Minutes
Tuesday, February 23th, 2016
9:00-11:00
City Rescue Mission-Maplewood
Board Members:
Susan Cancro, Sharon Dade, Katrina Urista, Mark Morton, Cathy Calkins, Su A’lyn Holbrook, Susan Land, Jenny Leaf, Elizabeth Rios, Al Platt, Vicki Sandbrook, Linda Vail, and Doris Witherspoon
Present: Susan Cancro (Advent House), Cathy Calkins (GLHC), Mark Criss (CRM), Sharon Dade (VOA), Pam Elise (CACS), Joan Jackson Johnson (CoL-HRCS), Susan Land (LSD), Jenny Leaf (L&F), Angie Mayeaux (Haven House), Mark Morton (CFC), Al Platt (CMH), Jessica Robinson (NCA), Liza Rios (Legal Services), Vicki Sandbrook (JIMHO), Julie Shaltry (VOA), Katrina Urista (CoL-HRCS), Linda Vail (ICHD), Doris Witherspoon (CoL-PND), Toni Young (CoL-HRCS), and David Henrion (GLHRN).
1) Introductions
2) Approval of January Minutes
a) Vicki Sandbrook moved to accept the minutes with corrections; Liza Rios seconded. All approved.
3) PIT Count Update
a) Joan Jackson Johnson said the PIT numbers were not finalized, because there is a need for verification of homelessness at Magnusson. She said it should be out by the end of the week.
4) Outreach to the Magnuson – Chair and Dr. Johnson
a) Joan said there would be a meeting at the Magnuson every Wednesday from 12 to 3ish with the Health Department, DHHS, and other key players. Their goal is to move the families out, since it is not safe for children there, and Joan noted that many families are going directly there. Joan stated Mark Criss said CRM will accept overnight referrals from the LPD.
i) Julie and Joan discussed whether alcohol would prohibit clients from entering CRM. Mark entered the room afterwards and said that the cold would be the only exception for those who are heavily intoxicated.
ii) Susan and Joan discussed the practicality of using the Magnuson as a shelter.
iii) Joan suggested a collective letter to the editor, explaining who the CoC is and publicly inviting Homeless Angels to the table.
(1) Mark, Joan, Linda Vail, Katrina Urista, Su A’lyn Holbrook, and Angie Mayeaux spoke on the importance of safety and what a letter to the editor should contain.
(2) Joan said Toni Young could do a draft of a letter, and Sharon Dade suggested coordinating with Darin Estap for that. Joan suggested having the chair, all board members, the mayor, and the health department sign it.
b) Su A’lyn and Cathy Calkins asked about Magnuson conditions. Joan said the Magnuson will be foreclosed, and Homeless Angels will try to purchase it. Joan then discussed the heating situation there.
c) Joan said the important point is options for people needing shelter. Clients can go to CRM if VOA is full. Jenny Leaf said there are two female overflow beds at L&F, and they can take intoxicated clients if they are able to manage their behavior. Joan offered to pay for transportation on the weekends. Susan said that Advent House is open throughout Saturday and Sunday, and is willing to work with people.
5) Grant Updates – City of Lansing HRCS
a) HRCS passed out reporting documents, and Toni and Katrina went into depth on the agencies they monitored.
b) Toni said that Advent House had a good spend down percentage, timeliness, and billing accuracy. She noted case management hours were good at the Good Work! Program, but could be a issue for PSH For Families. PSH For Families also had some vacancies in the fall.
c) Toni noted that CFC’s grant year is a little different than the other programs, but their spending, timeliness, billing accuracy, and case management were all good. She said their utilization was averaged at 80%, which is less good.
i) Mark M said CFC would be ok with shifting their grant time period.
d) Toni said GLHC’s budget, timeliness, utilization rate, and case management hours were great. She said the billing accuracy had some problems in the past, but it was definitely improving.
e) Toni said Haven House’s shelter operations grants are a little overspent, and their RRH wasn’t spent at all, which has been corrected. She said their timeliness and utilization rates were great, and their budget accuracy is improving.
f) Toni said EVE’s spending was a little over, but their timeliness and accuracy are at 100%.
g) Katrina then began to talk about her agencies. She said CACS’s RRH grant was underspent, and seemed to have a low number of case management hours. Katrina said that their timeliness and budget accuracy are both good, and CACS’s ESG program is good.
h) Katrina said that NCA’s spending, reporting, and accuracy are great, but they have low utilization rate and case management hours.
i) Katrina said that LHC has good spending and utilization rates. However, their timeliness and accuracy are both poor, and while the case management hours are good for PSH2, they are not good for PSH4.
j) Katrina said VOA was spending on pace for their ESG and CoC grants, but not MSHDA. She said their MSHDA timeliness was good, but not for their ESG and CoC grants. Katrina said they are working to improve the billing process, and their case management numbers were a little down.
k) Katrina said Legal Services was a little underspent, but their timeliness and billing accuracy were good.
l) Katrina said Loaves and Fishes’ budget status and timeliness are good. There was one budget issue that they are working out.
m) Mark M asked what would be the best utilization or spending rate. Katrina said a 33% spending rate would be on track, and 80% utilization would work as well.
n) Sharon thanked HRCS for their work, and suggested organizing it a little differently.
i) Linda Vail suggested just pointing out the places of concern.
ii) Sharon, Angie, and Joan suggested a more defined table with some color.
o) Katrina and Liza talked about having a discussion part of the presentation for any concerns.
i) Angie suggested sending out these reports before the meeting.
p) Pam discussed the process in starting their RRH for Families program back up. She said that unlike last year, clients were selecting their own housing, which delayed their move in dates. Pam also noted they had started spending slowly last year but were able to spend the grant.
i) Pam said CACS wanted to move their grant year, and Susan said CACS should write a letter to the Finance committee, who would approve it, and take it to the board.
q) Susan shared a letter for extending the PSH for Families grant year to end in June. Doris moved to accept the letter, Mark M seconded. Susan recused herself and all approved.
r) Toni explained that Advent House became a landlord, not a service provider, and thus was ineligible for ESG funds. She proposed revised the contract to give the funds to NCA, and have Advent House pay back the ESG amount they received. Sharon made this motion, Mark Morton seconded. Susan recused herself, and all approved.
6) ESG Funding Amount
a) Doris Witherspoon announced Lansing is getting $167,841 in ESG funding, 1,155 more than last year. She noted this could only go to prevention, RRH, shelter, outreach, and HMIS providers.
7) Starting Strategic Planning – Katrina Urista
a) Katrina said the committee would start by piggybacking on veteran workgroup, led by Toni. She noted that HRCS was on track to be the unified funder.
b) Katrina began a discussion on new MSHDA funding for veteran homeless, specifically $70,000 for Lansing. Sharon outlined by VOA couldn’t apply for the funding. Joan, Mark M, Sharon, Susan, and Liza talked about how important this could be to the community. Susan motioned to send MSHDA a letter on this, to attempt to find a way to accept the money. Mark M seconded, and all were in favor.
c) Susan briefly spoke about the SAMSA grant, via the DHHS in Detroit. Al and Joan said they have a SAMSA meeting on Friday.
8) MSHDA PBV and HCV waitlist – Sharon Dade and Julie Shaltry
a) Julie said the HCV waitlist is at 74, since 50 names have been pulled for the last three months. Pam noted everyone not receiving RRH assistance should be on the list, and Susan said PSH clients could be on the list for 120 days after being housed in PSH.
b) Joan asked if the shelters could post the HCV names that were pulled. Sharon said they couldn’t, but they could send it to Advent House’s staff to look over the list on the weekends.
i) The groups discussed getting DHHS to see the waitlist. Susan said she will check the QSOBAA.
ii) Su A’lyn said if they had a list, they could directly tell clients to contact VOA.
9) Regional Report
a) Liza said they had the Region 7 meeting, but no one from the CoC was able to be there.
b) Julie said the tri-county MOU meeting was last week. She noted that only 13 clients from Eaton or Clinton came into Ingham since 10/1, but large amounts from Genesee county came in. Susan L said there hadn’t been an influx of new students. Julie said more clients were going into New Hope but not into shelter. Toni noted that money is pouring into Genesee, and the CoC might be able to use that money to help Genesee residents who went to Ingham.
10) Committees
a) Membership
i) Cathy described the committee’s discussion on church outreach. Susan, David, and Al discussed the developer group asking for a letter of support.
b) CQI
i) Sharon said DHHS sent out an email on the Michigan prioritization tool, which should be looked at during the HARA committee.
ii) Liza went over outcome reports. They were mostly stable, but Cathy said she would look into the 0% engagement rate for Ballentine exits.
iii) Liza said the CQI committee discussed about repeat clients from years past coming through the system. She said it could be due to the DHHS cutoff or people choosing to pay utilities instead of rent.
c) Human Services
i) Al said the committee would meet the next day and work on discharge planning/workflows.
ii) Susan, Katrina, Toni, and Al talked about the committee’s long term goals, agreeing that gaps analysis would be key to accomplish there.
iii) Katrina announced that HRCS’s Community Forum would be on March 3 at 3 pm, at Foster.
d) Finance
i) Mark M send the committee is preparing for the ESG grant process, and will present their work at the March board meeting.
11) Ad-hoc Committees
a) HARA
i) Susan said the HARA has been postponed for the training sessions GLHRN is having. The first session is scheduled for Thursday. Future sessions on LHC options, HUD regulations, and housing options are being worked on.
12) Old Business
a) Jessica said United Way was partnering with Habitat for Humanity for this year’s Day of Caring, but they are willing to talk about partnering with Community Connect next year.
b) Julie said the Veteran Stand Down meeting would be March 3 at 9:00 am.
13) New Business
a) Pam announced that CACS has prevention funding for rent and for utilities.
14) Adjournment
Next Board Meeting:
March 29, 2016