Eastern Pennsylvania Continuum of Care

Eastern Pennsylvania Continuum of Care

Eastern Pennsylvania Continuum of Care

Coordinated Entry Committee Meeting

Meeting Information

Date | Time:​ Wednesday, May 17, 2017 | 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Location:​ Community Room, Giant 3301 E Trindle Rd, Camp Hill, PA 17011

Meeting Facilitators

Kathi Krablin, Eastern PA CoC Coordinated Entry Committee Chair, Valley Youth House

Jason Alexander, Eastern PA CoC Coordinated Entry Consultant, Capacity for Change, LLC

Meeting Agenda

Welcome and Introductions

Kathi Krablin

Jason Alexander

Diane Glenwright

Nicole Germaux

Sergio Carmona

Leigh Howard

Lea Dougherty

David Weathington

Tori Bourret

Coordinated Entry Plan Updates

  • Kathi updated that she and Jason participated in a Coordinated Entry webinar sponsored by Housing Alliance of PA to address establishing Coordinated Entry in a multi-county Continuum of Care.
  • 211 Statewide Planning – committed to Coordinated Entry. Looking for funding at the State Level. There is the possibility of 211 East (Lancaster) to do the entire CoC or another 211 Provider. Blair 211 is also interested. There is also Pennsylvania 211 who could respond to the RFP.
  • Jason provided the update about his presentation to the Northern Tier RHAB which was covered in the Williamsport Gazette.
  • Jason is presenting at the SC RHAB on June 5, 2017 and CV RHAB on June 8, 2017. Sergio asked about involvement of county employees and United Way. Jason encouraged this. In CV RHAB, Jason is working with a Health Network (Partnership for a Better Health Foundation) that covers many of the counties in the CV RHAB. They had issued a RFP earlier this year for homeless providers related to systems change.
  • Lea reviewed the Call Logs to date. There was discussion about the collaboration of non-funded CoC partners as referral partners. Sergio talked about the importance of getting County Level Partners involved.
  • Leigh provided an update on the TA that DCED received for HUD funded programs (ESG). Leigh asked about using ESG funding for CE, which can include funding for 211 as Street Outreach. David clarified that the application for 211 would need to be regional and it might be strategic to couple it with a more traditional approach to Street Outreach. The Housing Locator Services can be funded as RRH system-wide but there are questions about billing since it is not connected to a specific client. The Assessment (VI-SPDAT) can be funded through Emergency Shelter Essential Services only for clients enrolled in the shelter doing the assessment. Leigh raised the possibility of having a CoC application to DCED for ESG. There are funds within the CoC that can be used for match to ESG. David explained about the Lawrence County Veterans Initiative that has sub-recipients. Leigh discussed the recent trend for the Eastern CoC applying for less funding than the West in terms of ESG and fewer in priority areas.

❏Eastern PA CoC Coordinated Entry System CES Operational Framework (May 2017)

  • Jason discussed how there is a difference between a plan on paper as compared to bringing the plan to life. There are monthly reports for CE that have provided data to make improvements in the CES process. The question was raised about whether LV is tracking placement and this is being written into a new Community Queue Report. Jason highlighted that the majority of people who have been assessed with the VI-SPDAT meaning that they need RRH, with only about 20% scoring high and thus needing more intensive services. The Reports are being used for contract compliance and reporting to HUD. Jason raises the question about whether it is now time to do an update to the CES Operational Policy Framework.
  • Jason reviewed the document: Eastern PA CoC CES Overview. If 211 is the partner it will meet the requirement for 24/7 access to services. The Pre-Screen has been built to respond to persons calling who are victims of DV and those who are seeking services from another CoC or State.
  • Jason reviewed the two-part assessment process and that there are more specific steps.
  • The Referral Process has been refined for those who are literally homeless and those who are at-risk or doubled up. For those who are literally homeless they are referred to Emergency Shelter and placed on the Community Queue. Ultimately, agencies will get clients for openings off the Queue. For those who are doubled-up (not literally homeless) – they are not placed on the Queue but rather there will be a direct referral to community services. Leigh discussed her conversation with Ben Laudermilch regarding HAP funding and the need to connect with this process. Jason suggested that the Coordinated Entry Walk-in Sites be renamed to Access Sites.
  • Jason reviewed the Coordinated Entry Manager which is new position. This is a person who will be in charge to include managing the Queue and the implementation of CES (someone in charge). This person would be a “Super User” of HMIS. The Queue needs to be managed on a more regular basis. Leigh asked if ESG funding can be used for this positions as Data Collection funds – there is a HMIS line item in ESG. Diane suggested the need for applications for ESG to be vetted by the RHAB chairs. United Way can be a partner in many ways.
  • Jason reviewed the training webinars that have been created for HMIS and VI-SPDAT. Jason is suggesting training in diversion strategies (motivational interviewing), Housing First Philosophy and Trauma Informed Care.
  • Jason reviewed the responsibilities of each staff position within the CES and the meeting schedule. Added recruitment of referral partners as a role.
  • Jason highlighted the shorter time frame for HMIS updates within 24 hours of program enrollment or rejection.
  • Sergio recommended changing the time frame of reviewing and distributing HMIS CES reports to weekly rather than monthly. Also add communication with DCED HMIS Administrator and serve as the liaison.
  • Jason reviewed the CES Referral Policies. One question was whether to have consistent hours of operation for the Access Sites across the CoC. The suggestion is to request that the Access Sites be open 9:00am and 4:00pm.
  • The Queue will be scrubbed for persons who are inactive for 60 days. This needs to be part of the script to inform the client about this policy of 60 days so that they know they need to check in.
  • Jason discussed how there needs to be a draft budget for the next meeting. Need to get feedback from 211 about the experience in LV as it has exceeded the expectations.
  • Jason will bring 3 RFPs next meeting:
  • Call Center (by RHAB vs. Full CoC)
  • Access Site
  • CE Managers
  • Jason reviewed that the plan is to use the VI-SPDAT. He clarified which tool is used with whom.

A motion was made to adopt the updated Eastern PA CoC Coordinated Entry System Operational Framework.

Next Meeting will be to review the budgets and RFPs. Proposal is to meet from 2:30-3:30 pm on

June 19, 2017 after the CoC Board Meeting.

❏ Marketing and Outreach (Kathi)

The United Way of Lehigh Valley is helping to develop a template that will be used throughout the CoC. There is also a need to engage other key stakeholders in the creation of the CE system throughout the CoC

❏ Leveraging Other Funding Sources (Kathi)

Kathi discussed CDBG and Affordable Housing Trust Fund as possible funding sources. The Committee discussed ESG as a possible funding source.

❏ Other

Next Meeting and Action Items

May 15, 2017 @ 12:00pm in the Community Room, Giant 3301 E Trindle Rd, Camp Hill, PA 17011

Adjourn

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