Alliance Online News: Connecticut Ends Chronic Homeless Homelessness Among Vets

Alliance Online News View in browser www.endhomelessness.org Tuesday, September 1, 2015 spotlight on... Connecticut Ends Chronic Homeless Homelessness Among Vets Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy declared on Thursday, Aug. 27, that his state had found housing for its remaining 41 chronically homeless veterans, effectively ending chronic veteran homelessness in the state. Joined in the announcement by Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald and Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, the governor said Connecticut is committed to ending homelessness among all veterans by the end of 2015 and providing housing and services to all people experiencing homelessness in the state by the end of 2016. Read the press release » L.A. Mayor Moves Back Goal for Ending Veteran Homelessness After committing earlier this year to ending veteran homelessness by the end of 2015, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti now says the city could take until the summer of 2016 to reach that goal, citing "a significant change in the scope of the problem." As of the 2015 Point-in-Time Count, more than 4,000 homeless veterans were living in the L.A. region. That represents a 6 percent increase over 2014. Garcetti says housing all homeless vets won't happen this year » alliance events UPCOMING WEBINAR: COORDINATED ENTRY AND SYSTEMS CHANGE Wednesday, September 9, 2 to 3 p.m. EDT On Wednesday, September 9, the Alliance will host a webinar for communities that are just getting started with coordinated entry or working to improve their existing coordinated entry systems. Speakers in this webinar will provide an overview of coordinated entry, as well as the critical components: access, diversion, assessment and prioritization, and referral. Register » VA Releases Guidance on HMIS Access The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has released national guidance for VA Medical Center staff seeking access to Continuums’ of Care Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). The guidance is meant to assist with data sharing between communities and the VA and address privacy concerns raised by such collaboration. More information » Upcoming Event: The North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit VIII Poverty and housing status will be among the topics discussed at The North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit, which will take place September 14 to 16 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. The three-day event will convene researchers, policymakers, service providers and people with HIV from around the country. More information, register » from the blog Ending Homelessness Today the official blog of the national alliance to end homelessness When Homeless Youth Attend College, Where Do They Stay? by Mindy Mitchell September is back-to-school month, so it’s a perfect time to talk about the difficulties facing one group of people who we might not always think about as experiencing homelessness: college students. Everyone knows how important getting some kind of post-secondary education can be to lifting people out of poverty, but people with low-incomes, including homeless youth, face particular barriers to completing college. And failing to complete college can burden low-income students further by increasing their debt without increasing their income. Read more » comments » | The Clock is Ticking on Veteran Homelessness. Does Your Community Have a Plan? by Steve Berg At the end of this year we will reach the deadline for a truly historic goal set in 2010: an end to homelessness among all veterans! The clock is ticking. Since the goal was set in the federal government’s strategic plan Opening Doors, we’ve seen tremendous progress around the country. Just today, the federal government declared Connecticut the first state to end chronic homelessness among veterans. True, chronically homeless veterans make up a fraction of the total homeless veteran population, but this is an important achievement, one we expect to see repeated soon. Read more » comments » | Does this Sound Like Your Continuum of Care? You Need a Leader by Anna Blasco Imagine trying to commute to work in a city where each bus makes up its own schedule and route and sets its own prices. You might eventually get where you’re going, but it would be an inefficient, frustrating process. It’s much easier to commute in a city with a coordinated transit system. So why is it when we think of the response to homelessness in our communities, we often think of programs like shelters or housing programs that operate independently? That’s changing. Across the country a big shift is happening behind the scenes. Rather than a number of programs serving their clients as best they can on their own, whole communities are working together to build effective systems to produce a coordinated response to homelessness. Read more » comments » |