SSVF Program Launch: Establishing Services in Compliance with Goals and Regulations Practice Area 3: Participant Services, Non-Financial

SSVF Case Management: Housing First 2 Short-Term Crisis Response In d i V i d ua LIZ ed

SSVF Case Management is Specialized Core knowledge: Housing Options: Local housing market; subsidized and non-subsidized opportunities, application processes, screening criteria, etc. Landlords/Laws: Landlord-tenant rights and responsibilities; lease requirements; essential tenancy skills; landlord perspective Financial Management: Budgeting and prioritizing housing and other priority household expenses; accessing free/reduced cost goods and services 3

SSVF Case Management is Specialized (cont.) More Core Knowledge: Stress Effects: How crises affect people’s ability to define and implement plans; how to respond to stress; when professional help is needed for crisis intervention ”In vivo” Teaching: Identifying and demonstrating knowledge/skills essential to housing retention Mediation: Negotiating with landlords to help a participant obtain and/or retain housing Mainstream and Community Resources: VA and public benefits; employment resources; physical and behavioral healthcare; child care; legal assistance, etc. 4

Service Coordination & Referrals SSVF participants, like most households, may have many problems beyond housing Case managers generally directly deliver assistance related to obtaining and retaining housing Case managers coordinate with and/or connect participants to VA, public, and private resources for other high-priority issues and for longer-term support 5

The Housing Plan Promotes Housing Stability SSVF is short-term Housing Plan Goals can extend beyond the term of SSVF assistance, utilizing longer-term community resources Examples of resources that can contribute to the participant’s ability to sustain housing: –Credit counseling (e.g., debt consolidation) –Legal assistance (e.g., remove erroneous information from criminal databases or resolve warrants) –Income generation: employment services, benefits, household budgeting strategies, free/reduced-cost goods and services 6

Provision of Housing Assistance and Services Voluntary: Participants are not required to utilize services as a condition of assistance (Housing First) Appropriate for situation: Effective approach to the participant’s immediate needs and housing barriers (Crisis Response) Acceptable to participant: Types, sequence, service providers, etc. are both what participant needs AND wants (Participant Choice) Case Manager is proactive in providing and linking participants to assistance only when above conditions are met 7

Considerations for Case Managers 8 Progressive Case Management: Establish the minimum level of tenancy support for all households (intensity, frequency, duration) Know how stress is impacting the participant and affecting your work –Biological effect of stress on behavior and decision-making –How does this help staff provide support, information, and reasonable goal-setting? –How will staff know if the level of participant effort in the Housing Plan is too high, too low or about right? How will staff adjust the Plan accordingly? Staff do not provide therapy, but some therapeutic models can offer insight and be useful when adapted for SSVF: –Critical Time Intervention –Trauma-Informed Care –Motivational Interviewing

Housing Search & Placement Key functions of SSVF case manager: Identify tenant screening barriers Prepare participant for housing search and landlord interviews Assess participant understanding of landlord-tenant rights and responsibilities When there aren’t housing specialist staff, case managers also: Build a substantial landlord network Negotiate special arrangements (tenant screening, rent, start-up costs) with landlords Offer and provide landlord supports (Practice Area 5) 9

Tenancy Supports Key functions of SSVF case manager (cont.) Increase supports if/when needed--on an In d iVi d ua LIZ ed basis (progressive) Assess Housing Retention Barriers and address in the Housing Plan (income, tenancy skills, etc.) Home visits are the best opportunities to increase tenancy skills (“teachable moments”) when needed to retain housing 10

Key Planning Considerations 1.Policies & Procedures (P&P) –What will your base-level case management and tenancy supports look like—intensity, duration, etc.? –What policies and procedures are needed to reflect a rapid, housing-focused, crisis-response approach driven by participant choice? 2.Staff Training & Supervision –How will you train and supervise case managers to assure that program philosophy and policies and procedures are implemented? 3.Performance & Quality Improvement –How will you gather and utilize feedback from participants on quality of case management? 11

Finally… Where to go for more information? –Your SSVF Regional Coordinator –Knowledge University Web site Questions? Activity time! 12