HOMELESS
WEBINAR SERIES
Webinar 2- Core Strategies for an Effective
Crisis Response System
Sponsored by the Department of Economic Opportunity
Overview
The Florida Housing Coalition
National Alliance to End Homelessness
• Statewide training and technical
assistance outreach for CoC’s and
members through end of June
• Please spread the word to your partners
Overview
5 WAYS TO GET
Phone - (844) - 280-2683
Email - [email protected]
Site Visit - request via email
Workshops - 3 workshops
Webinars - Series of 6
www.flhousing.org
5 Ways to Get Technical
Assistance
Webinars
HEARTH 101 - March 23 (Now on FHC website)
Core Strategies for an Effective Crisis Response - March 25
Funding Sources, Grant Writing and Responding to RFAs -
April 14
Coordinated Assessment and System Change - May 5
Bringing Rapid Re-housing to Scale in Florida - June 9
Best Practices for Building Capacity - June 23
Webinars
Workshops
System Design
April 21:Ft Lauderdale April 22:Orlando April 23:Jacksonville
Rapid Rehousing
May 19: Ft Lauderdale May 20: Orlando May 21:Jacksonville
Homelessness is a Housing Issue
June 10: Ft Lauderdale June 11: Orlando June 18: Tallahassee
Workshops
Core Strategies for an Effective
Crisis Response System
Webinar recording - www.flhousing.org
Survey
Webinar #2 Webinar #2
1
Core Strategies
for an Effective
Crisis Response
System
Cynthia Nagendra
Kay Moshier McDivitt
Anna Blasco
Center for Capacity Building
Webinar Logistics
• Participants are muted
• Any questions should be entered in
the box at the bottom of our webinar
panel
• Unanswered questions may be
addressed in future blog posts or
other materials
• Webinar is being recorded
IMPROVE ABILITY TO
1.Meet HEARTH Act Goals
2.Prevent & End
Homelessness
AGENDA
1. Crisis Response System
Overview
2. Core Elements of the
Crisis Response System
3. Best Practice Crisis
System Design
4. Strategic Use of
Transitional Housing
5. Q&A
Making
Homelessness
Rare, Brief and
Non-Recurring in
the State of
Florida
Which best describes your role?
• Continuum of Care lead
• Homeless Coalition
• Government
• Emergency shelter provider
• Permanent supportive housing provider
• Transitional housing provider
• Rapid re-housing provider
Poll
An effective homeless crisis response system places a
systemic focus on helping individuals and families access
and sustain permanent housing as quickly as possible when
the housing crisis occurs.
Service participation is client driven and voluntary
Permanent housing Interventions are low demand, and
targeted to those with the highest need
All programs screen in those with highest needs in, not
out
Ending Homelessness A “Housing First” Crisis Response System
HEARTH Act sets national direction for
communities to use a systemic approach to
prevent and end homelessness
….“to establish a Federal goal of ensuring that
individuals and families who become
homeless return to permanent housing within
30 days.”
HEARTH Act Purposes – Sec. 1002(b)
HEARTH Act A Housing First Approach
HEARTH Act Measures
Targeted
Prevention
Diversion
New
Entries
PSH
Stabilization
Prevention
Repeat
Episodes
Rapid Re-
Housing
Length of
Episodes National Alliance to End Homelessness
GOAL
Retool the homeless response
system by transforming homeless
services to crisis response
systems that prevent
homelessness and rapidly return
people who experience
homelessness to stable housing.
“Opening Doors” Federal Strategic Plan to End Homelessness
• Homelessness is “rare, brief, and non-
recurring.
• It is a “housing first” focused system
• All interventions quickly end the episode
of homelessness and move people to
permanent housing
• Right mix of interventions that match the
needs – system is “right sized”
What does a good “crisis
response” system look like?
• Aims to prevent and end homelessness as quickly
as possible
• Allocates resources to most effective and cost-
efficient strategies that quickly re-house all
individuals and families
• Begins conversations about re-housing as soon
as a household becomes homeless
• Targets services effectively to those with highest
barriers
• Uses practices informed by data and research
What does a good “crisis
response” system look like?
Necessary Interventions in a
Crisis Response System
Coordinated Entry that includes diversion and targeted prevention
Crisis Response Housing and Crisis Services
Rapid Re-housing
Permanent Supportive Housing
Coordinated Entry
Definition: Systematized
process to access crisis services
that prioritizes and matches
people for different housing
interventions through the use of
standardized tools and referral
procedures
System Perspective
• Written standards for eligibility and prioritization
• Prioritizes clients with the highest need
• HMIS integration
• Includes multiple populations and intervention types
• Closes side doors to shelter, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing
• Includes prevention resources for diversion
Best Practice: Coordinated
Assessment
Assessment Tool is Tiered
Prevention/Diversion
Housing Barrier Assessment
Vulner-ability Assess- ment
100%
75%
25%
Crisis Housing and Crisis Services
Definition: Temporary, short-term services and housing to alleviate people’s immediate housing crisis as a first step to being quickly and permanently re-housed that includes:
• Crisis beds (emergency shelter, interim or bridge housing, motel vouchers)
• Street outreach and engagement
• Emergency health
• Other crisis services
Rapid Re-housing
Definition: A permanent housing
intervention designed to return
households to permanent housing
quickly through the use of temporary
rental assistance, voluntary home-
based case management, and
connection to mainstream resources
System Perspective • Major component of the crisis response
system portfolio, not just a “program”
• System-wide policies and procedures
• Progressive engagement with a housing
first approach
• Short-term, individualized, shallow subsidy
• Rapid re-housing is rapid
Best Practice: Rapid Re-Housing
Permanent Supportive Housing
Definition: Housing units (scattered-
site or congregate) used in concert with
housing vouchers and intensive
wraparound services to successfully
house a community’s most vulnerable
people with the housing first approach
System Perspective
• Houses the most vulnerable
• Uses system-wide policies and
procedures
• Prioritizes chronically homeless people
• Screens people in, not out – low demand
• Practices a Housing First approach for all
units
Best Practice: Permanent
Supportive Housing
• What are the necessary interventions of a crisis response system?
A) Emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing
B) Coordinated entry, Emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing
C) Coordinated entry, crisis housing, rapid re-hosing, permanent supportive housing
Poll
• Provides opportunity to strategically
assess effectiveness in meeting HEARTH
goals
Alignment with Opening Doors
• Responds to emerging need for taking
rapid re-housing to scale
• Strengthens performance of projects in
the Continuum of Care
Why Re-Tool? A Housing First Focused System
Percent of Exits that are to Permanent Housing for
Persons in Households with Children in 14 Communities
Source: Data from 14 Continuums in seven states that prepared Evaluators for National Alliance to End Homelessness Performance Improvement Clinics in 2011-2012 compiled by Focus Strategies
Shelter Transitional
Housing
Rapid Re-Housing
Rate of Return to Homelessness Within 12
Months of Exit for 7 Communities
Source: Data from seven Continuums in four states that prepared Evaluators for National Alliance to End Homelessness Performance Improvement Clinics in 2011-2012 compiled by Focus Strategies
Singles People in Families with Children
Average Cost Per Exit for Families with Children in 14 Communities
Permanent Housing Exits
Source: Data from 14 Continuums in seven states that prepared Evaluators for National Alliance to End Homelessness Performance Improvement Clinics in 2011-2012 compiled by Focus Strategies
All Exits
To align with an effective crisis response system:
• Short-Term Crisis Housing
– Re-use of congregate buildings for those with higher
barriers to find housing
• Rapid Re-housing
– CoC funding: Families living in places not meant for
human habitation or in an emergency shelter bed
• Permanent Supportive Housing
– Only for chronically homeless families and individuals
Retooling Options Retooling to a New Model: Reallocation
Target longer-term, site-based congregate
interventions to special groups with severe
needs including: • Certain heads of households struggling with severe
substance abuse disorder who prefer intervention
• Certain persons in early recovery who ask for a more
intensive environment to support their recovery
• Survivors of DV who require AND prefer the security
of congregate housing
• Unaccompanied youth who prefer congregate setting
Retooling Options For Site-Based
Congregate Transitional Housing
Retooling In Stages
• Shorten the length of stay
• Serve vulnerable populations
• Implement the Housing First approach
• Implement the voluntary service participation
model
Retooling Options Repurpose Program
“While many providers across the country have adopted rapid re-housing and housing first models, it is our ability to take the concept to scale nationally that will ultimately determine our success at ending homelessness. It is not enough for a few providers in each community to have adopted this approach. We need entire communities to embrace this philosophy and restructure their systems around it. If the old model was emergency shelter, transitional housing, and permanent housing, the new model is based on the three “A’s”: 1) Access; 2) Assessment; and 3) Assignment of Intervention.”
USICH “What is Crisis Response?”
Crisis Response System Designing the System
1. Identify the specific needs of those experiencing homelessness
2. Define what and how much of each intervention is necessary to meet those needs
3. Determine how resources are used to implement the strategies in the crisis response system
4. Set systemic measures that are analyzed regularly
5. Adjust as necessary to reach the goal of ending homelessness
Restructuring to a Crisis
Response System
Core Strategies of a Crisis
Response System
Coordinated Entry that includes diversion and targeted prevention
Crisis Response Housing and Crisis Services
Rapid Re-housing
Permanent Supportive Housing
Every Continuum of Care Needs: • Assessment of inventory of programs/strategies
• Cost data of each program type’s exits to permanent
housing
• Agreement from providers to serve only people
referred to them through coordinated entry
• Housing-focused interventions
• A resource allocation strategy – which includes a
strategy for re-allocation to cost effective
interventions – Right sizing your system
Aligning Resources to Support
the Crisis Response System
Critical for each program in the system to be evaluated
• Is this program contributing to the HEARTH objectives for
our system?
• Do we allocate our resources to fund the most cost
effective strategies with the best outcomes of quickly
moving households to permanent housing?
• Do we have systemic policies and procedures for each
intervention and prioritize serving the most vulnerable?
• Are all of our programs using a “housing first” approach?
• Are the funded rapid re-housing interventions really
“rapid”?
Summary
Crisis Response System Systemic Approach
This takes work to include all homeless service providers,
including the faith based and non-federal funded providers
Questions
The Center for Capacity Building
National Alliance to End Homelessness
Kay Moshier McDivitt, [email protected]
Cynthia Nagendra; [email protected]
Anna Blasco; [email protected]