Homeless Response System Online Learning Clinic 2018 – Part II: The Need for a Homeless Response System

Around the same time, the Federal Government realized that it was not enough to build and fund these housing programs. Policy makers realized that just having the resources available to help those experiencing homelessness would not suffice. Like every product, commodity or service, without a delivery system, communities could not deal with their challenges. This was especially true given the scarcity of the resource they were trying to deliver, housing for the homeless.

 

This is why in its landmark legislation on homelessness, the 2009 Homeless

Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act[i], and in Opening Doors[ii], the national strategic plan to end homelessness, established under the Act, Congress mandated that there needed to be a homeless response system in every community. Crucially, Congress tasked organizations like ours, in most American communities, with the responsibility and necessary statutory authority to establish and run these robust systems. The five most important roles they gave us are:

 

• Facilitate grant funding for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funded homeless services programs (Continuum of Care or CoC grants totaling about $16 million annually in Dallas’ case);
• Administer the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), the federally-mandated community wide database, that drives improvement of homeless services programs, serving 10,126 persons;
• Maintain a count of persons experiencing homelessness;
• Maintain an inventory of housing and shelter beds for the homeless and formerly homeless.
• Develop and quarterback an effective unified homeless response system, where all homeless services programs work together to make homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring.

 

---

[i] See https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/S896_HEARTHAct.pdf, for the full text of the Act (beginning page 32).

[ii] http://usich.gov/resources/uploads/asset_library/USICH_OpeningDoors_Amendment2015_FINAL.pdf

Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) Holds First Annual Landlord Appreciation Luncheon

Irving, Texas - It’s one of the most basic ideas at the core of every economy: For your product to reach its customer, you need a delivery system. Take the phone in your pocket, for example. If all Apple or Samsung did was manufacture the phone, it would never arrive in the country you live in, much less in your pocket. If this is true regarding phones, which are abundant, how much more so regarding housing for those who are experiencing homelessness, a much scarcer resource. 

This is why the 2009 HEARTH Act and Opening Doors, the national strategic plan to end homelessness, established under the Act, call for a homeless response system in each and every community, to be developed and operated by backbone organizations like the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA). Over the course of the last three years, MDHA has developed the extensive infrastructure necessary for a well-functioning homeless response system, to manage both the demand for and the supply of housing for those experiencing homelessness. Landlords and property owners are key to any such effort. 

On March 1, 2018, MDHA held its first annual Landlord Appreciation Luncheon, at the Las Colinas Country Club, in Irving, Texas, to thank those landlords who rent units to those who have experienced homelessness, and encourage other landlords to join their ranks. At the luncheon, Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO, emphasized, “Both landlords and MDHA want basically the same four things: Rent paid on time, a long uneventful lease, no police calls, and a well-maintained property.”

Stewart Hill, Pinnacle (left), and James McClinton, MDHA

James McClinton, MDHA Housing Resources Director, highlighted landlords that have translated this common set of goals into a win-win proposition: “There are some exceptional efforts taking place among you, through companies like Lumacorp, Pinnacle, Walker Holder and Lane Star Properties.”

Crain mentioned several steps MDHA has taken, over the last 12-18 months, on the supply side of the housing equation, to make renting to those experiencing homelessness an attractive option:
 

• Created a dedicated housing supply staff at MDHA;
• Developed a landlord incentive approach to building supply of housing options;
• Assisting agencies to negotiate for rental units;
• Expanded the MDHA Flex Fund to cover more deposits and fees;
• Provide housing search training on site and in house;
• Developed “insiders” list of open units;
• Providing client pre-application background checks to develop more strategic housing planning.

Edd Eason, CitySquare (left) and Michael Walker, Walker-Holder

Crain also described a few of the steps MDHA has taken to streamline the demand side of the housing equation: 

• Established a baseline Case Management standard of care for supportive housing;
• Established common criteria and documentation and prioritization processes that organizes the demand for housing based on vulnerability, acuity and need;
• Established a system-wide central housing list (the “Housing Priority List”) that is updated weekly;
• Created a Homeless Crisis Helpline 1-888-411-6802;
• Expanded homeless response system coordinating resources in Collin County;
• Conducting continual countless trainings to improve the quality of care and the knowledge of case managers.

 

These steps have enabled MDHA to paint a true picture of the demand side of the housing equation, with hard data to back it up. “As of Monday, February 26, 2018, we have 787 households (families and individuals) on our Housing Priority List,” said Lester Collins, MDHA’s Performance Analyst, “This means that they have been assessed, prioritized, and have all their documents in order. They are ready to be housed.”

 

 

“That means that there is a great business opportunity here for landlords,” said Cynthia Scaife, MDHA Housing Resource Liaison, a licensed real estate agent, “We stand at the ready to help any and all who wish to take advantage of this demand, and help the most vulnerable citizens in our community in the process.”

Crain closed her remarks to the landlords with this message, “If we know one thing, it is this: We cannot make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring, without a trusting, honest, practical relationship with the rental housing community. So, today, we salute you, landlords who rent to our homeless friends. May many more join your ranks!”

What is it that you do, again?

It’s National Hunger and Homelessness Week, which is the perfect time to revisit a question we get every now and then, “What is it that you do, again?” So, here goes:
        

The Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) leads 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.

That language is very precise. It is based on Opening Doors, the national strategic plan to end homelessness, commissioned by Congress and the President under the 2009 Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. MDHA’s statutory authority and five main statutory roles are derived from the Act.

 

Opening Doors

the national strategic plan to end homelessness

We are often asked different variants of the question with which we began, the most common being:
 

• Do you do ______________ (fill in the blank)?
• Why don’t you ______________ (fill in the blank)?

We always answer the question with a question: Will ______________ (fill in the blank) enhance 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? If so, count us in. If not, we will have to pass. Now, that doesn’t mean ______________ (fill in the blank) is not important or worthy or vital; often it is. It just means that it is not our role to do it.

Now, that does not mean we won’t discuss those issues. We don’t care how hard or controversial they are, either. We don’t call our ongoing popular learning series Hard Conversations for nothing. However, our angle, every time we pick up a pen or a microphone, always goes back to a variant of that original question: How does discussing and understanding ______________ (fill in the blank) enhance our ability to develop an effective homeless response system that will make the experience of homelessness in Dallas and Collin Counties rare, brief, and non-recurring?

 

Sometimes the answer may be self-evident; that many of us have misconceptions about those experiencing homelessness being a prime example. Other times, we might think it is self-evident, and discover through discussion, that we need to look at the issue in an entirely different light; what really causes homelessness, being a prime example. And other times still, we might not even see the direct connection at first, but the discussion will reveal an important and vital connection; racism and homelessness being a prime example.

This is precisely why we continue to engage in ongoing study. As a learning organization, we are constantly looking at best practices, up to date research, and evidence based solutions. We view everything we come across with a critical eye, as we constantly ask ourselves:

 

• Should we do ______________ (fill in the blank)?
• Shouldn’t we do ______________ (fill in the blank)?

 



It would be easy to say yes every time we ask these questions. If we are to fulfill our mission, however, we must answer these questions with this question: If we take ______________ (fill in the blank) on, will that action enhance our ability to develop an effective homeless response system that will make the experience of homelessness in Dallas and Collin Counties rare, brief, and non-recurring? We must be consistently and ruthlessly honest in our answer, and always act accordingly.

CoC Strategic Work Plan Online Learning Clinic - End Chronic, Veteran and Elderly Homelessness

Why does our CoC Strategic Work Plan have an entirely separate goal for these populations? On one level the answer is rather simple: Opening Doors, the national strategic plan to end homelessness and the HEARTH Act of 2009 prioritize these (at least, the first two, explicitly). However, that doesn’t really answer the question, because then the question is, why did Congress, expressing the will of the nation, as a whole, prioritize these groups?

Cindy J. Crain, MDHA President and CEO, with Dennis Culhane

Prioritizing these groups follows an idea called progressive engagement. Dennis Culhane, one of the leading scholars of the modern homelessness crisis, and his colleagues discuss this at length. This graph, from their article, is very helpful in understanding what this approach is all about:

(Courtesy of Culhane, Metraux and Byrne)

As we explain in our playbook, before the HEARTH Act, the experimentation with Rapid Rehousing during the Great Recession, and the advent of the Housing First movement, Continua of Care and their grantees often served clients on a “first come, first served” basis, using a “one-size fits all” approach. This often meant that we served those who figured out how to best access the system, not those who needed the most help, and that we made everyone we served go through the exact same programs. This left our services, for everyone, lacking.
 
Using a progressive engagement approach, we serve each person, according to their needs, prioritizing those who need the most help. Not surprisingly, most people don’t need a huge amount of help, and those who do, vary by their level of vulnerability and scope of need. The greater the vulnerability and scope of need, the greater and more urgent the need for help is, and the greater the cost of that help.
 
Typically, the chronically homeless, veterans and the elderly will fall into those groups that are on right hand side of the graph. This does not always mean that that more intensive investment will come from the core of the homeless response system. As Culhane and his colleagues explain, and as the graph itself indicates, these may be provided by mainstream services aligned with the homeless response system. This is what this goal in our plan emphasizes too, particularly in action items 4, 7 and 10.
 
Prioritizing veterans also makes sense from an ethical standpoint. Veterans have given, of themselves, to our nation. We, as a nation, recognize that we have a heightened obligation to them, and so allowing veteran homelessness to continue would be a moral failure.


(Courtesy of USICH)

As a nation, we have proved up to the task. As the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) tells us: “A growing list of 50 communities, including the entire states of Connecticut, Delaware, and Virginia, have proven that ending Veteran homelessness is possible and sustainable… (C)ommunities across 26 different states have proven that we can drive down the number of Veterans experiencing homelessness to as close to zero as possible… The national data tell the same story… We've reduced Veteran homelessness by 47% in this country between 2011 and 2016—including a remarkable 17% reduction during 2015 alone—and achieved a 56% reduction in Veterans experiencing unsheltered homelessness.”
 
Congress had an additional reason to prioritize veterans. They recognized that the movement to end all homelessness would be met with skepticism. And, so, what if we could demonstrate that we could end the homelessness of a specific group? Would that not go a long way to proving that ending all homelessness was not a pipe dream?

And so, by making such strides towards ending veteran homelessness, we have shown, as a nation, that ending homelessness is a realistic goal, if evidence-based best practices and systems thinking are applied to the problem. Now that we have proven it possible, the moral imperative of our nation’s social contract compels us to apply these to all types of homelessness. All that separates us from this goal, of ending chronic, veteran and elderly homelessness, and the general goal of making all homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring, is the will to do it.

Does it Matter Where People Experiencing Homelessness in Dallas Come From?

Our mission statement at MDHA is very specifically worded: The Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance (MDHA) leads 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. That language is directly derived from the 2009 Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act, and Opening Doors, the national strategic plan to end homelessness, established under the Act.

 

Perhaps one of the most important words in our mission statement is “system”. Housing is the only solution that can end homelessness. Effectively and efficiently delivering any resource, especially a scarce one, like housing for those experiencing homelessness, cannot be done without a well-oiled delivery system.
 
That is why systems thinking is so central to what we do. I was, personally, first introduced to systems thinking, when I was studying for my Texas school principal certification. Perhaps that is why I really like this concise straightforward explanation from the Waters Foundation: “Systems thinking utilizes habits, tools and concepts to develop an understanding of the interdependent structures of dynamic systems. When individuals have a better understanding of systems, they are better able to identify the leverage points that lead to desired outcomes.”
 
One of my favorite aspects of systems thinking is that it, a la Stephen Covey, begins with the end in mind. It first asks what the desired outcomes or outputs are. Once you have figured that out, it backs up, and asks what inputs are needed to deliver those outputs. Any suggested input, however attractive, must be rejected, if it does not lead to the desired output. Covey rightly points out that one must be ruthless in doing this, because, “If your ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step you take gets you to the wrong place faster.”


Stephen Covey

Courtesy of www.stephencovey.com

Recently, Cindy J. Crain, MDHA’s President and CEO addressed a question in a way that illustrates this idea very well. The question was, “Where do people experiencing homelessness in Dallas come from?” There is an honest misconception in many communities that those experiencing homelessness are not from that community. In fact, when this was measured in Dallas homeless counts, the numbers indicated that the vast majority of our homeless friends became homeless in Dallas. This number seems to be in line with other locales’ past homeless counts too.
 
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) actually conducted a long-term study on this very issue. Their findings not only back up what we knew already, but answer a question communities seldom wonder about: How many natives of our community are experiencing homelessness elsewhere? They arrived at this not surprising result: “In-migration roughly balanced out-migration. For most (communities) there was a small net impact of migration on homeless population size. In (communities) with larger numbers of homeless, the net impact of migration attenuated towards zero (emphasis mine-DSG).”

Now, Crain did mention this misconception and the facts on the ground in passing, but she did not dwell on them. Instead she explained that there is very little utility in answering this question on a macro level. The answer would not and should not cause MDHA and its partners to do anything differently in the effort to make homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring in our community. There are data points that are very important on the macro level, such as age, gender identity, veteran status, race and more, because they have utility in the systems thinking frame. This data point, on the other hand, simply does not, which is probably why the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development removed it from its guidelines regarding annual homeless counts.

What utility do these other data points have? Let’s take an issue we just blogged about, as an example, the overrepresentation of African Americans in the homeless population. The current output is that 60-70% of those experiencing homelessness in Dallas County are African American. Ideally, one would hope their percentage would roughly equal their percentage in Dallas County’s population at large, about 13%. So, what inputs do we need to change on the system level to get that desired output, is a very important question, which we seek to address.

Crain did explain that on the micro or individual level, the question of where the person comes from is tremendously important, and is a routine part of best practice case management. Why? Because, as we point out in our playbook (pg. 8), the first step in engaging an individual person seeking services in the homeless response system should be diversion. One of the easiest ways to divert, is to help the person reunite with family, if possible. This is true regardless of where the person is from. A great example of this is our story from about a year and a half ago, Solomon’s Ticket out of Homelessness. An incredible example of this, is the story of Gershon Campbell, who with the help of Austin Street Center returned to his home 5,600(!) miles away.

Gershon Campbell

(Courtesy of KHOU)

Once again, this goes back to systems thinking. Imagine, you are a case manager, and you are approached by an individual person experiencing homelessness. The desired output is that they be housed. Can their origin be a useful input? You don’t know yet, because you need to know more about them. If they are from Dallas, for instance, their family moved away to Rhode Island, has invited the individual to join them, and the individual so desires, then the fact that the individual is from Dallas is not a useful input at all. It would be a dereliction of duty to insist the person stay homeless in Dallas, and not join family and be housed in Rhode Island!

Conversely, in Leonard’s case, which we wrote about exactly a year ago, even though he had no intention of returning to Florida, where he was from, this data point was a very relevant input. Why? Because, Leonard wanted to self-resolve his homelessness. His plan was to return to his career as a truck driver, which would enable him to obtain housing, the desired output of our system. He had a Commercial Driver's License or CDL, but alas it was from Florida, not from Texas. The necessary additional input was to transfer the license from Florida to Texas, with the help of Austin Street Center and MDHA.

In summary, does it matter where people experiencing homelessness in Dallas come from? On the macro level, because it does not contribute to our desired output, housing, not really. (Parenthetically, the vast majority are from here, anyway, and in-migration vs. out-migration attenuate to zero.) On the micro level, when helping individuals experiencing homelessness, it depends on the client, so one should always ask. The answer should be factored as an input into the system, but only if it can help our desired output, the housing of that individual.

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.