Meeting HEARTH Objectives

1. Meeting HEARTH Objectives Regional Conference to End Homelessness Norfolk, VA Suzanne Wagner, Housing Innovations March 8, 2012

2. “When the music changes, so does the dance.” -- African Proverb

3. Intoduction • HEARTH – Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing • Federal Strategic Plan (FSP), Opening Doors • Mutually Reinforcing • Extend and Amplify each other • Time of Change, new dance

4. Stimulus for System Change

5. HEARTH and FSP • Impetus and tools for system transformation – new eligible activites • Establish outcomes • Focus on performance • Coordination with other systems, resources and planning processes • Use of Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) • Rapid Rehousing for Families • Permanent Supportive Housing for Chronically Homeless Single Adults and Families

6. HEARTH Objectives • Reduce length of time people spend in the crisis of homelessness • Rapidly exit people from homelessness to permanent housing • Provide services in the home to achieve housing stability and prevent returns to homelessness • Focus on income and employment

7. HEARTH Indicators/Measures • Decrease numbers of people who are homeless • Decrease length of time people are homeless • Increase exits to PH • Increase income • Reduce returns to homelessness • Will apply to shelters, transitional and permanent supportive housing programs • High performing communities

8. Federal Strategic Plan Goals • Developed by the US Interagency Council on Homelessness (US ICH) – 19 federal agencies • Finish job of ending chronic homelessness in 5 years • Prevent and end Veteran homelessness in 5 years • Prevent and end homelessness for families, youth and children in 10 years • Set a path to ending all types of homelessness

9. Federal Strategic Plan Themes • Increase Leadership, Collaboration and Civic Engagement • Increase Access to Stable, Affordable Housing • Increase Economic Security • Improve Health and Stability • Retool Homeless Crisis Response System

10. High Performing Communities • ALOS Under 20 days or at least 10% below prior year • Fewer than 5% will become homeless again within next 2 years or at least 20% below prior year • Actively encouraged homeless people to participate in services; included all homeless people in HMIS • Activities have been effective in reducing homelessness • No family is homeless for more than 30 days

11. When will the music start?

12. Meeting HEARTH Objectives • Plenty to do now • Challenges • Money • Lack of Guidance from HUD • Timely Release of Memo from HUD

13. Is there is money for HEARTH? • The CoC has been flat funded. To maximize the number of new units funded this year, HUD has been aggressively recapturing funds from grants that have not been fully expended and drawn down by the end of their grant period. • Through this process, HUD is also identifying grantees that consistently return money, since in many cases these funds cannot be re-used for other CoC programs and must be returned to the U.S. Treasury. • HUD strongly encourage grantees and CoCs to review all renewal project budgets and spending rates to prevent these types of recaptures, thereby demonstrating strong stewardship of federal funds at both the grantee and CoC levels.

14. New ESG Funds • On January 4, 2012, the interim rules on the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program and corresponding amendments to the Consolidated Plan went into effect. • Until a final rule is published, the interim rule regulates the use of the second allocation of FY2011 ESG funds and the FY2012 ESG allocation. • The FY2012 budget for the ESG program is $286 million, an increase of $36 million from FY2011. • The increase will assist communities to transition programs created under HPRP, the Diversion/Rapid Rehousing program. • These funds are expected to particularly impact homeless families with children, a HUD priority population.

15. Where are the HEARTH Regs? • HUD is in the final stages of clearing for release both theContinuum of Care (CoC) and Rural Housing Stability Program (RHSP) rules. • Congress has directed that these rules be published as interim so they can be implemented in FY2012; therefore, • The 2012 NOFA will reflect the HEARTH requirements and all grants awarded through the 2012 competition will be required to comply with the interim rules. • The FY2012 appropriation is less than requested by a half billion, so not all the HEARTH Act requirements or all the HUD-related goals in the FSP Plan can be fully realized. • HUD will be deciding which provisions of HEARTH to implement in 2012 to maximize the impact.

16. There is some news on 2012 NOFA • Rules that will be included the 2012 NOFA: • Renewal of existing projects, as provided for in HEARTH, is a priority; • While the Act authorizes increases in administration, leasing, rental assistance and operating funds for renewals, it is unlikely that projects will receive the maximum increases allowed; • Continuum of Care planning funds may be available, although at levels lower than the 3% allowed by law; • S+C funds will be part of funds available for reallocation • Funding for Unified Funding Agencies is not likely to be available in FY2012 and HUD does not intend to implement the High Performing Communities provisions in FY2012 due to lack of sufficient data and budget constraints.

17. Meeting HEARTH Objectives • Areas of Focus • Program Evaluation and Development • System Evaluation and Reorganization • Coordination Beyond the Continuum of Care

18. Achieving Performance Measures • Decrease in newly homeless • Prevention/Diversion • Decrease length of stay • Rapid Rehousing • Reduce LOS in Shelter and TH – use rapid exit approach • Increase income and exits to PH and decrease returns to homelessness • Housing Stabilization Services • Critical Time Intervention (CTI) • Connections with mainstream and community-based services • Eviction Prevention Services

19. Program Readiness • Establish coordinated intake • Divert at the front door to shelter wherever possible • Move people rapidly into permanent housing from emergency shelter and transitional housing • Focus on employment, income and benefits • Provide aftercare or access to services to stabilize once in housing

20. Program Readiness • Link with community-based (mainstream) services and amenities and natural supports • Implement “Moving On” Programs from PSH • Principles and Practices of CTI (Critical Time Intervention) and other EBP’s may be useful. www.criticaltime.org • Provide eviction prevention services – not just legal, earlier in the process • Look at your program data and outcomes and get them right

21. CoC Performance TH to PH

22. CoC Performance – PSH Retention

23. Employment and Benefits(At Program Exit)

24. Systems Assessment • How do programs work together? • Are some programs more effective than others? • What are the systems outcomes? • Are people permanently ending their homelessness? • What are your current investments? • What are the costs per outcome?

25. Systems Coordination • ESG grantees must coordinate with CoC • Consult on allocation of funding for ESG activities • Must participate in HMIS • Coordinated Intake • Outcomes will be reported in CoC Exhibit 1 in 2012 • CoCs must coordinate with: • ESG Grantees • Evaluate outcomes and analyze use of ESG funds • Consolidated Plans • Public Housing Authority (PHA) plans • Local Ten Year Plans • Non-homeless systems - MH, VA, Youth, Housing, Employment

26. System Readiness – New ESG Rules • Coordinated Intake • All ESG and CoC recipients must use a centralized/coordinated system to ‘initially assess the eligibility and needs of each person who seeks homeless assistance or prevention assistance’. • At least 40% of funds must be spent on Prevention/Diversion and Rapid Rehousing • New activities: • Short/medium term rental assistance for up to 24 months • Housing relocation/stabilization to homeless or at risk – financial assistance – utilities, arrears, moving costs • Parallel HPRP activities

27. Eligible Activities - Continuum of Care • SHP, S+C, SRO Mod become a single CoC program • Acquisition, rehabilitation, and construction activities the same as under SHP but matching requirements changed • Leasing is the same – no match required • Rental assistance for transitional (a version of RR) or permanent housing • Project based, sponsor based or tenant based • Can provide rental assistance to preserve existing PSH • Operating costs same but can include service coordination.

28. Eligible Activities - Continuum of Care • Supportive services essentially same as SHP but include legal services to get entitlements • Rehousing services to include: • housing search • mediation • outreach to property owners • credit repair, providing security or utility deposits • rental assistance for a final month at a location • assistance with moving costs or other activities that: are effective in moving people into housing or helping them in first 6 months in PH • Admin costs to project sponsors up to 10%

29. CoC Investments 2011 – Renewals

30. CoC Investment by Activity

31. Costs/Exit

32. Timely Exits to PH

33. Selection Criteria for Funding • Performance – as described above • Community Plans focus on: • reducing homelessness • educational needs of children and • needs of all homeless sub-populations. • CoC plan aligns with Ten Year Plan (TYP). • Measureable targets, timelines, funding, leadership and staff. • Process for Prioritizing Funding – method is based on objective public criteria that consider the full range of opinions and use data for analysis

34. HUD Advice -Preparing for HEARTH • Look at current portfolio of projects relative to expenditure of funds and performance to determine what, if any, changes should be made. • Begin considering which projects, in whole or in part, they may want to reallocate to free up resources for new efforts. • In the 2012 NOFA, all funds will be counted towards a CoC’s Hold Harmless Need (HHN) amount—including projects that are currently funded under S+C; therefore, for the first time, CoCs will be permitted to include these grants in any reallocation strategy. • Conduct an analysis to determine which partnerships within your community work well and which need more attention and focus.

35. HUD Advice -Preparing for HEARTH • Consider what HPRP strategies worked best and whether any of these strategies are more effective, efficient, and attractive to consumers than the current ESG and CoC-funded approaches. • Assess what efficiencies can/should be made to current homeless assistance &response system? • Look at cost per positive outcome, coordinated intake, how mainstream affordable housing is used • CoCs should assess their data tools, counting methodologies, and HMIS and determine if changes and/or improvements need to be made.

36. My Advice • Take Lessons!!! • A webinar a week • Listservs • HUD • www.hudhre.info • US Interagency Council (ICH) • www.usich.gov • National Alliance to End Homelessness • www.endhomelessness.org

37. CoC Performance and Investments • Look at the data on key indicators! • Use HUD Standards to Evaluate Programs • Mark Johnston on TH • Get baseline on current performance and make sure your data is accurate • Focus on individual program performance on indicators – movement to permanent housing, access to benefits, increases in income, permanent housing retention

38. CoC Performance – Numbers of Homeless Persons - PIT

39. CoC Performance – Chronic Homeless

40. More Recommendations • Think about whether you can provide Transition in Place with current CoC funded programs/activities • Reflect on successes and challenges of HPRP • Both Prevention and Rapid Rehousing elements • Meet with community-based services in your area to see how they can support people once housed • For Emergency Shelter and TH, think about exit plan from day one

41. Steps to Take Now • Renewal Evaluation Process • Training/Support to Agencies • Review data on: • Length of Stay (LOS) • Exits to permanent housing, to unknown and to homelessness • Rates of maintaining and increasing income • Evaluate funding and program allocations, outcomes and returns on investments • Consider program conversions/modifications to achieve outcomes

42. Evaluation Model

43. Key Considerations for CoC’s • Organizational/Administrative Structure • Who is part of the CoC and who is missing? Is DOE/School system represented? • Are there benefits to joining with other CoC’s/reconfiguring geography? • If you could start your CoC over from scratch, what would it look like? • Is there an entity that is ready to be the Collaborative Applicant? • Are there organizations that could & would take on the UFA role? • Planning Processes • How aligned are your TYP and CoC? What about ESG? • Are you involved in the Consolidated Plan process? Do you know how to influence how the $ is spent? • Do you have a plan for responding to the HEARTH draft regulations?

44. Key Considerations for CoC’s • Performance • Is the HMIS able to accurately report on LOS, returns to homelessness, newly homeless? • What is current performance on these indicators? • How can you manage for and influence these outcomes? • What adjustments should be made to the new Renewal Performance Evaluation Process to better support achievement of outcomes and meet HUD’s guidelines for prioritizing funding? • System Design • Does the mix of programs in the system need to change in order to achieve performance outcomes? • Do the programs you have and populations’ needs match? • Are there programs that are not working or could be improved/transformed? • How will HPRP activities continue?

45. Enjoy the Dance