Igniting Change: Engaging the Power of a New Approach
I am still buzzing with energy from the “So You Want to Implement Housing Problem Solving?” session at the National Alliance to End Homelessness conference! A massive thank you to everyone who attended and especially to our incredible speakers – Jen Johnson (Homeward, Richmond, VA), Michelle Covert (Santa Clara County, CA), and Mike Shaughnessy (MaineHousing, ME) – who traversed the country to share invaluable insights on building successful programs to serve people experiencing homelessness. A special shout-out and a huge thank you to diiv sternman for pushing this forward with the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
We were absolutely blown away by the turnout! Our initial estimate for attendees was around 50, and we were thrilled to welcome nearly 300 people! This overwhelming response clearly demonstrates the excitement and eagerness within our community to develop and integrate diversion, rapid resolution, and housing problem-solving strategies into their entry systems.
The session was structured to be highly interactive and action-oriented. Our three speakers provided overviews of the innovative housing problem-solving approaches being implemented at a system level in their respective areas. Following each speaker, attendees broke into groups for 20 minutes to develop actionable plans for what they would like to see happen in their own communities.
Jen Johnson kicked us off, focusing on practical ways to integrate with other communities to facilitate communication and quick action to immediately prioritize housing people. Her insights centered on program design, emphasizing the importance of integration with Coordinated Entry, targeting populations at the early stages of their crisis, and fostering a culture – not just a program – that ensures every person facing a housing crisis is met with a human conversation and immediate support to regain housing. She discussed creative approaches to staff structure to make sure they have time for the conversations that change lives and end homelessness as well as quick, effective case management.
During the group discussions, participants delved into their current housing problem-solving conversation infrastructure: Where are these conversations currently happening? And where do they believe they would most benefit from instituting these practices within their continuum? Many shared connections to hospitals, education systems, and criminal justice partners as prime examples of areas where they would like to work to go upstream in their community.
Next, Michelle Covert from Santa Clara County, CA (right outside of San Francisco), delivered a powerful message. She reminded everyone that if they believe their area is too unaffordable to practice housing problem-solving, they need only look to Santa Clara County – ground zero for the housing crisis – where they are successfully implementing these strategies throughout their system. Michelle covered crucial components of success, including staffing and involving people with lived experience, developing a system-wide culture, and bold approaches to funding. Their innovative “pilot” turned program included lived-expeirence participants at the center of the initiative – as trainers!
Our breakout groups then focused on specific areas of interest: staffing and training, funding, involving people with lived experience, and culture. Each group engaged in in-depth discussions: What makes someone good at having tough conversations, and how do we hire for that? What elements of funding are most critical to cover costs, and what other funding elements make a significant difference? Do we currently have pipelines for people with lived experience to provide insights and feedback? What truly builds a culture throughout a system?
Finally, Mike Shaughnessy of Maine captivated us with his presentation, featuring lovely backdrops of Maine’s scenic views. He discussed how to track housing problem-solving efforts, the data his community has seen, and how to use data to guide programs and secure funding. While Maine Rapid Re-Housing programs cost around $10,000 per household to rehouse, and the shelter costs in excess of $30,000 per bed per year, Housing Problem Solving was just $1,100 per successful resolution (not counting all of people who were resolved without funding!
Our discussions following Mike’s presentation centered on the elements providers struggle with in collecting essential data, who to include, strategies to improve data collection, and how data can inform our path forward.
This pre-conference session was long – nearly three hours – but we kept it action-focused to help leaders across the country think about concrete strategies to get the ball rolling back home.
Questions we didn’t get to:
The session was a three-hour intensive of presentations and discussion – but there was still a lot we didn’t get to talk about! Here are some questions we got afterwards. Please reach out with more and I’ll add them with some answers below.
- How does this connect with HUD Voucher process and funding?
Housing Problem Solving often does not connect to HUD related vouchers and funding activities. Housing Problem Solving typically targets people far upstream from housing exits like rapid-resolution and HUD vouchers. The goal is to help people engage in potential options for housing without the need to wait extended amounts of time for large services that they might not ever receive and may not be the best fit for their housing goals.
Some Housing Problem Solving programs are flexible enough to be able to assist people currently relying on housing programs (vouchers, rapid rehousing, etc) to maintain their housing if something goes wrong. For example, someone who had an unexpected medical bill that led them to be unable to pay their portion of the rent this month could be a good candidate for one time assistance when they are in a situation where they might otherwise lose their housing. This can be a challenge – as funding can sometimes be considered “double dipping” and violate existing income restrictions – but some communities have found creative work arounds to support people in flexible expenses for situations like these.
- Where can we find research on Housing Problem Solving so that I can champion in my CoC?
There are a lot of great sources of research for Housing Problem Solving. Keep in mind – this term covers time-targeted or “secondary” prevention, shelter diversion, rapid exit, and rapid resolution under the umbrella of “Housing Problem Solving.” This can make researching difficult- as different programs are using diverse terms and may vary on what they can and cannot fund, who is eligible, and other funder-based requirements. Those details are important to keep in mind.
Some great sources (other than this website here) are the National Alliance to End Homelessness, pilots from Traverse City, MI and Santa Clara, CA, as well as Washington State. Please reach out and we can talk about what might best support you!
- What are important elements to stick together in this fight to get Housing Problem Solving adopted?
One of the most important elements in getting everyone together for Housing Problem Solving is shared language and understanding, as well as providing people the opportunity to ask questions. HPS is an empowerment-based approach, and one of the ways we promote this strategy is empowering partners to help us have challenging conversations earlier when they interact with someone that is struggling with housing.
Do you have more questions about implementing housing problem-solving in your community? I encourage you to reach out! I’d love to touch base if you’re interested in developing housing problem-solving systems or getting training for your staff. Email me anytime!