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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.10.2018 Homeless Services Systems Analysis Report - Definition of Key TermsDefinition 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.htmi 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. Housing First (HF): a model of housing assistance that prioritizes rapid placement and stabilization in permanent housing that does not have service participation requirements or preconditions (such as sobriety or a minimum income threshold). Transitional housing and supportive services only projects can be considered to be using a Housing First model if they operate with low -barriers, work to quickly move people into permanent housing, do not require participation in supportive services, and, for transitional housing projects, do not require any preconditions for moving into the transitional housing (such as sobriety or minimum income threshold). Recovery housing can be a an important part of a Housing First system so long as people choose that type of sober environment as part of their personal goals/preferences and where recovery -oriented housing is not the only option for people seeking to obtain permanent housing. Housing Inventory Count (HIC): is produced by each CoC and provides an annual inventory of beds that assist people in the CoC who are experiencing homelessness or leaving homelessness, usually conducted the last week of January Outreach: involves moving outside the walls of the agency to engage people experiencing homelessness who may be disconnected and alienated not only from mainstream services and supports, but from the services targeting homeless persons as well. This is incredibly important work designed to help establish supportive relationships, give people advice and support, and provide access the services and supports that will help them move off the streets to permanent housing. Outreach is important in order to access hard -to -reach individuals, and should connected to an overt and concerted effort to end homelessness. Permanent Housing: community-based housing without a designated length of stay, and includes both permanent supportive housing and rapid re -housing. To qualify as CoC Program permanent housing, the program participant must be the tenant on a lease for an initial term of at least one year, which is renewable for terms that are a minimum of one month long, and is terminable only for cause. Other permanent housing programs, such as SSVF and state/local funding sources, only require the minimum lease requirements for based on the state or local regulations. Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH): is a housing model designed to provide housing assistance (project- and tenant -based) and supportive services on a long-term basis to formerly homeless people. HUD's Continuum of Care program, authorized by the McKinney-Vento Act, funds PSH and requires that the client have a disability for eligibility. Permitted Village/Encampment: offer outdoor, temporary accommodations for people who are living unsheltered in conditions that threaten their health and safety. Villages offer tiny house -like living structures, community kitchens, hygiene services and case management to clients that have lived outside for extended periods of time or for whom traditional shelter may not be a good fit. A person successfully exits a village when they leave the village to move to permanent housing. Point -in -Time Counts (PIT): are unduplicated 1 -night estimates of both sheltered and unsheltered homeless populations. The 1 -night counts are conducted by CoCs nationwide and occur during the last week in January of each year Homelessness Prevention (HP) Services: services used to assist people who are currently housed but face an imminent risk of becoming literally homeless. Homelessness Prevention programs help people remain in their homes, with the use of one-time financial assistance and/or time-limited case management. A person or household successfully exits a prevention program when they remain in their current housing or another permanent housing situation, without becoming homeless during the interim. Rapid Rehousing: an intervention, informed by a progressive assistance, Housing First approach that is a critical part of a community's effective homeless crisis response system. Rapid re -housing rapidly connects families and individuals experiencing homelessness to permanent housing through a tailored package of assistance that may include the use of time-limited financial assistance and targeted supportive services. Rapid rehousing programs help families and individuals living on the streets or in emergency shelters solve the practical and immediate challenges to obtaining permanent housing while reducing the amount of time they experience homelessness, avoiding a near-term return to homelessness, and linking to community resources that enable them to achieve housing stability in the long-term. Sheltered Homelessness: refers to people who are staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or safe havens Supportive Services for Veteran Families: Veterans Affairs (VA) funded program that provides both rapid re -housing and homelessness prevention, depending on a household's current housing situation and need. SSVF's program regulations prioritize RRH interventions. It is expected that SSVF grantees (501C(3) non -profits) and community partners prioritize resources to meet the needs of all eligible, literally homeless Veteran households, while only offering HP services to the most vulnerable Veteran households. As part of the community plan for ending Veteran homelessness, this may require that HP services be offered only when an SSVF grantee or community is able to meet the needs of all eligible literally homeless Veterans. Transitional Housing: housing where all program participants have signed a lease or occupancy agreement, the purpose of which is to facilitate the movement of homeless individuals and families into permanent housing within 24 months. Unsheltered Homelessness: refers to people whose primary nighttime location is a public or private place not designated for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for people (for example, the streets, vehicles, or parks) Victim Service Provider Agency: a private nonprofit organization whose primary mission is to provide services to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. This includes rape crisis centers, battered women's shelters, domestic violence transitional and permanent housing programs, and other programs of this nature.