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.

New in the 2008 Continuum of Care application cycle are funds set aside for Rapid Re-Housing Demonstration projects. As indicated in the Continuum of Care NOFA released on July 11, 2008, Congress has appropriated $25 million dollars for Rapid Re-housing programs that will be funded in each of the 10 HUD regions. HUD will award $23.75 million in Rapid Re-Housing for Families demonstration projects with $1.25 million set aside for an independent study of the selected programs. To view requirements and scoring criteria for Rapid Re-Housing projects submitted through the 2008 Continuum of Care application, click the link below.

2008 Rapid Re-Housing Requirements

For communities that are looking to create Rapid Re-Housing projects, there is a wealth of information provided through research on existing Housing First for Families programs. In March of 2004, the National Alliance to End Homelessness published a study of Housing First Programs for Families. Highlighting programs in 14 different communities, this study details the structure of various Rapid Re-Housing programs from across the country.

Research conducted by LFA (LaFrance Associates, LLC) found that all housing first programs shared key program design components above the overall goal of providing housing to families first and foremost and wrapping services around them according to their needs once permanent housing is secured. These key program design components include: Read the rest of this entry »

September 15, 2008 Submission deadline!

HUD defines program an provides scoring criteria

Requires a single homeless family assessment tool that is used across the entire CoC!

The following information is directly from the 2008 SuperNOFA for the Continuum of Care that Housing and Urban Development will publish on July 10, 2008.

To view specific criteria click here.

To see the specific scoring criteria click here.

Please read the full post as it has details that are important. We will publish additional details over the next few days.

Rapid Re-Housing for Families Demonstration Program. HUD will implement through the 2008 CoC NOFA a demonstration program for households with dependent children residing on the street or in emergency shelters as directed by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2008 (H.R. 2764). Through this focused effort on assisting this population, HUD will both learn more about how to best serve families who are homeless and also contribute to the research that has already been done in this area.

Each CoC may submit no more than one project under the Rapid Re-Housing for Families Demonstration Program. That project must have a grant term of three-years and may request up to 30 percent of the CoC’s PPRN or $2 million, whichever is less.

Read the rest of this entry »

We found this news story from WLBT in Philadelphia of interest.

Temple University students worked with SafeHome Philadelphia this semester to find affordable housing within the community for Philadelphia’s homeless families.

The project stemmed from SafeHome’s Executive Director Phyllis Ryan Jackson’s belief that if affordable housing did not exist in Philadelphia, the numbers of homeless would be much higher, as they are in New York and Los Angeles.

Ms. Ryan Jackson says, “It was always puzzling to me that if it were true that there was absolutely no safe and affordable housing available for homeless families — as is commonly reported — why wasn’t Philadelphia’s homeless family population skyrocketing every year? City reports show the number to be remarkably stable over the years, which suggests to me that by employing Housing First strategies like rapid rehousing or prevention, we could truly empty our shelters.”

Units ranged from one to seven bedrooms and were in areas including North, South, and West Philadelphia, as well as Germantown, Kensington, and Port Richmond. The average rent was $668 per month. Yearly rental cost, on average, was $8,684 including security deposit. Providing subsidies for the housing, as well as home-based supports and linkages to community-based social services, would cost the city far less than the $35,000 per year it pays to house a family in shelter.

To read the full article click here.

Did you miss last week’s rapid re-housing chat on KnowledgePlex?

If you did you can still review the audio and video in Windows Media format by clicking here.

Click here to view the PowerPoint for the Hennepin County Rapid Exit Program. For the Housing Opportunities for Women - Chicago’s Plan to End Homelessness program click here.

To read all of our posts on Rapid Re-housing click here.

On May 22, 2008 KnowledgePlex hosted a web-based conference on Rapid Re-housing. The second of a two part series on new housing strategies for the homeless focused on rapid re-housing programs in the communities of Hennepin County Minnesota and Chicago Illinois. Panelist for this chat spoke to the impact rapid re-housing has had on the shelter system and the success they have seen in shorter lengths of stay in shelter and long term stability in housing.

Click here to view the PowerPoint for the Hennepin County Rapid Exit Program. For the Housing Opportunities for Women - Chicago’s Plan to End Homelessness program click here.

Rapid re-housing programs are gaining increased recognition as their ability to minimize shelter stay for minimal costs become apparent. With a focus on helping families return to housing and their communities more quickly, rapid re-housing programs reduce the strain on the shelter system and increase the success and stability of families as they live independently.

Marge Wherely of Hennepin County, Minnesota shed some light on the structure of their Rapid Exit program. In Hennepin County, 72% of families entering the shelter are aided through the Rapid Exit program and 95% of those families remain stably housed.

Families entering the shelter are immediately assessed to determine the level of housing barriers and placed into categories of low, moderate and high barriers to housing. Families with moderate to low barriers are referred to the Rapid Exit Program while families with more severe housing barriers are referred to other supportive housing programs that might be more suitable for their needs. Rapid Exit counselors begin to locate housing for the families based on their knowledge and relationship with local landlords. Families are connected to local non-profits for their service needs.

The average family will receive assistance, both financial and service oriented, for 3 to 6 months. A heavy emphasis is placed on connecting families with mainstream resources so as to transition and maintain support upon the termination of services from the rapid exit team. The average family receives $2,500 over a 3 - 6 month period for housing start-up costs. Families are actively involved in the development of their service plan and work with rapid exit counselors to determine the form of their financial assistance whether it be a one-time lump sum payment or a shallow subsidy over the course of a few months.

The success of Hennepin County’s Rapid Exit Program is due, in large part, to the collaboration between the County, Shelters and Non-profit service providers. At the County level, a re-organization of the way in which homeless service dollars are spent has enabled Hennepin County to guarantee start-up costs for housing to any homeless family that has located housing. In addition, a strong relationship with private landlords helps the program move families quickly into permanent housing reducing the average length of stay in shelter to 30 day.

Britt Shawver of Housing Opportunities for Women located in Chicago, Illinois highlighted the transformation currently taking place in Chicago. As a city that had an over abundance of 2-year transitional programs with very low success rates and a large percentage of clients entering and exiting the programs in 6 - 8 months, it became clear that a change in approach was necessary in order to see progress in the movement to end homelessness. After careful Read the rest of this entry »

With Rapid Re-housing programs gaining national attention, we are now at the cross roads of a model shift in working with homeless families. Many communities across the country have understood the effectiveness of rapid re-housing programs and have found local resources to fund rapid re-housing. The United Way of Greater Los Angeles, understanding the need for expanded programs working to end homelessness, raised funds to support homeless service providers in their efforts to end homelessness in Los Angeles.

The United Way of Greater Los Angeles, with the help of over 4,000 volunteers, was able to raise $500,000 through HomeWalk, United Way’s annual 5K family walk to raise awareness and resources to end homelessness in Los Angeles County. With the funds raised, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles has created A Pathway Home Initiative. With a focus on preventing and ending homelessness, A Pathway Home Initiative has issued an RFP for Rapid Re-housing program proposal and Permanent Supportive Housing Program Proposals. Service Agencies in the Greater Los Angeles area have the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $50,000 to support their efforts in working with the chronically homeless and homeless families.

Launched in 2007, the United Way’s A Pathway Home Initiative has made signficant progress in their efforts to raise awareness about homelessness and support efforts to end homelessness. Announcements of grant receipients are expected to take place by the end of June 2008. As we take note of their efforts and watch their success in the coming months and years, the Untied way of Greater Los Angeles serves as an example of what is possible when communities come together and creatively work to end homelessness.

To read more about HomeWalk click here

To learn more about A Pathway Home Initiative click here

Did you miss the KnowledgePlex chat on Helping Chronically Homeless Individuals Access and Stabilize in Housing? A part of this chat included a power point on Pathways to Housing. To view that presentation as an Adobe PDF file click here.

On Thursday May 22 at 2:00 P.M. ET the second chat will be on the all important issue of Rapid Re-housing. For everyone interested in Rapid Re-housing this should be a high priority event. Click here for details.

This is the description provided by KnowledgePlex.

“Rapidly Re-housing Families Who Experience Homelessness”

Thursday, May 22 at 2:00 p.m. ET

Rapid re-housing programs minimize the time families experience homelessness by providing short- and long-term rental assistance, housing search and placement assistance and home-based case management. The focus is on help families return to housing and their communities more quickly, reducing the strain on the shelter system. The panelists will describe the transformation of homeless shelter programs to ones that help families move into housing quickly. They will discuss the skills and staffing that a program needs to acquire, funding challenges, as well the broader impact on communities that adopt a Housing First approach.

Panelists

Britt Shawver, Housing Opportunities for Women, Chicago, IL
Marge Wherely, Hennepin County, Minneapolis, MN
Sharon McDonald, National Alliance to End Homelessness (moderator)

More information on this chat will soon be posted here.