 Last month, All Home hosted a Housing First training as part
of our capacity
building plan for nearly 150 participants. We have made the training
materials and other information available on our website,
including three Racial Equity and Social Justice resources.
The intersection of race and
homelessness was highlighted by presenters, LaMont Green of King County
Behavioral Health and Recovery Division and Mike Chin with the City of Seattle
Office for Civil Rights. Linda Olsen from the Washington State Coalition
Against Domestic Violence also elevated the intersectionality of housing,
trauma and historical trauma.
In addition to affirming that a
Housing First system also promotes racial equity and social justice, we offer a
few additional reflections from All Home staff and from training participants:
- Color
blindness will not end racism – By treating everyone equally we, at best, risk
tailoring our services and approaches to the most vulnerable communities, and
at worst, perpetuate discrimination by promoting dominant policies and
practices.
- A
system of low barrier programs promotes racial equity – Racial
disproportionality is evident in the criminal justice system where people of
color are arrested, prosecuted and incarcerated at higher rates than whites,
resulting in greater barriers to accessing housing and stability in the future.
- We
cannot do this work while ignoring the historical and systematic destruction of
culture - Trauma-informed care and person-centered services are key in our
work to address the unique needs of all people. Without considering the trauma
experienced by groups of people, we risk ignoring critical opportunities to
support people on their pathway to housing and recovery.
- Our
current housing policies are shaped by discriminatory practices, like redlining
from our not so distant past. Housing First is certainly a crucial solution to
ending homelessness, but we must critically assess and actively resist housing
policies that have a lasting, discriminatory impact.
If you weren’t able to make it to
the December Housing First training, please continue to watch for other
training announcements, including another Housing First training in 2017.
 In November of 2016, the All Home Coordinating Board
unanimously approved an amended Charter
that dissolved the Coordinating Board and Executive Committee and replaced them
with a singular, smaller and more action-oriented Board. Open applications were
accepted through the month of November and new members were selected in
December.
The Board roster and other related materials are available
on the All Home website.
Thank you to everyone who shared their time and talent as a member of our
Coordinating Board over the last year. We look forward to our continued
partnerships and collaboration to make homelessness rare, brief and one-time in
King County.
 Friday, January 27, 2017 is Count Us In, the King County
Point in Time (PIT) Count for all populations!
Training: Several training options will be available
to prepare volunteers and guides for the count. Online training for
volunteers and guides is now available: http://tinyurl.com/2017CountUsInTraining. In person trainings will also be offered in
January. In person trainings are required for guides and encouraged for
volunteers.
Regional Headquarters: volunteers and guides will
meet at 7 locations around King County to receive materials and a refresher training.
Volunteers will be notified of their assigned headquarters location in
mid-January.
Regional
headquarters and training information is available here.
Seeking Providers to Recruit Guides: We believe the
best way to conduct a count is to engage those experiencing homelessness in
King County, drawing from their lived experience to gather the most accurate
data possible. These "guides" will lead a team of volunteers and
other guides through census tracts on the day of the count.
In addition to having lived experience with homelessness,
guides must be at least 18 years of age and able to walk 2-3 miles, if
necessary. Guides will be paid $15.00/hour. The primary duty of this position
is to lead volunteers throughout King County, thus people who want to work as
guides should have an intimate knowledge of a specific neighborhood or
community located in King County, and feel comfortable leading and interacting
with a team. Guides must be available on January 27, 2017 for the Count, and
able to attend a 1-hour guide training in the weeks leading to the event (total
time commitment of 5-6 hours).
We are looking for providers who are able to help us
recruit guides—if you are interested, please reach out to us at allhome@allhomekc.org.
Volunteer Sign Up:
We’re recruiting volunteers for the count; to learn more or sign up click here.
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The U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a record $1.95 billion in total
grants awarded nationwide for Continuum of Care homeless assistance programs.
The $34,457,083 awarded to the
Seattle/King County Continuum of Care supports the continuation of 55
community-based projects for a total of 2,410 units of housing: 1,910 units of
permanent supportive housing for homeless people with disabilities and 500
units of transitional housing. The total includes funding for two Safe Haven
facilities that offer supportive housing for homeless adults with severe mental
illnesses. Also renewed is funding for Coordinated Entry and funding
for the Homeless Management Information System. The award also supports
Continuum of Care planning.
Seattle and King County jointly apply
for the federal Continuum of Care grants each year. The funding from HUD was
provided to the highest performing local programs proven effective in meeting
the needs of persons experiencing homelessness in their communities.
The
full list of organizations receiving funds can be viewed here.
Through United Way’s Winter 2017
Homelessness RFP and Application process, Streets to Home is being expanded to
support a special emphasis on families. Households with an individual age 18 or
over may be eligible for Streets to Home, and can be connected through outreach
workers at partnering organizations. Single adults continue to be eligible for
Streets to Home services. More information is available on the United
Way’s website.
On Monday, February 6, 2017, Seattle Housing Authority (SHA)
will open a lottery for 3,500 places on a new waitlist for the Housing Choice
Voucher (HCV) program, formerly known as Section 8. These vouchers provide
rental assistance for people with low incomes to rent homes owned by landlords
in the private market. Registration for the lottery will be available
online only, and will be open from 8 a.m. on February 6, 2017 until 5 p.m. on
February 24, 2017, Pacific Time. Registration is open to adults 18 years
old or older or emancipated minors, no matter where they currently live,
however successful voucher applicants will initially be required to use the
voucher within the city of Seattle for a minimum of one year.
Registration is only available at seattlehousing.org/waitlist, not at any other
website. Registration is free; if any website asks for money to complete
registration it is not the correct site. The only way to safely register and
avoid misleading websites is to type seattlehousing.org/waitlist into an
internet browser.
The chances of being selected for the HCV waitlist are the
same no matter when households register during the open period. Once
registration closes, 3,500 applicants will be chosen at random by computer to
be placed on the new HCV waitlist. Letters will be mailed by March 31, 2017
notifying all registered households whether or not they received a place on the
new HCV waitlist.
At the time an applicant is called off the waitlist the
total household income must be 50 percent or less of area median income (AMI).
Preference will be given to households that are at 30 percent or less of AMI.
An AMI chart can be found at seattlehousing.org/housing/vouchers/eligibility.
Those who do not have access to a computer can use public
computers at some branches of The Seattle Public Library and King County
Library System, and other neighborhood sites. Find information at seattlehousing.org/waitlist or by calling
SHA’s waitlist hotline at 206-239-1674, which will be activated on February
6.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded
$1,831,906 to seven public housing authorities, Native American tribes, and
non-profit organizations in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington State to hire
or retain service coordinators to help residents find jobs, educational
opportunities, and achieve economic and housing independence. The winners
included the King County Housing Authority for $485,238.
“Helping public housing residents find decent jobs that pay
a living wage is the surest path to opportunity and self-sufficiency,” said HUD
Secretary Julián Castro. “This funding provides our local partners with the
resources to help more Americans build a brighter future for themselves and
their children.”
The funding, was competitively awarded through HUD's Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency – Service
Coordinators Program (ROSS-SC), helps grantees
hire or retain "service coordinators" who work directly with residents
to assess their needs and connect them with education, job training and
placement programs, and/or computer and financial literacy services available
in their community to promote self-sufficiency.
The
Department of Defense announced
a renewed effort to ensure veterans are aware of the opportunity to have their discharges
and military records reviewed. Through enhanced public outreach, engagement
with Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs), Military Service Organizations
(MSOs), and other outside groups, as well as direct outreach to individual
veterans, the department encourages all veterans who believe they have
experienced an error or injustice to request relief from their service’s Board
for Correction of Military/Naval Records (BCM/NR) or Discharge Review Board
(DRB). Additionally, all veterans, VSOs, MSOs, and other interested
organizations are invited to offer feedback on their experiences with the
BCM/NR or DRB processes, including how the policies and processes can be
improved.
All Home is committed to support system transformation
efforts through relevant capacity building activities. The full Capacity
Building Plan can be found on our website, here.
All learning opportunities can be found on our calendar, here.
If you are offering a training and want to get the word out
or have a specific training need or recommendation for All Home, please contact
Triina Van.
Up-Coming 2017 Learning Opportunities: Details to be
Announced Shortly
Behavioral Health and Homelessness Cross-Training
Critical Time Intervention
A Housing First System (part 2)
Property Management and Service Delivery Round Table
Racial Equity and Social Justice Forum
Rapid Re-Housing
Trauma-Informed Care
Partner Trainings
Equal Access and Gender Identity Rules
Training: Housing & Urban Development (HUD)
For Contunuum of Care (CoC)
Collaborative Applicants and providers, Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG)
recipients and sub-recipients, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS
(HOPWA) grantees to educate participants about the requirements of the Equal
Access Rule and Gender Identity Rule and how to ensure that projects operate in
compliance with these rules. This webinar will also provide “LGBT Language 101”
training to aid participants in increasing their knowledge and skills in using
appropriate, inclusive language with all clients they serve. Participants will
be introduced to HUD’s TA materials to aid their compliance efforts, including
a self-assessment
tool, staff
and volunteer training scenarios, and a policies
and procedures guidebook (all available on the HUD
Exchange LGBT Resource page).
1/10/17 | 12:00-1:30pm EST | Register
Here
1/18/17 | 2:30pm – 4:00pm EST | Register
Here
2017 Fair Housing Workshops for Housing
Providers: King County Office of Civil Rights
http://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/civil-rights/fair-housing/providers-workshops.aspx
Next Fair Housing
Training:
2/15/17 | 9:00am – 12:00pm | First
Steps – Best Practices to Promote Fair Housing | Register
Here
2/15/17 | 1:00pm – 3:00pm | Advanced
Fair Housing Seminar | Register
Here
Cross Agency Systems Training (CAST) for
Adults and Child/Youth Services: King County Behavioral Health Recovery
Division
Learn whom each system serves, goals of each program,
services available to consumers, and how to access these services.
Systems represented include: Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Crisis Services,
Child Welfare, Parent Supports, Juvenile Justice, Mental Health Courts, and
more. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cross-agency-systems-training-cast-2017-tickets-27059831685
Next CAST Training:
CAST for Adults | 3/9/17 and 8/2/17
CAST for Children | 5/11/17 and 10/4/17
ROOTS is hiring a Case Manager to ensure that homeless and
at-risk young adults have the services and support needed to achieve
self-sufficiency. Job responsibilities include housing, employment and
educational assistance, mental health and chemical dependency support and
general case management. The ideal candidate is familiar with standard case
management concepts, practices and procedures. More
information available here. |
