Monarch Housing’s Blog!

The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) has released a Summary of the 2008 HUD Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs NOFA. The information in this Summary is based on CSH’s current best understanding and interpretation of the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Program published in the Federal Register on July 10, 2008.

The summary provides an overview of the NOFA including changes, the new scoring formula, the Rapid Re-housing initiative and other key issues.

To read the CSH Summary click here.

Hot Topics in Supportive Housing Audio-Conference:
New Web-Based Toolkit for Connecting Supportive Housing Tenants to Employment

Tuesday July 22, 2008 from 2-3:00pm ET

Registration is available by clicking here.

The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) is pleased to present our next Hot Topics in Supportive Housing Audio-Conference, introducing a new resource for the industry - our web-based Toolkit for Connecting Supportive Housing Tenants to Employment, now available at CSH’s web site by clicking here. This Toolkit, made possible through the generous support of the MetLife Foundation, is designed to provide access to a wide variety of resources to help supportive housing organizations, workforce partners, and employers address key challenges in the planning, implementation, and on-going provision of employment-related services and programs. The Toolkit currently links to more than 100 resources, many of which were developed by CSH over its 17 years of experience documenting partnerships, practices, and innovations within the supportive housing field. Materials were also drawn from a variety of sources, including the Chronic Homelessness Employment Technical Assistance Center (CHETA), the disability community, federal technical assistance centers, workforce consultants, supportive housing agencies, and other organizations.

Read the rest of this entry »

27,420 men, women and children are homeless in NJ!

The Corporation for Supportive Housing has released the “New Jersey Point in Time Count of the Homeless Data Report.” This is an analysis of the January 29, 2008, Point in Time count. The full report is available by clicking here. To read our prior report on this including an audio report click here.

According to the report, these are the significant outcomes of the 2008 Point in Time Count included:

10,932 people in 20 counties responded to the survey.

7,346 adults and 3,601 children were homeless on the night of the count. Children
represented 33% of the total number of homeless people in 2008.

For the first time, the PITC survey gathered information both on people who were
homeless on the night in question and on people who were housed in permanent
supportive housing for the formerly homeless or other forms of permanent housing, those who were temporarily “doubled up” with friends or family, those living in motels they paid for because they couldn’t afford permanent housing, and those in other temporary housing situations. On the night of January 29, 2008, an additional 5,795 men, women and children living in those situations were counted. (Please see the section of this report titled “Other Respondents” for more information.)

For the first time, the PITC survey gathered sufficient information to allow an annualized estimate - a projection of the number of people who were homeless over the course of a year. According to this estimate, 27,420 men, women and children are homeless in NJ over the course of a year. (Please see Appendix B, “Estimating the Need” for more information on the development of this estimate.

Read the rest of this entry »

Beyond the Single Family Home - Developing & Financing Larger Supportive Housing Projects

The 2nd in the Capacity Building Training Track.

Presented by: The Corporation for Supportive Housing

Move your development ability beyond the single-family home.

A panel discussion on the development process and funding mechanisms available to create larger supportive housing projects and best practices.

WHEN and WHERE:
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
9:30am - 12:30pm ET
NJ Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency
637 South Clinton - Trenton, NJ

Complete registration online is available by clicking here.

To view the full to see the full list of CSH’s trainings for the year click here.

For more info: Call CSH at 609-392-7820 or email Barbara Dohrenwend [Email address: mbarbara.dohrenwend #AT# csh.org - replace #AT# with @ ].

More advocacy needed!

Congressional Reception could be crucial!

Click here to register to attend!

The following information is from the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Although this post is lengthy it is definitely worth reading in full as it provides a comprehensive overview of the budget issues that affect programs to end homelessness and expand supportive housing.

Appropriations - As we reported on June 24th, the House of Representatives, both the Transportation-HUD (T-HUD) and the Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittees passed bills to fund the departments and agencies under their jurisdictions.

A full chart of the T-HUD Subcommittee’s funding levels may be found by clicking here.

The T-HUD Subcommittee suggested McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants be funded with $1.691 billion, an increase of $105 million over FY 08 and $55 million more than the President requested.

HUD’s proposed cuts to the 811/202 programs were rejected and instead received small increases.

Both the project-based and tenant-based Section 8 accounts received substantial increases.

Another round of $75 million for 10,000 new HUD-VASH vouchers was included in the legislation, as well as $30 million for 4,000 new vouchers for the disabled.

Unfortunately the HOPWA program was funded at the same level as last year — at the President’s requested level of $300.1 million.

The Senate T-HUD Subcommittee is scheduled to meet on July 10th to consider their version of the FY 09 Appropriations bill.

The Labor-HHS Subcommittee is responsible for funding the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), which administers several programs that benefit homeless individuals. CSH, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, NAMI, Enterprise, National AIDS Housing Coalition and other partners were successful in advocating for an increase to programs that fund services in permanent supportive housing. The victory was all the more significant in the face of proposed cuts to this account in the President’s budget.

The bill set to be voted will increase SAMHSA’s homeless programs by $21.4 million above the FY 2008 level for a total of $75 million. It appears that nearly all of the increase would go to fund services in permanent supportive housing. This would significantly expand SAMHSA grant funding for supportive housing.

Read the rest of this entry »

At the June 10, 2008, Continuum of Care Forum - Transforming Our Planning: Better Utilization of Data Colleen Velez of CSH moderated a panel entitled “Information Innovation - How Other Systems Use Their HMIS Data for Planning and Evaluation.” The three panelists provided an overview of how they utilize HMIS. The panelists included:

Su Nottingham, Bergen County, NJ
Tom Frederickson, Washington, DC
Kevin Breazeale, Philadelphia, PA

To listen to panel use the link below.

 

 HMIS Data for Planning and Evaluation [69:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

These are the materials used by the panelists.

Transforming HMIS into Better Data

Performance Measurement System in D.C.
Sample Dashboard
Sample Goal Sheet
Sample Progress Report

Using HMIS Data to Facilitate Policy and Planning in Philadelphia

Read the rest of this entry »

Serving Families in Permanent Supportive Housing

The 2nd in the Focus on Populations Training Track

Presented by: The Corporation for Supportive Housing

Experienced providers discuss how to develop, operate and provide services in permanent supportive housing for families, including topics such as:

What models of housing work for families
What kinds of services do families need and want
Unique benefits and challenges of PSH for families

Tuesday, August 12, 2008
9:30am - 12:30pm

NJ Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency
637 South Clinton - Trenton, NJ

Complete registration online is available by clicking here.

To view the full to see the full list of CSH’s trainings for the year click here.

For more info: Call CSH at 609-392-7820 or email Barbara Dohrenwend [Email address: mbarbara.dohrenwend #AT# csh.org - replace #AT# with @ ].

At the June 10, 2008, Continuum of Care Forum - Transforming Our Planning: Better Utilization of Data Janel Winter of CSH provided an overview of the 2008 Point in Time count. The final report will be released in the next few weeks and we will post a link to the full data at that time.

In addition, in her comments, Ms. Winter highlighted changes in HUD regulations that requires a 72 hour period of homelessness to meet the definition and changes in the SSI certification requirements. Both of these updates will have an immediate and lasting impact on existing programs and Continuums of Care in New Jersey. To listen to Ms. Winter’s comments use the link below.

 

 Janel Winter on the 2008 PIT Count [46:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Key initial highlights of the 2008 PIT Count:

Seven thousand three hundred and forty-six (7,346) adults were homeless on the night of the count.

Three thousand six hundred and one (3,601) children were homeless.

Of the homeless children one thousand seven hundred seventy-two (1,772) were six years of age or younger.

Of the homeless children one thousand eight hundred twenty-nine (1,829) were between seven and seventeen years of age or younger.

Using “Estimating the Need” calculation method, there were 27,628 homeless adults and children in New Jersey over the course of the year.

To review the PowerPoint for more details click here.

Read the rest of this entry »