June 5, 2012

On May 23, HUD and the US Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) convened representatives of housing authorities (HAs) and Continuums of Care (CoCs) from the eastern half of the U.S. for a second forum on “Opening Doors: Expanding PHA Opportunities to House Persons Experiencing Homelessness.” The first convening, for the western side of the country, was held in Los Angeles in February. Once again, the program aimed to highlight best practices from communities that have been successful in working across HUD silos and to spark conversations that would help create more opportunities to provide housing and services targeted to persons experiencing homelessness.

The day opened with a welcome from HUD Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary Estelle Richman, who spoke about the momentum that has been created to end homelessness, even at a time of tightening budgets and increased demand for services. In the toughest economic and political climate, we have begun to build connections and have significantly reduced chronic homelessness by more than a third. Ms. Richman indicated her belief that HUD can do more to help and that this convening was one step to learn more and build an inventory of best practices. She invited participants to open themselves to hearing about something different and thinking about what would work in their particular communities, as nothing can be fully transposed from location to location She also noted that she is the main point of contact on Olmstead-related issues and new guidance should be out within a few weeks.

HUD Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing Sandra Henriquez continued the welcome, speaking of housing authorities not as service providers, but as landlords who understand the need for services and who want their tenants to be successful. She stated that housing authorities cannot be the sole answer to the problem of homelessness, but that because of their resources, they should be major players in any affordable housing discussions in their localities. She shared from her experiences at the Boston Housing Authority and called upon convening participants to expand the coalition of the willing, for there is much work to be done.

USICH Executive Director Barbara Poppe offered additional welcoming remarks, including an overview of the Opening Doors Federal Plan to End Homelessness and of the ways that unprecedented collaboration has impacted homelessness. She focused attention on two objectives—housing those who need housing and better leveraging mainstream resources—and on the benefits that housing authorities and their partners each bring to the table when they collaborate. She highlighted three ways in which housing authorities can get more involved in efforts to end homelessness: (1) by increasing the supply of affordable housing opportunities; (2) by adopting policies in their admissions process that account for the circumstances of those experiencing homelessness; and (3) by opening access more widely to the housing resources that they already have.

After a final welcome from Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) Managing Director of Government Affairs and Innovation Andy McMahon, CSH Program Manager Debbie Thiele presented some of the research behind the forthcoming Housing Authority Toolkit for addressing the needs of homeless households. She noted that housing authority resources are precious, so they should be leveraged, particularly as all efforts are enhanced by partnerships. She presented a “menu of options” being used across the country to serve homeless households, including:

• Homeless preference
• “Screening in” instead of screening out
• Streamlining application processes
• Eviction prevention programs
• Preference for those “graduating” from permanent supportive housing
• Security deposit assistance
• Eliminating minimum income requirements
• Project-basing vouchers

Participants next engaged in a “marketplace of ideas,” in which their peers talked about one local practice for three minutes. Topics ranged from myths surrounding homelessness, to structures of the continuum of care, to permanent supportive housing partnerships, to set-aside voucher partnerships, to using a homeless registry ordered by vulnerability index as a waitlist tool, to increasing VASH utilization, to one-stop center/single access point for all housing and services. Following the “marketplace,” Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority Senior Vice President Bryan Brown presented the Columbus experience with permanent supportive housing. Houston Housing Authority Executive Director Tory Gonsolley presented on the benefits and opportunities of project-basing vouchers and offered a quick how-to guide to the process.

After a networking lunch, participants reconvened for a Town Hall meeting with HUD and USICH staff, including Michael Dennis, Director of the Office of Housing Voucher Programs and Laure Rawson, Director of the Housing Voucher Management and Operations Division from Public and Indian Housing; Ann Oliva, Director of Special Needs Assistance Programs from Community Planning and Development; Public Housing Revitalization Specialists Patrick Wallis and Pamela Paramore from the DC Field Office; and Kristy Greenwalt Director of Housing Policy and Research from USICH. Topics raised during the Town Hall included waitlist management for project-based vouchers, incentives for creating permanent supportive housing, getting buy-in from Boards of Commissioners, regional equity, sponsor-basing, Moving-to-Work, and case management models. With regard to project-based vouchers, participants’ attention was directed to the recent proposed rule that includes changes to the program and to last September’s notice that provided guidance. Panelists stated that they are working on a project-based voucher handbook and are training all field offices on project-based vouchers.

Finally, participants split into break-out knowledge exchange sessions, focusing on one of four topics:

• Thinking about eviction/termination prevention: developing partnerships and programs to keep people housed
• Successful strategies for managing homeless preferences and waiting lists
• Serving homeless households through project-based assistance
• Impediments to housing: reshaping HA administrative policies to prevent and end homelessness

Acting Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development Mark Johnston rounded out the day by noting that clearly, ending homelessness cannot be accomplished with Continuum of Care dollars alone—all HUD resources must be used. He identified the tension that exists between targeting and fair housing and stated that HUD intends to provide clearer guidance on such matters. He noted that we need services to help people maintain housing, but that the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program (HPRP) showed that massive amounts of services are not always needed—short term assistance and limited services can work to keep people from becoming homeless again. He concluded by stating that we are only at the beginning of this discussion and he looks forward to its progress.

For more information about the convening, contact CLPHA Research & Policy Analyst Leah Staub.