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Jan.16, 2018
Please forward to your sub grantees and contact your OFAH grant manager
if you have any questions.
Draft updates to the Washington State Homeless
System Performance Reports: County Report Card and Year-to-Year Comparison for
the reporting period Oct. 1, 2016 to Sept. 30, 2017 have been submitted
to counties for review.
The County Report Card includes critical
homeless system performance measure outcome data for the state and for each
county:
- Exits to Permanent Housing
- Returns to Homelessness
- Length of Time Homeless
-
Unsheltered Entries
Final reports will be
available by the end of January. You
can view last year’s reports here: http://www.commerce.wa.gov/serving-communities/homelessness/
If you have any questions or feedback regarding the Homeless System Performance
Reports, please email emily.burgess@commerce.wa.gov
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The Housing Opportunities for Persons with
AIDS (HOPWA) and the Section 811 programs came under new grant management when
the Housing Assistance Unit reorganized in summer 2017. Jeff Spring is
managing both federal programs, now that Matt Mazur-Hart has moved into management of other Commerce programs.
HOPWA celebrated its 25th year of
existence in Tampa in August. The program has undergone some changes in its history,
including a revamped formula for distribution of federal dollars
nationwide. The new formula relies solely on the number of persons with
an HIV infection, whereas the old formula looked at cumulative numbers of both
those with HIV and deceased persons.
Section 811, another low-income housing
program, is aimed at clients age 18-64 who live with a disabling
condition. Commerce partners with the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), who provides client referrals to
housing projects with whom Commerce has partnered to set aside units for
referrals. DSHS is targeting clients living in institutional or
residential care settings who are able to live independently, but have
previously had no place to where they may be discharged. The program
helps DSHS open beds for unserved persons who need residential care
settings.
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At the Behavioral
Health Advisory Committee meeting on Jan. 3, members heard a presentation from Jon Brumbach (Health Care Authority (HCA)) and
Melodie Pazolt (DSHS Behavioral Health Administration) on implementation of the
Medicaid Transformation Demonstration
Waiver. Here is the latest on implementation in our state.
Washington finalized the protocols with the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over the holidays. The protocols provide the details for
Initiative 3: Foundational Community Supports, which provide supportive housing
and supported employment. That went live Jan. 1. HCA’s Fact
Sheet has details if you are new to this
conversation.
Here are answers to a few frequently asked
questions related to housing and employment:
Supportive housing services are
ongoing supports to help people find and keep stable, independent housing.
[Services do not pay rent, arrears, or utilities.]
Supportive Housing eligibility:
services are targeted benefits, meaning they are not entitlements for all
enrollees. Supportive housing services are designed for people who experience
and whose health needs are established through various systems like the health
care system, behavioral health system and long-term care services system:
- Chronic
homelessness (HUD definition)
- Frequent
or lengthy institutional contacts [including criminal justice]
- Frequent
or lengthy stays in adult residential care
- Frequent
turnover of in-home caregivers
-
PRISM
Risk score of 1.5 or above
A
full FAQ is on the HCA website.
If you have further questions,
contact Cary Retlin at cary.retlin@commerce.wa.gov
The Washington Low Income Housing
Alliance (WLIHA) announced the 2017 Advocacy Awards during its annual meeting
on Nov. 30, 2017. Honorees include the Whatcom County Coalition to End
Homelessness as Advocacy Partner of the Year. Here’s a blurb from the WLIHA
announcement:
Advocacy Partner of the
Year: Whatcom County Coalition to End Homelessness
During the 2017
legislative session, the Whatcom County Coalition to End Homelessness led the
state in mobilizing advocates and elevating the urgency to prioritize
affordable homes and solutions to end homelessness. Advocates in the 40th
legislative district contacted their legislators at a higher rate than any
district in the state!
Coalition Co-Chairs Mike
Parker (Opportunity Council) and Barbara Johnson-Vinna (Whatcom County) are
members of our Homelessness Advisory Committee, and Coalition lead Hill
Cummings is a steering committee member of our Resident Action Project. The
Coalition plays an important local leadership role in mobilizing advocates and
serves as a thought leader and extraordinary partner to the Housing Alliance.
We are proud to honor the Whatcom County Coalition for the Homeless as our
Advocacy Partner of the Year.
You can watch the annual meeting and see who the WLIHA
honored as other amazing advocates in our state here.
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Just a reminder that the Department of Commerce website has resources on
homelessness in Washington state. Last January, Commerce staff wrote the
following papers available here:
Why is homelessness
increasing?
Counts of
Homelessness: Different Counts and What they Mean
Overview of the
Homeless Housing System and Funding
The 2018 Point in Time (PIT)
count is almost here. On Thursday, Jan. 25, counties in
Washington state will conduct the annual count of sheltered and unsheltered
persons experiencing homelessness. Commerce has a recorded webinar with training
information available here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2533267480681545986. Counties will be contacted
about webinars on PIT data entry in the next month.
Volunteers are needed! There are
opportunities to help out in various aspects of the PIT, including census
takers and people to staff local events. Contact the coordinator for your
county: Point In Time Count Coordinator Contact List by County – 2018.
If you have PIT related
questions, please contact Ian Kinder-Pyle at Ian.Kinder-pyle@commerce.wa.gov.
The HMIS Team offers ongoing training for new
and current HMIS users. Find information on the Commerce website on the HMIS
page here: www.commerce.wa.gov/hmis or contact Maylee Stevenson at Maylee.Stevenson@commerce.wa.gov.
Downtown
Emergency Service Center (DESC) and Pathways Housing First Institute have
opened registration for the Housing First Partners Conference, April 9 – 12,
2018 in Denver, Colo. Information available here: http://www.hfpartnersconference.com/
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The annual
conference on affordable housing will take place Oct. 2-4, 2018 in Tacoma.
If you have ideas for session topic or speakers for the conference, submit them
at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/C7PKVNH
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