UHHP Policy Committee
September 20, 1013

Corporation for Supportive Housing

Los Angeles, CA

Meeting Summary

Participants: Libby Boyce, Myrna Dantes, Jeff Proctor, Jeri Neely, Jaime Garcia, Amy Turk, Lisa Watson, Molly Rysman, Steve Renahan, Peter Lynn, Sieglinde von Deffner, Sharon Rapport, Zahirah Mann, Reina Turner, Neal Richman, Greg Speigel and Leslie Clarke.

Following a review of the Summit Priority Areas, the group identified the following policy priority areas:

I. Health – Focus: Affordable Care Act and Mental Health Services Act

  1. Support health plans serving homeless people through funding for case management.
  2. Advocate that funds are made available for case management by health care and homeless service providers.
  3. Advocate that health plans track the use of healthcare by homeless residents (especially the chronically homeless) in order to calculate cost savings resulting from effective case/care management and advocate for coverages of these services.
  1. Advocate at the State level for:
  2. Funding for case management
  3. Authorization for plants to pay for case management or to compensate homeless service providers for case managers.

C. Advocate for the education and outreach to ensure that homeless residents become enrolled or, if they are already enrolled, learn that they are enrolled and be assisted in accessing services.

  1. Mental Health Services Act
  2. UHHP to act as stakeholder on SB-82, supporting this bill, and funding for crisis beds.

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II. Housing/Rental Subsidies

  1. Advocate for the use of the redevelopment “boomerang funding” for affordable housing and permanent supportive housing (capital and rent subsidies).
  2. Identify how much funding is available from the City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles.
  3. Advocate for 20% or more to be spent on affordable housing.
  1. General Relief Housing Subsidy ($400 per month plus $100 of $212 for housing), which can work as rapid rehousing for non-chronically homeless people.
  2. Advocate for County to release study of this program and bring program model to scale.
  1. County’s single adult model – provides rent subsidy, housing locator, and services.
  2. Advocate for people on GR and who have disabilities being eligible for the program.
  1. Other issues to focus on:
  2. No cuts to Mckinney-Vento programs.
  3. State housing and jobs Act – support existing coalition efforts.
  4. VASH housing placement – how might the coordinated entry system help improve the speed of placements?

The Policy Committee will continue its work on these issues through two separate subcommittees: the Health Policy Subcommittee and the Housing Policy Subcommittee, which will meet monthly, with quarterly meetings of both committees. The first meeting of these subcommittees will be in October. Committee chairs and action plans will be developed by these committees. Representation from key organizations will be sought.

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