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Feb. 27, 2019

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

Reaching our system performance goals: Washington above average, and we want to do better!

Washington state’s overall number of unsheltered entries dropped from 54 percent in 2017 to 53 percent in 2018, though we are still well ahead of the national average (we were at 41 percent in 2015).

New Consolidated Homeless Grant system performance requirements beginning July 2019 require grantees to improve the percent of unsheltered homeless households by 5 percentage points each year of the contract period. This is hard work, and we know many Washington communities are having success. Stay tuned for a report later this year on who met and exceeded previous benchmarks and learn about their strategies.

Commerce wants to make sure grantees have the training they need to conduct outreach and provide assistance to people living outside. Make sure you check out the training calendar at the end of every newsletter for upcoming opportunities.

Consolidated Homeless Grant Competitive Application Now Open

The competitive application process for 2019-2021 CHG funding cycle is currently open in the following counties:

Read more about this grant opportunity here. For questions about the application or the process, please contact Danielle.rylander@commerce.wa.gov

Myth vs. Fact

Myth: Housing and Essential Needs (HEN) rent funding cannot be used to place someone in a hotel/motel on an emergency basis. Fact: While HEN funds cannot be used for facility support for an emergency shelter, HEN “rent” funds can be used to provide hotel/motel stays on an emergency or temporary basis.

New Consolidated Homeless Grant Guidelines Now in Effect

Commerce released updated Consolidated Homeless Grant (CHG) guidelines that went into effect January 2019. Changes include lifting the 24-month cap on rental assistance and some important clarifications. Many updates are a result of grantees reaching out with questions and feedback.

The new guidelines can be found on the CHG webpage here. If you would like to see a list of changes and updates or have questions, please reach out to your grant manager.

Equity Corner: February is Black History Month

As we reflect on the importance of Black History Month, we face a stark reality that we still have a lot of work to do to cultivate equality in our homeless housing system. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, African Americans are the most disproportionately represented group in the homeless population. The question is, where do we start? The Center for Social Innovation offers some insights through its Supporting Partnerships for Anti-Racist Communities (SPARC) program. Find Anti-Racism Resources for Homeless Service Providers here.

Projects Awarded Update

From the moment we submit our application in September to the day awards are announced, we cross our fingers and hope for great news of increased funding. Commerce’s Matt Mazur-Hart, Mark Porter and Nick Mondau led this year’s collaborative application efforts with the help of the following contributors: Office of Adult and Family Homelessness Office of Homeless Youth Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) Team Balance of State (BOS) Steering Committee BOS Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Grantees On Feb. 6 we learned that all of our hard work paid off when we were awarded three bonus projects in addition to renewing all of our existing projects. This is an additional award of $662,421 in the BOS CoC, which bumps us over the $8 million mark for the first time! This year’s new projects: $184,428 for the Grays Harbor Permanent Supportive Housing Project (Grays Harbor County) $354,448 for the Rapid Rehousing For Survivors of Violence Project (Thurston County) $213,545 for the Home Again DV Bonus Project (Cowlitz County)

Resources: New This Month!

County Report Card and Year to Year Comparison table The County Report Card and Year-to-Year Comparison table have been published.  As always, you can filter to county results by clicking on the map. Embedded performance trend data (Click on the results in the top ribbon) Embedded details in the entries by project type New measure:  HMIS project coverage Reporting specifications (Click Reporting Specs) Easy navigation to year-to-year comparison table (Click Trend Data) All measures have the same reporting period (SFY18) Project Dashboards for the Balance of State Counties will be updated each quarter of the state fiscal year 30 days after the last day of the quarter.

Source of Income Discrimination Infographic Washington State Source of Income Discrimination statute protects individuals from denial of a rental based on type of income or rental subsidy. Use this infographic as a poster in your place of business or as a handout to educate individuals about their rental rights. Download here.

Upcoming Training Opportunities

Stay tuned for an online calendar of upcoming training opportunities, events, and important deadlines! If you have a training you would like reviewed for the newsletter, please send details to danielle.rylander@commerce.wa.gov.

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