1. Suburban Metro Area Continuum of Care
SMAC 2019 Annual Meeting
Suburban Metro Area Continuum of Care

2. 2018 Year in Review
What is SMAC anyway?

3. Episodes of homelessness
Prevent homelessness whenever possible, and otherwise making it rare, brief, and non-recurring
PREVENT
RARE
BRIEF
Episodes of homelessness
New
incidents
Housing outcomes
This chart helps to explain the concept. [Read title and go through animations]
Coordinated Entry
Person Centered Approaches
Moving from Program Centric to Person Centric
Collaboration
NON-RECURRING
Recidivism

4. Who we used to be.

5. What is CoC?
The Continuum of Care is responsible for coordinating and implementing a system to meet the needs of the homeless population within the geographic area.
Homelessness is a complex issue. As you will see throughout our time together this afternoon the way we work to find solutions is also complex. We have a fantastic opportunity with all of these amazing stakeholders working toward the same goal- end homelessness (make rare, brief, and non-reoccurring) however we are at times our own worst enemy as we often work in silos instead of planning together. The Continuum has the responsibility per HUD to ensure a coordinated homeless response system.

6. 2018 Accomplishments Implementation of Case Consultation
Data Driven Strategies
CES Prioritization shift for ending Chronic Homelessness
Quarterly Provider workshops
SMAC/Ramsey combined Coordinated Entry supplemental questions
NOFA Scoring Tool TA
CoC Grantee Quarterly Review Process Implemented

7. What does the data say? And what does it mean!
In the last 6 months, SMAC has worked hard to make data available and accessible to begin informing policy decisions. Coordinated Entry data is newly available in a more usable format, ICA has supported work to look at System Performance Measure data on a more regular basis. We are going to share some of that data with you today. Looking at most of this data is still fairly new so it is early to be seeing trend lines in most cases.
And what does it mean!

8. Coordinated Entry Data: Total Households on the Priority List
The numbers on the Coordinated Entry list continue to increase

9. Coordinated Entry: Unduplicated Households in 2018
Total
Net Change
Net Change %
Singles
788
235
30% increase
Single Youth
385
122
32% increase
Families
434
140
Youth Families
179 98
55% increase
A concerning trend the Governing Board is keeping an eye on is the increasing number of youth families being added to the list. This is not the only youth data SMAC has looked at that raises red flags. In the coming year SMAC will work to develop recommendations regarding youth experiencing homelessness in SMAC. If you want to be part of that work please participate in the youth breakout session!

10. Chronically Homeless Household on the Coordinated Entry Priority List

11. System Performance Improvement
System Performance Measure 5
Decrease of 14.54%
System Performance Measure 7
Increase 27% from
Using data to inform planning for the homeless response system is still a somewhat new concept. However, to create a true systemic approach to ending homelessness it is essential to look at data to tell us if we are doing the right stuff and help us correct course if we aren’t. System Performance Measures help us to gauge how our system is functioning. SMAC priorities for 2019 were set using data from the 7 measures. The two shown here are areas SMAC made improvement. From 2015 to 2017 SMAC decreased the number of individuals becoming homeless for the first time from 2,179 to 1,786. SMAC has also seen improvement in successful exits from street outreach from 2016 to 2017.

12. 2018 Point in Time Data System Performance Measure 3
Even with improvements in some areas, SMAC is still seeing an increase in our total number of households experiencing homelessness and more concerning an increase in unsheltered homelessness across the region as you can see from the Point in Time totals.

13. Areas to Improve System Performance Measure 2: Returns to Homelessness
Successful Exits
While both Measure 2 and Measure 7 show improvement from 2016 to 2017, the improvement is small and there is work to be done to ensure continued improvement in both measures. We want to see returns to homelessness dropping and we want to see successful exits increasing!

14. Areas to Improve System Performance Measure 1: Length of Time Homeless
The measure with the most room for improvement is Length of Time Homeless. The increase in Length of Time Homeless is significant form 2016 to 2017 and has not improved since this data was submitted to HUD. 3 of the 5 priority strategies for SMAC focus on this strategy but the Governing Board acknowledges that there are other strategies we will need to implement over time to ensure that these numbers start going down instead of up.

15. What’s up for 2019?
And how can you be involved!

16. SMAC Priorities for 2019 FHPAP alignment
Measure 2 Returns
Developing Prevention and Diversion processes
Developing process for faster shelter exits
Measure 1 LOT Homeless
Measure 7 Successful exits
Encouraging Multi-Family Affordable Housing Development
Measure 7 Successful Exits
Homeless Preference with PHAs
The 3 System Performance Measures SMAC will be working to improve in 2019 are Length of Time Homeless, Returns to Homelessness and Successful Exits. If you want to learn more about actions regarding these priorities reach out to any of the SMAC Governing Board members!

17. Coordinated Entry Phase 2
Wait we have to do it all over again!

18. Coordinated Entry Today
Coordinated Entry as we know it today has been implemented in SMAC since January 2015.   
When SMAC implemented CES it was intentionally decided to begin our process in the middle (with coordinated access to homeless specific housing programs) as opposed to at the beginning (incorporating prevention, outreach and shelter). 

19. Coordinated Entry of the Future
Coordinated Entry as HUD envisions, is the way we do business, essentially how we respond to preventing and ending homelessness.  In HUD’s eyes it is how the CoC offers coordinated services for all households needing homeless prevention and homeless assistance resources.  It isn’t a “program” unto itself, it is our homeless response system.

20. Hearth Act Definition
Minimum requirements for this systematic approach include:
Emergency shelters
Rapid rehousing
Transitional housing
Permanent supportive housing
Prevention strategies
Available resources through the Continuum of Care program are not sufficient to prevent and end homelessness, coordination and integration of other funding streams, including the Emergency Solutions Grants program and mainstream resources, is integral to carrying out the Continuum of Care System.

21. Prevention Immediate response/System nimbleness
Integration with mainstream benefits
Centralized hub that understands prevention resources available across the CoC and can make warm handoffs to those resources
Coordinated access to prevention resources
Streamlined prevention assessment tool
Prevention approach includes supporting households housed through Coordinated Entry remain stably housed

22. Outreach All outreach workers are CES assessors
Outreach updates assessments as contacts happen
Outreach can provide resources to reduce barriers while waiting for housing
Outreach provides support to resolve immediate housing crisis
Outreach workers provide navigation services as defined by the CoC as allowed by the funding stream
Outreach agency participates in Case Consultation
Incorporate outreach from non-traditional outreach resources

23. Crisis Response/Emergency Shelter
Access to shelter is low barrier and as immediate as possible
Screening is aligned and prioritized consistently across the region
Centralized hub for shelter resources
All assessors understand the crisis response options for households they are assessing
All assessors can make a warm handoff to available emergency shelter options
Emergency Shelter staff are an integral part of Case Consultation
Households in shelter are prioritized through Cases Consultation

24. Timeline Integrated Outreach response Fall 2019
Integrated Crisis Response/Emergency Shelter response January 2020
Integrated Prevention response by Fall 2021

25. Planning Coordinated Entry Work Group County Partners
Shelter Providers

26. SMAC 2019 Initiatives
As if all of that wasn’t enough!

27. Supporting Partnerships for Anti-Racist Communities: SPARC
People of color in Minnesota, specifically African-American and American Indian households, experience homelessness and housing instability at rates that are 7-8 times higher than their representation within the general population in Minnesota

28. SPARC in Minnesota
The Minnesota SPARC Learning Collaborative is designed to accomplish the following goals:
Increase the capacity of communities to understand and respond to racial inequities in homelessness
Assist communities in developing structural change objectives
Implement effective strategies to reduce the number of people of color experiencing homelessness

29. SPARC in SMAC
The Collaborative will occur over 12 months and will combine three in-person Learning Sessions and virtual coaching through specific, time-limited action periods.
Teams of 4-7 people representing the CoC, housing and homeless service providers, funders, people with lived experience of homelessness and other key stakeholders from each local community will focus on five stages of work: 
Community Engagement
Data Analysis
Action Planning
Implementation and Evaluation
Sustainability

30. True Colors Inclusion Assessment
True Colors United implements innovative solutions to youth homelessness that focus on the unique experiences of LGBTQ young people.
The Inclusion Assessment process in order to enable service providers to assess their current level of LGBTQ- inclusive and affirming practices and policies.

31. True Colors Inclusion Assessment in SMAC
Introductory Webinar Friday, March 29 1:00-2:00
Targeting Emergency Shelter and Rapid Re-housing first
Three Step Assessment Process:
Organizational Overview
All-Staff Survey
Client Survey

32. Ending Veteran Homelessness

33. Work Sessions SPARC Youth Affordable Housing Development
Coordinated Entry Phase 2

34. Thank you!!
Please visit the SMAC website and sign up for the distribution list!
smacmn.org
For questions about today’s meeting reach out to Abby Guilford