Developing and Implementing a Plan to Increase Access to Mainstream Services

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Developing and Implementing a Plan to Increase
Access to Mainstream Services

• Tracy DAlanno
• Colorado Department of Human Services
• 303-866-7361
• tracy.DAlanno_at_state.co.us

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Developing a Plan

• Remember that plans can change
• Plan big and revise as you implement
• Pick no more than three to five priority areas
  for your state to tackle
• Each priority area will likely have several
  goals, objectives and tasks

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Developing a Plan

• Learn whats hot!
• Ending Chronic Homelessness
• Developing Permanent Supportive Housing
• Accessing Mainstream Resources
• Developing and Implementing HMIS Systems
• Discharge Planning Across Public Facilities
• New modified existing resources will likely
  follow hot issues

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Developing a Plan

• Moderate whats hot with your priorities
• While Ending Chronic Homelessness may be the
  new Federal issue, are there other top concerns
  that you want to address?
• Increase in families with children?
• Improved coordination within and across the
  Continuums of Care in your state?

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Developing a Plan

• Practice Inclusive Planning Expand your
  Committee
• Decision makers
• Worker bees
• Homeless providers
• State mental health, substance abuse, Medicaid,
  TANF, public assistance programs, employment and
  vocational services, etc
• State and local elected officials
• Housing Authorities
• Department of Corrections
• Department of Education
• Department of Public Health and Environment
• State and Federal VA Representatives

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Developing a Plan

• Practice Inclusive Planning Expand your
  Committee
• Identify who else needs to be at the table
• I used the existing Policy Members to brainstorm
  who they thought was missing. Then we sent
  invitations from our Exec. Director with a packet
  of background information to invitees.
• Challenges
• Turf issues
• Time constraints
• Enrolling participation from persons who have the
  authority to make policy decisions

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Implementing the Plan

• Assign responsibilities
• Follow up
• Delegate
• Implement the quick successes, regardless of what
  priority they received
• Look for additional resources that support your
  goals

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Implementing the PlanThings That Dont Cost
Money
Education and Communication

• We sent letters to each county department of
  health and county department of social services
  requesting that they do the following
• Identify a point person in their agency as the
  homeless contact
• Encourage them to look at ways to simplify access
  to mainstream benefits for homeless persons

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Implementing the PlanThings That Dont Cost
Money
Incorporate Strategies and Issues in Existing
Required Contracts Plans

• Worked with the various divisions within the
  Department of Human Services to require
  contracted agencies to include a discussion of
  how they were meeting the housing and service
  needs of homeless persons within required annual
  plans

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Implementing the PlanThings That Dont Cost
Money
Execute New Policies

• The first cross-cutting interdepartmental
  programmatic policy developed by the department
  includes the following goal
• The Department of Human Services will address the
  needs of its homeless consumers by taking
  responsibility for planning, policy development,
  administration, and coordination of activities
  related to homeless service delivery through
  appropriate program areas

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Implementing the PlanThings That Dont Cost
Money
Execute New Policies

• Follow-up policy with education to divisions and
  units within the department
• Power point presentation at staff meetings, toy
  gimmicks, flyers and posting information on web
  sites or internal Intranet

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Implementing the PlanThings That Dont Cost
Money

• Mainstream Service Coordination
• Established a Mainstream Service Committee
• Committee includes representatives from various
  metro area county mainstream community providers
  and homeless service providers
• Committee focuses on the planning and
  facilitation of quarterly networking events to
  take place in each of the seven metro Denver
  counties

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Implementing the PlanThings That Dont Cost
Money

• Mainstream Service Coordination
• Once every three months, an event is held that
  includes presentations from mainstream providers
  and homeless service providers that work in that
  county
• Current program and referral information is
  shared between public and private providers
• Concepts that have worked well in other counties
  and areas are shared
• Events include networking time to allow agencies
  to build relationships and share ideas that will
  improve homeless persons access to services

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Implementing the Plan

• Find a leader, someone interested in overseeing
  or guiding the process
• As more experts get involved, feel free to revise
  your plan
• In a tight fiscal environment develop and
  implement strategies that lay the foundation for
  increasing resources when the budget improves

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Implementing the Plan Establishing a Foundation
for Future Resources

• Use your non-profit partners and committee
  members to conduct education and advocacy toward
  increased public investment in housing and
  services
• We currently have requested dollars from a
  foundation that we would pass through to a
  non-profit agency who will then provide education
  and advocacy to the general public and the
  legislature for the development of a statewide
  housing trust fund

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Steal Ideas Build on Current Activities

• You dont have to reinvent the wheel
• Research what other states are doing and modify
  to meet your needs
• Coordinate your plan and activities with the
  Continuums of Care in your state

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How to Incorporate Your Efforts with Existing
Efforts

• Partner your resources with agencies in the
  community. Some examples
• Project Based Assistance RFP to non-profit
  housing developers
• Coordinate your PATH dollars with agencies
  applying for Homeless Super NOFA funding
• Partner with your United Way to maximize and
  match resources

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How to Incorporate Your Efforts with Existing
Efforts

• Partner your resources with agencies in the
  community. Some examples
• Identify the Continuums of Care in your state and
  coordinate your plans for
• Discharge planning
• Access to mainstream services
• Ending chronic homelessness plans
• Co-location of services or simplified benefit
  application processes

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Example Discharge Strategy

• Discharge Planning See handout

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Outcomes Increased Resources

• Grant application to Corporation for Supportive
  Housing to implement key Policy Academy
  strategies
• Comprehensive Drug/Alcohol and Mental Health
  Treatment Systems for Persons Who are Homeless
  Grants Colorado Coalition for Homeless, Denver,
  Colo. -- 599,642 -- to implement a range of
  culturally competent and integrated substance
  abuse treatment and mental health services,
  coupled with housing, health care and supportive
  services for homeless adults

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Outcomes Increased Resources

• SAMHSA/HRSA Collaboration to Link Health Care for
  the Homeless Programs and Community Mental Health
  Agencies Grants
• The Mental Health Corporation of Denver, Denver,
  Colo., Recovery Connection -- 232,696  
• Aurora Mental Health Center, Aurora, Colo. --
  199,970

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Outcomes Increased Resources

• Focused HUD Grants
• HUD Rental Assistance for Persons with
  Disabilities
• State of Colorado receives 400 rental assistance
  vouchers for Non-Elderly Persons with
  Disabilities Related to Certain Developments
• Supportive Housing Homeless Programs 200 units
  1,001,099
• Colorado Division of Housing 200 units
  1,199,114

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Outcomes - Other

• Representatives from the State Public Health and
  Environment Department join Policy Academy Team.
  Resulted in coordination between Policy Academy
  and new Department on bio-terrorism planning to
  include the unique needs of homeless persons.
  Memo outlining issues and concerns is developed
  and distributed to local bio-terrorism planning
  efforts

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Outcomes - Other

• Homeless Management Information System Usage
  (HMIS). Increased provider participation in the
  Computerized Homeless Information and Referral
  Project (CHIRP). Project is expanded to
  Colorado Springs and some providers in rural
  parts of Colorado

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Outcomes - Other

• Mainstream Committee established monthly meetings
  and trainings distributed across the seven
  counties between mainstream providers and
  homeless providers. Improved communication has
  resulted in homeless combined case management
  plans, increased TANF dollars to homeless
  providers for housing, simplified access to
  services, faster application processing 
• CCH implements new health outreach vans from
  Stout Street

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Biggest Challenge

• Finding time to implement academy strategies
  while performing existing job duties
• Strategy
• Requested foundation dollars to help staff the
  policy academy