Western Region Coc Governing Board Meeting
Western Region CoC Governing Board Meeting
May 26, 2016
Hampton Inn & Suites, Grove City, PA
ATTENDEES
Tammy Knouse, Co-Chair
Linda Thompson, Co-Chair
Kim Stucke, Co-Secretary
Amanda Feltenberger, Co-Secretary
Danijel Vukancic, DCED
David Weathington, DCED
Kathy Presnar
Leigh Howard, DMA
Fran Billen
Debbie Hennon
Lynn McCumber
Vince Karabin
Joann Jankoski
Western Region CoC Governing Board Meeting
May 26, 2016
Hampton Inn & Suites, Grove City, PA
ATTENDEES
The registration list is an attachment to the minutes.
WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS
The meeting was called to order by Co-Chair, Linda Thompson. Attendees introduced themselves.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
On a motion by Debbie Hennon, seconded by Fran Billen and by unanimous vote of the board members, it was duly RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the January 12, 2016 meeting.
On a motion by Kathy Presnar, seconded by Lynn McCumber and by unanimous vote of the board members, it was duly RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the April 5th meeting.
DCED REPORT
Mr. Vukancic briefly reviewed the results of the ESG monitoring, explaining that DCED is waiting on the final official letter from HUD. No issues found with HMIS, however with ESG there were some concerns including the documentation of homelessness. A process will be implemented so that the agencies can collect documentation of homelessness from each client. Mr. Weathington explained that a form was developedto coordinate CoC and homelessness together. As a result, HUD will provide technical assistance for the ESG program sometime in the near future.
An update on the current consultant contract was provided.
DCED provided a review of the budget, noting the contract ends on June 30th and pointing out the $18,000 balance as listed is incorrect – should be $24,701.13 to carry us through the end of December.
An update on the RFP for consultant was given by DCED, noting the bid closed on May 17th and we’ve only received one bid from DMA. Mr. Krot is looking into the legal end of things to ensure there’s no issue with only having one bid because of the RFP process.
DCED will transfer the balance of the 2014 planning grant funds into the DMA contract.
On a motion by Lynn McCumber, seconded by Tammy Knouse and by unanimous vote of the board members, it was duly RESOLVED to ask the executive membership of this board; should the NOFA come out in a time in which we need to relook at their contract, we are asking them to do so.
On a motion by Debbie Hennon, seconded by Lynn McCumber and by unanimous vote of the board members, it was duly RESOLVED to require an announcement notifying us on the new consulting contract by June 20th or as soon as it is official and they’ve accepted the budget as proposed.
MOU with DCED
Mr. Vukancic reported the MOU is still being vetted through the legal office and still open for suggestions. Ms. Knouse suggested it should not go to legal yet; wait on our comments first.
ESG/CoC Coordination
Ms. Howard handed out an exert of a recent HUD guide of Coordination and Collaboration for CoC’s and Consolidated Plan Jurisdictions. Ms. Howard suggested there needs to be a tighter plan in terms of how the CoC provides input to Washington and Westmoreland counties around the allocation of the ESG, which is a requirement. Ms. Howard reviewed the CoC-specific requirements to consult with ESG recipients as written in our Governance Charter. The areas, in which we are required to develop written standards, but also develop in partnership with ESG recipients, include Washington County, Westmoreland County and DCED. Ms. Howard reviewed the CoC Requirements, stating the continuum must consult with ESG recipients within the CoC’s geographic area on the plan for: allocating ESG program funds and reporting on the performance of ESG recipients and sub-recipients. The process for completing these activities must be incorporated into the CoC’s governance charter noting we are not doing anything in any of the above categories, including in our Governance Charter. Ms. Howard stated she presented a brief summary plan to Madra Clay to initiate a CoC ESG coordination process which she will share with the Board. It was suggested to the Board that, at least through June 30th, once the 2016 ESG application process is closed, work very closely with DCED to create a process to impact our score as a CoC in relationship to coordination and better outcome efficiency overall.
Review of Tier One and Tier Two Results
Ms. Howard distributed a handout of the snapshot of the FY2015CoC Ranking that showed Tier 2 and provided the Board with a review of the scores. In case any of the projects that were not funded had originally received HOME money, it’s 100% payback. For future note, since this is not applicable on current projects, if we have no other resources available, can we request TVRA home funds. The groundwork should be laid for those home funds if they’re usable.
Membership
Open positions and possible fills were discussed. Reach out to the Housing Alliance about possibly joining the board. It was noted to revise the membership form to clarify the question about current/former homelessness.
Subcommittee Updates
Policy- ThePolicy Committee has not met. As stated in our Governance Charter, we have to review and make any necessary changes at least once a year, which was completed and presented those changes at the full CoC Meeting in April. Those comments are posted on our website for comment under the required 21 days. Ms. Feltenberger reviewed the changes made. It was noted to say in the bylaws that a vote should be considered valid as long as it’s greater than 50% of the individual voting members attending. It was suggested to add some type of definition to clarify the percentage necessary for a valid quorum. One suggestion was to clarify a quorum for valid votes at a CoC and base that quorum on how many agencies are funded. Waiting on final number to determine minimal percentage.
A Conflict of Interest Policy was said to be a necessary addition to our Governance Charter. A policy is currently being reviewed. Provide any comments to Ms. Feltenberger.
Coordinated Entry– Coordinated Entry is moving along. The processes that we have voted on and put into place will be ready by the board’s July meeting. The five pilot counties were divided into two groups, one group of three and one group of two which are filling their open slots in their communities. It was recommended that the Board move forward on selecting agencies in the remaining 15 counties and get them trained and accustomed to the process. Board members were asked to go to their individual RHABs and ask each county (that is not part of the pilot) to take it to their housing coalition and make a determination of your regular coordinated entry and your Domestic Violence coordinated entry. It was decided a letter from the Board be sent to all ESG and CoC funded programs in the 5 CE pilot counties (Jefferson, Lawrence, Butler, Washington and Fayette) to stress the importance of their participation in the pilot process. The 2017 ESG application has wording to encourage counties to use ESG for coordinated entry; all of the assessment is eligible, creation of a housing plan is eligible, providing information in referrals is eligible, rapid re-housing is eligible – there is no reason that ESG should not be used to implement coordinated entry.
Veterans -Ms. Presnar reported that the committee’s main focus is trying to meet those criteria and benchmark as outlined by USICH. A release of information form will be sent out to be used by agencies completing the online referral tool. The ultimate goal is to create one CoC release of information that covers coordinated entry, HMIS and veteran referral. A flyer will be created and posted throughout communities in all 20 counties directing homeless veterans of how to reach out for help.
Workplan Update
Leigh distributed and reviewed two documents: Point in Time Subpopulation Summary for PA-601 Western PA CoC and Transitional Housing in the Eastern PA CoC. Ms. Howard provided an updated of the work plan for the renewal projects that were not funded.
Ms. Howard noted, for future reference, we should have a conversation abouta way to implement certain elements of coordinated entry, specifically around prioritization, prior to the full roll out. There were a lot of questions this year in the application regarding our prioritization of populations.
Ms. Feltenberger distributed a draft copy of the Renewal Scoring Sheet and asked any comments be given back to her.
Recommended Rating and Ranking ProcessTeiring Strategy
Ms. Howard commented HUD is backing off about Tier 2 next year and put fewer resources towards it than what they did this year. In terms of ranking, we will have a ranking process that we all agree on, then once we have a NOFA and we know what the tiering looks like, we come up with a transparent strategy.
Review Schedule for Board and CoC Meetings
Next Board Meeting is July 19th. The following is the full CoCmeeting to be held October 4th. DCED was asked to find the ideal GIS location for future centralized meeting locations.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 3:25 p.m.