Hawaii Declares Homelessness State of Emergency

Alliance Online News View in browser www.endhomelessness.org Tuesday, October 20, 2015 spotlight on... Hawaii Declares Homelessness State of Emergency Facing a historic surge in homelessness, Hawaii declared a state of emergency on Friday, Oct. 16. The declaration, according to Hawaii Gov. David Ige, will allow the state to expedite the provision of shelter space for homeless families. The state is struggling to address a 23 percent increase in its unsheltered homeless population and a 46 percent increase in the number of unsheltered family households between 2014 and 2015. The declaration is the first of such by a state, though the communities of Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. have also declared states of emergency because of worsening homelessness crises. The Christian Science Monitor: “Hawaii declares state of emergency for the homeless” » alliance events Upcoming Webinar: Meeting the Needs of Job Seekers Experiencing Homelessness Wednesday, Nov 4, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. EDT On Wednesday, Nov. 4, the Alliance will co-host a webinar with the Heartland Alliance on improved employment services for homeless job seekers. Join this informative hour as speakers decode The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and introduce a new WIOA Implementation Toolkit. There will also be a presentation from a community who is successfully implementing a new employment services model on the ground. Register » Alliance VP Explains Rapid Re-Housing on HuffPost Live As part of a wide-ranging discussion of city efforts to address homelessness on Monday, Oct. 19, the Alliance Vice President for Programs and Policy Steve Berg spoke on HuffPost Live about the core components of rapid re-housing. "It differs from some of the longer term intensive interventions…" Berg explained." It turns out…lots of homeless people are capable of working, are already working…and can support themselves if they get the right kind of support." Watch the video » from the blog Ending Homelessness Today the official blog of the national alliance to end homelessness Don't Forget to Demonstrate Partnerships in your NOFA Application by Sharon McDonald We’re still digging through HUD’s latest CoC Program NOFA to determine what CoCs should do to secure the maximum amount of federal funds to assist homeless people. Today, we’re looking at all the incentives spelled out in the NOFA that encourage communities to develop partnerships. HUD will base about a quarter of the points in a community’s overall “score” on the CoC’s strategic use of resources. And by “resources” HUD doesn’t just mean the CoC funds HUD is awarding; it also means the array of funding resources CoCs can access through these partnerships. Read more » comments » | Youth Homelessness in the FY 2015 NOFA by Mindy Mitchell While the new CoC Program NOFA has lots of great parts, like its focus on encouraging programs to adopt a Housing First approach and prioritize serving unsheltered people, the most exciting part for me was all the great new homeless youth content. Before I get into the details, it should be noted that young people ages 18 to 24 are also counted among the chronic, domestic violence, and family homelessness populations (and maybe even the veterans). So that means that all of the great NOFA insights my Alliance colleagues have been blogging and webcasting about also apply to youth. Read more » comments » | Reviewing and Ranking Projects in the FY 2015 CoC NOFA by naehblog If you’re working on your application to the FY 2015 Continuum of Care competition, chances are you’re already  well into your ranking and scoring process. This year’s CoC Program competition is extremely competitive. HUD will be awarding points to communities that have established a strong performance-based process.That’s why it’s essential that you have an excellent ranking and scoring process. Last week we held a webinar featuring tips and strategies for designing a ranking process, reviewing project performance and reallocating resources to high-performing projects. Kelly King Horne of Homeward in Richmond, Va. shared her organization’s process and tools, as well as advice for navigating the sometimes fraught process of reallocation. Check out the recording of the webinar below. Below that, you’ll find even more information on designing a great performance-based ranking process. Read more » comments » |