More, the Districts 10-year plan

to end homelessness, is released by Mayor Anthony Williams.

Community Partnership sta played a major role in crating the

deliberations o MPACT into a cohesive plan that continues to

guide the Districts eorts to end homelessness.

FY 2007 FY 2008FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 20060

$10,000,000

$20,000,000

$30,000,000

$40,000,000

$50,000,000

$60,000,000

General & Adminstrative Rent Expenses Program Expenses

The Community Partnerships Expenses FY 2004-2008

October 2004 The New York Avenue Shelter Homeless Assistance Center operated by Catholic Charities opens. The 360

bed acility provides wraparound services and 24 hour access to clients that participate in services. Services oered

include Substance Abuse Counseling, Lie Skills Classes, Housing and Health Services and a work detail program.

Rui Ma, Munkhtoya Bandikhuu and

Cecilia R. Smith processing rental payments



17/32


The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness FY 2008 Expense by Source and Uses

DHS HUD CFSA

Local Funding Federal Funding SupportiveHousing

Program

EmergencyShelter Grant

Shelter Plus Care Local Funding

Non-Residential Services

Outreach 1,940,927 202,578

Supportive Services 664,494 50,430

Prevention 795,192 119,687

Shelter Repairs 1,713,808

Youth/Emergency 597,698

Shelter and Housing for Singles

Hypothermia Only Services 933,429

Emergency Shelter Services 12,422,347 337,475

Transitional Housing Services 3,384,149 2,547,585

Permanent Housing Services 629,297 1,653,567 1,452,974 657,596

Supportive Services 457,765

Shelter and Housing for Families

Hypothermia Only Services 1,392,111

Emergency Shelter Services 3,949,240 2,061,433

Transitional Housing Services 6,717,618 1,979,142 926,403

Permanent Housing Services 1,049,167 296,015 406,706 2,005,564 273,998

Domestic Violence Programs 952,655 292,578

Supportive Services 818,609

TOTAL $37,142,132 $4,831,746 $6,861,065 $457,162 $3,458,538 $931,595

sub-contractors in compliance withgovernment regulations.

Te ollowing chart shows

the growth in the Community

Partnerships budget since FY 2004, in-

cluding signicant expansion in rental

assistance unds, while maintaining

January 2005: The National Alliance to End Homelessness

designates the Community Partnerships Community Care Grant

Prevention Program as a Best Practice Prevention Model or

homeless services agencies.

December 2005: The Community Partnership joins with District

mainstream agencies to provide services and housing through a

DHS Sponsored Service Fair so that amilies in shelter can rapidly

exit the system.

a low cost overhead. Te overheadrate or the Community Partnership

in FY 2008 was 4.2 percent. Although

complex in terms o management, this

diverse portolio provides stability or

homeless service programming and

allows or fexibility in addressing new

and changing needs o the homelesspopulation in the District.

Based on audit reports or scal years

2004-2008, ve-year expense inorma-

tion is provided below.

September 2006: The Community Partnership is recognized by

HUD with an HMIS Innovation Award or Advanced Uses o HMIS

or Perormance Reporting and Point in Time Enumerations.



18/32


19/32

he Community Partnershipswell integrated inrastructureallows or fexible and innovative

projects to be implemented quickly

and eciently; the essential ingredient

that makes these systems operational

are the sta behind these departments.

Te Community Partnership employs

25 committed and hardworking

nonprot proessionals with diverse

Our eam

June 2007: The Community Partnership is recognized by HUD

as an Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) All Star

or its high level o data quality. The Community Partnership

is one o 15 communities singled out or excellence in data

collection and reporting rom over 500 Continuum o Care

organizations nationwide.

October 2007: The Community Partnership assists the Department o Human

Services in closing the DC Village shelter or amilies by relocating amilies

through the System Transormation Initiative (STI). The program single

handedly changes the amily Continuum o Care rom one that provides primarily

emergency shelter to one that is ocused more on Transitional Housing.

October 2007: The Community Partnership develop

and launches Hypothermia Dashboard Reports-an

interactive visual model that lets users see trends in

shelter utilization in real time.

While current resources are

being managed eectively and

maximized judiciously, there is still

more work to be done. Te emerging

needs o those we serve and the

policy initiatives needed to adequately

address their problems continues to

evolve. Under the leadership o Mayor

Fenty and under the guidance o

strong government partners like the

US Department o Housing and Urban

Development and the DC Department

o Human Services, we are optimistic

that the city will continue to transorm

the homeless system by ocusing on

permanent housing, prevention and

rapid re-housing techniques so that the

condition o homelessness will be elt

by ewer and ewer residents in each

passing year.

backgrounds and skills. Tese indi-

viduals work out o the Community

Partnerships modest oce in

Southeast DC owned by Community

Connections. Tere they coordinate a

system o care that is looked upon as a

national model. Teir devotion to the

mission o the organization provides

the passion or which all activities

are perormed.

After 20 years of service to the District of Columbia, the Community Partnership is excited to continue to

be a part of developing innovative solutions to homelessness for the next 20 years.

The Community Partnership provided 8,112 hours o technical

assistance to homeless service providers in 2008.13

Pat Smith and Tamura Upchurch review ahousing application



20/32

DearSue:

Itisapleasuretowriteandcongratulateyouandtheremarkable

clients,boardandstaothe

CommunityPartnershiponthemilestoneoyour20

thanniversary.Tisismostcertainlya

causeorcelebration.

HereattheBill&MelindaGatesFoundation,aswetackletheis

sueoamilyhomelessnessin

ourlocalcommunities,ourworkhasbeenstrengthenedbythee

xamplesetbythePartnership.

InstudyingemergingpromisingpracticemodelsaroundtheUn

itedStates,youreortsto

preventamilyhomelessnesshavebeenexemplary.ProjectHO

PEhasdemonstratedthatone

othebestwaystoaddressamily

homelessnessrombothaamilyandsystemsperspec-

tiveis,wheneverpossible,topreventitromoccurringintherstplace.ProjectHOPE,by

providingservicessuchasassistancewithsecuritydepositsand

rstmonthsrent,rentaland

utilityarrearagesandrelatedservicesandsupports,hasdoneju

stthat.

Byidentiyingamiliesatriskbeoretheyhitthesheltersorstre

ets,theCommunity

Partnershiphasdemonstratedtoallousthatahumane,sensit

iveandsensibleapproachis

alsoamongthemosteconomicallyefcientwaystokeepthera

nksohomelessamiliesrom

swellingevenurther.Youareleadingtheeldbyexample.

Particularlyinthesechallengingeconomictimes,organizations

liketheCommunity

PartnershipandprogramssuchasProjectHOPEareincreasing

lythestarperormerson

whichallouswilldependtomakead

ierenceamilybyamilyinthelivesoAmericans

strugglingtomakeendsmeet.FromacrossthecontinenthereintheotherWashington,we

saluteyourcreativity,diligenceandsuccess.

Sincerely,

DavidWertheimer,M.S.W.,M.Div.

SeniorProgram Ofcer

June 2008: The Community Partnership is recognized by HUD

as an Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) All Star

or its high level o data quality. The Community Partnership

is one o 15 communities singled out or excellence in data

collection and reporting rom over 500 Continuum o Care

organizations nationwide.

September 2008: The Community Partnership assists the

Department o Human Services in housing over 400 chronically

homeless men and women in the city. The city identied the

most vulnerable homeless persons and the Community

Partnership identied aordable housing units located

throughout the city and organized relocation services.

January 2009: Washington, DC is selected as one o only 23

jurisdictions out o 500 to receive a Rapid Re-housing Grant.

The program will provide rapid short and medium term rental

assistance or amilies to exit the shelter system.



21/32

The Data:A Longitudinal look at Changes in the Continuum of Care


22/32


Point in ime is a single-day, city-wide census o homeless persons

living in the District o Columbia. Te

count is conducted annually to comply

with Housing and Urban Development

(HUD) reporting standards. Te

Community Partnership has com-

pleted Point in ime on behal o the

District since 2001.

In 2005, HUD began requiring two

counts: a count o the literally home-

lesspersons in Emergency Shelter,

ransitional Housing or living on the

street, and the ormerly homeless

those who were once homeless but

now reside in Permanent Supportive

Housing. Point in ime includes a

count o both unaccompanied (single)

persons and homeless persons in

amilies, which includes children.14

Point in ime helps identiy gaps

within the Continuum o Care. Te

project also provides an opportunity to

gather up-to-date, thorough inorma-

tion on persons in shelter and housing

programs, and highlights how changes

throughout the year are aecting

the Continuum.

Inormation on the extent to which

disabilities and subpopulations exist

among the homeless has been gathered

during Point in ime since 2001.

Unless otherwise noted, the inorma-

tion presented here details what has

been ound, on average, since 2005.15

Te average age o single

homeless persons counted in the

District is 49. Average age among

adults in homeless amilies is 32.

Over fve years, 28 percent ohomeless persons have reported

chronic substance abuse issues,

and 16 percent have reported

mental illnesses. Eight (8)

percent report experiencing

both concurrently.

Each year, roughly ten (10)

percent o the homeless report

physical disabilities and 15 percent

report chronic health problems.Roughly three (3) percent report

living with HIV/AIDS.

On average, 500 homeless per-

sons in the District report having

been victims o domestic violence.

One tenth o the Districts

homeless population are United

States military veterans.

Unsheltered Counted at Point in Time

300

350

400

354

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

347

340

378

321

Single Persons & Persons in Families in Transitional Housing,

Counted at Point in Time

Single Persons & Persons in Families in Emergency Shelters,

Counted at Point in Time

919 981

1,611

1,281

810686

887

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009500

1,000

1,500

2,000

894 922 922

Single Persons Persons in Families

2,5532,871 2,455 2,908

683

2,632

1,3591,313

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

1,230

555

Single Persons Persons in Families

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000



23/32


Te Point in ime enumerationconducted in January 2008 and 2009

revealed that the Districts resources

are heavily utilized by persons rom

outside the city. Data has shown that

more than 20 percent o single persons

in Emergency Shelter lived outside o

the District beore becoming homeless,

and that nearly one in ten had been in

shelter outside o the city in the past.

Data rom 2009 also showed that

1,093 persons in shelter or housing

reported previous stays in institutional

settings such as jail or prison, hospitals,

oster care and mental health or sub-

stance abuse treatment acilities prior

to entering shelter. Subsequent data

collection has revealed that roughly

ve percent o persons in shelter

during Winter 2008-09 had been in

these settings within a week beore

entering. Tese data highlight the need

or discharge planning to keep those

exiting rom public institutions rom

having to rely on the shelter system.

System ransormationInitiativePoint in ime data rom 2008 and

2009 also showed that homeless

amilies in the District are increasingly

residing in the ransitional Housing,

rather than Emergency Shelter. Tis

shi is primarily due to the System

ransormation Initiative (SI).17

As o May 2009 there are 224

amilies in SI, and 277 have been

enrolled since its inception. Te major-

ity o exits rom the program have been

to public housing or other permanent

housing programs.18

Persons in Families in Emergency Shelter & Transitional Housing,Counted at Point in Time

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Persons in Families in Emergency Shelters

Persons in Families in Transitional Housing

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

683

1,3591,3131,230

555

1,611

1,281

810686

887

Distribution of Families Served through the Family System Transformation

Initiative in 200816



24/32


Nearly 80 percent o amilies inSI are headed by a single parent,

most oen a emale. On average, SI

households include two children. A

quarter o the amilies in SI have

grown in size since entering the

program, most oen due to birth or

parent-child reunication.19

SI has expanded the citys

ransitional Housing resources by

70 percentamilies in ransitional

Housing programs have access to

more intensive case management

and supportive services, and will

be better positioned to move to

permanent and Permanent Supportive

Housing opportunities.

In 2007, 65 percent o amilies

entering SI were identied as needing

the highest level o case management

support. While most amilies level

o vulnerability has not changed, the

number o persons in amilies with

mental health or substance abuse issues

needing a connection to mainstream

services has decreased by 60 per-

cent.20 Tis can be attributed to the

active role that mainstream agencies

have played in providing services to

amilies in this program.

Additionally, the number o amilies

that report having no network o sup-

port has decreased dramatically rom

46 percent to 12 percent. One third o

amilies also report an improvement

in their childrens academic progress

and school behavior over the last year.21

Tis is oen attributed to a stable

living environment.

PreventionOperated through the Virginia

Williams Family Resource Center,

the Community Partnership sta

administers prevention assistance

to an average o 100 amilies each

month. Tis assistance can include

Distribution of Residents Receiving Rental Assistance from the

Community Partnership in 200822

rst months rent and securitydeposit, rent arrearage and utility

cuto prevention to individuals and

amilies who are in danger o evic-

tion, oreclosure and homelessness.

Te programs work is instrumental

because it stabilizes amilies in their



25/32


2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Federal FundingLocal Funding

0

$1,000,000

$2,000,000

$3,000,000

$4,000,000

Prevention Assistance Clients Served with Funding from the Community Partnership, FY 2002-FY 2008

CFSA Rapid Housing Recipients,

FY 2006-FY 2008

Funding Sources for Prevention Activities, FY 2002-FY 200625

FY 06 FY 07 FY 08

0

50

100

150

200

250

200

147

98

Singles 151 472 83 51 109 90 101

Families 1,269 1,279 692 539 358 310 232

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2005 2004 20032008 2007 2006 2002

housing and prevents them romentering the homeless system.23

Operating since 2006, the Child and

Family Services Agency (CFSA) Rapid

Housing is a partnership between

CFSA, the Community Partnership,

and the neighborhood support

collaboratives. CFSA identies youthor the program, the collaboratives

provide case management and the

Community Partnership pays rent

subsidies and approves spending plans

or recipients.24



26/32


Homeless Services Reorm ActTe passage o the Districts Homeless

Services Reorm Act (HSRA) in 2005

reorganized how shelter and housing

programs are identied. Prior to 2005,

the District used a broader denition

o Emergency Shelter. Te HSRA

created three types o Emergency

Sheltersevere weather, low barrier

and temporary shelter. As mentioned

earlier, severe whether shelters are

those opened during the coldestmonths o the year.

Low barrier shelters are open or

12 hours overnight and are primarily

designed as healthier, saer places or

those without other housing options

to sleep in lieu o the streets. As the

name suggests, low barrier shelters

have limited eligibility requirements.

emporary shelters are longer-term

Emergency Shelter arrangements or

Men 6,527 8,499 9,593 9,597 10,501 9,498 9,649 9,643

Women 1,951 2,702 2,704 2,249 2,698 2,123 1,900 1,980

Families 724 918 660 554 600 442 500 414

Men, Women & Families Served in Emergency Shelter Annually

2001 2002 2003 2004 20062005 2007 2008

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

Men 481 448 486 397 828 808 1,002 958

Women 304 270 279 359 439 499 616 470

Families 144 158 164 192 169 154 256 425

Men, Women & Families Served in Transitional Housing Annually

2001 2002 2003 2004 20062005 2007 2008

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

persons experiencing homelessness.Tey usually include a minor level o

participation in supportive services.26

Upon the passage o the HRSA,

many existing programs were reclas-

sied within the Districts Continuum

as one o these new types o

Emergency Shelter or as ransitional

Housing programs. For consistency the

Community Partnership continues to

use the terms Emergency Shelter and



27/32


ransitional distinctions rather than thevarious types o emergency shelter cre-

ated by the HSRA. Te graphs included

here chart annual counts o clients

served in both Emergency Shelter and

ransitional Housing rom 2001-2008,

with the solid portions o the lines

marking program classications aer

the passage o the HSRA. Te HSRA

program reclassications account or

some o the changes in populations

served in and since 2005.27

Since 2001, the District o Columbias

Continuum o Care (CoC) has included

an average o 2,300 beds o year-round

Emergency Shelter or single persons.

During the coldest months o the year,

some 300 additional beds are opened

each night with another 300 opening

on nights when the temperature drops

below 32 degrees.

Despite the closing o D.C. Village

in 2007, the city continues to operate

over 160 emergency shelter units

or amilies. More than 90 percent

o the Emergency Shelter capacity

in the city is locally unded and are

operated by subcontractors o the

Community Partnership.

Te Districts Continuum has

also included an average o 1,200

ransitional housing beds each year or

single persons and now has nearly 600

units available or amilies.

Te amily ransitional Housing

inventory grew substantially in 2007

aer the inception o SI. ransitional

Housing programs provide rehabilita-

tive and supportive services designed to

prepare homeless individuals or greater

stabilization and sel-sucient living.28

Year Round Emergency Shelter Beds for Singles

Year-Round Emergency Shelter Units for Families

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

181 184171 171

153171

208

134

162

0

50

100

150

200

250

Transitional Housing Beds for Singles

Transitional Housing Units for Families

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

404

340

452

403379

317348

534

579

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

1,915

2,516

2,081

2,4192,173

2,294 2,285

2,642

2,291

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

1,241 1,2001,142

1,001

1,1911,111

1,165 1,1741,230

0

300

600

900

1,200

1,500



28/32


Distribution of Clients Housed in the Mayors Permanent Supportive

Housing Program in 200832

Permanent Supportive Housing

6% Hypothermia Shelter

30% Emergency Shelter

28% Transitional Housing

36% Permanent Supportive Housing

Permanent Supportive HousingFor many homeless persons in the

Continuum o Care, sel-suciency and

independent living many not be possible.

For these persons, there are more than

3,700 beds o Permanent Supportive

Housing are available throughout

the District or singles and amilies.29

Permanent Supportive Housing provides

housing and wrap-around supportive

services so that clients in these programs

do not become homeless again.

Moreover, Permanent Supportive

Housing now makes up the largest

share o the resources in the District o

Columbias Continuum o Care.

Tere are more than 10,000 beds or

homeless and ormerly homeless persons

in the city, including beds added during

the winter months. O these resources,

36 percent are dedicated Permanent

Supportive Housing.30

In 2008, the Mayors Permanent

Supportive Housing Program (PSHP)

began. PSHP moved some 400 homeless

men and women o o the street and out

o shelter and in to their own apartments

throughout the city.

Between Point in ime 2008 and 2009

there has been a 10 percent decrease

in the number o single persons using

Emergency Shelter as well as a 15

percent decrease among persons living

on the street. Tese shis are largely

a result o placements in Permanent

Supportive Housing.31

Te District recognizes Permanent

Supportive Housing as the solution to

homeless and will continue to provide

and increase such resources to bring

homelessness in D.C. to an end.



29/32


1 The D.C. Initiative: Working Together to Solve Homelessness, U.S. Department o Housing and Urban Development, the District o Columbia,

September 1993.

2 Aggregate sum o annual awards (1994-2008) or the District o Columbia through the HUD Super Notice o Funding Availability competitive

application process; the Community Partnership has been managing the submission o this application since 1994.

3 HMIS Advanced Reporting Tool Report, run April 2009.

4 The D.C. Initiative: Working Together to Solve Homelessness, U.S. Department o Housing and Urban Development, the District o Columbia,

September 1993.

5 The Community Partnership and the District o Columbias Public Homeless Assistance System, Martha R. Burt and Sam Hall, Urban Institute, p. 15

June 2, 2008.

6 Sta time allocation was completed based on hourly task identication in the Community Partnerships Compu Pay electronic time sheet system

or FY 08.

7 Super NOFA Continuum o Care application, 2008, Section 3A.

8 Summary o checks cut monthly in FY 08 rom the Community Partnerships Micro Inormation Product Sotware.

9 Cumulative amount o grants awarded to Providers rom the HMIS Supportive Housing Grant since its award in 2001.

10 Inormation provided through the Community Partnerships Housing Inventory Chart 2008 and 2009 Point in Time enumeration.

11 Aggregate total o clients served in Community Care grant rom 1999-2008; rental assistance payments made rom 2002-2008.

12 Aggregate number o training hours provided through 2008 seasonal training calendars and the HMIS calendar.

13 Sta time allocation was completed based on hourly task identication in the Community Partnerships Compu Pay electronic time sheet system

or FY 08.

14 Standards and methods or Point-in-Time Counts o Homeless Persons and Annual Housing Inventory Updates. Oce o Special Needs Assistance

Programs, Community and Planning Development, the U.S. Department o Housing and Urban Development.

15 The Community Partnership instructs providers to use the Homeless Management Inormation System (HMIS) to count and gather client

inormation through a survey completed on each person counted on the date o Point in Time. Agencies that do not use the HMIS participate

through paper or phone surveys. The survey is derived rom HUD data standards and the regional interest o the Metropolitan Washington Council

o Governments Human Services Subcommittee, and is conducted annually during the last week o January in compliance with HUD guidelines.

16 Mapping completed by Jon Paul Oliva, GIS Analyst; address inormation taken rom data entered in the HMIS and the Micro Inormation

Product Sotware.

17 Comparison o data collected by the Community Partnership during Point in Time 2007, 2008 and 2009.

18 Taken rom the HMIS, May 2009

19 Taken rom the results o assessments completed on each amily that entered STI in October 2007 ater completing one year in the program.

20 Taken rom assessments done on each amily as they entered STI in October 2007.

21 SuperNOFA Continuum o Care application, 2008, Section 3A.

22 Mapping completed by Jon Paul Oliva, GIS Analyst; address inormation taken rom data entered in the HMIS

23 Inormation on clients served based on reports prepared by the Community Partnerships Prevention Programs sta.

24 Inormation on unding sources based on inormation gathered by the Community Partnerships Accounting team in conjunction with annual

nancial audits completed by Gelman, Rosenberg & FreedmanCertied Public Accountants.

25 Taken rom the HMIS, May 2009

26 The Homeless Services Reorm Act was passed by the District o Columbia Council in 2005.

27 Numbers derived rom the Community Partnership Client Served reports or 2001-2006; note that 2003-2005 or CCNV shelter were adjusted ater

analysis o the 2006 data in the HMIS revealed a previous over-estimation o unique clients served. Data rom 2007-2008 are taken rom unique

counts o clients served as counted in the HMIS or the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report. Numbers in the charts in these sections have

been adjusted rom the Community Partnerships 2007 Report to the Community to align with program classications post-HSRA.

28 Numbers taken rom the Housing Inventory Charts prepared annually as a part o the SuperNOFA process. Changes in capacity are gathered

annually during Point in Time.

29 Inormation on clients served based on reports prepared by the Community Partnerships Prevention Programs sta.

30 Calculated upon completion o Point in Time 2009.

31 Calculated upon completion o Point in Time 2009.

32 Mapping completed by Jon Paul Oliva, GIS Analyst; address inormation taken rom data entered in the HMIS

End Notes



30/32


Our Partners:

Government PartnersThe Honorable Adrian Fenty, Mayor

DC Department o Human Services

DC Child and Family Services

Administration

DC Department o Housing and

Community Development

DC Housing Authority

DC Housing Finance Agency

DC Department o Mental Health

DC Oce o Disability Rights

DC Department o Health

DC Department o Parks and

RecreationDC Addiction and Prevention

Recovery Administration

DC Department o Employment

Services

DC Oce o the City Administrator

DC Oce o GLBT Aairs

DC Oce o Property Management

DC Metropolitan Police Department

The Interagency Council on

Homelessness

United States Department

o Housing and Urban

Development

Homeless Service Providers

Access Housing

Anchor Mental Health

Bethany, Inc.

Bright Beginnings

Calvary Womens Services

Capitol Hill Group Ministries

Catholic Charities

Christ House

Clean and Sober Streets

Coalition or the Homeless

Coates and Lane Foundation

Columbia Heights/Shaw Family

Support CollaborativeCommunity or Creative

Nonviolence

Community Connections

Community Council or the

Homeless at Friendship Place

Community Family Lie Services

Community o Hope

Covenant House DC

Damien Ministries

DC Central Kitchen

DC Emergency Assistance Fund

East River Family Strengthening

Collaborative

Edgewood/Brookland Family

Support Collaborative

Families Forward, Inc.

Far Southeast Family Support

Collaborative

First Seventh Day Adventist Church

Georgetown Ministry Center

Georgetown University

Hospital Clinics

Georgia Avenue/Rock Creek East

Family Support Collaborative

Gospel Rescue Ministries

Green DoorHannah House

Homes or Hope

House o Ruth

Housing Counseling Services

Jobs Have Priority

Latin American Youth Center

Latino Transitional Housing

Partnership

Miriams House

Miriams Kitchen

My Sisters Place

N Street Village

Neighbors Consejo

New Endeavors by Women

New Hope Ministries

North Capitol Collaborative

Northwest Church Family Network

Open Arms Housing

Parklands Community Center

Pathways to Housing DC

Rachels Womens Center

RIGHT Inc.

Salvation Army

Sasha Bruce Youthworks

So Others Might Eat

South Washington/West o the River

Family Support Collaborative

TERRIFIC Inc.

Thrive DC Transgender Health Empowerment

Transitional Housing Corpo

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