You Got Questions – We Got Answers

1. You Got Questions – We Got Answers Mattie Lord, UMOM New Day Centers Jeremy Rosen, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty

2. Goals? • Answer all your housing questions (or give you candy)!!! • Make sure when someone talks to you in housing speak, you can answer right back. • Anyone not think this sentence is in Greek? PTFA or HPRP might keep a family in their home, but if that doesn’t work HUD may tell you to try a PHA that can give you VASH or FUP, and if that doesn’t work under the COC plan for implementing HEARTH maybe the family can get PSH.

3. What is HUD? • A building in DC with a leaky roof? • A federal housing agency? • An old movie with Paul Newman? • A group of people who don’t know how to define homelessness?

4. What can HUD do for you? • Delivers homeless assistance and affordable housing for the families we work with. • Locally, homeless assistance is delivered through a CoC (Continuum of Care). • Example – you ask your local housing or homelessness agency to help you get families housed and they say “talk to the CoC.”

5. What is a CoC? • Government agencies, nonprofit service providers, advocates, and homeless / formerly homeless persons working together to end homelessness in a local community or in a larger rural area of a particular state. • Should you be part of the CoC? • Even if you’re not in Fargo – “You betcha.” • You are the voice for the kids and families you work with! Don’t assume someone else is.

6. What does a CoC do? • Plans for ending homelessness in your community, sets priorities for how your area’s homeless assistance funds will be spent, and picks agencies who will receive the $$$. • Will soon assume more responsibility for managing grant funds, be responsible for meeting new outcome targets, and administer broader definition of homelessness. • What gives the CoC authority? HEARTH!

7. What is HEARTH? • A fireplace? • The part or your body that pumps blood? • The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009?

8. Why do we care about HEARTH? • Framework for how HUD’s homeless programs will operate in foreseeable future. • New focus areas – more homelessness prevention, less emergency shelter; more permanent housing, less transitional housing. • Homeless definition undergoing final Congressional review – out in weeks. • All HUD funded homeless programs must do things for you and the kids you serve! Now!

9. HEARTH Requirements (1) • The Continuum of Care applicant will be required to demonstrate that it is collaborating with LEAs to assist in the identification of homeless families as well as informing these homeless families and youth of their eligibility for McKinney-Vento education services.

10. Strategies • Develop Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between the Continuum of Care and area school districts on protocols for identification and enrollment, including procedures for information-sharing. • Share education information as part of intake and exit. • Conduct joint trainings and visits. • Form a child/youth subcommittee.

11. HEARTH Requirements (2) • Continuum of Care applicant will be required to demonstrate that it is considering the educational needs of children when families are placed in emergency or transitional shelter and is, to the maximum extent practicable, placing families with children as close to possible to their school of origin so as not to disrupt their children’s education.

12. Strategies • Work with school districts to create a map that matches school addresses with shelter and transitional housing addresses, to assist in placing families and youth as close as possible to their schools. • Include school stability as a standard criterion in assessing the appropriate shelter or transitional housing programs for families or youth. • Ask families for the names of the schools that their children are attending as part of intake processes.

13. HEARTH Requirements (3) • Project applicants must demonstrate that their programs are establishing policies and practices that are consistent with, and do not restrict the exercise of rights provided by the education subtitle of the McKinney-Vento Act, and other laws relating to the provision of educational rights and related services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

14. Strategies • Review and revise shelter policies to ensure children and youth are fully supported in exercising their education rights, including the right to remain at their school of origin. • Help unaccompanied homeless youth to access higher education opportunities, including by verifying their status for the FAFSA.

15. HEARTH Requirements (4) • Project applicants must demonstrate that programs that provide housing or services to families are designating a staff person to ensure that children are enrolled in school and connected to the appropriate services within the community, including early childhood programs such as Head Start, Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Act, and McKinney-Vento education services.

16. Strategies • Consider who is the most appropriate staff person to be the “education and early care” coordinator. • Convene a meeting of the designated HUD education/early care contacts, local school district liaisons, Head Start and preschool staff. • Assist in providing transportation to Head Start and other preschool programs and arranging after-hour child care. • Invite early intervention and special education staff to shelters for child find activities.

17. Defining Homelessness • HUD – streets, emergency shelter, transitional housing • ED – above plus doubled up / in hotel or motel • Now all doubled up and hotel / motel will be eligible for prevention assistance. • 3 other key subsets will be eligible for full range of homeless assistance.

18. Defining Homelessness (2) • People losing housing within 14 days (including from a motel b/c can’t pay). • Families and youth defined as homeless by ED, if they have not been in permanent housing for a long time and have moved frequently. • Individuals / families fleeing DV or other dangerous / life threatening conditions. • Devil will be in final details.

19. Preventing Homelessness • HPRP >>>>>ESG (more alphabet soup, but more resources for families). • Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program – Recovery Act program now in year 3 ($500m per year); incorporated under HEARTH at roughly $250m per year, will replace existing ESG (Emergency Shelter Grant) with ESG (Emergency Solutions Grant). • Prevention AND Re-Housing!!!

20. Prevention and Re-Housing • Prevention – family will be evicted if someone doesn’t may two months of back rent; program pays. • Re-housing – family doubled up or in a motel – can pay rent but not security deposit. Program pays deposit – family housed ASAP. • It won’t work under the program model >>>>>Why not? Make it happen. Flexibility!

21. HEARTH Odds and Ends • CoC’s can decide to fund permanent housing for non-disabled homeless families or youth. • Families can be considered “chronically” homeless and made eligible for PSH (Permanent Supportive Housing). • Shelters will not be able to turn away families with teenage boys unless they find another place for the family to go.

22. What else can HUD do for you? • If they knew I was telling you this, they’d have to kill me! • Takeaway message – budget cuts mean that new permanent housing resources are few and far between. However, they can be found if you know who to ask, and push creatively. • But if you just ask “Can I have housing for the families I serve” - #1 Answer? “We have none.”

23. Ask and You May Receive!?!? • Go talk to PHA (Public Housing Authority)! • Do you have any Section 8 or public housing? NO. • What about when units turn over? (Another secret – most people only keep Section 8 or public housing for a few years) • Can we create a preference for homeless families? (They can if they want to!) • Got any FUP (Family Unification Program) or VASH (Veterans Affairs Supported Housing)?

24. Ask and You May Receive!?!? • 811 (Housing for persons with disabilities, not a misdialed emergency call) • 202 (The DC area code, but also senior housing); maybe for a grandparent with grandchildren • Tax credit or HOME housing (ask State Housing Finance Agency) – directory at http://www.ncsha.org/housing-help • Get top level school support – homelessness is terrible for kids and it’s costly!!!

25. REO • REO Speedwagon? No. • REO properties? Yes. • Real Estate Owned properties are owned by Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac / banks after foreclosure. Are most of these selling right now? No. Go ask a bank if they’ll give you a few REO homes!

26. PTFA • Putting Teachers Foremost Act? • Please Talk French Act? • Police Training First Act? • Protecting Tenants At Foreclosure Act?

27. PTFA • Federal law protects tenants in properties where owner was foreclosed on. • After foreclosure, tenant does not have to move out right away. Tenant can stay until end of lease or minimum 90 days. • Must be bona fide tenant (fancy way of saying someone paying fair market rent, and maybe not to family member).

28. Back Where We Began • PTFA or HPRP might keep a family in their home, but if that doesn’t work HUD may tell you to try a PHA that can give you VASH or FUP, and if that doesn’t work under the COC plan for implementing HEARTH maybe the family can get PSH.

29. Contact Information Jeremy Rosen, Policy Director (NLCHP) (202) 638-2535 x210 - Jrosen@nlchp.org Mattie Lord, Chief Program Officer (UMOM) (602) 889-0671 - MLord@umom.org