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Orange County HMIS

Category: News

Save the Date: Equal Access and Gender Identity Rules Training – January 2017

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is holding a series of webinars for Continuum of Care (CoC) Collaborative Applicants and providers, Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) recipients and sub-recipients, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with Aids (HOPWA) grantees to educate participants about the requirements of the Equal Access Rule and Gender Identity Rule and how to ensure that projects operate in compliance with these rules. This webinar will also provide “LGBT Language 101” training to aid participants in increasing their knowledge and skills in using appropriate, inclusive language with all clients they serve. Participants will be introduced to HUD’s TA materials to aid their compliance efforts, including a self-assessment tool, staff and volunteer training scenarios, and a policies and procedures guidebook (all available on the HUD Exchange LGBT Resource page).

Webinar Dates

  • Tuesday, January 10, 2017: 12:00–1:30 PM EST
  • Wednesday, January 18, 2017: 2:30–4:00 PM EST

PLEASE NOTE: This is strictly a “Save the Date” message. A second announcement will be made in early January when registration is open. Registrants should self-select the session they prefer to attend. Content will not vary across sessions.

Who Should Attend?

Due to the large demand for the November 2016 webinars, HUD is hosting two additional sessions for those who were unable to attend. All programs funded under CoC, ESG, HOPWA, CDBG, HOME and Housing Trust Fund are required to follow the 2016 Gender Identity Rule as well as the continuing requirements of the HUD-wide 2012 Equal Access Rule. Together, these rules mandate placing and serving persons in accordance with their gender identity. A recent study indicated that less than 30% of emergency shelters appropriately enrolled transgender women in accordance with their gender identity. This training will focus on educating the funders and providers of residential projects so that transgender and LGBT participants are appropriately enrolled each time they present to a project or coordinated entry with a need for homeless housing and services.

Training Point of Contact

TJ Winfield | 240-582-3607 | EAR.Training@cloudburstgroup.com

To find out more information about upcoming trainings and access materials from previously held trainings, go to HUD Exchange Training and Events.

To see HUD’s original email announcement, please click here.

HUD Publishes Effective Strategies for Implementing State ESG Programs: Lessons Learned from State HPRP Administrators

HUD released a new report Effective Strategies for Implementing State ESG Programs: Lessons Learned from State HPRP Administrators aimed to assist state recipients administering Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program funds. The report’s authors interviewed 20 States to learn about their implementation of the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP) – the $1.5 billion grant program authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and administered by HUD. This report shares different approaches that these state administrators took to implement HPRP – from program planning and design to effective use of staff resources, monitoring, HMIS, and more – and applies it to ESG today.

Although the authors interviewed state HPRP administrators, the report offers insights for all ESG administrators, whether at the city, county, or state level. The purpose is to inform the continuing evolution of ESG program design and implementation and thereby to increase impact and effectiveness of these programs.

To see the email from HUD, please click here.

FY 2016 Continuum of Care Program Competition Funding Announcement

Earlier today, HUD announced $1.95 billion to more than 7,600 local homeless housing and service programs across the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These Continuum of Care (CoC) grants will help end homelessness and provide critically needed support to local programs on the front lines of serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness. View a complete list of all the state and local homeless projects awarded funding.

This year, HUD continued to challenge CoCs to support their highest performing local programs that have proven most effective in meeting the needs of persons experiencing homelessness in their communities. Overall, CoCs stepped up to meet this challenge. Many state and local planners embraced HUD’s call to shift funds from existing underperforming projects to create new ones that are based on best practices that will further their efforts to prevent and end homelessness. HUD recognizes the hard work it took for CoCs to make these sometimes difficult choices, and appreciates their efforts to work towards results.

Secretary Castro stated, “Today marks another critical investment in support of those working each and every day to house and serve our most vulnerable neighbors. We know how to end homelessness and will continue to encourage our local partners to use the latest evidence to achieve success. These grants support proven strategies to end homelessness once and for all.”

HUD strongly encouraged local applicants to prioritize their funding request very carefully, using a mix of performance data and local needs. In addition, applicants were encouraged to submit projects that were based on research-driven approaches and supported the nation’s goals to prevent and end homelessness. As a result, local CoCs reallocated a combined $103 million in renewal funding from lower performing projects in order to apply for new housing projects; between reallocation and Bonus projects, HUD is awarding $139 million in new projects, including critical investments in permanent supportive housing (PSH) and rapid re-housing (RRH).

Ultimately, the awards made today will help us achieve the bold goals established in Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. This means continuing the progress made in reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness and setting a path to ending homelessness in this country.

The Department estimates there were 549,928 persons experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2016. Since the launch of Opening Doors in 2010, local communities around the country report:

  • The total number of individuals experiencing homelessness declined by 14 percent;
  • Veteran homelessness fell by 47 percent;
  • Chronic homelessness declined 27 percent; and
  • Family homelessness declined by nearly 23 percent.

Adjustments to Funding

The conditional awards for renewal projects may be different than what was requested in the project application.

  1. Projects were reviewed to ensure that they were consistent with the approved Grant Inventory Worksheet (GIW) and CoC Program interim rule.
  2. In some cases, a project straddled Tier 1 and Tier 2 and only the Tier 1 portion of the project was funded.

Unlike prior years, HUD did not make Fair Market Rent (FMR) adjustments to the awards. HUD uses the FMRs that were in effect at the time applications were due, which means that FY 2016 FMRs will be used for these awards.

If you have questions or require more specific information, please submit a question to the e-snaps HUD Exchange Ask A Question (AAQ) portal or contact your local HUD CPD field office.

To submit a question to the e-snaps AAQ portal, select “e-snaps” from the “My question is related to” drop down list on Step 2 of the question submission process. If you have questions related to the CoC Program interim rule or a policy related question, please submit your questions to the CoC Program AAQ portal. To submit a question to the CoC Program AAQ portal, select “CoC Program” from the “My question is related to” drop down list on Step 2 of the question submission process.

HMIS Program-Specific Data Manuals Available on the HUD Exchange for ESG, CoC, PATH, and RHY Programs

HUD has released updated Program Specific Data Manuals:

HUD and its Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) Federal partners from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Administration for Children and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have updated some of the HMIS Program-Specific Data Manuals posted to the HUD Exchange including:

These program-specific manuals are companion documents to the HMIS Data Dictionary and Data Standards Manuals. They do not change information about data collection or add any new elements to be collected; rather, they provide primary information and guidance for HMIS System Administrators on project set-up in the HMIS system and for organizations receiving funding from these Federal grant programs on the data collection requirements, definitions, and information that grant recipients must collect for program reporting purposes. In addition to posting the manuals to the HUD Exchange, Federal partners will also post them on their program websites.

To see the original email from HUD, please click here.

HUD Releases Webinar: “ESG Program Grant Life Cycle in IDIS”

The “ESG Program Grant Life Cycle in IDIS” webinar is the third of a three-part webinar series on the topic of financial management for the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program. This webinar provides a high-level overview of the ESG grant life cycle and the major benchmarks along the way. The presentation clarifies how the different stages of the ESG grant life cycle are integrated across IDIS, the eCon Planning Suite, Line of Credit Control System (LOCCS), and Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) over the course of a single ESG grant. This presentation builds upon the Emergency Solutions Grants Program: Using IDIS for Financial Management webinar and Revising IDIS Vouchers for the ESG Program webinar.

If you have questions about the ESG Program or IDIS, please submit them through the HUD Exchange Ask a Question (AAQ) portal. On Step 2 of the question submission process, select “ESG” or “IDIS” in the “My question is related to” dropdown.

To view the original email from HUD, please click here.

New Resources on Documentation of Chronic Homelessness

November 28, 2016

HUD has recently posted two new resources on the HUD Exchange on the Definition of Chronic Homelessness. The following new materials are available via the Chronic Homelessness landing page:

  • Flowchart of HUD’s Definition of Chronic Homelessness – This tool guides you through HUD’s Chronically Homeless Definition through mostly “Yes” or “No” questions, providing an interactive way to help understand who meets the definition and what documentation requirements apply.
  • Sample Chronic Homelessness Documentation Checklist – This sample checklist provides an optional way to help record Chronic Homelessness for those projects that need documentation of Chronic Homelessness (like a Permanent Supportive Housing program that exclusively serves the Chronically Homeless). This sample checklist would not be needed in projects where this requirement is not in place (like an Emergency Shelter). This tool is a sample, is not required by HUD, and has been provided in an editable format so communities may edit it and add to their current forms, if they wish.

In addition to these resources, you can also find the following resources on the Chronic Homelessness landing page:

If additional questions arise that are not addressed by these resources, submit them online through the Ask A Question (AAQ) portal on the HUD Exchange website. To submit a question to the CoC AAQ portal, select “CoC: Continuum of Care Program” from the “My question is related to” dropdown list on Step 2 of the question submission process.

Homelessness in the U.S. Continues to Decline

Homelessness continues to decline in the U.S, specifically among families with children, veterans, and individuals with long-term disabling conditions according to the latest national estimate by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD’s 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress found that 549,928 persons experienced homelessness on a single night in 2016, a decline of 14 percent since 2010, the year the Obama Administration launched Opening Doors, the nation’s first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness.

Over this seven-year period, HUD estimates the nation experienced a 23 percent reduction among homeless families, a 47 percent drop in veteran homelessness, and a 27 percent decline in individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. This national estimate is based upon data reported by approximately 3,000 cities and counties across the nation. Every year on a single night in January, planning agencies called “Continuums of Care (CoCs)” and tens of thousands of volunteers seek to identify the number of individuals and families living in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, and in unsheltered settings.

In making the announcement, HUD Secretary Julián Castro noted that though the nation is making significant progress in reducing homelessness, the number of ‘doubled up’ or rent-burdened families remains a vexing problem.

“Every person deserves a safe, stable place to call home,” said Secretary Castro. “The Obama Administration has made unprecedented progress toward ending homelessness and today marks the seventh straight year of measureable progress. While we know that our work is far from finished, it’s clear we’re on the right track to prevent and end homelessness for good.”

“While our continued progress reinforces that we are on the right path, the data also makes clear that we must increase the pace of that progress,” said Matthew Doherty, Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). “To do so, we must be unwavering in our commitment to strategies and investments that are working. Our communities and our citizens deserve nothing less.”

During one night in late January of 2016, tens of thousands of volunteers across the nation sought to identify individuals and families living on their streets as well as in emergency shelters and transitional housing programs. These one-night ‘snapshot’ counts, as well as full-year counts and data from other sources (U.S. Housing Survey, Department of Education), are crucial in understanding the scope of homelessness and measuring progress toward reducing it.

Key Findings of HUD’s 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR):

On a single night in January 2016, state and local planning agencies reported:

  • 549,928 people were homeless representing an overall 14 percent reduction from January 2010. Most homeless persons (373,571) were located in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs while 176,357 persons were unsheltered.
  • The number of families with children experiencing homelessness declined 23 percent since 2010.
  • Veteran homelessness dropped by 47 percent (or 34,616 persons) since January 2010. On a single night in January 2016, 39,471 veterans were experiencing homelessness.
  • Chronic or long-term homelessness among individuals declined by 27 percent (or 77,486 persons) since 2010.
  • The number of unaccompanied homeless youth and children appeared to decline in 2016 to 35,686 though HUD will launch a more robust effort to more accurately account for this important population in January of 2017.

The Obama Administration’s strategic plan to end homelessness is called Opening Doors – a roadmap for joint action by the 19 federal member agencies of USICH along with local and state partners in the public and private sectors. The Plan offers strategies to connect mainstream housing, health, education, and human service programs as part of a coordinate plan to prevent and end homelessness.

Family Homelessness

There were 61,265 family households experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2016, a nearly 23 percent decline since 2010. Meanwhile, the number of persons in families declined by nearly 20 percent during that time, due in large measure to the expansion of Rapid Rehousing Programs across the country and a concerted effort by local planners to reallocate scarce resources in a more strategic way.

Veteran Homelessness

Since the launch of Opening Doors, several states and local communities have declared an effective end to veteran homelessness as part of the Mayors Challenge. As a consequence of intense planning and targeted intervention, homelessness among veterans fell by nearly 50 percent since 2010. This decline is largely attributed to the close collaboration between HUD and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on a joint program called HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH). Since 2008, more than 79,000 rental vouchers have been awarded and approximately 111,000 formerly homeless veterans are currently in homes of their own because of HUD-VASH.

Chronic Homelessness

Long-term or chronic homelessness among individuals declined 27 percent since 2010. This reduction is due in part to a concerted effort to make available more permanent supportive housing opportunities for people with disabling health conditions who otherwise continually cycle through local shelters or the streets. Research demonstrates that for those experiencing chronic homelessness, providing permanent housing, coupled with appropriate low-barrier supportive services, is the most effective solution for ending homelessness. This ‘housing first’ approach also saves the taxpayer considerable money by interrupting a costly cycle of emergency room and hospital, detox, and even jail visits.

While homelessness nationally continues to decline, some communities are reporting less progress. Read more information on state and local-level homelessness

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