VI-SPDAT Manual

Good Day,

Please note that the VI-SPDAT Manual has been posted to this blog as a resource to you.  It is listed under "Documents" to the right of the blog.

Otherwise, you may use this link:  VI-SPDAT Manual 2014 v1

Please share with the people you serve

JHOP & Friends Present Its 3rd Annual

Extravagant Cookout for the Homeless

September 13, 2014

12 Noon until 5 PM

Scantlebury Park

Ashmun Street

New Haven, CT

Food . Clothing . Fun

 

 

 

for more information, click here:   Event Flyer

ASSESSMENT POINT & IN-REACH LOCATIONS MEETING

Hello Everyone,

 

I hope this email finds you well. Though we are at the end of 100 Days, the 100 Day Challenge Team continues the effort to rapidly house homeless individuals through the Coordinated Access Housing Placement system. We are inviting all Assessment Point and In-Reach locations to attend a meeting being held on:

Wednesday, September 3^rd from 12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m.

at the United Way of Greater New Haven

(370 James Street, New Haven, Ct)

The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss protocols and procedures pertaining to the VI-SPDAT Assessment Tool and the Release of Information, and to answer any questions that you may have at this time.

 

Please RSVP to Sarah Fox at sfox@cceh.org if you plan to attend the meeting.

 

Best,

 

Sarah Fox, MSW

Manager, Advocacy & Community Impact Initiatives

Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH)

257 Lawrence St.

Hartford, CT 06106

P: (203) 535-3967

F: (860) 257-1148

www.cceh.org

 

 

Hartford Supportive Housing Opportunity!

Hi everyone:

I am excited to announce the opening of Horace Bushnell Apartments located at 4-40 Vine Street in Hartford. Columbus House has teamed up with Sheldon Oak Central Inc. and Schochet Companies to provide residential support services on site.

This is a 74 unit complex consisting of 23 subsidized units, 8 of the subsidized units are for individuals transitioning from homelessness and are attached to case management services. All 23 subsidized units are for individuals and families 62 years of age or older. 1, 2, and 3-bedroom units are available. For those going into a subsidized unit, rent is 30% of gross adjusted income. The remaining 51 units in the building are fair market rents. Rents are between $700 - $1100.

Apartments include heat and hot water. Tenants are responsible to pay for electricity. All units will include new high-quality appliances including a dish washer, oven/stove, refrigerator, garbage disposal, and individually-controlled central air conditioning. There are on-site laundry facilities. Some units include a washer and dryer. Apartment are less than 1 block from the bus line.

To qualify for a subsidized unit, all individuals in the household must be 62 years of age or older. In order to qualify for a unit attached to case management, individuals must be literally homeless as defined by HUD and 62 years of age or older. Individuals must be eligible for public housing.

Attached please find application materials. All completed applications must be mailed to Schochet Companies.

If you are applying for a slot attached to case management services, please complete the homelessness and disability verifications. Please mail or fax the verifications to me. My fax number is 203.535.1516 and my mailing address is 610 Ella Grasso Blvd. New Haven, CT 06519.

Please feel free to pass this information along to anyone who you think might be interested. Also, I am happy to come and discuss this housing opportunity with staff if you would like.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Regards,

Rebekah Ohlsen

Permanent Supportive Housing Manager

Columbus House

610 Ella Grasso Blvd.

New Haven, CT 06519

Phone: 203.208.7086 ext. 131

www.columbushouse.org

 

Attachments:

Disability and Homeless Verification Forms

Horace Bushnell Brochure

Vine Street Rental Application

Impact of Recent Changes in Income Limits and Utility Allowances

Impact of Recent Changes in Income Limits and Utility Allowances The new definition of “Extremely Low Income” does not affect ESG recipients/subrecipients On June 25, 2014, HUD published a Federal Register Notice implementing certain provisions of the 2014 Appropriations Act. Among these is a new provision that applies to the public housing, housing choice voucher, project-based voucher, and multifamily project-based section 8 programs, requiring these programs to use a new definition of “Extremely Low Income (ELI) families.” ELI families are defined as very low-income families whose incomes do not exceed the higher of the Federal poverty level or 30 percent of Area Median Income. HUD has received questions about whether ELI limits apply to the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) or Continuum of Care (CoC) programs. They do not. Under the McKinney-Vento Act, as amended by the HEARTH Act, the definition of “at risk of homelessness” requires that an individual or family’s income be below 30 percent of median family income (or area median income). Further, the ESG Program interim rule limits eligibility for homelessness prevention assistance to individuals and families with incomes below 30 percent of AMI. However, under the ELI standard, an allowable income could actually be higher than 30 percent AMI. Therefore, if ESG recipients/subrecipients were to use the ELI standard, some applicants for ESG assistance might be falsely determined to be eligible for homelessness prevention assistance, when actually their incomes were over 30 percent AMI. In short, the 30 percent AMI limits are NOT the same as the Extremely Low-Income limits, and ESG recipients and subrecipients MUST NOT use the ELI standard when determining program participant eligibility for homelessness prevention assistance. However, the tables on HUD User have been updated to reflect the ELI limits, and it is a little more difficult to find the 30 percent AMI limits. For that reason, HUD has posted the 30 percent AMI tables on the HUD Exchange, for ESG recipients and subrecipients to use. Look for an announcement when the FY 2015 data is available. Changes in utility allowances may affect ESG and CoC recipients/subrecipients This Federal Register Notice also addresses a change to a provision of the utility allowance. Because the CoC and ESG Program Interim Rules refer to the use of the utility allowance determined by the PHA, this change could affect the utility allowance used for the CoC and ESG Programs. For more information about this change, please contact either your local PHA or the HUD staff identified as contacts on the Notice.

Visit the HUD Exchange at https://www.hudexchange.info

Coordinated Access and Housing Placement System (CAHP) Tools

 

I am thrilled to announce, that two new tools have been created to better the matching process of our clients as part of the Coordinated Access and Housing Placement System (CAHP) for moving people into housing.   We now have web-based forms which will 1) allow housing programs to communicate when there is a program opening or certificate available and 2) landlords/property owners to communicate when they have a vacant unit.  The goal is for these tools to allow for quicker, easier and more efficient matching between participants, programs, and landlords. 

 

Please feel free to share the link below with your landlord contacts.  Since these are new tools for the community, your feedback is always welcome.

 

For Housing Providers

 

http://bit.ly/GNHOpeningDoorsAgencyHousingPlacement

 

Lauren Rusconi, lauren.rusconi@yale.edu can assist with any questions from housing providers.

 

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For Landlords with Available Units

 

http://bit.ly/GNHOpeningDoorsApartmentVacancies

 

David McCarthy, david.mccarthy@columbushouse.org, can assist with any questions from property owners.

 

 

 

Leigh Shields-Church, LCSW

100-Day Team Leader

Coordinated Access Highlights Week 4

Coordinated Access Weekly Highlight

Week 4
August 15, 2014







HOUSING TOTALS SINCE JUNE 1, 2014


Read entire document here

Coordinated Access Highlights Week #3

Round Table with Senator Murphy, Senator Blumenthal, and Mayor Harp

Tuesday, August 5th a round table Congressional Briefing was held at the United Way office in New Haven, with U.S Senators Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy and New Haven’s Mayor Toni Harp.

The discussion was focused around the 100-Day Challenge as well as the Coordinated Access and ousing Placement System (CAHP) created to end homelessness in New Haven. Both senators listened diligently to the challenge’s progress and its struggles. Both Senator Murphy and Blumenthal expressed their support in ending homelessness in Connecticut, emphasizing the need to end veteran homelessness specifically. Senator Blumenthal strongly stated, “America should be ashamed that there is even a single veteran homeless.” Mayor Harp recently signed on to the nationwide Mayors’ Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness.

Leigh Shields-Church gave a brief presentation on the tremendous progress made by the 100 day team. The presentation included a breakdown of the 506 individuals surveyed during registry week, and showed the 100-Day Team’s progress to date as to how many people have been housed or provisionally matched. Shields shared that the team has successfully housed 43 individuals and provisionally matched another 56, a total of 102 people helped by the new system.

To read the complete issue, use this link:   Coordinated Access Highlights Week #3

City of Danbury - Opening Section 8 Designated Housing Choice Voucher Program Waiting List

PUBLIC NOTICE
THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF DANBURY

Is  pleased  to  announce  the  opening  of  its  Section  8  Designated  Housing Choice  Voucher  (DHCV)  Program  waiting  list  on  August  18,  2014.  DHCV applicants must be under 62 years of age,  with a disability, and  require a 1 bedroom unit.

Pre-applications will be accepted by mail  only (no fax submissions will be accepted)  and  must  be  postmarked  between  the  dates  of  August  18,  2014  and August  29,  2014.    Online  applications  will  also  be  accepted  until  1:00  p.m.  on August 29, 2014.    Pre-applications and the online application  will be available at the HACD’s website, www.hacdct.org and at each site office.

Filling out the pre-application form will put the household into a lottery for possible  inclusion  on  the  waiting  list.   Two  hundred  (200)  applications  will  be chosen by  a  random, electronic  lottery  system  for  placement  the  DHCV waiting liston October 31, 2014.

Only  one  submission  per  family  will  be  accepted  and  duplicate applications  will  be  rejected.  The  waiting  list  will  close  August  29,  2014  at  1:00
PM.

Press Coverage of Congressional Briefing

Hello Everyone—

I wanted to share the press coverage resulting from Tuesday’s Congressional Briefing with Senator Murphy, Senator Blumenthal, and Mayor Harp.  It was a great platform to highlight the work and outcomes of the 100-Day Challenge as the initial days came to a close on July 30th.  However, the event also highlighted that our work is in many ways just beginning as we continue to create the evolving system.

Please keep Wednesday, September 17^th from 9:00am to 11:00am open for the 100-Day Challenge Community Meeting, which will focus on the system, outcomes, project sustainability, and next steps.   Formal invitations will be coming.

As always, thank you to everyone for your efforts, dedication, and enthusiasm for this project.  This has been a tremendous community endeavor that has resulted in significant change and improved outcomes to rapidly move individuals into housing! 

Coverage of 100-Day congressional briefing:

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Progress-in-Quest-to-Reduce-Homelessness-in-New-Haven-270044821.html

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/100_days_102_housed/

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-new-haven-homeless-murphy-blumenthal-20140805,0,3231834.story

http://www.nhregister.com/government-and-politics/20140805/new-haven-houses-102-during-100-day-homeless-challenge

http://www.ctn.state.ct.us/show_info.asp?mbID=21613

Coordinated Access Weekly Highlights Week #2

August 1, 2014

This Weeks Totals!!

Total Housed Since June 1st = 43

Total Provisionally Matched & in the Pipeline for Housing= 59

Total Served/ Being Served = 102

Press Conference with Mayor Harp

On Friday, July 25th, a press conference was held at New Haven City Hall with Mayor Toni Harp, discussing the progress of the 100 day challenge to End Homelessness. At the conference Mayor Harp expressed her support in the 100 day challenge stating, “We are making progress.” Earlier this month Harp signed the “Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness” which is a federal effort to end homelessness by 2015. With backing from the Mayor members of the 100 day team shared the progress they have made as well as informed the public of how and why the 100 day challenge is in fact working. With a few doubtful eyes in the crowd from protestors, Leigh Shields-Church of Greater New Haven Opening Doors and team leader of the 100 day campaign confidently announced that 39 of New Havens most chronically homeless have been housed and a total of 86 people provisionally matched since June 1st. Another positive comment came from Lisa Tepper-Bates head of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness stating “Organizations are now talking to each other and working together, that’s a revolution.” Also in attendance was Joseph Jackson and Gary Clempson, both veterans and both formally homeless. Jackson and Clempson are now housed thanks to the efforts of the 100 day campaign. “To this day, I can’t really tell you how much it means to have a permanent place to live.” Says Jackson. Homelessness can’t end overnight, but with the help from the 100 day campaign team more people than ever are being housed and taken off the streets.


Read full document here

Pre-Applications for Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and Rental Assistance Program - EASY ONLINE APPLICATION

Use this link to submit your pre-application for these programs!

https://www.ctsection8hcv.com/INDEX.asp



Very, very easy!!! Do it today!

Good Morning,

You may find this article interesting:  http://www.commondreams.org/further/2014/08/02/cardboard-stories


Your Friendly Blogger

Saturday, August 02, 2014

Cardboard Stories

by

Abby Zimet, staff writer

• 0Share

 
Because "the homeless are people, just like you and I,"  they all have stories to tell. Seeking to humanize those who are too often invisible, the advocacy project Rethink Homelessness, by the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness, asked a group of people living on the mean streets of Orlando, Florida to write down one thing about themselves that might surprise others. The resulting video is stunning - especially in light of their recent study finding that each chronically homeless person costs the community about $30,000 a year. The cost of finding them housing: $10,000. The Commission has ways to help and other videos. Check out what three guys find in two blocks in one day.
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