Rural Homelessness Roundtable 2010 Homelessness Program Managers Training Conference

1. Rural Homelessness Roundtable 2010 Homelessness Program Managers Training Conference The DuPont Hotel, Washington, DC March 16, 2010

2. Introductions • John Bassett, Director Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless & Georgia Department of Community Affairs • Shonterria Charleston, Housing Specialist Housing Assistance Council Atlanta, Georgia • Aisha D. Williams, Capacity Building Associate National Alliance to End Homelessness Washington, D.C.

3. 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

4. GA Department of Community Affairs • Includes the GA Housing and Finance Authority • 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 • 151 balance of state HPRP program ($19 MD) • Over 200 grants each year, state-wide, for homeless housing and service programs • Sponsors www.GeorgiaHousingSearch.org; a free database for renters, landlords and CBOs

5. GA CoC Homeless Planning • 6 local Continuums of Care • Atlanta/Fulton/DeKalb • Cobb • Athens • Augusta • Savannah • Columbus • Georgia’s DCA leads a 152 county Balance of State Continuum of Care (CoC) Plan • The Balance of State CoC contains both urban (Macon, some Atlanta MSA counties, others) and rural (Plains, GA) communities

6. “Homeless in Georgia 2009” www.dca.state.ga.us/housing/specialneeds/programs/homeless_count.asp • DCA compiled count and inventory data with additional sources of information about homelessness to produce the “2009 Report on Homelessness.” Also includes data from … • Department of Human Resources • Department of Education • Homeless Management Information System • Research Studies • First report was for 2008. Next report will be for 2011. • For Counts, Partnering with Kennesaw State University • Using cluster analysis to create county groupings • In 152 county Balance of State CoC, using service count methodology for counts within counties sampled within each cluster • To populate clusters, also using count data in each of the 7 remaining counties counted by local Continuums of Care

7. Actual and Estimated Counts of Unsheltered Homeless by County In 2009, over 21,000 people estimated to be homeless in Georgia at a point-in-time www.dca.state.ga.us/housing/specialneeds/programs/homeless_count.asp Sheltered - Census 8,994 Unsheltered -Predictive Model 12,101

8. From DCA’s “2009 Report on Homelessness” This analysis clearly demonstrates that the percent of need within rural areas of Georgia is significantly higher than the percent of need within urban areas of the state.

9. Rural Homelessness in GA –Strength of Existing Efforts • Comprehensive lead agency knowledge of local planning and government, rural needs • History of CoC planning. Regional DCA-led meetings. • Familiarity with homeless, grass roots, and mainstream service providers. Participation in local planning • Strength of ongoing ESG, SHP and homeless-related (re-entry, Olmstead, etc.) initiatives to serve persons with disabilities • For tenants, landlords and CBOs - www.GeorgiaHousingSearch.org • Shelter Plus Care in all CoCs and many rural areas • DCA’s HPRP implementation has reached 99 counties at last count. With the addition of the 8 locally entitled HPRP counties, 107+ of GA’s 159 counties have now been served by HPRP. • Near-statewide shared HMIS. Southeastern collaborative. • Leverage and resources as a state agency – CDBG, HOME, Section 8, local government partners, state agency partners • ‘Shelter diversion’ strategies in place!

10. Rural Homelessness in GA –Ongoing Challenges (half empty) • Poverty / (Really and 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 • Access to housing / barriers • Many counties lack dedicated homeless housing and service programs – mission conflict • Lack of, and capacity of existing, service providers • Awareness of rural homelessness • Current HUD programs better designed for urban areas • Limited or poor housing stock in many communities • Limited resources vs. magnitude of the job • Funding, staff, size of state, and large number of local governments (159 counties, and 529 cities)

11. 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 • Near-Statewide HMIS facilitates movement across the state to match the needs of participants • Improved measurement (outputs/outcomes) through HMIS • Improved planning and research to support new strategies • Strengthening interagency councils (state and federal) • National Housing Trust Fund • Other strategies include capacity building for CBOs, improved access to state funding, technology advances, other

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