On the Rise of Homelessness in Urban America, and Our Next Steps to Address It Here in Dallas

During her State of the Homeless Address on March 21, 2018, Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO, shared the results of the 2018 Homeless Count in Dallas and Collin Counties. The numbers showed an increase in homelessness, in general, and unsheltered homelessness, specifically, accompanied by drops in chronic and veteran homelessness. That same week, the Collin County Homeless Coalition published its report, which showed a drop in the number of those experiencing homelessness in that county. Not surprisingly, it takes the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) many more months to report on the results for the entire country.
 
In the meantime, we do have the 2017 numbers, which came out fairly recently, this last December, with HUD’s submission of Part I of its 2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress on Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness. HUD reported that, “Homelessness increased for the first time in seven years. The number of people experiencing homelessness increased by a little less than one percent between 2016 and 2017.” Interestingly, though, this aggregate number reflects two separate phenomena: “This increase reflected a nine percent increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness in unsheltered locations, which was partially offset by a three percent decline in the number of people experiencing homelessness in sheltered locations.”
 
More importantly, HUD emphasized that this is primarily an urban problem: “Recent increases in homelessness were driven mostly by specific changes happening within cities. Increases in the numbers of unsheltered individuals in the 50 largest cities accounted for nearly all of the national increase…  The number of all people experiencing homelessness increased in major cities and decreased elsewhere between 2016 and 2017… More specifically, increases in unsheltered homelessness in major cities drove the national increase…”

One of our homeless friends at an encampment in 2017
(Photo taken by award winning photographer, B.J. Lacasse)

Why is this? What is going on in our cities?

An earlier HUD report, Worst Case Housing Needs – 2017 Report to Congress, may help us understand:

Worst case housing needs are a national problem. Such severe housing problems have expanded dramatically during the past decade and were exacerbated by the economic recession and associated collapse of the housing market, which reduced homeownership through foreclosures and tight lending and increased demand for renting. The slight improvements observed since 2011 offer cause for hope, but the failure to sustain the more promising trends observed in 2013 is sobering… The latest resumption of worsening housing problems among the nation’s very low-income renters is attributable primarily to demographic and economic factors—especially a notable shift from homeownership to renting—that grew the number of households susceptible to worst case needs. Uneven housing market responses that increased the proportion of unassisted very low-income renters with severe rent burdens played a secondary yet substantial role.

Even with rental assistance, 6 of 10 extremely low-income renters and 4 of 10 very low-income renters do not have access to affordable and available housing units. Among very low-income renters in 2015, only 25 percent of households had rental assistance and an additional 43 percent had worst case needs for assisted or other affordable housing. In other words, only a small share of very low-income renters—32 percent—avoided severe housing problems in the unassisted private rental market in 2015.  

And where is this problem most pronounced? “Central cities were home to most (9.51 million) very low-income renters, followed by suburbs (7.23 million) and nonmetropolitan areas (2.49 million).” The report emphasizes that the main culprit in this crisis is the lack of affordable rental housing in the nation’s urban centers.
 
Arguably, what we have is not a homelessness crisis, but an acute affordable housing crisis, and the epicenter of that crisis is in our cities, including Dallas and other urban communities in Texas. As we wrote, about a year ago, “Housing is the key… Local governments must act now to create affordable housing… We need more permanent supportive housing, more second chance housing, and more affordable housing in the 0-30% AMI (Area Median Income) range.” And HUD’s prescription is clear: “A broad strategy at the federal, state, and local levels is needed to continue to rebuild the economy, strengthen and realign markets, and provide assistance to those families most in need.”

Two of our formerly homeless friends
(Photo taken by award winning photographer, B.J. Lacasse)

The emphasis on the federal level is well warranted. The current level of federal funding for the Continuum of Care Program, just over $2 billion, is essentially a rounding error in a $4 trillion Federal Budget. We can’t expect to end homelessness, with this level of investment. As we wrote in December: “Especially over the last decade, we have become extremely skillful at building systems that maximize the impact of these $2 billion. However, as a nation, we have not explored the idea of significantly adding to that funding. We have accepted… that around $2 billion, in 2017 dollars, is enough to defeat a social ill that has been with us for forty years and counting.”

Ann Oliva
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, HUD

However, we do need to do our part here in Dallas and Collin Counties, and specifically the urban core of Dallas, to address this affordable housing crisis, that is driving the increase in homelessness. This is why on March 28-29, 2018, we brought together all of the major “players”, in Dallas and Collin Counties, who can affect this type of change on the local level, for a Homeless Response System Leadership Training and Strategic Planning Retreat. This groundbreaking gathering was facilitated by OrgCode, led by pioneering world expert, Dr. Iain De Jong. With De Jong and former HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary Ann Oliva, leading a team of facilitators, this retreat, with more than 65 senior leaders in attendance, was designed to usher in a more strategic community response to homelessness.

Dr. Iain De Jong
(Courtesy of the Salt Lake Tribune)

Participating leaders spent two whole days of intense action-oriented participative and interactive hard work. They focused on the critical nature of collective impact, and how an effective system of care can bring about an end to homelessness in our community. Together, through a strategic planning journey, utilizing the Breakthrough Thinking approach, participants made the necessary decisions and vital commitments that will chart our course, as a community.

We look forward to sharing the report OrgCode will produce to help our community flesh out the next steps. Then, united in vision and purpose, we will act on those decisions, and fulfill those commitments. That is how, working together, as a community, we can and will make homelessness in Dallas and Collin Counties, rare, brief and nonrecurring.

In Dallas Everybody Counts. OK, What Happens Next?

Wow. What can we say? Thursday night, you showed that, in Dallas, everybody counts.   

We had so many volunteers at our largest site, First United Methodist Church, Dallas, that the first floor of the sanctuary, which seats 800, could not fit everyone. Some of our volunteers had to go up to the balcony! Altogether, we broke the record we set last year, in what was, once again, the largest Homeless Count in Texas history, with over 1,500 volunteers.

 So many organizations and individuals helped us pull this off. There is no way we could thank everyone who helped us. We did want to highlight First United Methodist Church, Dallas, and Wilshire Baptist Church, who hosted our two Dallas sites. And, as usual, our friends at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas proved indispensable, in spreading the word about the need for volunteers, and in running a special campaign, Warm a Sole, to give a pair of socks to every person experiencing homelessness in Dallas and Collin Counties.

 
Do you have pics, stories or impressions to share about that night, which you have yet to post? Please share them, using: #dallascounts2018.

If this is your first Homeless Count, and even if you have done a few before, you might be asking, OK, what happens now? Great question!

First of all, as we mentioned on our blog before, the use of the Counting Us app helped us and our partners immediately connect persons experiencing homelessness to services. Since the app automatically records the exact latitude and longitude of each person counted, we were able to supply outreach teams with this information. They were then able to go out the very next morning to assist individuals who might qualify for specific programs, specifically, youth, veterans, persons with HIV/AIDS, and pregnant women.

 The main thing we will do now, though, is compile all of the results we collected, of both sheltered and unsheltered counts, "clean" them up, correcting for duplicates and other errors, and "slice and dice" them by specific demographic groups. We will carefully analyze the results, and figure what they tell us about trends in homelessness, what is working in our homeless response system, and where our community needs to course correct.

On Wednesday, March 21, 2018, 9.30-11.30am, we will hold our annual State of the Homeless Address at Goodwill Industries of Dallas. Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO, will share the results of the 2018 Point-in-Time Homeless Count, and the progress of the Homeless Response System. Please save the date!

 

Finally, we will submit the results of the Count to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These results will go into a national report HUD will submit to the U.S. Congress in late 2018. You can check out the 2017 report by clicking here. 

A Vision to End the Experience of Homelessness in the Greater Dallas Area - Response to City of Dallas Audit of Homeless Response System Effectiveness

The Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) is committed to leading the development of an effective homeless response system that will make the experience of homelessness in Dallas and Collin Counties rare, brief, and non-recurring. We strongly believe that a coordinated approach, across private, public and nonprofit sectors, is critical to addressing this important social issue. Therefore, we are encouraged that the City of Dallas is taking an active role in addressing our homeless response system.

MDHA, and the Continuum of Care, have embarked on a novel approach to addressing the experience of homelessness and enable transparent communications across a variety of agencies. In November of 2015, the MDHA Board of Directors, including representation from the City of Dallas and The Bridge, voted unanimously in an open forum to migrate to a ground-breaking, modern technology -- one that would go above and beyond traditional HMIS systems to holistically address barriers to care for vulnerable populations.

Launching an innovative information solution such as this is no easy task. “We chose to take this new HMIS implementation approach provided by the PIECES Tech IRIS information solution with long-term objectives in mind: Coordinating a data share across 38 homeless service providers, with the unique added value of building connections and resources with the broader Dallas area community based organizations outside the homeless system of care. We have nearly completed this transition.” said Cindy Crain, MDHA President and CEO.

In the past six months of being live on the new HMIS system, we have seen many successes, including full participation from the Veterans Affairs homeless programs and more complete reporting by shelters. In September of 2014, there was no documentation of individuals served by emergency shelters within the HMIS in our Annual Homeless Assessment Report submitted to HUD. By September of 2017, 57% of individuals served in shelters were documented within the new HMIS system. Tracking of this information allows us to better understand and serve persons experiencing homelessness.

“We embrace our service-focused relationship with all of our partner agencies and appreciate how forthcoming they have been in supporting this process, sharing their data and seeking even more improvements to the HMIS.” said Crain. “We are removing silos between homeless providers, connecting them to a larger network of resources which is enabling more robust reporting providing transparent accountability of our performance, identifying service gaps, and innovating future solutions to help the most vulnerable residents in the greater Dallas area.”

CoC Strategic Work Plan Online Learning Clinic Rapidly House Youth

Have you had a chance to review our Continuum of Care Strategic Work Plan? If you want to be part of the solution, in making homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring in Dallas and Collin Counties, we encourage you to carefully review the plan. Whether you are a professional or lay leader, a case manager or a volunteer, a program director or an advocate, there is bound to be something you can help with.

Over the next few weeks, we will be posting a series of blog posts, which we are calling the CoC Strategic Work Plan Online Learning Clinic. Each post will drill down into another aspect of the plan, to encourage you to get involved, and help us make measurable progress in ending homelessness. To maximize your learning and your ability to make an impact, we recommend you carefully read the entire first page now. Then review the entire page or pages that the individual blog post pertains to, as you read each post.

 

We will start with Goal V on page 6: Rapidly House Youth. We have already made great progress on the first action item: Develop youth housing and services resource guide/web based/smart device application. Our Resource Development VISTA, Victoria Jackson, completed our Youth Services Directory, we posted it on our website, and she sent a hard copy to each middle and high school in Dallas and Collin Counties. She is currently working on the web based version.

Victoria Jackson

MDHA’s Resource Development VISTA

We are already planning for how we can make progress on the seventh action item: Develop more accurate methods to conduct census of homeless youth. Stay tuned over the next few months, especially during our See Me Now event, which focuses on youth homelessness, for more information on how you can help us with just that.

One of the most important things to remember about this specific item, the entire goal, and Goal IV on page 5, is that homelessness, specifically when it refers to youth and children, has more than one meaning. Therefore, counting youth and children experiencing homelessness will produce more than one number.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines homelessness more narrowly, while the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) defines homelessness more expansively. HUD’s more narrow definition is due to the legislators’ desire to more carefully target scarce funding for homeless housing programs. DOE’s more expansive definition is due to the legislators’ desire to err on the side of caution and provide services in the educational environment to a broader set of students.

The method of counting itself is also different, for much the same rationales, under each definition. We conduct an annual homeless count, and track numbers throughout the year through our Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), to arrive at the most accurate numbers we can, under the HUD definition. School districts ask families to self-report whether they are homeless, typically during school registration, and by aggregating these self-reports, school districts arrive at the numbers under the DOE definition. 

Mark Pierce

 Dallas ISD District Homeless Liaison (Courtesy of the Dallas Morning News)

Therefore, it is quite normal to see school district numbers, such as those discussed by Mark Pierce, Dallas ISD District Homeless Liaison and MDHA board member, in this excellent article from earlier this year, that dwarf the numbers we report. It’s not because we disagree; it’s because we are talking about different definitions. Indeed, that is why, once again, this action item, this entire goal and Goal IV are so important. Along with our counterparts in other American communities, our CoC is committed, to continuing to build and develop a homeless response system that serves the unique and different needs of homeless youth and children, whatever definition they fall under.

To that end, among other things, we, as a community, must do what is called for in the fourth, fifth and sixth action items under this goal, namely, gather and report ISD homeless youth data, expand youth drop-in centers, and link these to the rest of the homeless response system. This way, working hand in hand with our partners, area school districts, family and youth homeless services and shelters, as well as mainstream services, we can and will strike a blow against family and youth homelessness, in all its manifestations.

Introducing the MDHA Homeless Response System Community Dashboard

In February, the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) will begin to publish quarterly reports tracking our community’s progress in making homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring in Dallas and Collin Counties. This Homeless Response System Community Dashboard will provide a snapshot of the core system metrics that inform us on achievements in moving individuals to permanent housing.

Simply put, it will capture who is homeless and in need of housing, and inform the community on how well we are utilizing the housing resources we have. The dashboard is purposely centered on housing as the primary solution to homelessness.

The core system metrics conform to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) performance indicators. The data comes directly from agencies reporting into MDHA’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). As more emergency shelters begin reporting into the HMIS system, the more valuable this report becomes to the community.

The dashboard will be organized across ten measures, five on the ‘demand/need’ side, and five on the ‘supply’ side. Click through to view all ten measures in detail. (For convenience, this document includes all of the language in this blog post too.)

The first report, scheduled to be published on February 13, 2017, will cover activity between October 1 through December 31, 2016. This first dashboard will establish a baseline to which we can compare future performance.

With each Homeless Response System Community Dashboard, MDHA will provide a brief executive review of what the data tells us, methods for systemic improvement, and other impacts to the system of care.

It’s Important to Do What Works

Opening Doors - the national strategic plan

to end homelessness

Sometimes folks tell us that we should not let HUD dictate what we do. Who are they, in Washington, to know what is right for us in Dallas?! Well, in fact, HUD does NOT dictate what we do; the evidence does. Decades of research, culminating in the landmark national strategic plan to end homelessness, mentioned above, Opening Doors, guide our work in every community. This plan came about through the specific contribution of 750 leaders and experts from around the country (including in our community), but also "through thousands of individuals (emphasis ours) who contributed online, in meetings, and in Agency analysis", whose "wisdom and experience helped determine priorities based on data, research, and results."

So, while there are certainly philosophical reasons to advocate for Housing First, not Housing Readiness, for Rapid Rehousing, not Transitional Housing (except for youth and domestic violence survivors), and for a coordinated homeless response system, rather than an uncoordinated homeless service environment, what really matters is that in each of these examples is that the former works, and the latter does not. We have to follow data, research and results. Would any other approach be fair to those we ultimately serve, those experiencing homelessness?  

Busiest Time of the Year

The official seal of HUD

Things never seem to slow down at MDHA, so after writing the above headline, I hesitated for a moment. However, it is difficult to argue that now is not the busiest time of the year for us. In fact, if you happen to interact with any of the folks, who are funded through the Continuum of Care (CoC), don't be surprised if they look a little harried, perhaps mumbling strange sounds like NOFA, eSNAPS, PRAC, LOCCS, and more. If they are worried about their APR, it is not their mortgage they are preoccupied with, and if they are filling out a scorecard, they are not wasting their work hours on their fantasy baseball teams.

So, what is going on? Once a year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issues its Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), through which it makes (this year) about $1.9 billion for the funding of CoC programs in every American community (a little less than $17 million for Dallas). The vast majority of these funds go to housing programs for those experiencing homelessness, with the remainder going to the infrastructure of homeless response systems. Programs do not apply on their own, rather as part of their local CoCs, and the entire process is managed by lead agencies, like MDHA, who are the designated collaborative applicants, on behalf of communities.

All of this seemingly dry technical work is guided by HUD's robust vision is to end homelessness. As the HUD website states: "HUD is committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to end homelessness. We've made tremendous progress in recent years, including a 21% drop in chronic homelessness and a 33% drop in veteran homelessness. To achieve the goals of Opening Doors, and end homelessness, we've got to build on what we know works by strengthening interagency collaboration and investing in proven approaches such as Housing First." (Emphasis ours)

Here is the kicker, and one of the reasons this process, which can occur at a totally different random time every year (Yay!), pretty much subsumes the CoC collaborative applicant, and those in each agency that are in charge of the agency portion of this huge application: This funding, which for Dallas approaches $17 million, is anything but automatic! In fact, the process is referred to as a competition, because that is what it is. Communities and programs that do a good job at ending homelessness get funded and can even get extra funding, and communities and programs that don't do a good job, well, you know the rest... 

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 in Action in Tarrant County – Pulling It All Together

As stated, the roles of the DOPS Coordinator and HIC Specialist are distinct. However for the process to work, someone needs to manage not only these vital employees, but to pull the whole process together in a systematic manner, aligning supply with demand, persons with units. This person would also work with the HMIS team to make sure that all information in the DOPS Matrix and the DOPS HIC properly line up with the information in HMIS reporting. This person would work with shelters and programs serving the unsheltered to align them within the existing system of care, rather than operating beside it. This person would also manage the relationships with service providers and housing providers in coordination with TCHC leadership. Hence the TCHC team established the role of the Coordinated Access System (CAS) Manager to carry out these functions.

Though HUD has been urging communities to “get going” in establishing Coordinated Access Systems, some have made more progress than others. Many around the country have cited TCHC’s work on implementing a Coordinated Access System, as an example for other communities. When one examines the reduction in a few short months in real time homelessness of the chronically homeless in Tarrant County, one understands why. Within four months of adoption, the TCHC team was able to house a full third of the chronically homeless population!

Coordinated Access – the Heart of an Effective Homeless Response System

Coordinated Access goes by different names, Coordinated or Centralized Access, Coordinated or Centralized Assessment, Coordinated or Centralized Entry. HUD defines and requires an effective Coordinated Access System to be the heart of every homeless response system, and tasks CoCs with setting up:

Centralized or coordinated assessment system is defined to mean a centralized or coordinated process designed to coordinate program participant intake, assessment, and provision of referrals. A centralized or coordinated assessment system covers the geographic area, is easily accessed by individuals and families seeking housing or services, is well advertised, and includes a comprehensive and standardized assessment tool… The Continuum of Care must… establish and operate either a centralized or coordinated assessment system… 

Why does HUD require this? Because, the converse, an uncoordinated environment, that expects “people to navigate multiple programs in an effort to get their needs met,” does not work:

Uncoordinated intake systems cause problems for providers and consumers. Families with housing crises may end up going to multiple agencies that cannot serve them before they get to the one most appropriate for their needs. Each agency may have separate and duplicative intake forms or requirements, slowing down families’ receipt of assistance, and each interaction with an agency opens up a need for data entry into a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) or a similar system. Extra staff, time, and money are spent doing intake and assessment, taking time away from other, more housing-focused tasks, such as case management, housing location, and landlord negotiation. Research suggests that, in many systems, resources are being conferred on a small subset of families whose needs may primarily be economic, while those with more significant challenges (co-occurring disorders, complete lack of a social support system, etc.) are falling through the cracks. Centralized intake makes it easier for communities to match families to the services they need, no matter how difficult their barriers are to address.

How does the above translate into action? Regardless of where a person presents, they come in through the same “front door”, i.e. are assessed, using a common, uniform, objective and evidence based assessment tool. Many communities, across North America, Western Europe and Oceania use Dr. Iain De Jong’s Vulnerability Index – Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Prescreen Tool (VI-SPDAT). This tool establishes the level of need and risk of the person, so the person may be prioritized for service and matched with the services that will best help that person end his or her homelessness as quickly as possible.

A fully up and running Coordinated Access System seeks to help persons, first by helping them identify any means to self-resolve and stabilize their situation, and/or find alternative housing. Where necessary it connects persons to other services and assistance (including financial) outside of the homeless response system. These work for most people, and allow the system to focus its limited resources on the minority for whom this will not suffice. Persons in that minority, go on to a housing priority list, and are then matched with the programs that best fit their level of need and risk. Housing programs populate their housing units only from that list. All other methods of entry or “side doors” are shut.

In accordance with evidence-based practices and the preference HUD gives to permanent housing options, a majority will most likely be rapidly rehoused, with services offered in an a-la-carte fashion. A minority of persons, with the most acute needs, will be housed in permanent supportive housing, which in accordance with Housing First policies will make a comprehensive and intense set of services available, not required. Some persons, mainly domestic violence survivors and youth, for whom this is most appropriate, will be offered more traditional transitional housing. It is important also to note that when a community “flips the switch” on such a system, it typically will find itself dealing first and foremost with the “backlog” of chronic and unsheltered homelessness, first and foremost.

This 2014 infographic clarifies CAS in an arrestingly visual way. This is not meant to represent Dallas or Fort Worth’s CAS. Every community needs to establish and operate a CAS that fits its needs. However, most of what the infographic describes will be true in every system, not only in Kansas City: