Eastern PA CoCGeneral Meeting

October 19, 2015

Tannersville, PA

ATTENDEES

The registration list is an attachment to the minutes.

PARTICIPANTS BY PHONE

The list is an attachment to the minutes.

WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS

  • Meeting was called to order by President Lori Sywensky.
  • DCED Employees are on travel restriction and could not attend, but are participating by phone.
  • Mr. Krot advised the attendees of the structural changes at DCED – now two offices that were previously one. The ultimate goal of ending homelessness remains the same.
  • Attendees introduced themselves.
  • Lori noted this is the second of the General Governance meetings which will be held twice each year.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

On the motion by Ben Laudermilch, seconded by Leslie Perryman and by unanimous vote of the board members it was duly RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the August Board meeting.

CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION

  • Certificates were presented to the following for distinguished service on the Board of Directors:

Kathy Krablin

Jennifer Johnson

Bill Hunter

Brian Hoffman

COORDINATED ENTRY

  • Kathy Krablin explained the purpose of the Task Force that was created to meet the HUD mandate to provide coordinated entry in the 33 County CoC.
  • Task Force is representative of all of the RHAB’s.
  • Jason Alexander of Capacity of Change was contracted to facilitate the process.

Presentation on the Results of the Proposed Coordinated Entry Plan – Jason Alexander

  • Challenge for the Task force was to find a better way, over a large geographic area,with persistent need and limited resources, to help people access services and end their housing crisis.
  • There is value in coordinated entry even if it is not mandated.
  • Coordinated Entry is access, assessment and referral for anyone within a community, experiencing homelessness, a housing crisis, or being in imminent risk of homelessness.
  • Coordinated Assessment is coordinated standard assessment as well as a referral to the correct services to meet the needs.
  • Coordinated entry points are created which would be both virtual - a toll free number to call to connect to the correct service, or walk-in to an entry point in any of the five regions.
  • The PPT provided was reviewed in detail and will be available on the CoC website.

Benefits of Coordinated Entry

  • Consumerswill have an easier way to find the services they need and it assures more equal access to services as it does away with geographic, cultural, linguistic barriers.
  • Building a better data system which allows the engagement of more partners outside of the CoC.
  • Funding partners can see how the funding will correlate with their mission.
  • Prioritizes all for service and ensures the most vulnerable, for whatever reason, are prioritized.
  • Service providers have better data available and are freed up to do what they are there for.
  • Improves communications and system response time.
  • Generates the data needed by the CoC

Outreach to Community & Input for Development

  • Task Force represented all five regions.
  • Included service providers and funding partners.
  • On-line survey.
  • Two community summits were held in different areas within the region which included consumers, service providers and public and private funding partners.
  • Also reviewed how other CoC’s with a large demographic were doing Coordinated Entry.

Final Plan – Access - Recommendation

  • One toll free hotline will be available.
  • There will be physical entry points in each region.
  • An ability to hand people directly to 911.
  • Ability to begin HMIS data entry for service provider access. This will reduce duplication.
  • Agreements in place with other CoC’s.
  • Ability to divert the consumer from entering a shelter.

Final Plan – Assessment - Recommendation

  • Will be consistent throughout the region.
  • Data will be available to all providers and will be entered directly into HMIS.
  • Score will evaluate prioritization level.

Final Plan – Referral - Recommendation

  • Enable connection to a web of services.
  • Wait lists could be centralized.
  • Attempting to lower the barriers of access in an effort to reduce the rejection numbers.
  • Embrace the housing first concept.
  • Assists with coordinated exit.

Funding

  1. Secure from HUD as part of NOFA.
  2. Secure matching and leverage funds from state and local public funding sources as well as private sources.
  • Will be a public/private partnership.
  • Benefits to the entire community will need to be conveyed to those outside of the traditional funding network.
  • It will be a more effective investment of limited resources to achieve better outcome.

Timetable – After approval by CoC

  • Operations planning over the next 6 – 9 months.
  • 2016 – Pilot Projects
  • Jason noted there are some funding opportunities already identified to assist with launching the pilots, some communities have expressed interest in becoming pilots for the program and because of this it could be moved forward quickly with developing the operations and launching the pilots.

Presentations for the Governing Board

  • The proposed Coordinated Entry Plan
  • Contract with Capacity for Change for the next 9 - 11 months for the next phase of the project.
  • Submit an application to HUD for funding to undergo Phase III in August.

Table discussions on Coordinated Entry took place.

The business meeting re-convened at 12:45 p.m.

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS FROM ATTENDEES

Will there be interaction with 211 as an operator call center?

It has been thought about and the CoC is in discussions with them. There has not yet been a decision made.

Need clarification on “diversion from shelter.”

Diversion is low cost, simple solution for those that find themselves homeless, but have a good history of employment and housing stability. It is a form of helping those look at their options as opposed to entering a shelter. It is to save the resources for those who have a significantly high level of need for housing stability.

It was mentioned that the value of collecting the data across the regions that has been seen in Bucks and Montgomery Cos. is that they have a tremendous database of statistics that show their local need so that the response can be targeted to what is seen locally.

How are adult couples without children needs met and how are they getting referred?Couples are not to be distinguished from families. That is a family unit. Definitions from HUD include couples as a family unit.

Does Housing First include case management to assure that they can stay in a facility for a while?

Yes. The general concept is to help people find permanent housing and then connect them with the services they need to remain stable.

How do we assure long term funding?

Building public/private partnerships that co-fund avoids one funding source. There is no guarantee on long term funding.

For domestic violence programs it is a problem to get the data into HMIS right away. Would the first person that takes the call be entering data?

The first question that would be asked would concern personal safety. If the response is that they are fleeing from this situation, they would be connected before that entry is made.

What about Children and Youth Services – apartments being held for them and they are referred directly. Will they need to go through the assessment process?

That will have to be figured out. There are some cases where the funding source dictates the use of the beds.

How will current waiting lists, specifically Section 8 Housing, be affected?

There is continual guidance from HUD with policy direction on how housing authorities can work with CoC and Coordinated Entry. It is intended to be integrated.

  • Some engagement with other public partners in the planning process to answer some of these questions.

Board Meeting

OLD BUSINESS

Chronic Prioritization Policy – Leigh Howard

  • HUD asked communities to prioritize chronically homeless persons during the 2013 application for permanent housing beds that were not already dedicated to use for chronically homeless with a goal of 85%.
  • A procedure was to be established by permanent supportive housing providers if there was an opening in one of their beds. This policy has been enhanced because of HUD’s release last summer of a notice which stated that chronic homelessness was to be prioritized in a particular order.
  • When Coordinated Entry is operational, this policy may be adjusted to reflect those procedures. Until then the following procedure is outlined:

-First priority to chronically homeless household on project waiting list – variance from HUD policy.

-If no chronic case, reach out to someone in your defined service area.

-If, through the network, no chronically homeless is found you would reach out to either RHAB of CoC. Leigh recommended input from the Board on which.

  • The document also outlines the record keeping requirements as outlined by HUD, includes a definition of chronically homeless and the severe service needs.

On the motion by Mae Ling Kranz, seconded by Chris Cassidy and by unanimous vote of all board members it was duly RESOLVED to accept the Chronic Prioritization Policy with the outreach to the full RHAB then to the CoC.

  • If someone could not be identified as chronically homeless then section 2 would be followed.

Governance Charter

  • Suggested amendments:

-Board officers serve two year terms in place of one year and can serve two consecutive terms as opposed to the current three.

-In extreme cases the governing board would vote.

-Members could only hold one office at a time.

On the motion by Chris Cassidy, seconded by Shawn Frankenstein and by unanimous vote of all board members it was duly RESOLVED to make the above noted amendments to the Governance Charter.

Fiscal Report – Madra Clay

  • Updated budget reflects some changes as requested by the Board.
  • DCED using Planning Grant to cover expenses previously earmarked for payment with DCED funds. DCED was going to use additional funds to cover some of those costs, but the Board requested to use the planning grant funds as opposed to turning money back to HUD.
  • Two pending invoices under review for DMA. Money will be deducted from the available balance and the invoice expenses will be split between the East and West CoC’s.
  • 2013 Budget was based on Planning Grant award that was awarded to CoC as well as the 25% match from DCED. 10/22/14 – 10/21/15 was the timeframe for the grant.
  • Expenses incurred will be DCED staff time and travel and some indirect costs need to be added such as those for Capacity of Change. PSATS costs were included under a separate contract. Board travel will be another category.

Budget Status

Remaining balance: $32,967.64

Starting balance: $152,775.00

Actual: $211,443.44 (due to DCED putting in some additional funds)

Continuing work on Coordinated Entry: @$40,000 (for Capacity of Change - would come out of the new Planning Grant funds)

  • Madra requested from HUD that the new Planning Grant begin 10/1. She has not gotten approval to-date.
  • The balance does not reflect some expenses that are incurred now. Do not anticipate sending any funds back to HUD.

ESG Update

  • Review of applications is almost complete.
  • Letter from HUD on awards is outstanding.State budget make impact DCED making awards. It is possible that even if the HUD letter is received, they may not be able to announce the awards.
  • DCED will be monitored by HUD in the Spring. Program just went through the Auditor General’s office. DCED is committed to the same process.

Future Agenda Item

  • Streamlining the process for CoC/DCED coordination on providing a recommendation for priority funding.
  • Madra would like the CoC’s to be more involved before the applications are out, possibly consider a regional process.

NEW BUSINESS

Coordinated Entry Plan

On the motion by Ben Laudermilch, seconded by Joyce Sacco and by unanimous vote of all Board members it was duly RESOLVED to approve the Strategic Coordinated Entry Plan as presented today with the understanding and clarification of “Diversion” as explained by Jason earlier.

Capacity for Change Contract

On the motion byLeslie Perryman, seconded by Chris Cassidyand by unanimous vote of all Board members it was duly RESOLVED to approve the Phase II contract for Capacity for Change to continue work on the Strategic Plan as adopted today at an estimated cost of $40,800.

  • Leigh recommended that the Board approve Coordinated Entry in Tier 1 of the funding as opposed to Tier 2 as Tier 1 is guaranteed. There is a current process to identify additional funds as well as allocate existing funds for Coordinated Entry.
  • HUD’s priorities are:
  1. Coordinated Entry
  2. Performance measures and prioritization of sub-populations

On the motion by Ben Laudermilch, seconded by Craig Newcomer and by unanimous vote of all Board members it was duly RESOLVED to put the RFP for Coordinated Entry into Tier 1.

RankingRenewal

  • Tabled until an upcoming meeting where the ranking will be finalized. No decisions need to be voted on today.

New Project RFP

  • Due by 10/26.
  • Preliminary application was sent out to identify applicants for a new chronically homeless rapid re-housing project which was due on 10/16. Received 4 responses: Lehigh Valley RHAB, S. Central RHAB, Central Valley and Northern Tier.
  • A final ranking meeting will need to occur. No dollar amounts were asked for as it will be driven by fair market rent.
  • Pocono RHAB did not submit, but yet have the largest increase in homelessness according to the January PIT count. The Board decided to do one more outreach to them and allow them 2 days to submit just to be sure the application was not overlooked.

NOFA Due Dates

11/17 – Required to be publicly posted

11/19 – Application must be filed (for extra points)

11/20 – Due date

HMIS Governance Charter

  • Tabled until the business meeting in December.
  • The Board requested DCED attendance at either the 10/26 meeting or the 11/6 meeting. Both will be at 1:00 p.m.

Announcements

  • Next general membership meeting will be in April 2016 in the Cumberland County/Harrisburg area.
  • Some Board members were connected with a HUD representative to provide some technical assistance. Looking at some HMIS data, PIT count data, etc. and identifying areas where there are a number of homeless vets. Looking for zero homeless and getting to that functional number of zero. Looking specifically at best practices among other things. Lebanon area as well as Monroe Co. appeared to be the highest numbers. If any county has any interest in technical assistance opportunities they could do this.
  • Each RHAB needs to get back to Lori if they would like to work with HUD directly on an entrance conference or if they would be willing to host a session. They basically want to review the grant and talk about whether the agency has been monitored recently.The timeframe is unknown.

The meeting adjourned at 1:55 p.m.

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