Agenda Packet 1-22-19 Joint Work Session

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APPENDIX G: DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS Chronically Homeless Individual: refers to an individual with a disability who has been continuously homeless for one year or more or has experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years where the combined length of time homeless in those occasions is at least 12 months Coordinated Entry System (CES): a system that works by establishing a common process to understand the situation of all individuals and families who request assistance through the homeless system. The core elements include: established access point(s), the use of a standardized assessment process to gather information on program participants’ preferences, and the barriers that households face to regaining housing. Once the assessment has identified the most vulnerable people with the highest needs, the CoC’s standards are used to prioritize households for referral to appropriate and available housing resources Continuums of Care (CoC): the collaboration of local stakeholders representative of relevant organizations that coordinate homeless services across a specific geography. The CoC must establish a Board to act on its behalf, and may appoint additional committees to fulfill its responsibilities, all of which must be documented in a governance charter. Continuum of Care Program (CoC Program): a HUD funded program designed to promote communitywide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, and State and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities by homelessness; promote access to and effect utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families; and optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Diversion/Rapid Exit: a strategy that prevents homelessness for people seeking shelter by helping them identify immediate alternate housing arrangements and, if necessary, connecting them with services and financial assistance to help them return to permanent housing. Diversion services can reduce the number of households becoming homeless, the demand for shelter beds, and the size of program wait lists. Diversion services can also help communities achieve better outcomes and be more competitive when applying for federal funding. Diversion services are offered immediately prior to, or immediately after, a household becomes literally homeless. Emergency Shelter: is a facility with the primary purpose of providing temporary shelter for homeless people Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG): a HUD funded program to assist individuals and families quickly regain stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis or homelessness. ESG provides grants by formula to states, metropolitan cities, urban counties and U.S. territories to support homelessness prevention, emergency shelter and related services. Fair Market Rent (FMR): are published in the Federal Register annually by HUD at the beginning of each federal fiscal year (10/1). HUD establishes FMRs to determine payment standards or rent ceilings for HUD-funded programs that provide housing assistance. FMRs are available here: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html Harm Reduction: an approach or strategy aimed at reducing the risks and harmful effects associated with substance use and addictive behaviors for the individual, the community, and society as a whole. In the context of Housing First programs, harm reduction provides relief from sobriety requirements while also attending to personal goals and strength-based service design. Homeless Individual/household: describes a person or group of people who identify as a family, who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; or a person fleeing domestic violence and has no other resources or housing options available and without these homeless crisis resources would be homeless as defined above. Homeless Management Information System (HMIS): a computerized data collection application designed to capture client-level information over time on the characteristics and service needs of men, women, and children experiencing homelessness, while also protecting client confidentiality. It is designed to aggregate client-level data to generate an unduplicated count of clients served within a community’s system of homeless services. An HMIS may also cover a state or regional area, and include several CoCs. PAGE 34 January 22, 2019, Joint Work Session - Item 1