A few communities around the state have been working on and/or implemented a universal application for supportive housing. CCEH staff has been getting together with our partners in Bridgeport and the CoC/TYPs from Stamford, Norwalk and New Haven while they work on a universal application with assistance from the Southeastern CT Partnership, which implemented their version of a universal application some time ago. For more information, or to get your CoC/TYP representatives involved, please contact, Tracy Helin, thelin@cceh.org
During the early December Project Homeless Connect event in Bridgeport, the first applications were taken from clients and a screening team has been established to direct them appropriately.
Other communities are close to implementing their versions of the universal application and more are getting involved. This effort will serve multiple purposes in the near and distant future, including:
Meeting HEARTH guidelines, eventually resulting in community-wide coordinated intake systems.
Lining up with Opening Doors recommendations.
Most importantly, providing the quickest possible housing solutions for people who are experiencing homelessness.
HUD has published new draft regulations for the HEARTH Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program, which replaces the Emergency Shelter Grant. The new regulations add rapid re-housing and more targeted prevention to the traditional shelter and prevention activities that were part of the Emergency Shelter Grant.
Connecticut grantees will receive a combined additional allotment of more than $1 million dollars during the current federal fiscal year to be used for Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing activities. Prevention funds can only be used for those who are at extremely high risk of homelessness, a far more targeted eligibility than the HPRP program.
CCEH has begun working with DSS and municipalities on preparing implementation of new HEARTH/ESG regulations and will provide further training and information once HUD publishes the final regulations
New Funding for Rapid Re-Housing and Prevention. In Connecticut, six ESG grantees will soon begin implementation of the new regulations including the Department of Social Services and the cities of Hartford, New Britain, New Haven, Waterbury and Bridgeport. As of this date both Hartford and Bridgeport have issued RFP’s for ESG services. Shelters and others in these communities should note that they will need to apply for funds.
Changes for Shelters and Outreach Programs.
Notable features of the new regulations include a 60% cap on the allowable allocation for homeless outreach and emergency shelter, limitations for outreach to street homeless only, the implementation of minimum standards for homeless shelters, street outreach, prevention and rapid re-housing services and required HMIS reporting.
Perhaps most significant for CoCs, the draft provision includes references to a future requirement of a centralized or coordinated intake system in each Continuum of Care for people seeking ESG funded homeless prevention services. HUD will provide guidance on minimum requirements for this system when they issue draft HEARTH/CoC regulations later this year.
Helpful links for more information on the new Emergency Solutions Grant:
The Security Deposit Guarantee Program re-opened as of February 1, 2012 with limited eligibility parameters. Persons currently homeless in shelter are targeted for intake. Persons experiencing homelessness may also be served through the Beyond Shelter and Housing First for Families programs. All first time eligible RAP and Section 8 certificate holders in need of security deposit assistance will apply through J. D’Amelia and Associates. It is not yet known if this Program will be open to non-homeless persons.
For any questions regarding this program, please contact Laurie Ann Wagner, laurieann.wagner@ct.gov or 860-424-5259
More than 390,000 calls were made to United Way’s 2-1-1 assistance line last year. Housing and shelter were the number one reason people called, including almost 52,000 requests for help from people searching for a place to live.
Families, children and individuals sleeping in Connecticut’s homeless shelters Wednesday night will be the focus of CT Counts 2012, the annual Point-In-Time Count. Scheduled to take place Wednesday January 25th, this yearly “census” of homelessness is a tally of homeless people on one night and forms a profile of what is usually an invisible population.
High unemployment and a lack of affordable housing is expected to be a key factor in what experts expect will show an emergency shelter system that is stretched beyond its reasonable limits. Most concerning, according to Carol Walter, Executive Director of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, the organization that conducts and analyzes the count, is the increasing number of young children sleeping in Connecticut shelter and transitional housing programs.
But Walter adds that there is plenty of hope for reversing this trend, despite rising numbers.
“We can end homelessness in our state in this decade” she said. “We know how to target housing and just the right services to families and individuals to either prevent their becoming homeless or assure that if they do become homeless they return quickly to stable housing.” Walter added, “We can prevent the devastating consequences that the experience of homelessness has in the lives of young children. We can do it in a humane, effective and cost efficient manner which will ultimately save taxpayers money.”
Effective programs include rental assistance, eviction and foreclosure prevention, security deposit guarantees, and supportive housing. Supportive housing is permanent, affordable and independent rental housing for individuals and families who have experienced long term homelessness.
The Point-in-Time Count is organized by the CT Coalition to End Homelessness, with the help of service providers within the State’s seven Continuum of Care. The count is funded by: the CT Department of Economic and Community Development, the CT Housing Finance Authority, the Melville Charitable Trust, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the Community Fund of Greater New Haven, the CT Office of Policy and Management, and the CT Departments of Social Services, Children and Families, Mental Health and Addiction Services, Department of Corrections and Court Support Services Division of the Judicial Branch.
CSH will host a bidders' webinar for potential applicants to their Social Innovation Fund Request for Proposals (SIF RFP). CSH's SIF RFP was released on November 28 and seeks proposals for models of supportive housing connected to coordinated health services for vulnerable men and women who are high utilizers of emergency health services experiencing homelessness or persistent housing crises.
The bidders' webinar on December 8 is a chance for potential applicants to get their questions answered about the SIF RFP.
