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 - info@flhousing.org

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

Homelessness Will Be Rare, Brief and

Non-Recurring in the State of Florida

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

Crisis Response Overview

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?

Crisis Response System Necessary Interventions and

Core Strategies Designing Your System

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

Best Practice: Crisis/Emergency

Shelter

YEAR- ROUND ACCESSIBLE 24/7

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

Strategic Use of Transitional

Housing

in a Crisis Response System

• 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

Crisis Response System-

Best Practice Design

“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, kmoshiermcdivitt@naeh.org

Cynthia Nagendra; cnagendra@naeh.org

Anna Blasco; ablasco@naeh.org