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Nov. 7, 2018

Please forward to your sub grantees and contact your OFAH grant manager if you have any questions.

Office of Family and Adult Homelessness Fall Forums

Commerce hosted two forums this year for homeless housing service providers in Spokane and Olympia with the goal of making it easier for more people to attend. Over 150 people registered for these events, surpassing our previous records! Katharine Gale provided a clinic on Coordinated Entry reminding us about the differences between prioritization and assessments. Prioritization is a policy, not a tool. She also encouraged us to be honest about resources and not keep people on a waiting list with an expectation they will be assisted. Diversion is key – and that is where we can say “yes” to connecting people with services using active problem solving. Emily Burgess (above),  Homeless Housing Performance manager, talked about the great work being done to house unsheltered people. This includes Coastal Community Action of Grays Harbor, the Housing Authority of Grant County, the Lower Columbia Community Action Program of Cowlitz County and the Housing Resource Center of Lewis County. Check out the performance page here to learn more.

Local Plan Update

The Homeless Housing and Assistance Act was amended in 2018 to include new homeless housing strategic plan requirements. The amendment also identified new requirements for local governments. In every county, each local homeless housing task force must prepare and recommend to its local government a five-year homeless housing plan. The plan must be in alignment with Commerce’s plan and must be aimed at eliminating homelessness. Commerce is providing draft guidance on the plan which must be finalized by Dec. 1, 2018.

Counties must submit new or updated local five-year homeless housing plans under this guidance no later than December 2019.

Commerce is interested in receiving written feedback no later than Nov. 9, 2018. Please email comments to Kathy Kinard at kathy.kinard@commerce.wa.gov.

HAU/OCVA Racial Equity Training

Commerce staff in the Housing Assistance Unit (HAU) and Office of Crime Victims Advocacy (OCVA) participated in a two-day training on understanding and confronting institutional racism. We studied the history of race and racism, connecting our past to present day manifestations of social inequity. We explored the neuroscience of implicit bias, and we started to develop a racial equity tool that we can use to examine our policy and funding decisions. Stay tuned to learn more about our progress! Image reproduced from the Interaction Institute for Social Change interactioninstitute.org Artist: Angus Maguire madewithangus.com

What we learned: OFAH staff comment on recent training

"The training taught me just how important it is we have a racial equity lens every day in all aspects of our work to ensure we are considering and thinking about impacts to marginalized groups of people. Additionally, implicit biases are something we all have, and they can affect our understanding of things if we aren’t purposefully thinking and having a racial equity lens. One fact I learned about race was race has no genetic basis. ‘Not one characteristic, trait or even gene distinguishes all the members of one so-called race from all the members of another so-called race.’" - Jessica

"Dismantling racism is critical, not only to be fair and equitable, but because racism causes inequities that contribute to suffering, illness and death. I learned that we cannot confront racism without having comprehensive knowledge about the history of how we got here, and that context and perspective are essential to understanding the scope and impact of racial inequity and how to address it." - Julie

"I learned the importance of utilizing a race specific lens when examining inequities. While it’s crucial to address all areas of marginalization, implementing a racial equity lens better equips us to transform systems impacting other marginalized groups, given that race amplifies other oppressed identities." - Kathryn

"I learned that the term 'minority'” confuses, distances and minimizes the issues that people of color experience. People and their cultures are not 'minor' and the term only serves to further divide and 'other' one another.  Here is a good article from the University of Washington's Department of Communication on the subject." - Kathy

"I learned how critical it is to be as explicit as possible when we’re talking about race-related issues in our work. It’s not enough to frame our conversations within the universe of social justice; we can’t confront the problem of racism in our systems and institutions without naming it, and we can’t afford to inadequately assess and analyze our work in the context racial equity due to the uneasiness and discomfort of white people." - Megan

"The training provided me a great amount of reflection regarding my own implicit biases. It also showed me just how much people have shied away from addressing racism and become so jaded to the issue. This is just one of the many reasons why there is major urgency to combat racial disparities in our communities." - Sarah

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: In order to meet Commerce’s CHG low-barrier housing project requirement, each county must have a low-barrier emergency shelter. Fact: The low-barrier housing project can be any eligible intervention type, including a rapid-rehousing project. If you have questions about the low-barrier project requirement, contact your grant manager.

Foundational Community Supports Update

From Kate Baber, Health Care Authority

New Foundational Community Supports Guidance

The Foundational Community Supports (FCS) program has published new guidance to help providers understand chronic homelessness documentation requirements and how to coordinate FCS services with existing resources. While FCS uses the HUD definition of chronic homelessness, the FCS documentation requirements are much more flexible. Read the new guidance here.

FCS can help your organization enhance or add supportive services to your housing programs. Although FCS can’t replace existing permanent supportive housing services, it can enhance less intensive services and serve new people. Read the new FCS resource supplanting guidance to learn more.

Interested in learning more about FCS? Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter, find trainings on our event calendar, get free technical assistance from the state, and contact Amerigroup to become a contracted provider. 

The Foundational Community Supports program is part of the Healthier Washington Medicaid Transformation. It allows qualified providers to receive Medicaid reimbursement for delivering supportive housing and supported employment services for people with the greatest and most immediate social and health needs.

Balance of State (BoS) Continuum of Care (CoC) News:

Co-Chair Elections

The Washington BoS CoC Steering Committee re-elected Joe Ingram as co-chair for the Westside and elected Shela Berry of Benton-Franklin Counties as co-chair for the Eastside. The two-year terms start Jan. 1, 2019.

New Racial Equity Ad-Hoc Committee

At the Oct. 30 meeting, BoS Steering Committee members reviewed their current Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and Point-in-Time (PIT) data through the lens of racial equity. Counties shared their thoughts and the steps they have taken to address racial disparities locally, both for access and outcomes. The group decided to create an ad-hoc subcommittee related to racial disparities and several attendees asked to participate. The first meeting will be held the last week of November.

Resources

New Report on Student Schoolhouse Washington

A new in-depth analysis finds that students of color are impacted disproportionately, and outcomes are poor no matter the type of living situation. Read the full report here.

Please forward to your sub grantees and contact your OFAH grant manager if you have any questions.

• Megan Kendig megan.kendig@commerce.wa.gov
• Julie Montgomery, julie.montgomery@commerce.wa.gov
• Jessica Simon, jessica.simon@commerce.wa.gov
• Kathryn Dodge kathryn.dodge@commerce.wa.gov
• Sarah Harrison sarah.harrison@commerce.wa.gov