HEADING HOME: MINNESOTA’S PLAN TO
PREVENT AND END HOMELESSNESS
Cathy ten Broeke
State Director
Minnesota Office to Prevent and End Homelessness
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless
Annual Conference
September 15, 2014
Our Vision
Housing Stability for All Minnesotans
• Prevent and End Homelessness for Families with
Children and Unaccompanied Youth by 2020
• Finish the Job of Ending Homelessness for Veterans and
for People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness by 2015
12 Priority Focus Areas
23 strategies
100 specific action items
Heading Home:
Minnesota’s Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
www.headinghomeminnesota.org
HEADING HOME MINNESOTA
PROJECT MANAGEMENT UPDATE
Amy Stetzel
Project Manager
Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless
Annual Conference
September 15, 2014
Heading Home: Minnesota's Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
Project Management Update for all Actions in the Plan
12 Goals, 100 Actions, 11 Agencies, 80 staff
Work is completed or started on 78% of all actions in the Plan
10%: Action is complete
Work is completed or started on 100% of the actions due in 2014
(55 Actions are due in 2014)
18% (10) actions are completed
55% (30) actions have work well underway and are moving ahead
27% (15) actions have work started, but are moving slowly
22%: Work has not
started due to action not
being due
18%: Work has
started, but is slow
50%: Work is well underway
and moving ahead
Work has begun on 43% of the actions due in 2015
(28 Actions are due in 2015)
43% (12) actions have work well underway and are moving ahead
57% (16) work has not begun due to action not being due
Work has begun on 50% of the actions due in 2016
(4 Actions are due in 2016)
50% (2) actions have work well underway and are moving ahead
Work has begun on 69% of the Ongoing Actions in the Plan
(13 Actions are ongoing)
69% (9) actions have work well underway and are moving ahead
** Mapping the work of 3 other major state initiatives - Olmstead, Health
Equity Initiative and the Children's Cabinet
** Incorporating and coordinating the work of 5 Federal grants into the work
of the plan
MINNESOTA’S PATH TO
END VETERAN HOMELESSNESS
Eric I. Grumdahl
Special Advisor on Ending Veteran Homelessness
Minnesota Office to Prevent and End Homelessness
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless
Annual Conference
September 15, 2014
HEADING HOME: Minnesota’s Plan to
Prevent and End Homelessness
BECAUSE WE ARE POISED TO END VETERANS
HOMELESSNESS IN THIS STATE…
• We will aggressively focus on finishing the job by ending
homelessness for Veterans on a Veteran-by-Veteran basis.
Collaboration between the VA and other homeless service providers
will ensure that each Veteran experiencing homelessness has the
tools they need to become stably housed.
• FOR VETERANS, ending homelessness means there are fewer than
100 Veterans experiencing homelessness in Minnesota, or that Veterans
make up no more than 1% of the total homeless population, whichever is
less.
Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness
• Launched by First Lady
Michelle Obama on June 4,
2014
• Over 200 Mayors, County
Executives, and Governors
participating to date
• Intended to create
opportunities for peer-topeer learning and marshal
local efforts linked to
Federal resources
• Minnesota Governor Mark
Dayton and seven
Minnesota Mayors have
joined
Minnesota’s Path to End Veteran
Homelessness
Progress based on annual Point-in-Time count of Veterans experiencing homelessness
700
600
596
47%
reduction
500
499
449
400
369
300
317
309
200
3.3x
acceleration
100
0
39814
40179.25
40544.5
40909.75
Actuals
Linear trend
41275
41640.25
Path to Zero
42005.5
42370.75
Key data points on Veteran homelessness
Racial disparities in Minnesota homeless population, 2012
100
86
80
60
20
39
37
40
10
1
1
4
5
5
7
3
4
0
American
Indian
Asian
American
Black/African
White/
Other/
American
Caucasian
Multiple
% Homeless
% Population
Aging Cohort of Veterans
Experiencing Homelessness (National)
Hispanic
(any race)
Chronic and gender distribution for Veterans
experiencing homelessness in Minnesota
Wilder Survey 2012
7
46
54
93
Chronic
Others
Men
Women
Registry + Regional Strategies = Acceleration
CVSO, outreach
worker, shelter, etc.
identifies a homeless
Veteran
Veteran is invited to
join the Registry and
sign a release of
information
Outreach and
identification
flow
No
Subsequent outreach
may yield willingness
of the Veteran to add
identifying data
Identifying entity calls
or faxes LinkVet with
anonymous record
data
Identifying entity calls
or faxes LinkVet to
update existing
record with identifying
data
Yes
Identifying entity calls
or faxes LinkVet with
known information for
Registry entry
Housing status
changes identified
since last run are
conveyed to LinkVet
Regional lists are
regularly run against
key data systems
(HMIS, HOMES, etc.)
to capture housing
status changes
LinkVet updates
Registry with new
information
Veteran
Registry
Data
system
flow
Case
management
flow
Regional
list
Updates to Registry
from team meeting
are conveyed to
LinkVet
Regional team
meets to assign
unassigned
Veterans and
troubleshoot cases
Field name
REGISTRY_ID
REGION_ID
ROI_EXPIRATION
FIRST_NAME
MIDDLE_NAME
LAST_NAME
ALIASES
ANONYMOUS_ID
BIRTH_DATE
LAST4_SSN
BEST_CONTACT
INTERVENTION
HOUSEHOLD_SIZE
VA_ELIGIBILITY
VETERAN_STATUS
OTHER_ELIGIBILITY
INCOME
HOUSING_STATUS
REFERRAL_SOURCE
CURRENT_PROVIDER
NOTES
Field description
Unique record ID for each row
Unique identifier for the region in which the Veteran is identified. Used for filtering
the lists shared with regional teams.
Date the Release of Information signed by the client expires.
First name (if known)
Middle name(s) (if known)
Last name(s) (if known)
Common delimited list of any known aliases used by the Veteran
An anonymous ID established for any Veterans who opt not to sign a release of
information form, based on outreach worker’s name and date of encounter.
Veteran's date of birth, the the extent known
Last four digits of the Veteran's Social Security Number
Best contact method for engaging and reaching this Veteran
Intervention needed, typically resulting from an assessment conducted by
Coordinated Assessment process.
Number of household members, used to determine housing unit size requirements.
Pick-list of options for eligibility for VA homeless programs and health care.
Confirmation of the Veteran's Veteran status and discharge by a qualified source.
Comma-delimited list of codes designating eligibility: long-term homeless ("LTH"),
chronic homeless ("CH"), mental health ("MH"), or substance abuse ("SA"). Could
also include additional free-form notes about client eligibility.
Estimated monthly income from all sources
Current housing status, e.g, "Emergency shelter"; "Unsheltered / Outdoors";
"Transitional housing"; "Exiting a hospital or institution"; and "Housed"
Name of the person and organization or entity that added this Veteran to the
Registry. Useful for follow-up.
Comma-delimited list of provider(s) working with the Veteran to secure housing.
Notes field
MAINSTREAM SYSTEMS REVIEW
Cathy ten Broeke
State Director
Minnesota Office to Prevent and End Homelessness
Minnesota Interagency Council on
Homelessness Meeting
September 4, 2014
Heading Home
Priority Focus Area #4
Identify, assess and improve key mainstream programs by
each state agency that could prevent and end
homelessness for families and individuals
How we Tackled the Goal
External Opinion Research




Nine initial programs selected for review
Conducted interviews across the State
10 cross-cutting themes and 50 program-specific opportunities were identified
Assessment of each theme and opportunity’s potential to impact
homelessness and feasibility of implementation
This External Opinion Research informed the:
 Development of Foundational Service Practices
Developed using National Research, Current Federal and State Guidelines, and Program
Subject Matter expertise
 Development of Priority Impact Areas
Priority Impact Areas
Promising Opportunities
Foundational Service Practices
“What’s hard for people who are
housed is impossible for people
who are homeless.”
Foundational Service Practices
1) Know the housing status of the people you are serving
2) Actively reach out to people experiencing
homelessness
3) Limit requirements for in-person appointments at a
particular location or office
4) Assist with the process of gathering required
verifications or documentation
5) Allow for multiple methods to communicate about
benefits and services
2 Year Implementation Plan:
Foundational Service Practices
Year One
 Self-Assessment by Agency
• Current Status – both across agency and delivery networks
• Identification of Barriers and Opportunities for Improvement
• Plans for Improvement
Year Two and on
 Report out to the Interagency Council or the Senior Leadership
Team on:
 Progress on Implementation of the 5 Foundational Service Standards
 How your Agency is Building on Successes and Improving Results
Priority Impact Areas
3 Priority Impact Areas
5 Accompanying Recommendations
Priority Impact Area #1:
Advance a “first, get stably housed” policy.
Recommendation A: Raise the MFIP grant and/or
improve the way it is calculated
Recommendation B: Support the Minnesota Family
Investment Program (MFIP) Results Initiative and track
whether parents served in results-focused counties are
more likely to have housing-related activities and goals in
their employment plans. The evaluators of the Results
Initiative will explore whether helping parents address
housing stability correlates with strong employment
outcomes.
Priority Impact Area #2:
Stabilize childcare for children in families experiencing
homelessness.
Recommendation A: Authorize childcare benefits for
knowable, stable periods of time. Reduce the “in-out”
cycling in childcare because of parent activity fluctuations.
Recommendation B: Increase access to early childhood
scholarships for children ages 0-3 experiencing the crisis of
homelessness. Increase dollars available and/or target
children experiencing homelessness.
Priority Impact Area #3:
Seize Federal funding opportunities for employment services.
As an Interagency Council, support the development of a bold
Minnesota response to the $200 million dollar USDA SNAP E&T RFA
that was just released to maximize access, continued connection,
and impact for those SNAP recipients who are facing and already
experiencing homelessness
Contact Information
• Cathy ten Broeke, Director, MN Office to Prevent and End Homelessness
• cathy.tenbroeke@state.mn.us
• Amy Stetzel, Project Manager, MN Office to Prevent and End
Homelessness
• amy.stetzel@state.mn.us
• Eric Grumdahl, Special Advisor on Ending Veteran Homelessness, MN
Office to Prevent and End Homelessness
• eric.grumdahl@state.mn.us
• Alison Niemi, Housing and Homelessness Policy Specialist, Minnesota
Department of Human Services
• alison.niemi@state.mn.us