GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING - MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Please mark your calendars for the next Full Membership Meeting on
Friday, 4/24/09!
The meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
At Metropolitan Family Services
222 E. Willow
Wheaton, IL 60187

The next full membership meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 24, 2009 at Metropolitan Family Services from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Topics will include Economy Recovery Efforts with increased funding in Homeless Prevention and Rehousing, Community Services Block Grant, Neighborhood Stabilization, and Foreclosure resources along with a presentation of new CoC By-Laws.

Speakers include:
Mr. Darrell Bugajsky, Program Manager, HUD Regional Office
Ms. Mary Keating, Administrator of Community Development, DuPage County
Ms. Dru Bergman, Executive Director, DuPage Homeownership Center
Ms. Elizabeth Donovan, Director of Agencies and Programs, Northern Illinois Food Bank, Chair of the Governance Task Force

Following the meeting, the Leadership Committee invites new members and new agencies of the DuPage Homeless Continuum to an orientation session: including its purpose, structure, and benefits. The orientation will be held for 30 minutes following the full membership meeting on Friday, April 24, 2009. New member Orientation will be held in the same meeting room from 10:30-11a.m.

Please join us!

GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

In January 2009, the DuPage CoC Leadership Committee decided to develop a governance structure for the Continuum. The existing structure has worked exceedingly well but a formal governance structure would help ensure its continued success. The Leadership committed to an open process and all members of the Continuum were invited to participate in a Governance Task Force. Elizabeth Donovan, Northern Illinois Food Bank, graciously agreed to chair the Task Force. The Task Force reviewed the current organizational structure and developed formal by-laws for the DuPage Homeless Continuum. These by-laws outline the governance structure, membership requirements, decision making process, etc. In addition, a Memorandum of Understanding between the DuPage Homeless Continuum and each of its members has been developed. These by-laws will be emailed to all members in the beginning of April and presented for approval at the full membership meeting on 4/24/09. The Memorandum of Understanding will be mailed to all members following approval of the by-laws. The Leadership Committee expresses it thanks to all the task force members who participated and especially the key members who drafted the documents - Philip Smith, DuPage Community Services, Elizabeth Donovan, Northern Illinois Food Bank, and Elliot Abarbanel, Prairie State Legal Services.

HOMELESS PREVENTION AND REHOUSING PROGRAM

In February 2009 President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into law, which provides an additional $1.5 billion in funding for homeless prevention and rehousing programs (HPRP). On March 19, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a Notice about the guidelines for using the Homelessness Prevention Fund. You may read the entire Notice at http://www.hudhre.info/documents/HPRP_Notice_3-19-09.pdf.

Also HUD has posted a Frequently Asked Questions document here: http://www.hudhre.info/documents/HPRP_QA.pdf

DuPage County Community Services Dept. will administer $1.4 million in HPRP funds. Funding can be used to serve individuals or families and those that are homeless or at-risk of homelessness. HUD strongly encourages grantees and subgrantees to target prevention to those who would be homeless "but for this assistance." The HUD Notice contains recommended criteria.

Eligible activities include:

• Funds can be used to fund the Rapid Re-housing programs that communities applied for in the 2008 HUD NOFA.
• There is no match requirement.
• Financial assistance including rent and utility payments up to 18 months, 6 months back rent or utilities, security deposits and motel vouchers.
• Housing relocation and case management services, legal services, and credit repair
• HMIS costs for data collection and evaluation including software and equipment
• Administrative costs up to 5%.

For further information on all DuPage County Economic Recovery Funding, you may contact Phil Smith or Mary Keating at 630-407-6600 or go to www.dupageco.org/cdc

For the most up-to-date HUD information on these programs, go to www.hudhre.info

NOTICE OF FUND AVAILABILITY AND REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
HUD 2009 SUPERNOFA HOMELESS APPLICATION PROCESS

The DuPage Homeless Continuum has started the application and selection process for HUD's 2009 Continuum of Care funding. The programs covered include the Supportive Housing, Shelter Plus Care, and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy for Homeless Individuals (SRO) programs.

A Notice of Fund Availability and call for projects was issued to all Continuum members on January 28, 2009. While the amount of funds available has not been announced, last year the DuPage Continuum had an adjusted pro rata share of $3.1 million with an incentive amount up to an additional $197,000 over 2 years for a new Permanent Housing project(s) for chronically homeless individuals ONLY.

The DuPage Continuum is authorized to reallocate any of its over $3.1 million pro rata share from renewals to new Permanent Supportive Housing projects or a dedicated HMIS project.

Agencies were encouraged to submit new projects for consideration by the Needs Assessment Committee.

Initial oral presentations of NEW proposed projects or revisions to renewals were held at the Needs Assessment Committee meeting on February 19, 2009.

Written Business Plans of all new and renewal projects were reviewed by the Needs Assessment Committee at their meeting on March 19, 2009. All members of the Continuum were encouraged to attend, not just the applicants!

If you have any questions on submitted projects, please contact Peg White Lijewski at plijewski@wideopenwest.com.

2009 RANKING CRITERIA

The project ranking criteria that are used to evaluate CDBG and HUD funded projects are reviewed annually by the Grants Funding Committee. There have been changes from the previous Ranking Criteria, most specifically in the areas of continuum participation and renewal project goal performance. The most recent Ranking Criteria is available to any interested parties. To receive it, please contact Peg White Lijewski at plijewski@wideopenwest.com.

HOMELESS PREVENTION FUNDING FY 10

The DuPage County Homeless Continuum recognizes that prevention is the first strategic step in addressing homelessness and is well documented as the most cost effective strategy for ending homelessness. A coordinated system for distribution of homeless prevention funding to qualifying households, using a small network of agencies throughout DuPage County, has developed over time. All homeless service providers in the County may access these funds for eligible clients. See www.dupagehomeless.org/HomelessPrevention to obtain the list of agencies providing funds by geographic areas. The Homeless Prevention Providers Network group meets regularly and has a joint strategy and coordinated procedures for client accountability and the disbursement of homeless prevention funds.

The Homeless Prevention Fund in Illinois is budgeted at $11 million in FY 10 which is the same amount as FY09. The DuPage Homeless Continuum has $701,800 to distribute in FY10 IL Dept. of Human Services (IDHS) Homeless Prevention funds. This is the same amount as FY08 & FY 09.

Funding recommendations for FY 10 are to keep the allocations the same as in FY09. The Grants Funding committee analyzed data reports of persons served and funds expended in FY07 and FY08 by the current grantees - Catholic Charities, DuPage Community Services, Outreach Community Ministries and People's Resource Center. The committee reviewed the data to evaluate the effectiveness of the last allocations, to assess whether they met the intent of the last funding recommendations, and to inform the decision process for FY10 funding recommendations.
There was analysis on duplication and distribution trends. It was determined that the underserved areas of Addison and West Chicago were helped and that the funds were used effectively overall. The goal remains to minimize duplication, make funds accessible in all areas of need, and maximize benefit to clients.

There is a recommendation for the collection of additional data for the Homeless Prevention Providers Network to assist them in analyzing and addressing community needs. The county staff will compile data by community on foreclosure rates, poverty rates and numbers of owner-occupied and rental housing units and forward it to the Homeless Prevention Provider Network.

Funding allocations are:

ONE NIGHT COUNT OF HOMELESS PERSONS

A manual Provider Survey was completed for the night of January 22, 2009 to update the Housing Inventory of beds and units available for emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing in the DuPage Continuum. It is also being used to update the Homeless Populations Chart.

This survey counted the number of homeless persons in shelters, transitional housing and on the street or otherwise not housed. Persons in Permanent Supportive Housing were also counted but not as homeless.

The manual sheltered population count using the provider survey for the night of January 22, 2009 showed the following: 184 person in emergency shelter and 403 persons in transitional housing. There were 121 households with dependent children and 349 households without children.

The unsheltered count of homeless persons in 2009 found a total of 108 persons compared to 124 persons in 2007. There were 3 households with children.

You may see a further analysis of these results on www.dupagehomeless.org under Homeless Demographics/Homeless Population Chart.

The next unsheltered population count is scheduled for January 2011. The Street Count Committee is beginning its planning efforts now. The co-chairs are Deb Carr of NCO Youth & Family Services and Bob Adams of Midwest Shelter for Veterans. The committee is seeking volunteers. Please contact them directly if you are interested at dcarr@ncoyouth.org or LLNRMA321@aol.comLLNRMA321@aol.com

THE DUPAGE PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESS

The DuPage County Homeless Continuum of Care (CoC) developed in 1998 when service providers began to coordinate a network of services to those who are homeless, with a goal to ultimately end homelessness. Social service providers, local government and civic organizations, and people who have experienced homelessness form the DuPage Homeless Continuum.

The DuPage CoC was an early leader nationally and locally in the development and implementation of its 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness. Additionally, DuPage County, was a pioneer in the development of suburban Plans to End Homelessness. Work on the DuPage Plan to End Homelessness (the Plan) began in 2003, and the initial action steps were forecast 5 years out. As it neared the 5-year mark of Plan implementation, the CoC set two goals: to evaluate progress made on the current Plan, and to engage in strategic planning to update the Plan. The halfway point was seen as a logical and opportune time to evaluate progress thus far and to update action steps to take the Plan to the next level.

In October 2007, the DuPage County Continuum of Care hired the Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty to conduct the evaluation and to facilitate a planning process to update the Plan. The evaluation was designed to focus on the progress of the Plan's nine components to date, successes and challenges of implementation, assignment of responsibilities, stakeholder engagement and commitment, evaluation and reporting mechanisms, and funding.

Successes, challenges, and suggestions regarding CoC operations were identified in the evaluation. This mid-point evaluation provided an opportunity to not only re-evaluate progress and action steps in the Plan, but also to examine the Plan as a whole, and the supporting CoC operations, communications, and planning processes.

Building on past successes and challenges, recommendations were developed for streamlining the Plan and moving forward over the next 5 years. In October 2008 the Leadership Committee approved the final Evaluation and Updating documents for the Plan to End Homelessness. Highlights of the updated Plan and Recommendations are contained in the Executive Summary located at www.dupagehomeless.org under Plan to End Homelessness Update 2008.

All documents related to the Evaluation of the Plan to End Homelessness and the Updated Plan are posted on www.dupagehomeless.org. The left-side and bottom navigation bars show the new link. If you click on the link, you can view and/or download the following:

• Executive Summary
• Evaluation at the 5 Year Mark
• Appendices A-G
• Blueprint for Moving Forward
• Updated Plan to End Homelessness 2009
• Snapshot of the Plan Components.

DUPAGE HOMELESS CLIENT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (CMIS)

HUD requires that every Continuum (CoC) use a Homeless Management Information System for collecting accurate data on homeless persons and for planning purposes. Entering client level data in the HMIS system is mandatory in order to receive HUD Continuum funding or Community Development Block Grant funding unless you are a domestic violence provider. The DuPage County CMIS* Administrator is Leslie Grevoy. Please contact her if your agency is not participating and will be applying for funding. Training and hardware are available. *(DuPage County refers to the system as CMIS, but HUD refers to it as HMIS: Homeless Management Information System).

The DuPage Continuum computerized client management information system has 21 agencies participating in the ServicePoint system version 4.5. The reporting of client level data is 100% for emergency shelter beds, 100% for transitional housing beds, and 100% for permanent supportive housing beds (excluding domestic violence providers).

There has been tremendous progress in the last 5 years in the DuPage Continuum in getting the system operational, running basic reports, and training users. The DuPage Continuum is now utilizing the Advanced Reporting Tool (ART) to create custom reports that will meet each agency's particular needs and the Continuum's system wide reporting needs. Reports that are now available include the HUD Annual Progress Report, Clients Served Report, Services Provided Report and the Null Field Report. A Policy and Procedures Manual is being developed with a targeted completion date of August 2009.

As the system has grown, so have the challenges. A full-time Research and Development Coordinator with expertise in database management will start on or around June 1, 2009. The responsibilities will include:

• Providing direct assistance to end users in mastering the system, creating reports and making improvements in data entry.
• Holding additional trainings/workshops on common problems and questions regarding CMIS.
• Adding a problem and resolution component to the CMIS Users meetings so that common problems and solutions are shared among agencies.

A "C.R.I.S." training day is scheduled for May 12, 2009 at the DuPage County building. The DuPage County "C.R.I.S.", Community Resource Information System is a fast and easy way to obtain basic information including admission requirements on over 1,400 social service agencies throughout DuPage County. It includes contact information (day and after hours), eligibility requirements, applicable fees, services offered and location maps. The information can be accessed in two ways: * Telephone - (630) 407-6500, 1-800-942-9412, TDD (630) 407-6502 or * Internet (www.dupagecris.org) On the internet site, consumers can search by subject, agency, and city. They can also obtain information via email at dupagecris@dupageco.org. For social service agencies using the ServicePoint client management information system, they can be linked directly to "C.R.I.S." by clicking ResourcePoint. Now all agencies included in the C.R.I.S. system can do their own updates to the system and keep it current. Each agency has an assigned person, login and password to make changes to their information page.

The CMIS Users Group meets monthly (usually the second Wednesday) to support agency users of the countywide Client Management Information System (CMIS). The Committee develops and shares data protocols, sets policies, and works together to solve common problems.

For more information on these meetings or the C.R.I.S. training, please contact Leslie Grevoy at 630- 407-6462.

MAINSTREAM BENEFITS INFORMATION

MAKING THE CONNECTION - QUICK GUIDE TO PUBLIC RESOURCES
A manual of qualifying criteria and contact information for public benefits and supportive services offered by local, state or federal agencies. "Making the Connection Manual" is available to view and download from the Continuum website -
www.dupagehomeless.org
Benefits Updates/Making the Connection

THE HELPER
A quick desk reference guide to agencies in DuPage County providing specific services such as child care, advocacy, employment, etc. The updated HELPER is available to view and download from the Continuum website. - www.dupagehomeless.org
Benefits Updates/The HELPER

BENEFITS TRAINING
The DuPage Federation for Human Services Reform conducts Making the Connection Basic Benefits Training for human service professionals.

They also conduct specialized training seminars on Public Benefits for a variety of specific segments of the population, i.e. youth, domestic violence victims, immigrants, etc. Advanced topic trainings are available on Public Benefits and Single Adults, Youth up to age 21, Mental Health and Public Benefits, Understanding Spenddown, Understanding Appeals, Domestic Violence and Public Benefits, Immigrants and Putting the Pieces Together.

This training can assist non-profits, schools, faith based organizations, local governments, businesses and health care providers to identify their customers who may be eligible for mainstream benefits and know how to expedite the application process.

A complete 2009 training schedule along with registration information is available at the Continuum website - www.dupagehomeless.org
Benefits Updates/Benefits Training

WEBSITE UPDATE
www.dupagehomeless.org

Remember that the Continuum logo is available for downloading if you wish to add it to your agency stationery.

If you have suggestions on enhancements to the site or additional information, please contact plijewski@wideopenwest.com We welcome your input!

The Leadership Committee thanks Eileen Clark, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Benedictine University who is doing a wonderful job on keeping the site updated.

MEETING CALENDAR

A calendar of all Continuum committee meetings for the period from July 2008 through July 2009 is available on www.dupagehomeless.org The new calendar will be posted by June 2009.