Category: Uncategorized

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

Check out the new Orange County CoC Dashboard here

Registration is now open for the sixth cohort of the HMIS Data Analytics On-Demand Course. The goal of this immersive course is to provide a conceptual and practical framework for ad hoc reporting utilizing HMIS data. This self-paced course is open to anyone in your community who is interested in analyzing, interpreting, and communicating HMIS data. This is an introductory level course and might be a good fit for newer members of your HMIS team or someone looking to brush up on their data skills. Participants are not expected to have high-level technical or statistical skills; only basic knowledge of the following is needed:

• HMIS data standards
• How to pull an HMIS comma-separated value (CSV) file set (unless the participant has access to someone who can pull HMIS reports for them)
• How to enter data into Excel and navigate within it

The data analytics course will equip participants with the skills to create a data brief highlighting trends to engage communities to drive insights into action. A combination of content, hands-on skill-building, and recommended resources are provided to help a basic data user build skills and knowledge necessary to be an advanced data professional while providing opportunities for ongoing professional development and learning.

Participants will have eight weeks to complete six course modules at their own pace. Course participants will also receive a certificate upon completion of all six modules.

Registration
The sixth offering of the HMIS Data Analytics On-Demand Course will be held from October 17 – December 9, 2022.

Please Note: Registration is limited to 250 individuals and will automatically close once the course is at capacity. When registering, please use the code 2022OCTHMIS.

Register for Cohort Six

For more information, please visit the course syllabus and the HMIS Data Analytics On-Demand Course page.

The Office of Care Coordination, on behalf of the Orange County Continuum of Care (CoC), is offering upcoming virtual training opportunities for service providers and local partners interested in learning more about best practices and available resources to individuals and families at-risk of or experiencing homelessness. 

Best Practices for Serving Survivors of Domestic Violence

Interval House and Human Options will collaboratively facilitate a training focused on how service providers can incorporate trauma-informed care and safety planning into service delivery to ensure safe, effective support for survivors of domestic violence.

Please find details on the upcoming training below. Note: this training requires registration. Please register to attend by Monday, September 19, 2022.

Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Registration Link: https://ocgov.webex.com/ocgov/j.php?RGID=r391d2423ef46a97802450971b0feebb1

Accessing Mental Health and Recovery Services – POSTPONED

The OC Health Care Agency (HCA) Mental Health and Recovery Services is providing a training on accessing mental health and recovery resources offered through HCA.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, this training is postponed. The Office of Care Coordination will communicate the updated training details once it is rescheduled at a later date.

Employment Support Services

Chrysalis is facilitating a training on employment support services offered through their program, specifically focusing on how to resource service providers supporting individuals working towards permanent housing and overall stability.

Please find details on the upcoming training below. Note: this training requires registration. Please register to attend by Thursday, September 22, 2022.

Date: Friday, September 23, 2022
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Registration Link: https://ocgov.webex.com/ocgov/j.php?RGID=r5e47b86c535de7ad9aee260fa9c92027

The Project Performance Overview document has been updated with the thresholds below. These thresholds were discussed during the September 2022 Data & Performance Management Meeting. Review the meeting materials for details.

• Goal 6 – Help Adults Maintain or Increase Their Income while Enrolled in the Project
  • Updated threshold for Homelessness Prevention projects is >=50%
• Goal 7 – Help Adults Maintain or Increase Their Income as of Project Exit
  • Updated threshold for Homelessness Prevention projects is >=45%

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.

The Office of Care Coordination, on behalf of the Orange County Continuum of Care (CoC), has attached a draft of the updated CES Policies and Procedures for public feedback. Please submit any written feedback by September 7, 2022 to coordinatedentry@ochca.com.

In addition, the Office of Care Coordination will be hosting a public listening session on September 7, 2022. The public listening session will be a chance to learn about the recommended changes to the Coordinated Entry System (CES) Policy and provide feedback. 

Please find meeting details below:

Date:  Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Time:  9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Join the listening session from your computer, tablet, or smartphone: https://ocgov.webex.com/ocgov/j.php?MTID=m0c2b75f860e54d89f1ce9be2837a7ecb Meeting ID: 2468 676 1374
Password: 92701

CES POLICY DRAFT_220823.pdf

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the release of the Continuum of Care (CoC) Supplemental to Address Unsheltered and Rural Homelessness (CoC Special NOFO) on June 22, 2022. As part of the CoC Special NOFO application process, CoCs are tasked with developing a CoC plan for serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness with severe service needs (CoC Plan).

Listening Sessions

The Orange County CoC invites your participation and feedback at an upcoming listening session. Listening sessions will provide an overview of the CoC Plan requirements as outlined in the CoC Special NOFO application and allow space for recommendations for specific components of the plan to be developed. If needed, additional listening sessions may be calendared.

Listening Session #2 – Current Strategy to Identify, Shelter and House Individuals and Families Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness
Date: Thursday, September 1, 2022
Time: 2:00 p.m. -3:00 p.m.
Meeting Link: https://ocgov.webex.com/ocgov/j.php?MTID=m3336eb89f8538f4cbaef87993d1bcc59 

Listening Session #3 – Updating Strategy to Identify, Shelter and House Households Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness and Prioritizing Households Experiencing or with Histories of Unsheltered Homelessness
Date: Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Time: 1:00 p.m. –2:00 p.m.
Meeting Link: https://ocgov.webex.com/ocgov/j.php?MTID=m0ca0b71c30467c20f34fe04a4533b615 

Listening Session #4 – Involving individuals with Lived Experience of Homelessness and Supporting Underserved Communities and Equitable Development
Date: September 13, 2022
Time: 12:30 p.m. –1:30 p.m. 
Meeting Link: https://ocgov.webex.com/ocgov/j.php?MTID=m534b4539c34c0ec182ac32db0b171b73

Newly Scheduled!
Listening Session #5 – Recommendations Towards Previous Topics
Date: Friday, September 16, 2022
Time: 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Meeting Link: https://ocgov.webex.com/ocgov/j.php?MTID=me088ed06d580623f15ce355c20103249

Who should attend?

CoC general membership and key stakeholders, including affordable housing developers, service providers, the business community, victim service providers, healthcare providers, and others interested in developing a plan to address people experiencing homelessness with severe service needs.

Can’t make a session?

If you are interested in providing feedback and recommendations to the CoC Plan and are unable to make a listening session, you may review the questions included in the session presentations linked on the CoC Special NOFO Webpage and email responses to Patrick Wigmore at Patrick@homebaseccc.org and include the Office of Care Coordination at CareCoordination@ochca.com. Please contact the Office of Care Coordination at CareCoordination@ochca.com with the subject line “CoC Plan Listening Sessions” if you have any questions or difficulty accessing the listening sessions. 

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 is sharing the following information on behalf of United to End Homelessness:

United to End Homelessness is hosting a two-part Community Chat session to discuss senior homelessness. Community Chats are short learning opportunities to discuss trending topics related to homelessness in Orange County with local experts.

In the first session of this series, national expert on senior homelessness, Dr. Dennis Culhane, PhD, from the University of Pennsylvania, will be the guest speaker. Registration will close an hour before the event and attendees are sent the Zoom link in advance. If you miss the registration deadline, you can watch via the Facebook page. 

Aging and Homelessness: A Growing Crisis in America | Community Chat
Date: Thursday, August 25, 2022
Time: 12:00 p.m. –12:30 p.m.
Registration Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aging-and-homelessness-a-growing-crisis-in-america-community-chat-tickets-397196203537?aff=ebdsoporgprofile