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CHSSP Annual Report 1-2016 to 12- 2016Community Housing Support Services Program (CHSSP) Annual Report-Year 2 (1/1/2016 – 12/31/2016) Targets Target #1 Creation, completion, and utilization of an intake/risk assessment tool CHD achieved Target #1 at the close of Year One of the Community Housing Support Services Program (CHSSP) with the adaptation of the National Outcome Measures survey (NOMS), a data collection system providing objective measures of household functioning across up to 18 domains, in order to determine baseline functioning and to assess immediate risk at intake, to measure progress at six-month intervals, and to capture overall progress at discharge. The NOMs tool, paired with the referral form, enables the Case Manager and the client household to identify targeted areas of service needs with an eye toward not only resolution of the immediate housing crisis, but also intermediate- and long-term stability. Going forward, CHD’s amended Target #1 will be to finalize the Outputs and Outcomes Tracking database and to enter the data and services captured in Year Two, when the NOMS tool was implemented, through Year Three in order to properly measure the impact of the program over the life cycle of the grant. Target #2 Creation, completion, and utilization of a Stabilization Plan/Action Plan CHD achieved Target #2 at the close of Year One; the CHSSP Case Manager has used CHSSP’s customizable Stabilization Plan form to track in Year Two (1) progress toward the primary goals of tenancy preservation and arrearage payment, (2) progress across all 18 domains that are collaterally supportive of the household’s success, and (3) the outcome of and follow-up on community services referrals to support long-term stability. Going forward, CHD’s amended Target #2 will be to analyze the data captured by the Stabilization Action Plan in order to present to the CPC a complete written report with both qualitative and quantitative indicators of the program’s activities and impact across all families served by the grant. Target #3 Creation, completion, and utilization of an Outputs and Outcomes Tracking database In Year Two, CHD’s Applications and Data Systems (ADS) department (formerly Information Technology/Information Services, or IT/IS) announced rollout of an agency-wide outcomes tracking database with customizable reporting functionality. The web-based database, Efforts to Outcomes (ETO), that was first considered for the initiative is currently in use by all Massachusetts family homelessness services providers and all Continuum of Care-funded homelessness programs, including the Tenancy Preservation Program and CHD’s Permanent Supportive Housing program. Due to functional deficiencies later identified, CHD has elected instead to utilize eHana, a web-based Electronic Health Record (EHR), to capture data and to track outputs and outcomes. A meeting is pending with CHD’s ADS department to develop a program-specific form that will track the data that is uniquely of import to this program. Outputs Output #1 Number and nature of outreach activities to property managers of multi-family properties in Northampton and other relevant stakeholders in the Northampton housing community In Year Two of the grant, the CHSSP Case Manager continued her outreach activities through attendance at the REACH, Next Step, and Valley CDC meetings, as well as monthly meetings with the Hampshire/Hampden/Franklin County Hoarding Task Force. She also met with attorneys from the Flynn Law Group, who represent Meadowbrook, weekly while in Housing Court for 15-30 minutes per session. She estimates that she averaged one hour per month, or twelve hours total for the year. The Case Manager separately met with Attorney Tom O’Connor each Monday in Housing Court for 15 minutes in order to discuss open cases and accept referrals. These meetings averaged approximately one hour per month, or twelve hours total for the year. The Case Manager scheduled a separate meeting for 1.5 hours with Attorney O’Connor to discuss all pending cases coming to court, bringing the number of outreach hours with members of the legal profession to 25.5 hours in Year Two. The Case Manager additionally met with Violet Matos, Residential Services coordinator of Meadowbrook Apartments, and Mike Roy, a representative of Easthampton Savings Bank, in order to develop financial literacy classes to be delivered at Meadowbrook early in Year Three of the grant. This meeting lasted 1.5 hours in total and has been followed up in early Year Three with monthly meetings between Ms. Matos and the Case Manager. As a result of the meetings between the Case Manager and Ms. Matos, Ms. Matos has expressed interest in attending Housing Court with the Case Manager in order to better understand the program and to better coordinate with its services, which CHD anticipates will result in increased collaboration in Year Three of the grant. The Case Manager also met for one hour with staff of HAP Housing’s Housing Consumer Education Center. Finally, the Case Manager has performed in-person outreach to HRM Properties (formerly Home City Housing) and its attorney for approximately three hours in addition to numerous email and telephone communications among the parties. Output #2 Number and nature of life skills/financial literacy workshops offered to community housing residents to increase housing stabilization In Year Two of the grant, the CHSSP Case Manager completed 40 initial budgets with households served the program. Households have been expected to update their budgets upon any change to their income or as rental arrears have been determined or partially paid off. All households presently on the Case Manager’s caseload budget monthly in order to account for natural fluctuations in income and expenditures for every month of their stabilization (e.g., holiday or birthday spending, tax refunds, unexpected vehicle expenses). Critical goals of budget planning include: maximizing income, decreasing debt, and identifying savings targets. Additionally, the Community Support Housing Manager identifies at budget sessions all community resources that can stabilize household money management (e.g., decreasing food expenditures through utilization of the Northampton Survival Center). A new focus in the fourth quarter of FY2016 has been working with households around cost-effective banking, i.e. moving accounts from high-fee nationalized banks to free or low-cost local banks. CHSSP case manager has reached out to the Resident Service Coordinator (RSC) of Meadowbrook and Mike Roy of Easthampton Savings Bank to develop a 3 part workshop series in financial literacy for CHSSP and Meadowbrook households to be held in January 2017 at the Community Room of Meadowbrook. CHSSP hopes to coordinate with the RSC of Northampton Housing Authority to develop the same type of workshop with Easthampton Savings Bank to be held at a location convenient to the NHA households engaged with the program. Output #3 Number of households receiving case management services through various referral sources Referral Source Number of Referrals YTD  Singe Room Occupancy Food Pantry 4  Word-of-Mouth Referral (Neighbor) 2  Housing Court 23  Property Management 12  Community Legal Aid 2  Output #4 Number referred and enrolled in the CHD Representative Payee System There was 1 identified household who was slated to begin a CHD representative payeeship in January 2016 but the household resolved their Housing Court case without the use of the payeeship and remains in good standing to date. A second household would have been eligible but chose instead to use a familiar representative payee. Finally, a third household was already enrolled with ServiceNet for collateral services and chose to establish representative payeeship with that agency. The Case Manager and Assistant Program Director met with CHD’s Fiscal Services office in early 2016 to establish representative payeeship protocols, but to date no households have required use of the system, which remains available upon demand. One new referral from Northampton Housing Authority is an elderly veteran with a history of alcohol dependency who was in need of a payee; he chose to take advantage of Rent Secure, a monthly service that deducts and pays participants’ rent immediately from benefits before depositing the balance in a checking account. Output #5 Number and nature of referrals to other agencies/systems for assistance with issues affecting housing stabilization, including completed and tracked referrals There have been 12 referrals to the Rental Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program, three of which have already been approved. Three additional RAFT applications are still pending, and six were denied because of income eligibility requirements or failure to provide adequate documents and then just giving up. The process of applying for RAFT benefits through HAP has been a very long and frustrating process for tenants and landlords, and CHSSP has been in contact with the Vice President at HAP to convey concerns that have come up. There were six referrals to Community Action; four received rental arrears payments and one received both rental electrical bill arrears payment and one received help with the electric bill. Two households applied for DTA benefits, were approved, and subsequently began to receive cash benefits and SNAP. One of those households began employment, terminating eligibility for DTA benefits. Two households were turned down for Social Security disability; CHSSP assisted with the appeals of both cases and with access to DTA cash benefits while awaiting the appeal. Data Points Data Point #1 Number of contact hours with households served In Year Two of the grant, the CHSSP Case Manager logged 267 hours of direct contact, 274 telephone contacts, and 104 collateral contacts with the households served by the grant. Data Point #2 Number of households identified as rent burdened (defined by paying 40% or more of monthly income for housing costs) Four unsubsidized households were identified in Year One as rent-burdened. Three households were able to increase work hours in order to increase income; the last household is currently looking for additional work and paying weekly, rather than monthly, to alleviate the rent burden. In Year Two, two additional households were identified as rent-burdened. One household was able to start back at a job that would easily pay the unsubsidized rent. One household began collecting unemployment which will cover rent plus other expenses; however this individual will have to find other employment in order to afford to maintain her vehicle, which is subject to a high monthly payment. Data Point #3 Number of notices to quit at defined number of community housing sites Community Housing Site Number of Notices to Quit (NTQ)  Meadowbrook 17  Northampton Housing Authority 15  Hathaway Farms 1  Hospital Hill 1  Mount Holyoke Management 1  Service Net 1  Home City Housing 3  Community Builders 1  HAP Single Room Occupancy 2  Total 42  One household never received a NTQ. Data Point #4 Number of completed evictions There were 2 completed evictions for households served by the CHSSP in the reporting year. One was from an SRO, and the individual was too mentally ill to allow service providers to help and who subsequently became homeless. One was from a 1 bedroom at Meadowbrook, and CHSSP attempted to help assist with an application for rental arrearage payment, but the individual was experiencing severe symptoms of paranoia, and would not allow CHSSP to meet with her when her Social Security check came in or to assist her in getting assessed at the local crisis center. The individual ceased all contact with CHSSP and eventually was evicted on a default judgment. Outcomes Outcome #1 : Number of evictions prevented 41 evictions have been prevented as a result of CHSSP intervention. 39 of those households remained in place, one moved in with family but was not evicted, and one was permitted to leave housing without an eviction and entered shelter. One referred household never received Notice to Quit, and therefore does not count as an eviction prevented. Timeline and Narrative for Remaining Work The nature of the activities will remain the same for the remainder of the grant period. Much of the Case Manager’s work will consist of: Representation of CHSSP activities in Housing Court Screening and accepting Housing Court referrals for stabilization and support Providing resources, referrals, and information to households referred by Housing Court who are ineligible for CHSSP assistance (e.g., households living outside Northampton) Stabilization services for eligible households Initial risk assessment Monthly stabilization planning Referral tracking Budget development and tracking Financial literacy counseling Referral to CHD’s representative payee system (or other relevant rental assistance resource) The Center for Human Development will continue to make available voluntary representative payeeship services at no cost to households receiving Social Security payments. CHSSP will continue to emphasize prospective planning to supplement its demonstrated strength in crisis response and will continue to refine the system of monthly stabilization planning. Additionally, the CHSSP Case Manager will continue to develop relationships with community stakeholders in order to broaden the network of referral sources and to continue to identify new resources relevant to the population served. Finally, the Case Manager will begin to deliver group sessions on financial literacy and budgeting in the upcoming year. In the upcoming grant year, CHD additionally plans to more formally integrate the work of CHSSP with CHD’s Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Outreach Program, which provides case management, emergency food, and social support to SRO households in Hampshire County. Noting some overlap in the households served by CHSSP and SRO, and recognizing the need to diversify funding for long-term sustainability, CHSSP program management is presently applying to the United Way of Hampshire County to secure a portion of CHSSP funding for FYs 2018-2020. The additional funding, if awarded, would serve to formally integrate the CHSSP and SRO programs into a single unified response to Northampton households at risk of homelessness. Both programs will continue outreach to community stakeholders, intervene to assist in eviction prevention for referred households at risk of homelessness, and provide long-term stabilization and prevention services through case management, referral, food security resources, and social support. While any funding provided by a renewal of this grant would continue to provide the services covered to date, it is anticipated that future sources of additional funding will only serve to better coordinate CHSSP with the rich network of Hampshire County resources and to deepen the impact of the program within the city of Northampton. Program Director Jane Banks is also approaching several community agencies whose tenants benefit from CHSSP services to contribute toward the costs of the program. Report of Expected Funds to be Spent Funds awarded: $195,000.00 Funds invoiced to date: Invoice Quarter Amount invoiced  Q3FY2016 $13,745.68  Q4FY2016 $15,91 7.23  Q1FY2017 $12,786.70  Q2FY2017 $15,919.47  Total invoiced: $88,850.13  Funds remaining: $106,149.87  As detailed in the timeline and narrative above, the nature of the activities completed to date will continue.