Homelessness Prevention

1. Homelessness Prevention

2. SSVF: Homelessness Prevention Eligibility & Services

3. SSVF Eligibility • SSVF Eligibility: • A member of a “Veteran family”: Either (a) a Veteran; or (b) a member of a family in which the head of household, or the spouse of the head of household, is a Veteran. • “Very low-income”: Household income does not exceed 50% of area median income. • “Occupying Permanent Housing”

4. SSVF Eligibility: Homelessness Prevention • Occupying Permanent Housing: must meet Category 1 definition:

5. SSVF Eligibility: Homelessness Prevention • At risk of losing their housing and becoming literally homeless or remaining literally homeless but for SSVF assistance (strongly encouraged, but not required). • VA encourages grantees serving participants in Category 1 to assess and document that the household would become literally homeless but for the SSVF assistance. In other words, a household would require emergency shelter or would otherwise become literally homeless in the absence of SSVF assistance.

6. SSVF Eligibility: Homelessness Prevention • Persons currently in permanent housing and at-risk of losing their housing and becoming literally homeless but for SSVF assistance may include persons who are: • Losing their housing in 14 days or less: • An individual or family who will imminently lose their primary nighttime residence within 14 days of the date of application for assistance; AND • No subsequent residence has been identified; AND • Lacks the resources or support networks, e.g. family, friends, faith-based or other social networks, needed to obtain other permanent housing. • Losing their housing in more than 14 Days: • An individual or family who will imminently lose their primary nighttime residence in more than 14 days of the date of application for assistance.; AND • No subsequent residence has been identified; AND • Lacks the resources or support networks, e.g. family, friends, faith-based or other social networks, needed to obtain other permanent housing (strongly encouraged, but not required).

7. SSVF Eligiblity: Homelessness Prevention • Additional risk factors or targeting criteria to identify households at greater risk of homelessness. A few examples: • Eviction within two weeks from a private dwelling (including housing provided by family or friends); • Residency in housing that has been condemned by housing officials and is no longer meant for human habitation; • Sudden and significant loss of income; • Mental health and/or substance abuse issues; • Physical disabilities and other chronic health issues, including HIV/AIDS; • Severe housing cost burden (greater than 50 percent of income for housing costs); • Homeless in last 12 months; • Young head of household (under 25 with children or pregnant); • Extremely low income (less than 30 percent of area median income); • High overcrowding (the number of persons in household exceeds health and/or safety standards for the housing unit size); • Recent traumatic life event, such as death of a spouse or primary care provider, or recent health crisis that prevented the household from meeting its financial responsibilities; • Significant amount of medical debt.

8. SSVF Services • Grantees are required to provide the following supportive services: • Outreach Services • Case Management Services • Assistance in Obtaining VA Benefits • Assistance in Obtaining and Coordinating Other Public Benefits Available in the Grantee’s Area or Community

9. Homelessness Prevention: Overview

10. Why Prevention Assistance? • Most households can successfully avoid homelessness with limited assistance. • Preventing an episode of homelessness costs less than sheltering an episode of homelessness. • Even more important, it helps diminish the trauma and dislocation caused by homelessness for the individual or family.

11. Why Prevention Assistance? • The cost savings generated by an efficient prevention program can: • Reduce the CoCs need for and reliance upon emergency solutions (i.e., shelter), allowing the community to reallocate resources towards other types of projects. • Allow CoC providers more time and resources to address needs of persons with more severe housing barriers.

12. Principles of Prevention Assistance • Crisis Resolution: Prevention resources are most effective when they are targeted directly to resolving a particular household’s specific crisis & maintaining the housing. • Targeting: Helping those at greatest risk for losing housing. • “Just Enough” Assistance: Provide minimum financial assistance/services necessary for shortest time possible. • Supportive Services: Financial assistance without services is often “Not Enough.”

13. Homelessness Prevention: Program Implementation Considerations

14. Targeting • Will the program serve a geographic catchment area? • Will the program target one or more specialized population(s)? • How will urgency be used to prioritize services? • Targeting criteria are in addition to SSVF eligibility criteria

15. Outreach • Two parts to the provision of outreach services: • Identifying very low-income Veteran families • Focus on Veteran families at greatest risk and perhaps difficult to otherwise identify • Orient and establish referral relationships with local partners • Train partners on basic program eligibility and to assess for risk of housing loss • Host local informational events and/or participate in Stand Down (or similar) events • Screening to determine eligibility

16. Outreach • A Plan to Find Clients • Identify the places and organizations that come into contact with people experiencing a housing crisis. • Identify where people who enter shelter stay immediately before entering shelter. • List the methods the program will use to find clients. • Design materials and test them with the target population.

17. Outreach • Possible partners: • Local VA facilities • Grant & Per Diem Programs • CHALENG network • Emergency shelters • Existing supportive housing programs • Local information and referral agencies (e.g., 2-1-1, senior assistance hotlines, etc.) • Department of Defense (DoD) Resources (e.g., Transition Assistance Program) • VA Medical Center Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) / Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) Care Management Teams • Community agencies serving low-income populations • Welfare offices

18. Screening & Assessment • Select or design a screening tool that includes all criteria required for eligibility and prioritization. • Select or design an assessment tool that includes different levels, so more intrusive information is requested only when necessary and useful.

19. Admissions Protocol • Draw a decision tree or flow chart of the process for making a decision to accept a client or decline services. • Decide who will make key decisions at each point. • Determine what happens with persons denied services who may have other service needs.

20. Program Rules & Expectations • Identify and communicate critical “rules of conduct.” • List the kinds of expectations that individuals will be required to meet for ongoing assistance. • Define due process rights for clients whose services or financial assistance may be terminated. • Determine how and when all clients are informed of program rules, expectations and client rights.

21. Housing Stability Plan • Select or design a Housing Stability Plan for use by staff and clients. • The Plan may be as simple as the one-time financial assistance that will be provided to the client’s landlord. In the case of medium-term rental assistance, it may include steps the individual will take to transition off the subsidy. • Plans should focus on goals and steps related to housing retention or relocation and not routinely include more personal or therapeutic goals. • Identify how and when plans should be reviewed and updated.

22. Program Services • What assistance and services limits have been established (within SSVF constraints)? • How often will these be revisited? • Has flexibility been ‘baked in’ to the program? • Successful programs typically are able to provide varying type/level/duration of assistance based on individual needs and program resources. • Is a process in place for supervisory or management review if services or financial assistance exceed certain limits or to otherwise assure adherence to program assistance parameters and expectations?

23. Program Services • What “public benefits” has the program established referral relationships with? Are MOU’s needed? • Health care services; Daily living services; • Personal financial planning services; Transportation services; • Income support services (e.g., disability benefits, social security, Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), unemployment assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or formerly, food stamps), etc.); • Fiduciary and representative payee services; • Legal services; Child care services; and Housing counseling services. • With exception of health care and daily living services, grantees may choose to provide such benefits – though often much more cost-effective to partner • Seek more formal arrangements with partners more critical to program success (e.g., local TANF office).

24. Program Services • What “other services” will the program provide? Includes “temporary financial assistance” or other services proposed by grantee and approved by VA. Temporary financial assistance includes: • Rental assistance; • Utility-fee payment assistance; • Deposits (security or utility); • Moving costs; • Purchase of emergency supplies for a participant; • Transportation; and • Child care • Are adequate policies/procedures in place to administer assistance?

25. Program Services • Assure focus on least costly interventions and those most needed by persons experiencing imminent housing loss: • Landlord-tenant mediation • Case management – including budgeting, information/referral/advocacy, etc. • Temporary financial assistance (in combination with above)

26. Rental Assistance • Select the model(s) for rental assistance (within SSVF constraints). • Determine how and when rental assistance amount or duration will be reassessed.

27. Program Staffing • Generalists, specialists, or some combination of both? • Reassign existing staff or hire new staff? • Can the program develop agreements with specialists for staff training and case consultation? • How will the program define cultural competency—and how will it assure that staff are culturally competent? • What are staff qualifications and duties? • Who will provide supervision? What level of supervision is needed?

28. Landlords • Assess screening barriers of target population and determine strictness of landlord screening. • How will landlords be recruited? • Determine process for using credible intermediaries (prevention staff) with tenants who have screening barriers. • Can the program provide financial incentives? Can the program repair common damage problems? • Can the program co-sign leases? • What other incentives and/or direct assistance can be provided that will entice landlords to partner and house persons with tenant screening barriers?

29. Service Completion • Define how staff and clients will know when services are completed. • Develop criteria and processes, including a flow chart, for supervisory, peer and/or consultant review of case closing decisions.

30. Data Collection & Utilization • List data elements required by VA, other funder(s). • List any additional data elements that are needed and will be utilized by the program to assess and improve effectiveness, efficiency, quality and access. • Design forms and a flow chart for collecting the right information at the right time.

31. Common Challenges & Solutions

32. Implementation Challenge #1: Targeting • Targeting is extremely critical if a prevention program is to be both successful and cost effective. • The challenge is to identify those at greatest risk – i.e., those who will literally end up on the street or in emergency shelter “but for” the assistance. • Remember - providing non-essential assistance to a program client will cost someone else in the community their housing.

33. Targeting Prevention Assistance

34. Targeting Households at “Greatest Risk” • Examples: • Sudden and significant loss of income • High housing cost burden • Recent traumatic life event, such as death of a spouse, or recent health crisis that prevented the household from meeting its financial responsibilities • Homeless in last 12 months • Young head of household (under 25 with children or pregnant) • High overcrowding (the number of persons exceeds health and/or safety standards for the housing unit size)

35. Can the most “at risk” households achieve stability? • The majority of households that experience an episode of homelessness do NOT return to homelessness. • The majority of households that rely on public benefits as their main income source do NOT become homeless, even without a subsidy. • "Return to Normal" is the goal of crisis intervention. • Housing stability does not imply the household will never again experience a financial or personal crisis.

36. Implementation Challenge #2: Reaching the Target Population • Facilitating Access to Assistance • Centralized Intake vs. No Wrong Door • Strategic Marketing • Strategic Partnerships • Dealing with Volume of Applicants • Screening/triage required

37. Implementation Challenge #3: Providing “Just Enough” Assistance • Goal of prevention assistance is to address the immediate crisis or situation and retain the housing. • Not intended to resolve all of the household's ongoing barriers and financial needs. • Keeps emphasis on short-term nature of assistance; can be used as a way to engage participants in establishing goals/plan. • Allows community to stretch resources to serve more households.

38. Implementation Challenge #4: Stabilizing Households • Supportive services are essential • Household budgeting, credit repair, financial literacy • Help client negotiate with landlords; provide conflict resolution assistance • Connection to/coordination with mainstream programs • Employment/workforce services • Eligibility screening for TANF, SSI/SSDI, Medicaid, etc. • Help households apply for Section 8, HOME TBRA, etc. • Referral to mental health and substance abuse services • Relocation an option, if needed

39. Implementation Challenge #5: Efficient Administration of Assistance • The challenge of prevention assistance: can’t intervene too early, but can’t wait too long. Consequently, procedures must be efficient! • Specialization can be more efficient. Consider a network of providers that can address: • Variety of issues/barriers (eviction prevention/legal assistance, credit repair, family reunification, employment assistance) • Needs of different subpopulations (DV, youth, veterans) • Needs of households spread out across large geographic area • But…consider centralizing the administration of financial assistance to reduce costs and the risk of fraud/abuse.

40. Implementation Challenge #6: Measuring Impact • Use data to assess impact of prevention efforts, and to make modifications as needed. • Questions to consider: • Is prevention assistance having an impact on the number of persons/households entering shelter? Or on the characteristics of those entering shelter? • Of those in shelter, where are they coming from? Can you intervene earlier with prevention assistance? • What happens to households after they receive prevention assistance? What percentage ends up in shelter anyway? What percentage successfully avoids homelessness? What are the characteristics of those different groups? • What is the average length of time it takes staff to process a prevention case (i.e., determine eligibility and issue assistance)? Can you make any changes to increase efficiency?

41. Questions?