Promoting Systems Change Through Stakeholder

Convenings NAEH Conference on Ending Homelessness

July 12, 2010

Elaine de Coligny, Executive Director

 

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Alameda County, CA Background

• Located in the San Francisco East Bay; Population 1.5 million

• 2009 Homeless PTC=4,341, • Plan to end homelessness published

in 2006• HPRP funds enabled us to develop

our first ever countywide prevention and rapid rehousing programs.

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Alameda County, CA Background

• Alameda County looks like many other mid-size jurisdictions across the country trying to to end homelessness Diffuse government Power Structure

14 different cities and unincorporated county. Our largest city, Oakland, is 450k

No centralized mandate or champion

A collection of providers not a system of care Who got served and how a result of evolution, each

agency’s mission and funding requirements history of collaborating across jurisdictional

boundaries for our HUD NOFA app, base closures, S + C, etc.

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Alameda County, CA Background

• 2004 Three Systems of Care began working on a joint housing plan that became the EveryOne Plan

Behavioral Health Care Services Office of AIDS Administration Homeless Continuum of Care Council Planners include Social Services Agency, Housing and

Community Development, cities of Berkeley and Oakland

• Published in 2006, the Plan is widely Adopted All 14 cities and the County adopt & commit to

implementation Over 50 Housing and Service Providers endorse Plan

• It called for systems change and working together in new ways

EveryOne Home, the organization is established to coordinate implementation

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• The announcement of HPRP funds brought the community of stakeholders together to plan our approach looking at: Data from our own county Best practices across the country HUD notice

• Decided to create a single countywide program with one entry point & one set of rules

HPRP: 1st major EH Initiative

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HPRP

• EveryOne Home facilitated program design work with jurisdictional grantees and other stakeholders including Social Services who contributed TANF ECF $

• Providers were selected in August to operate the 7 regional Housing Resource Centers

• The Priority Home Partnership is born

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Implementation & Learning Community

• Priority Home Partnership is governed by an Implementation and Learning Community

• Coordinated by EveryOne Home it includes: Jurisdictional Grantees Non-profit Executive Directors Program Directors Direct Line staff

• Shared Commitments To refining and improving program as we go Collecting quality data and using it to drive changes All members are partners in making the program its best

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ILC Structure

• Very Informal • Full ILC meets monthly• Case Managers hold bi-monthly training and TA

sessions.• Jurisdictional grantees meet as needed to address

compliance and grant management issues• Regional HRC teams also meet regularly• Work groups get formed to solve problems or

develop policy/procedures Changes in assessment tool to target more deeply Develop shelter in-reach strategies for rapid rehousing

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ILC Communication

• Between meetings Communicate using a Google group 86 members 94 files including all policies procedures and forms used in

program

• Messages posted using following headings: Policy—for everybody including EDs and Grantees Resources—things that will help clients for Case Managers HMIS—directions for anyone doing data collection and entry Ask ILC—range from help with a client issue to a policy

clarification Meeting—announcements of meetings and trainings

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Issues the ILC is addressing

• Missing Persons Showed up in data reports on numbers

screened at 211 vs numbers enrolled for services at HRC

Researching reasons people are not getting served If many not eligible could lead to revised

screening If many not contacted in time leads to

streamlining intake procedures

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Issues the ILC is addressing

• Refining our targeting/Predicting Success Ongoing discussions about factors that predict

success: e.g. rental history and income Using data collected at intake, reassessment,

and exit to look at the housing stability of households with different scores on income and rental history

Group committed to using HMIS data to drive decisions not just anecdotal experience

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Keys to Success

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Bring stakeholders to table early and often

Commit to collecting and using data to shape and improve program

Create peer to peer forums and cross sector forums: e.g. case manager trainings and the ILC

Maintain a spirit of learning—things that don’t work can be just as valuable

MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE

Visit www.everyonehome.org for more information, on our HPRP design, the 2008 Prevention Study, the assessment tool, our Plan

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