1.6: Addressing Family Homelessness in Rural Communities

2011 National Alliance to End Homelessness National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness

Conference

Oakland, CA

February 10, 2011

Addressing Family Homelessness in Rural

Communities

Introductions

Christy Hahn

Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP) Coordinator

Georgia Department of Community AffairsOffice of Special Housing Initiatives

GA Department of Community Affairs Administers Bond Finance (single family), HUD CPD, Tax Credit,

Section 8, Homeless, and other related programs Administers the $3 Million State Housing Trust Fund for the

Homeless Co-leads the Georgia State Interagency Homeless Coordination

Council Staffs the Governor’s Georgia Rural Development Council which, in

part, facilitates public and private initiatives to strengthen rural communities

Leads a 6-CoC HMIS Coalition (includes 158 of 159 counties) Operates 67 S+C programs state-wide with 1300 units under

contract Over 200 grants each year, state-wide, for homeless housing and

service programs Sponsors www.georgiahousingsearch.org; a free database for

renters and landlords Balance of State HPRP and other ARRA programs

About Georgia Largest state in the Southeast

57,906 square miles Population of over 9.5 million

Over 1.3 million people living in poverty 159 Counties – 2nd only to Texas

Over 100 Counties are Rural Almost 1.8 million people live in rural

Georgia Poverty rate of 20% in rural areas

* Source: USDA – ERS, Georgia Rural Health Association

In 2009, over 21,000 people estimated to be homeless in

Georgia at a point-in-timewww.dca.state.ga.us/housing/specialneeds/

programs/homeless_count.asp

Actual and Estimated Counts of Unsheltered Homeless by County

Sheltered - Census 8,994

Unsheltered -Predictive Model12,101

From DCA’s

“2009 Report on Homelessness”

This analysisclearly demonstratesthat the percent of need within rural areas of Georgia is significantly higher than the percent of need within urban areas of the state.

Rural Homelessness in GA –Ongoing Overall Challenges (half empty) Poverty / availability of good (truly) affordable

housing Jobs … this recession! General limitations of mainstream services,

exacerbated by … Distances to DFCS, DOL, job training,

employment, etc. No or limited transportation – personal and

public Child Care – limited public, private is cost

prohibitive

Rural Homelessness in GA –Ongoing Challenges (half empty) cont. Many counties lack dedicated homeless

housing and service programs Lack of accessibility to, and lack of capacity of

existing service providers Lack of awareness of rural homelessness and

available services Many current HUD programs, best practices

models, and research focused on urban areas Limited resources vs. magnitude of the job

*Funding, staff, size of state, and large number of local governments (159 counties, and 529 cities)

Rural Homelessness in GA –Promising Next Steps … (half full) Continue to implement “strengths” Learn and, through HEARTH, implement HPRP

best practices going forward … Prevention / shelter diversion / rapid re-housing Piloting state-wide, toll free screening / intake /

referral Regional programs that support efficiency Forget the arguments about ‘who’s homeless’

… expansion of HUD’s definition is serving to enhance participation by mainstream providers in outreach, assessment, referral and case management

Rural Homelessness in GA –Promising Next Steps … (half full) Improved measurement (outputs/outcomes)

through HMIS Universal online resource referral Improved planning and research to support new

strategies Strengthening interagency councils and

collaboration Other strategies include capacity building for

agencies, improved access to state funding, technology advances

HPRP HPRP funds were granted to 11 local

governments within GA For the balance of Georgia's localities, DCA

was granted $19 million DCA issued awards to 7 nonprofit

organizations to administer HPRP within 151 of 159 counties

DCA's 7 regional partners have served clients in 146 counties of 151

Sub-grantee SelectionWho are our partners?

Salvation Army--local Corps and Service Centers throughout the state

3 Community Action Agencies-- experience working with federal programs

2 large agencies, long-time partners 1 small, enterprising non-profit

HPRP Sub-grantee Coverage

HPRP Program DesignKey factors: 2-Year program—short contracts with renewal potential,

regular performance measures Regional approach to service provision Identify strongest providers in application process

*Do agencies have capacity to serve a wide audience?

*Do they have financial stability for reimbursement process?

Collaboration with statewide agencies: GA Interagency Council on Homelessness, Dept. of Human Services—GA COMPASS benefit screening, added HPRP criteria and referrals

Make HMIS integral part

Salvation Army-Key to Coverage Serves 91 of 151 counties Corps offices and service centers throughout the

state Established relationships with local government

offices and providers, MOUs with DFCS, etc. Pre-screening for client eligibility and accurate

referrals 800 # for public Mobile case management (shared offices,

locations open to the public) Centralized data entry

HPRP ImplementationOvercoming challenges due to distance:

Utilized our own website to communicate with providers and provide policies, procedures, and required documentation: http://www.dca.state.ga.us/housing/specialneeds/programs/HPRP.asp

GA Homeless Directory—information available by county Georgia Housing Search website used by providers:

http://www.georgiahousingsearch.org/ Heavy reliance on HMIS to tell the client story Constant contact with Sub-grantees: Monthly webinars—

opportunities for distance learning and collaboration

HPRP Implementation Webinars:

*Various HMIS trainings (how-to, data cleaning, new functions, etc)

*Financial procedures training*Outreach*Case Management*Monitoring policies and procedures*Monitoring follow up—common issues*4 APR webinars

HPRP Increased HMIS Support Reimburse costs of HMIS to agencies (annual

membership and training) Full-time Technical Assistant Monthly desktop data monitoring On-site data monitoring annually Ability to hire staff to handle HMIS requirements—

not relying on case managers to complete all tasks

Reimbursement request data checks

What Works For Us ARRA cover Sub-grantee selection Buy-in from sub-grantee leadership Being “demanding” from the beginning Having staff and resources (on all levels) Having fewer sub-grantees Keeping in regular contact through dialogue,

webinars, regular reporting and deadlines Being active in shaping HMIS—designing and

adding reports and data fields, follow-up mechanism

Maybe Next TimeHPRP-Specific

Universal set of documents provided by grantee More targeted outreach (homeless population) Better follow-up planning and implementation Create more opportunities for in-person training

and peer-to-peer communication Celebrate victories more

Maybe Next Time…Other Programs Be more data driven Support more training opportunities of all kinds Provide more training on best practices and

innovative solutions Find funding opportunity for research, inform

program design and implementation from data gathered

Capacity building for sub-grantees Target funding to underserved areas Access HUD TA providers

Contact Info

Christy Hahn404.679.5293

[email protected]

http://www.dca.state.ga.us/