DRAFT
Southern Illinois
Continuum of Care
Network
Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness
in the counties of Bond, Clinton, Marion, Washington, Jefferson, Richland, Lawrence, Wayne,
Wabash, Edwards, Hamilton, White, Franklin, Williamson, Saline, Gallatin, Perry, Jackson,
Randolph, Monroe, Union, Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Pulaski, Alexander, Massac
2012-2022
Table of Contents
SICOCN Purpose……………………..……………………………………………………………………………2
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………3
Rural Homelessness………………………..……………………………………………………………………3
2012 Gaps Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………………….5
Definitions……………………………………………………………………………………………………………7
Strategies……………………………………………………………………………………………………………10
1
SICOCN PURPOSE
The purpose of the SICOCN is to bring together public and private community based
organizations, government representatives and consumers to identify ways to serve the
homeless by identifying gaps and proposing action to fill those gaps.
Membership is open to any community-based organization, government agencies, or formerly
homeless person willing to actively participate in a long term collaborative planning process
focused on issues of homeless/at risk families. Membership is defined by paying of annual dues
per organization or individual at the beginning of a calendar year, January 1 or when joining the
SICOCN for the first time. Dues paid after October 1st will also cover membership for the next
calendar year.
2
Introduction
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has mandated that each jurisdiction across the country
create a ten year plan to end homelessness. Federal funding distributed through HUD
is tied not only to the development of a plan to end homelessness but also to the
implementation of the plan and achieving the benchmarks that will demonstrate that progress
is being made to eradicate homelessness.
SICOCN has struggled to accomplish this task mainly due to the fact that the continuum covers
a 27-county, rural service area. Needs and resources vary, collaboration and communication
can be difficult and time constraints have all hindered the concentration on the development of
a 10-year plan to end homelessness.
During the CoC Check-In process and in the CoC Action Plan, SICOCN made it a top priority to
create a comprehensive plan that non only members could follow, but also other homeless
service providers and mainstream resources.
During the 2012 Annual Strategic Planning Retreat, SICOCN set aside time for working groups to
outline needs, gaps, resources available, stakeholders, etc. that would set the path for the 10year plan. The groups were composed of homeless shelters, supportive housing providers,
community action agencies, the Regional Office of Education, mental health providers and
social service agencies.
The group reviewed many objectives to help in the creation of the 10-year plan. They reviewed
HUD’s National Strategic Planning Objectives, the HEARTH Act CoC Performance Measures, the
USICH Federal Strategic Plan Goals and the CoC Action Plan. From this the group found 5 main
areas that were recurrent. Those 5 areas were; Prevention, Housing, Services, Employment and
Income, and CoC Governance and Structure. The group used these 5 areas as the foundation
for the 10-year plan to end homelessness.
Rural Homelessness
Many people think of homelessness as strictly an urban phenomenon because homeless people
are greater in number and more visible in urban areas, but homelessness is also pervasive in
rural areas.
Rates of homelessness among rural areas vary widely. According to the Alliance’s Geography of
Homelessness report, there are approximately 14 homeless people on average for every 10,000
people in rural areas, compared with 29 homeless people out of every 10,000 in urban areas.
However, some rural areas have extremely high rates of homelessness; in fact, three of the
CoCs with the highest prevalence of homelessness in the country are rural.
3
The same structural factors that contribute to urban homelessness—lack of affordable housing
and inadequate income—also lead to rural homelessness. Perhaps the most distinguishing
factor of rural homelessness, however, is access to services. Unlike in urban areas, many rural
homeless assistance systems lack the infrastructure to provide quick, comprehensive care to
those experiencing homelessness. Reasons for this difference abound, including lack of
available affordable housing, limited transportation methods, and the tendency for federal
programs to focus on urban areas.
Back in 2010, the survey used in the PIT homeless count captured specific information on why
people felt they were without a place to live. More than half of the respondents felt they did
not have a place to live because they could not afford it. This could stem from the lack of
affordable housing, lack of employment and/or job skills or the lack of transportation to work.
It was most likely a combination of all of them because they are all barriers people face in rural
areas. Other reasons people felt they did not have housing was due to having a criminal record,
owing money to a utility company, lack of an I.D., poor money management skills, being a
victim of domestic violence, having a mental illness or substance abuse issue, being illegally
evicted from a private dwelling, on a long waiting list for subsidized housing, being released
from IDOC with no place to go and the lack of family support. Any of these in addition to the
higher rates of poverty in rural areas, compounds the risk of becoming and staying homeless in
those areas. Due to these barriers, one of the most important strategies in ending rural
homelessness is prevention.1 This is probably why HUD placed to much focus on prevention
and rapid re-housing in the HPRP grant. The new Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) will be
modeled much like the HPRP grant. Coordination of this program with our existing resources
will be a key factor in the 10-year plan to end homelessness.
1
http://www.endhomelessness.org/section/issues/rural
4
2012 Gaps Analysis
The 2012 Homeless Count revealed a total of 411 homeless persons from 236 households
throughout southern Illinois. This number was alarming because the Housing Inventory Chart
shows a total of 754 total beds available in the continuum’s emergency shelters, transitional
housing programs and permanent supportive housing programs. The average bed utilization
rate at the time of the count was 64% across all programs. This included both HUD CoC grants
and non-HUD CoC grants. The following chart details how many beds that were available for
each program type the night of the PIT homeless count. This does not include emergency
shelter vouchers at local motels/hotels and rental assistance programs that may have been
available.
400
300
149
200
121
100
241
Beds Not
Utilized
Beds Used
25
100
118
Transitional
Housing (125
Total Beds)
Permanent
Supportive
Housing (239
Total Beds)
0
Emergency
Shelter (390
Total Beds)
5
More details from the 2012 PIT Homeless Count:
Sheltered
vs.
Unsheltered Homeless
Sheltered Homeless
70
Sheltered
Households
341
Unsheltered
Households
Emergency
Shelter
100
241
Of the 411 homeless households counted in
the 2012 PIT count, 341 were sheltered (living
in an emergency shelter or transitional
housing), and 70 were unsheltered (living in a
park, car, abandoned building or other place
not meant for human habitation).
Transitional
Housing
Of the sheltered households, 241 were in
emergency shelter and 100 were living in
transitional housing.
Homeless Subpopulations
Chronically
Homeless
Families vs. Individuals
Veterans
75
71
Families with
Children
Mentally Ill
158
45
253
Households
without
Children
Of the 411 homeless households, 253
households were families with at least one
child and 158 households were households
without children.
31
30
Substance
Abuse
Domestic
Violence
The PIT count captures homeless
subpopulation data. The 2012 count found
that there were 30 chronically homeless
families and individuals, 31 homeless
veterans, 75 homeless people suffering with
a mental illness, 45 homeless people with a
substance abuse problem and 71 people
that had been a victim of domestic violence.
6
HEARTH ACT
On May 20, 2009, President Obama signed the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid
Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009. The HEARTH Act codified in law the Continuum of
Care planning process, long a part of HUD’s application process to assist homeless persons by providing
greater coordination in responding to their needs. The HEARTH Act amends and reauthorizes the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act with substantial changes, including:






A consolidation of HUD's competitive grant programs;
The creation of a Rural Housing Stability Assistance Program;
A change in HUD's definition of homelessness and chronic homelessness;
A simplified match requirement;
An increase in prevention resources; and,
An increase in emphasis on performance2.
Changes to HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs as outlined by the National Alliance to End
Homelessness.3
Major Changes
• More Administrative Funding
• Emphasizes
– Prevention
– Rapid Re-Housing
– Chronic homelessness
• Focus on Outcomes
• Rural Flexibility
•
Changes to the ESG (formula) Program
Old
New
Name: Emergency Shelter Grants
Name: Emergency Solutions Grants
Distribution: Formula to Cities, Counties, and
Distribution: Same
States
Admin: Up to 7.5% for administrative expenses
Admin: Up to 5% for administrative expenses
Eligible Activities:
Eligible Activities:
–
Same as now plus HPRP
–
Shelter renovating, rehab,
activities (except that
conversion
prevention has to target
–
Operating Emergency Shelter
below 30% of AMI)
(limit of 10% for staffing)
–
No cap on prevention,
–
Services in Shelter or for
services, or staffing
outreach (max. 30%)
–
Minimum of 40% must be for
–
Prevention (limited, targets
prevention and Rapid Repeople with sudden loss of
Housing (with a holdincome, max 30%)
harmless provision)
2
3
HUD Homeless Resource Exchange: www.HUDHRE.info
National Alliance to End Homelessness: www.endhomelessness.org
7
Another way to look at ESG changes
New ESG= Old ESG + HPRP
•
•
Roughly the same amount of funding for emergency shelters
New funding for homelessness prevention and Rapid Re-Housing similar to HUD’s HPRP
Continuum of Care (competitive program)
Old
New
3 programs
Single Continuum of Care program
•
Supportive Housing Program (SHP)—
•
Includes all of the eligible activities of
including permanent supportive
the 3 former programs
housing, transitional housing, safe
•
More flexibility for mixing and
havens, and supportive services only
matching eligible activities
projects
•
Explicitly specifies re-housing services
•
Shelter Plus Care (SPC)—rental
as an eligible activity
subsidies for permanent supportive
•
Up to 10 percent for admin. Costs
housing
(previous amount was 5% for SHP and
•
Mod. Rehab./SRO—seldom used,
8% for SPC
provides long-term rental subsidies for
•
Reasonable costs for staff training
moderate rehabilitation of single room
occupancy buildings
Old
New
•
•
•
Providers in community jointly apply
for funding
Stakeholders in community review and
rank applications
Application has two parts
–
Exhibit 1 is the community
wide part, which includes
information about the
number of homeless people,
community resources and
gaps, and capacity to
administer homeless
assistance
–
Exhibit 2 includes individual
project applications
•
•
•
Similar to existing process.
Application will be submitted by
Collaborative Applicant, which will be
eligible for 3% of the communities
award for admin.
Application will be more focused on
performance, including:
–
Reducing lengths of
homeless episodes
–
Reducing recidivism back into
homelessness
–
Reducing the number of
people who become
homeless
Old
New
Match requirement varies depending on activity Uniform 25% match except for leasing projects
–
25% for services, must be
–
Match can be communitycash
wide, meaning some projects
–
100% for rental assistance,
can have higher matches to
must be in-kind services
offset projects with lower
–
100% for construction/rehab
matches
–
33% for operating expenses
–
Match can be cash or in-kind
–
No match for leasing
when documented by
Memorandum of
Understanding
Additional Requirements
8
•
Projects that serve families cannot refuse to serve families because of the age of the
children (i.e. must serve families with adolescent children)
Projects must identify person who will be responsible for coordinating child’s education
•
Incentives
Old
•
•
New
Communities that score well on their
Communities that score well will be eligible for a
application are eligible for a bonus
bonus for proven strategies, including—
permanent supportive housing project.
–
Permanent supportive housing
In some years, the bonus project had to
for individuals or families with
serve individuals without children
children experiencing chronic
experiencing chronic homelessness.
homelessness
–
Rapid Re-Housing that serves
homeless families
–
Other activities that HUD
determines are effective at
reducing homelessness
–
Communities that fully
implement a proven strategy
can receive a bonus to do
whatever they determine is
necessary
Definition of Homelessness/Eligibility
Old
Except for a small amount for prevention,
homeless assistance could only serve homeless
people which includes people living in the
following places
–
On the streets or in a place
not meant for human
habitation
–
In an emergency shelter
–
In a transitional housing
program
–
In housing, but being evicted
within 7 days and not having
resources or support
networks to obtain housing
–
Fleeing domestic violence
New
ESG funding can be used to serve people at risk
of homelessness. All programs can serve
homeless people, including those previously
considered homeless and
–
People who are losing their
housing in 14 days and lack
support networks or
resources to obtain housing
–
People who have moved
from place to place and are
likely to continue to do so
because of disability or other
barriers
Communities may use up to 10% (more in some
cases) of CoC funds to serve people who are
living doubled up, or in motels.
Other additional changes
•
All Permanent Housing Activities are adjusted for inflation at renewal
9
The following strategies are the result of our community planning process:
Strategies
Prevention Strategies
Strategy 1- Reduce the number of individuals and families who become homeless.
 Strategy 1.1- Develop a tool to identify at risk families
 Strategy 1.2- Trainings
 Strategy 1.3- Create a Facebook page
 Strategy 1.4- Public Education
Housing Strategies
Strategy 1- Maintain, support and improve existing subsidized, affordable housing with
services for individuals and families.
 Strategy 1.1- Post housing vacancies through CoC e-mail list and
Facebook
 Strategy 1.2- Educate others about what we do (newspaper articles, ads,
website, etc.)
 Strategy 1.3- Continue calling/emailing Representatives to maintain
current funding
 Strategy 1.4- Homeless conference to better educate the public
 Strategy 1.5- Utilize HMIS to its fullest to locate and identify housing
vacancies
 Strategy 1.6- Create a Facebook or other share site to share applicable
information, success stories, etc.
 Strategy 1.7- Encourage business owners and community members to
share/teach vocational skills or other types of skills
 Strategy 1.8- Use the SICOCN website to solicit sponsorship for
Individuals and families
Services Strategies
Strategy 1- Improve service delivery and increase access to mainstream resources
 Strategy 1.1- Link SICOCN website to Access SI system or other Homeless
Resource Exchange
 Strategy 1.2- Flow Chart for eligibility/services/referrals
 Strategy 1.3- Create a coordinated assessment tool
 Strategy 1.4- Form “Best Practices” ad hoc committee to research what is
working in other areas and agencies that could be brought
to the continuum.
10
Employment and Income
Strategy 1- Increase the number of clients that are employed and/or receiving income
 Strategy 1.1- Coordinate with and refer to employment programs
(Man-Tra-Con, Workforce Investment, etc.)
 Strategy 1.2- Ensure linkages to benefit programs
 Strategy 1.3- Find and utilize job training programs (have them
come Speak to clients)
 Strategy 1.4- Make referral to the unemployment office
 Strategy 1.5- Learn what nonprofit agencies can provide job related
resources (transportation, clothing, resumes, etc.)
 Strategy 1.6- Network with potential employers to aid in securing
employment
 Strategy 1.7- Promote education to broaden employment possibilities
 Strategy 1.8- Search for funding resources to aid with education costs
(GED, Scholarships, etc.)
CoC Governance and Structure
Strategy 1- Improve CoC Governance and Structure
 Strategy 1.1- Review present structure
 Strategy 1.2- Review by-laws
 Strategy 1.3- Review existing programs and performance
 Strategy 1.4- Create working group/committee for non HUD-funded
programs
 Strategy 1.5- Update structure to comply with HEARTH Act, VASH, etc.
TIMELINE
11