Homeless Response System Online Learning Clinic 2018 – Part III: Building Dallas’ Homeless Response System – 2015-2017 – Diversion and Coordinated Access

The linked infographic, developed by the equivalent to MDHA in Kansas City[i] a few years ago, is extremely useful in understanding how over the course of the last three years we built an effective unified homeless response system, here in Dallas. (It is helpful to consult it, while reading the next parts.) This system has four main attributes.

Diversion

It seeks to divert individuals from having to enter into or engage with the system. It recognizes that homelessness is not homogeneous; it is on a continuum. Many of those who seek our help have the capacity to self-resolve, with the help of mainstream resources, or “light touch” one-time assistance[ii]. In Dallas, Family Gateway[iii] and Austin Street Center[iv] stand out, as two partners, who over the course of 2017, put in place robust diversion protocols, to help clients end their homelessness, and avoid or shorten their stay in shelter. 

Coordinated Access
 
It assesses, prioritizes, and only then places individuals into housing. This is referred to by scholars and the Federal Government as Coordinated Assessment, or Coordinated Access. In the absence of such a system, homeless service providers each operate on their own, and when approached by an individual needing help, typically ask some version of this question, “Will this person be successful in our program?” This leads to those with lesser needs and lower vulnerability being served, while those with greater needs and vulnerability are turned away.[v]

In an effective coordinated system, the system as a whole asks, “What solutions best match the needs of this person, and will end their homelessness quickly and permanently?” The system has one (virtual) entry point only. No placements are made in any program without:
 

• Assessing – We objectively and uniformly assess each person, with an evidence-based tool[vi];
• Prioritizing – We prioritize each person for service, based on the level of their vulnerability and according to their specific needs. Each person is awarded a priority status or P number. The lower the number, the higher the priority.
• Placing – All clients go on to a unified Housing Priority List, and are housed based on their priority status and specific needs.

 
MDHA’s Housing Priority List (HPL) has been operational since early 2016. It represents the demand side of the housing equation. It is managed by the Documentation and Prioritization Status (DOPS) Coordinator, who ensures that the persons on it have not only been assessed and prioritized for service, but also have all necessary documents, so they may be housed without delay. Housing providers are expected to house those with a lower P number (indicating greater need and vulnerability) first. As of February 2018, there are about 750 individuals on the Housing Priority list, ready to be housed.
 
The Housing Inventory Chart (HIC) contains all beds funded through our Continuum of Care (CoC) program. It represents the supply side of the housing equation. It is managed by the Housing Resources Team, who ensure that when a unit becomes available, it is filled as soon as possible. The motto of the Housing Resources Team is “No Empty Bed”. All CoC program resources must be fully utilized, with every bed filled and every penny of federal housing dollars spent. The team also actively grows the supply of known housing, by finding housing units outside of the CoC program.
 
The CoC’s performance in this core area is constantly monitored by the CoC Performance Analyst, who produces the Housing Priority List Tracker, which aggregates all of the individuals on the Housing Priority List by priority status. The Analyst produces the quarterly[vii] Homeless Response System Community Dashboard[viii], through which MDHA tracks the community’s performance in housing individuals experiencing homelessness along five performance indicators on the demand side and five performance indicators on the supply side.
 

 

---

[i] http://www.marc.org/Community/Homelessness-Task-Force/Assets/HTF-coordinated-intake-graphic-web.aspx

[ii] This idea is referred to as Progressive Engagement. See more on this concept, and its application to homelessness in A Prevention-Centered Approach to Homelessness Assistance: A Paradigm Shift? by Dennis Culhane, Stephen Metraux, and Thomas Byrne (2011), http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1105&context=dennis_culhane

[iii] http://www.mdhadallas.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CoC-Family-and-DV-Services-Committee-Update-8-2017.pdf

[iv] http://www.austinstreet.org/ending-homelessness-through-prevention/

[v] See more at http://endinghomelessnessmdha.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-how-to-of-building-effective.html and http://endinghomelessnessmdha.blogspot.com/2016/03/coordinated-access-heart-of-effective.html

[vi] Our Continuum of Care, like many across the world, uses the VI-SPDAT and SPDAT from OrgCode Consulting – www.orgcode.com. 

[vii] See http://www.mdhadallas.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/MDHA-Homeless-Response-System-Community-Dashboard-3Q-July-September-2017.pdf for the latest report.

[viii] http://www.mdhadallas.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/MDHA-HRS-Community-Dashboard.docx

If You Build It, They Will Come (Not Really, So…) - Don’t Miss This Important Training Opportunity!

One of the ideas at the core of Opening Doors and our CoC Strategic Work Plan is that in the area of homeless services, an “If you build it, they will come,” approach does not work. This should surprise no one, as every product requires a delivery system, certainly a scarce product, like housing for those experiencing homelessness. As we explain in our playbook, that delivery system, our homeless response system, addresses the demand side of the equation (who needs housing) and the supply side (who has housing).

Cynthia Scaife, Housing Resources Liaison

 

To this end, in late 2016, MDHA hired James McClinton, our Housing Resources Director. James manages the Housing Inventory Chart (HIC) of all CoC programs (so when a person is ready to be housed, a unit is available, as soon as possible), while also growing the supply of known housing, and finding housing units beyond the reach of the HIC. Recently, we added another member to our team, Cynthia Scaife, as Housing Resources Liaison, to work with James on that last piece, finding housing units in the private market. In hiring Cynthia, a licensed and experienced realtor, we have already begun to pack more of a punch in the supply side of our homeless response system.

In an exciting development, MDHA has teamed up with the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) to offer two training sessions next week on Engaging Community Partners to Expand Supportive Housing. On August 1, 2017, 1-4pm, we will discuss Linking Development with Services, and on August 2, 2017, 9am-12pm, we will discuss Finding Community Partners. Click through for all the details. RSVP is required, so click here and act now!

 

In related news, if there is one population for which the, "If you build it, they will come," approach might have the smallest chance of working, it is youth. To that end, our VISTA, Victoria Jackson created a brand new, up to date, Youth Services Directory. Victoria is in the process of building a web page version of the directory, which is currently available as a PDF. We will also be distributing print desk copies to public high schools and middle schools, throughout Dallas and Collin Counties. 

Coordinated Access in Action in Dallas and Collin Counties

The MDHA team, under Crain’s leadership sought to replicate what the TCHC team did in Tarrant County on this side of the Metroplex in the area of Coordinated Access specifically and the development of an effective homeless response system, in general. Fortuitously, HUD, which had expected up until recently for communities to foot the bill for Coordinated Access, agreed to pay for these systems through the CoC grant process. (TCHC had received the first federal grant for CAS in the State of Texas.) Crain and her new team drew up a detailed plan to replicate the above Coordinated Access System on a scale that fit Dallas, based on the process and job descriptions in the Tarrant County CAS.

The Dallas plan would also include two additional contracted positions. One of these persons would help Collin County, with its unique needs, develop and manage the necessary systems to fully take advantage of the Coordinated Access System. Another would be devoted to helping persons experiencing homelessness obtain social security income, which for many would mean that they can then transition from a shelter or unsheltered living situation, into housing.

The CoC and the MDHA Board (which serves as the former’s board of directors) approved the plan, and it was submitted to HUD, which approved the funding. (Parts of the CAS have already been implemented with previously available funding.) Once this HUD funding arrives in May, the full CAS will be implemented. Here are some specific metrics that MDHA will be tracking:

Quantifiable Metric	Data to be Gathered	Specific Measure	Data Collection Procedure	Data Source
Assess 8 persons or more per day in the CAS	Total persons assessed every day	Did MDHA assess 8 persons or more per day?	Obtain number of those assessed every day	HMIS, DOPS Coordinator
Decrease the amount of time between assessment and client going on to the housing priority list to 3 business days	Number of business days between assessment and client going on to housing the priority list	Is the number of business days between assessment and going on to the housing priority list, 3 business days or less?	Obtain dates of assessment and going on to housing list for all those assessed, and subtract the former from the latter	HMIS, Housing Priority List, DOPS Coordinator
Decrease the number of days any client is on the housing priority list prior to housing to 90 days or less	Number of days each person is on housing priority	Is the average number of days of persons on the housing priority list 90 or less?	Obtain dates of DOPS of each person going on to housing priority list and housing, and subtract the former from the latter	HMIS, Housing Priority List HIC Specialist
Raise the occupancy rates in all CoC programs to 98%	Number of beds in CoC programs vs. number of persons enrolled in the programs	Is the number of persons divided by the number of beds equal to or greater than 0.98?	Obtain the number of beds and number of persons in CoC programs, and divide the former by the latter	HMIS, HIC Specialist

We look forward to keeping you up to date on how we are doing!

Coordinated Access Blog Post Series

As we mentioned in the two previous blog posts, MDHA is building a Coordinated Access System (CAS). In CAS, all persons are assessed, using a common, uniform, objective and evidence based assessment tool, so they may be prioritized for service and matched with the services that will best help end their homelessness as quickly as possible. Wherever possible, persons are diverted from the system, by identifying means through which they can self-resolve, and where necessary connect to services outside of the homeless response system. Persons for whom this does not suffice, are placed on a housing priority list, and then matched with the programs that best fit their level of vulnerability and need. Housing programs populate their housing units exclusively from that list.

MDHA is building a CAS based on the successful model implemented in Tarrant County, which brought about a significant drop in the chronically homeless population. In this model, one professional manages the documentation and prioritization status (DOPS) of persons experiencing homelessness, so they may go on the housing priority list, and be ready for housing as soon as a unit becomes available. Another professional manages the supply of housing, primarily on the Housing Inventory Chart (HIC) of all HUD funded programs, so conversely, when a person needs housing, a unit is available, as soon as possible. These two professionals are guided by a manager, who pulls the whole process together in a systematic manner, aligns CAS with HMIS reporting, and integrates shelters, service providers working with the unsheltered, and housing service providers into one system of care. Dallas applied for and will receive a HUD grant to fund its CAS.

Stay tuned for our next blog posts, which tell the full story of our CAS:

• Coordinated Access – the Heart of an Effective Homeless Response System
• Coordinated Access in Action in Tarrant County – Documentation and Prioritization
• Coordinated Access in Action in Tarrant County – Housing Inventory
• Coordinated Access in Action in Tarrant County – Pulling It All Together
• Coordinated Access in Action in Dallas and Collin Counties