Wyoming Homeless Collaborative (WHC)

Operating Policies and Procedures

Adopted September 19, 2013

Amended February 4, 2014, June 3, 2014 and October 28, 2015

  1. Mission Statement

The Wyoming Homeless Collaborative is a cooperative body comprised of representatives of governmental, not-for-profit, public, and private entities within State of Wyoming. Our mission is to facilitate the development, implementation, and delivery of a comprehensive, statewide movement intended to reduce the incidence of homelessness, to address the immediate needs of those who are homeless or near homeless, and to improve the quality of housing and supportive services available in every community for individuals and families who are homeless or near homeless in Wyoming.

  1. Purpose

The Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to promote community-wide goals to end homelessness; provide funding to quickly rehouse individuals and families who are homeless while minimizing trauma and dislocation to those persons; promote access to and effective utilization of mainstream programs; and optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness. The program is composed of transitional housing, permanent supportive housing for disabled persons, permanent housing, supportive services and HMIS.

  1. Definition of Partners

Applicant: an entity that is an eligible applicant that has been designated by the Continuum of Care to apply for assistance on behalf of the Continuum.

Collaborative Applicant: an eligible applicant that has been designated by the CoC to apply for a grant for CoC planning funds on behalf of the CoC.

Continuum of Care: the group that is organized to carry out the responsibilities required under 24 CFR 578 and that is comprised of representatives of organizations including nonprofit homeless providers, victim service providers, faith-based organizations, governments, businesses, advocates, public housing agencies, school districts, social service providers, mental health agencies, hospitals, universities, affordable housing developers, law enforcement, organizations that serve homeless and formerly homeless veterans, and homeless and formerly homeless persons, all within a geographic area.

Recipient: an applicant that signs a grant agreement with HUD.

Sub-recipient: a private nonprofit organization, State or local government that receives a sub-grant from the recipient to operate a project; also called Project Sponsor.

Member in good standing: An agency, organization or individual who attends a minimum of one (1) membership meeting in the last 12 months and is current in the payment of membership dues.

Membership: anyone or agency who is on the membership roster and receives information regarding the CoC.

Board of Directors: those individuals elected to the “Governing Board” by the membership.

Board Officers: those individuals elected to hold the offices of Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.

  1. Membership of the Continuum of Care

The CoC is broadly representative of the public and private homeless service sectors, including homeless client/consumer interests. The CoC encourages all members of the community to participate in group discussions and working groups. The CoC works to ensure input from diverse populations as part of CoC deliberations and decision-making, as well as gender, ethnic, cultural and geographical representation. All interested persons are encouraged to attend meetings, provide input, and voice concerns. All members of the CoC shall demonstrate a professional interest in, or personal commitment to, addressing and alleviating the impact of homelessness on the people of the community.

  1. Membership Voting

Only members “in good standing” will be allowed to vote. A member in good standing is defined as one who:

a)Attends at least one (1) full membership meeting in the last 12 months; and

b)Is current in the payment of membership dues.

Voting at the annual June membership meeting must be in person. Each member shall have one vote, except categories of membership with more than one vote. The organization shall name the person(s) eligible to use each of their organization votes upon arrival at the Annual June Membership meeting.

CATEGORY OF MEMBERSHIP / Number of Votes per membership category
Constituent / 1
Individual / 1
Community Organization / 2
Government Entity / 3
Sponsor/Investor / 4

Voting at all other membership meetings may be done in person or electronically.

Electronic voting will include:

  • Information on the topic,
  • time allowed to cast a vote and
  • directions for submission

As per the governance charter, quorum is 20% of the total members in good standing of the WHC.

The affirmative vote of a simple majority of the persons voting is required for approval of any matter. If there is a tie vote, an electronic vote will occur within two weeks of the original vote.

  1. Dues

WHC’s membership year is July 1 through June 30th. Dues shall be paid in June of each year for the upcoming year. Dues must be paid by June 30th.

CATEGORY OF MEMBERSHIP / AMOUNT
Constituent / $2
Individual / $20
Community Organization / $200
Government Entity / $500
Sponsor/Investor / $1000
  1. Continuum of Care Code of Conduct

The following Code of Conduct provides a foundation of ethics for the WHC.

The WHC prohibits the solicitation and acceptance of gifts or gratuities (anything of monetary value) by officers, employees and agents for their personal benefit. Ask yourself if the gift would have been offered if you did not have your position. If the answer is “No” then you should decline accepting the gift.

The WHC promotes impartiality in performing official duties, and prohibits any activity representing a conflict of interest. You should not act on a matter if a reasonable person who knew the circumstances of the situation could legitimately question your fairness.

The WHC prohibits the misuse of position. You cannot use your position with the WHC for your own personal gain or for the benefit of family or friends.

Officers and other members shall put forth honest effort in the performance of their duties.

Officers and other members shall not knowingly make unauthorized commitments or promises of any kind purporting to bind the WHC without previous Board approval.

Officers and other members shall disclose waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption to appropriate authorities.

Officers and other members shall adhere to all laws and regulations that provide equal opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or handicap.

Violation of this any portion of this code will be subject to disciplinary action which could include immediate dismissal from the WHC.

8.Leadership

Board of Directors

The Voting Board of Directorsmay be composed of up to 15 members. There shall be up to 2 ex-officio non-voting members of the Board to be filled by the Collaborative Applicant. Board Members shall include interested individuals and at least one homeless or formerly homeless individual. All Board of Directors members are elected by theWHC membership. The Continuum of Care membership is open to anyone with an interest in eliminating homelessness.

Officers

a)The Chair of the Wyoming Homeless Collaborative shall prepare agendas for and preside at all regular board meetings and full membership meetings. The chair shall appoint committee chairs, except for the Finance Committee. The chair shall promote and participate in statewide events.

b)The Vice Chair shall be responsible for carrying out the duties of the chair in his or her absence. He/she will support the other officers and members of the board when needed. He/she will promote and participate in statewide events.

c)The Secretary shall distribute all meeting agendas, and record and distribute meeting minutes, attendance at all meetings and other materials. He/she will maintain an up-to-date roster of names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses of the membership as a whole. The Secretary shall be the custodian of the latest version of the Governance Charter and the Policies & Procedures. The Secretary will assist in the promotion and participation of statewide events.

d)The Treasurer is responsible for the monitoring and recording of the WHC's income and expenses. He/she will collect membership dues, donations or grant funds and record appropriately. The treasurer and/or their designee must take custody of all monies belonging to the WHC and must account for those monies. In this accounting, the treasurer must utilize and maintain an adequate accounting system, containing a breakdown of all receipts, disbursements, and cash balances for the WHC as a whole. The treasurer will chair the Finance Committee and report at least quarterly the financial status of the WHC. The Finance Committee will determine an annual budget of expected incomes and expenses and present it to the board for approval prior to the end of the fiscal year. The approved budget will be distributed to the statewide membership for full disclosure.

9.Procedure

The rules of parliamentary practiceshall govern all meetings of the Voting Board and its committees.

  1. Committees

Standing Committees:

The Board of Directors will support the following standing committees: Finance, HMIS/Data and Performance,Centralized or Coordinated Assessment, Membership and Outreach, Policies and Procedures/Governance, Project Evaluation and Monitoring.

These committees are defined in the Governance Charter. The role of the committee is to partake in discussion and make recommendations to the Boardof Directors for vote and action.

  • Finance Committee: The Committee will develop policies for a sliding scale of membership dues by membership category. The Committee will develop and present an annual budget to the Board of Directors for approval.
  • HMIS/Data, Performanceand Centralized or Coordinated Entry Committee: The Committee will develop HMIS policies related to data quality, security and privacy. The HMIS Lead Agency beginning October 1, 2014 is Wyoming Department of Family Services. The Committee will draft a written memorandum of agreement between WHC and the HMIS Lead Agency for approval by the Board of Directors. Additionally, the Committee will identify models for, develop, and implement a CoC-wide system of coordinated entry of program participants in the homeless service delivery system in Wyoming.
  • Membership and Outreach Committee: The Committee will cultivate relationships and recruit new members that are representative of the homeless population in WY, the business and government sectors.

Outreach is made to ensure participation from the following groups:

a)Homeless service providers and agencies

b)Community and faith-based organizations

c)Nonprofit housing developers

d)Local government representatives

e)Key civic leaders

f)Homeless and formerly homeless people

g)Homeless advocates

h)Public Housing authorities

i)Private health care organizations

j)Mental health service providers and funders

k)Substance abuse service providers and funders

l)Local Workforce personnel

m)Colleges and universities

n)Veteran service agencies

o)Representatives of special needs populations such as:

  • Persons experiencing chronic homelessness
  • Victims of domestic violence
  • Unaccompanied youth

p)Businesses and business associations

q)Political leaders

r)Law enforcement and corrections agencies

s)School districts

The Membership Committee conducts ongoing efforts to include essential providers and stakeholders (listed above) in WHC. When a particular gap in membership is identified in the

WHC, the Membership Committee will target missing constituencies, brainstorm agencies and names, and contact people to represent missing constituencies. The Membership Committee will develop a recruitment plan with goals, timelines, and assignments. The recruitment plan will prioritize organizations and individuals to be recruited. The Membership Committee will document their efforts to bring all stakeholders into the WHC.

Policies and Procedures/Governance:This committee is responsible for creating all policies and procedures for the WHC, including the Governance Charter outlining the function of the WHC with regard to the guidelines of the CoC Program. This committee will ensure that the WHC is operating and functioning in compliance with HUD’s CoC Program and will recommend any changes to the full Board for consideration.

  • The Committee will draft a memorandum of agreement between WHC and the Collaborative Applicant for presentation to the Board of Directors for approval at least annually.

Project Evaluation and Monitoring Committee:This committee is responsible for the development and implementation of an evaluation and ranking procedure for new and renewal projects. It is also responsible for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of all renewal projects to ensure that the recipient(s)/sub-recipient(s) are carrying out the projects as stated in the original applications. This committee will also assess, monitor, and evaluate the compliance and performance of ESG projects as outlined in the original applications.

  • The Committee will develop project evaluation criteria for new and renewal projects for both CoC and ESG funds, and the project application schedule. The criteria will take into account any HUD or CoC program requirements. The Committee will present a slate of projects to the Board of Directors.
  • Point-in-Time Committee: The committee will plan for and conduct an annual Point-in-Time count of homeless persons and annual gaps analysis of homeless needs and services. This Committee will receive information and reports from all Statewide Point in Time Committees.

Ad Hoc Committees:

The Chair of the Board and/or the majority of the Board members may form a special committee. Ad Hoc committees are formed for a specific purpose and will cease to exist after completion of a designated task.

  1. WHC Budget

Checks and Notes:

Except as otherwise specifically determined by resolution of the Board, or as otherwise required by law, the Chair, Vice Chair, and Treasurer shall have the authority to withdraw (by check or otherwise), from the funds on deposit in the name of the WHC in any commercial banking account, an amount up to, but not exceeding, five hundred dollars ($500). All other withdrawals, checks, drafts, promissory notes, money orders, or any other evidence of indebtedness of the WHC greater than five hundred dollars ($500) shall be signed by the WHC Treasurer and countersigned by the WHC Chair. If the same person holds the office of both Chair and Treasurer, all withdrawals, checks, drafts, promissory notes, money orders and other evidence

of indebtedness by the WHC greater than five hundred dollars ($500) shall be signed by the WHC Chair and countersigned by the WHC Secretary or any officer designated in writing by the Chair.

Deposits:

All funds of the WHC may be deposited from time to time to the credit of the WHC in a bank or trust that the WHC Board of Directors selects.

  1. Communication

The WHC Secretary will facilitate the communication process by email and/or publishing to WHC’s website further, the following groups will receive the information listed below.

  • WHC membership: membership meeting notices, agendas, minutes, voting instructions
  • Board of Directors: board meeting notices, agendas, minutes (and above information)

13.Personal Liability

The members of the WHC Board of Directors shall not be personally liable for any debt, liability, or obligation of the Wyoming Homeless Collaborative Board. All persons, corporations, or other entities extending credit to, contracting with, or having any claim against the WHC Board of Directors may look only to the funds and property of the WHC Board Of Directors for payment of such contract or claim or for payment of any debt, damages, judgment or decree, or of any money that may otherwise become due or payable to them from the WHC Board of Directors.

14.Amendment of Policies & Procedures

The Policies and Procedures of the Wyoming Homeless Collaborative Board of Directors may be amended after presentation of proposed amendments as a scheduled agenda item in a regular meeting of the Board of Directors. As required by HUD, the Governance Charter must be reviewed at least annually and the selection process of Board of Directors members must be reviewed at least once every five years.

Respectfully submitted,

Brenda J. Lyttle, WHC Secretary Date: