Author: Armando Salazar

Join fellow grantees in learning how to best administer CARES Act funding, with sessions covering Community Development Block Grant CARES Act (CDBG-CV), Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS CARES Act (HOPWA-CV), and Emergency Solutions Grants CARES Act (ESG-CV). Grantees and technical assistance providers will share best practices for resilience, financial and administrative controls, and more. The conference will feature four days of virtual training to help grantees best use CARES Act funding to help their communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. Attendees may attend all sessions or a subset, according to their interests and needs. Each session will allow time for questions and answers. Register here today!

You must have a HUD Exchange account to register. Follow these instructions for registering.

Conference Point of Contact: 2023 National CARES Act Virtual Conference Registrar, trainings@hudexchange.info

Conference Objectives

CARES Act grantees will be better equipped to spend CARES Act funding effectively by learning:

• How to use CARES Act funding in innovative ways to prevent and prepare for the Coronavirus pandemic in a lasting way
• Best practices for administering CDBG-CV funds that promote long-term resilience to the threats posed by COVID-19
• How to best design and execute successful financial and administrative controls for CDBG-CV funding

This four-part guide offers guidance and resources that demonstrate ways to create safer, more accessible, and inclusive congregate shelters, regardless of size or mission. It highlights procedural enhancements, practice improvements, and structural recommendations that work in concert to enhance safety for organizations providing shelter.

The guide combines practices from shelters across the country that have successfully supported safer operational environments.

General guidance and principles are organized into four broad categories:

• Part 1: Operational and Administrative Rules
• Part 2: Physical Spaces
• Part 3: Staff Training
• Part 4: Building Trust
  
  View the Guide
  
  For additional Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) resources, visit the ESG page on the HUD Exchange.

The Street Outreach Project Performance Report and the Goals and Outcomes Report have been posted!

Click here to view the reports.

HUD is sponsoring a second round of the Rapid Rehousing (RRH) Roundtable Discussion Series, kicking off December 8, 2022 at 1:30 PM EST, with the topic of Advancing Equity. Additional sessions will follow every six weeks, with topics to be determined along the way. Each webinar in the series will host a facilitated dialogue amongst a small group of panelists and will include an opportunity for participants to submit questions to the panelists and technical assistance (TA) providers. Learn how to join the first session on December 8.

Earlier this year, HUD sponsored the first round of the roundtable discussions to identify, imagine, and increase trends that support innovation in RRH services and programs. Practitioners, policy-makers, and people with lived experience of homelessness shared their thoughts, challenges, and promising practices on topics including racial equity, assertive engagement, and landlord recruitment. View materials and recordings from the previous sessions.

Training Objectives
Participants will learn about:

• Advancing equity throughout Rapid Rehousing design and implementation
• Maximizing limited resources
• Staffing models and practices that promote equity and improve outcomes
• Effective strategies for engaging with landlords and identifying housing pathways
• Service delivery strategies

Joining Instructions
The Advancing Equity through RRH session is taking place on December 8, 2022 from 1:30 to 3:00 PM EST.

Participants do not need to register in advance. It is strongly recommended that you join each webinar 15 minutes prior to the start time (1:15 PM EST). To join each webinar, simple access the login page at the link: Join the Webinar

Save the Date
Round Table topics will be determined as the series progresses. Save the date for upcoming sessions:

Round Table Topic Date and Time
TBD January 19, 2023 1:30 – 3:00 PM EST
TBD March 2, 2023 1:30 – 3:00 PM EST
TBD April 13, 2023 1:30 – 3:00 PM EDT
TBD May 25, 2023 1:30 – 3:00 PM EDT
TBD June 28, 2023 1:30 – 3:00 PM EDT

The Office of Care Coordination will be hosting a Housing First Training for Orange County Continuum of Care (CoC) providers. This training will provide essential tools and techniques for Housing First implementation in design and operation by program model, including street outreach, emergency shelter and/or housing provider. The training will cover the services and structures necessary to ensure successful housing placements, housing retention and long-term stability.

This training will be held in-person. Please find details below on the upcoming training to save the date:

Date: Thursday, November 17th, 2022
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

In preparation for the training, the Office of Care Coordination would like to encourage CoC providers and stakeholders to review the Housing First Assessment Tool developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

HUD encourages the use of the Housing First Assessment Tool implement and strengthen Housing First approaches. CoCs can use this tool to assess and measure a project’s progress in aligning with Housing First best practice standards, and an individual project can use this tool to identify what they are doing well and where improvements can be made. The Housing First Assessment Tool can be accessed here: https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/Housing-First-Assessment-Tool.xlsm 

If you have questions about the upcoming training, please reach out to the Office of Care Coordination at CareCoordination@ocgov.com

Bitfocus has  announce that the Data Analysis Tool will be upgraded on September 20, 2022. To review the changes, please refer to Data Analysis Release Notes. 

The update should be complete by 9 a.m. Pacific Time on 9/20/2022. Please note, the Data Analysis Tool will not be available from 7-9 a.m. PT while the update is taking place.

Wednesday, August 31 @ 10:00 – 11:30 A.M. PST In this year’s CoC Program Competition NOFO, CoCs are incentivized to assess their systems and programs for racial disparities, develop strategies to address equity, and improve LGBTQ+ outcomes. Hear from experts in the field about why equity and inclusion are important to ending homelessness. This webinar will also discuss tools and strategies emphasizing Fair Housing to align with some of the priorities in the NOFO. Register here.

The Office of Care Coordination will be hosting a training on the Equal Access Final Rule and Gender Identity Final Rule established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

Through this training, service providers will learn how to effectively implement HUD’s Equal Access Rules to ensure fair housing and shelter opportunities for people experiencing homelessness, as well as ensuring the preservation of families accessing housing and shelter. Please find details on the upcoming training below:

This virtual training requires registration. 

Date: Friday, August 5, 2022
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Please register to attend by Thursday, August 4 at https://ocgov.webex.com/ocgov/j.php?RGID=rf2c6aa3ceaeebd5f8b5f45de22c1af69

If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Office of Care Coordination at CareCoordination@ochca.com.

The Thinking Outside the Box Housing Webinar Series: Cross-Sector Strategies to Create Housing Opportunities for People with Behavioral Health Needs Leaving the Justice System was created by the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and their Technical Assistance (TA) provider, the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center. This series provides tools for meaningful collaboration with housing, behavioral health, and other key partners to fully leverage available funding to provide and develop housing for people leaving the justice system.

The next webinar in the series, Key Development Concepts and Housing Models for Justice System Leaders, will be held on July 21, 2022, 11:00am – 12:30 PM PDT. Participants must register for the webinar in advance by clicking here.

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) provides $5 billion through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) to the 651 State and local Participating Jurisdictions (PJs) that qualified for FY 2021 HOME funds. PJs must use the funding to make targeted, strategic investments in housing and other assistance for people experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk of homelessness, and other vulnerable populations.

HUD’s Office of Affordable Housing Programs (OAHP) is conducting a webinar on May 17, 2022 from 2:00 – 3:30 PM EDT to review the HOME-ARP requirements related to establishing preferences, referral methods, and allocation plan requirements. OAHP will introduce an updated sample allocation plan template designed to clarify requirements and provide useful tips and walk through new explanatory guidance on preferences, limitations, and referral methods.

Training Objectives
Participants will learn:

• The requirements in Notice CPD-21-10 for establishing preferences or limitations among the HOME-ARP qualifying populations and the required elements of a HOME-ARP allocation plan
• Permissible client referral methods and how they are affected by the use of preferences to address unmet needs or gaps in benefits and services experienced by the qualifying populations
• How to avoid pitfalls related to consultation, public participation, and the content of their allocation plans

Who Should Attend?
This webinar is designed for HOME PJs preparing to administer an allocation of HOME-ARP, Continuum of Care (CoC) partners, homeless service providers, local housing providers, and public housing agencies.

Register here for the webinar.

Training Point of Contact:
HOME-ARP Team | HOMEARP@hud.gov