Support Illinois HB 4955 - Restore Funding for Homeless & Housing Programs

Advocate for affordable & supportive housing funding in Illinois

Many organizations in Illinois have been operating without funding since July 1, 2015, and are at risk of closing their doors to the vulnerable people they serve.

Illinois House Bill 4955, introduced on February 5, 2016, would  fully restore funding to FY2015 levels for affordable housing and supportive housing programs for people who have experienced homelessness. These critical programs include:

  • Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund
  • Affordable Housing Trust Fund
  • Assistance to the Homeless Fund
  • Federal HOME Investment Partnership Program Fund
  • Foreclosure Prevention Graduated Program Fund
  • Foreclosure Prevention Program Fund
  • Health and Human Services Trust Fund (Permanent Supportive Housing and DMH Bridge Subsidy Program)

 

 Please call your Representative and ask him or her to support HR 4955

To find your representative, click here and type in your zip code.

 

The bill includes appropriations for:

Homeless Prevention                                                                      $1,000,000

Homeless Youth Services                                                               $4,598,100

*Supportive Housing Services (homeless)                                 $13,738,500

Homeless Youth Services                                                               $1,000,000

Homelessness Prevention                                                              $3,000,000

Emergency and Transitional Housing                                         $9,383,700

*Supportive Housing Services                                                       $3,382,500

Assistance to the Homeless                                                            $300,000

*Supportive MI Housing                                                                 $15,915,800

*Special Projects and Bridge Subsidy                                           $34,450,000

Rental and Housing Support Program                                         $1,600,000

Rental and Housing Support Program                                         $4,100.000

Affordable Housing                                                                          $65,000,000

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Keys to Supportive Housing

What is needed to create supportive housing for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities? CSH brought together important stakeholders and facilitated a state-wide convening in Springfield, IL -- Keys to Supportive Housing -- and uncovered the answers.

Lore Baker, Illinois Department of Human Services Statewide Housing Coordinator, spoke about a pilot project that will house 50 adults in affordable housing that include the Section 811 program and tailored services packages.

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Her presentation was followed by a team from Edwardsville, IL, comprised of IDD/DD self-advocates, parents, and their fearless leader, Missy Kickline. Missy emphasized the need for innovative, creative solutions for self-advocates wanting to live in their own home.

Five of the self-advocates in this group plan to move into an integrated public housing authority building in early 2016. With services being delivered by Trinity, the residents will receive help in areas such as access to employment, shopping for groceries, cooking, and other daily needs.

Kathy Carmody, CEO of the Institute on Public Policy for People with Disabilities, facilitated a discussion with IDD providers. They explored how to best use the Medicaid waiver or state defined services to create person0-centered affordable housing with services for this target population. One of the participating agencies from Chicago, IL -- Envision -- shared their struggles to create supportive housing within the current service funding structure.

305_Vickie_15A panel made up of self-advocates spoke about their lived experiences, hopes and dreams. Three of the advocates already live in their own homes and two plan to do so in the future. They shared some of the types of supports that can be necessary or helpful to ensure they are able to successfully live in the community, have meaningful employment, and participate in their favorite activities with friends and/or family.

Kathy Ward from the Illinois Division of Developmental Disabilities demonstrated her commitment to collaborate with partners in an ongoing discussion around system flexibility.

Adam 305Adam Cooper from The Alliance closed the program by calling for ongoing partnerships to make supportive housing available to all self-advocates in Illinois who want to live in their own, affordable home. He stated it is important that everyone know that self-advocates can live independently when offered the right supports. He also emphasized self-advocates want choices and should be included in decision-making processes.

 

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BIG-ger Partnerships: Texas Sized Housing and Health Solutions

Supportive Housing = Healthcare

SAVE THE DATE & JOIN US!

What: CSH and the Texas Homeless Network (THN) are hosting a statewide housing and healthcare conference to strengthen and create new relationships among primary and behavioral healthcare leaders, philanthropic funders, and experts and decision-makers within supportive housing.

When: Pre-conference sessions February 29, 2016; Conference March 1 & 2, 2016

Where: Austin Omni Hotel at Southpark, 4140 Governor's Row, Austin, Texas 78744

Click BIG-ger Partnerships to learn more and register for this event.

This is our second annual housing and healthcare state-wide conference in Austin, Texas. Click Big Partnerships Blog Post to read more about last year's well-attended program and impactful outcomes.

Continuing Education Credits

CPE/CEU credits are included. Eligible for the following credits: CPEs, Social Work CEUs, LPC CEUs, Marriage and Family Therapist CEUs, Chemical Dependency Counselor CEUs.

Monday, February 29, Pre-conference Sessions:  1.5 Hours

Tuesday, March 1, 9:00 AM - Wednesday, March 2, 11:30 AM    8 Hours

Congressman Stivers Visits Returning Home Ohio Program

Congressman Steve Stivers recently met with staff from CSH and Faith Mission, located in Columbus, Ohio to meet first-hand people helped through Returning Home Ohio. This program breaks the cycle of homelessness, recidivism and then return to jail by providing those leaving incarceration with safe, stable homes and supportive services to foster successful community reintegration. Supportive services include employment supports, health care, mental and behavioral health, and ongoing case management to assist tenants in reaching their goals.

305_Congressman St and Tenant_15During this site visit, Congressman Stivers met one of the participants (pictured on the left), who discussed the importance of stable housing as he seeks to go back to school, find employment, and improve his health.

The stability of supportive housing has helped this participant lay the foundation for a strong life-plan and access the services he needs to ensure successful outcomes.

Congressman Stivers' interest in Returning Home stems in part from his service on the US House Financial Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs.

Rockford, Illinois is Addressing Veteran Homelessness in 2015

Rockford Completes Mayors Challenge

Lauded as First City in the Nation to

Reach Functional Zero and Effectively End Veteran Homelessness

 

Rockford, Illinois – The City of Rockford Department of Human Services, a community action agency serving Boone and Winnebago counties, announced today that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Veteran Affairs have recognized Rockford as the first community in the national Zero: 2016 movement to reach functional zero and effectively end homelessness among local Veterans.

The City of Rockford has also been recognized by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness for successfully completing the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness; an initiative led by First Lady Michelle Obama. The Mayors Challenge calls upon mayors and other state and local leaders across the country to publicly express their commitment and provide the leadership to implement the strategies necessary for their communities to end homelessness among all Veterans within their communities by the end of 2015.

“Ensuring every person has a safe, stable place to call home takes teamwork and dedication at every level. Rockford stepped up to this challenge and today has every reason to celebrate its incredible achievement in effectively ending Veteran homelessness. Communities around the country can now look to the Forest City as a model for serving our nation’s heroes,” said HUD Secretary Julián Castro. 

The Zero: 2016 movement, coordinated by Community Solutions with coaching from the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), consists of 75 communities working to end Veteran and chronic homelessness by the end of 2016. The national effort supports participants in optimizing local resources, tracking progress against monthly housing goals, and accelerating the spread of proven strategies, such as those implemented through the Mayors Challenge. Rockford was selected for Zero: 2016 through a competitive, national application process. 

Functional zero is a key component to ensuring every Veteran in the community has a permanent home. In Zero: 2016, functional zero is reached when, at any point in time, the number of Veterans experiencing literal homelessness, both on the streets and in shelters, is no greater than the city’s monthly Veteran housing placement rate. Rockford has housed a total of 73 Veterans to date. To remain at functional zero, Rockford must have no more than eight homeless Veterans awaiting housing and any new homeless Veteran is housed within 30 days.

 

Child Well-Being Convening in MN

MN Conf

CSH FOCUSES ON IMPROVING THE LIVES OF CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES

This past week at the Children’s Home Society in St. Paul, Minnesota, CSH hosted Partnering and Planning for Greater Impact: A Convening on Child Well-being in Supportive Housing.

The Convening was an engaging and action-oriented conversation involving administrative and management level professionals from county and State child welfare agencies; supportive housing developer and provider organizations; funding sources; universities and other educational systems; MCOs and healthcare systems; mental health organizations; and family services programs. Participants were motivated to move beyond educating and building awareness on supportive housing’s role in child well-being to:

• Expanding common understandings of child well-being, definitions and outcome indicators
• Assessing and identifying opportunities to cross-innovate and collaborate for greater impact
• Growing participation in the process of leveraging supportive housing for child well-being

By encouraging frank dialogue, partnership building, and sound implementation planning, participants are taking what they learned at the Convening and strengthening initiatives and practices throughout Minnesota to promote child well-being in supportive housing.

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Convening Planning Partners
CSH                                                                                      Simpson Housing Services
Family Housing Fund                                                       courageous heARTS

Artistic Credit
BotJoy                                                                                 Greater Minnesota Housing Fund

 

2016 Indiana Supportive Housing Institute RFP

CSH is excited to announce its seventh Indiana Supportive Housing Institute (“The 2016 Institute”).  To date, the first six Institutes have graduated teams that now have over 1400 supportive housing units underway throughout Indiana.

The 2016 Institute will address creating supportive housing to meet the needs of persons experiencing chronic homelessness, persons with high medical vulnerability, frequent users of emergency systems of care, and families experiencing homelessness - as further defined within the 2016 IPSHI RFP.

CSH and IHCDA will provide an Institute Orientation webinar for prospective RFP respondents on November 6, 2015 from 10:00-11:30 a.m. EST.
Click
here to register for this webinar.

The 2016 Institute will help supportive housing partners learn how to navigate the complex process of developing housing with support services and is expected to reduce the time it takes to obtain funding for supportive housing by improving the planning and development processes.  Consideration will be given to both integrated housing (with 25% of the housing set aside for supportive housing) and 100% supportive housing developments.

The 2016 Institute will provide targeted training, technical assistance, and the opportunity to apply for pre-development financing to both new and experienced development teams.

Teams will receive over 80 hours of training including individualized technical assistance and resources to assist in completing their projects.  In addition, industry experts, including staff from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) , will provide insight on property management, financing, and building design.

Please review the Indiana Permanent Supportive Housing Institute Request for Proposals prior to completing the Institute Application.

Questions: If you have questions, please contact Megan Maxwell-Ranjbar at 317-632-5874 or megan.maxwell-ranjbar@csh.org.

Texas 2016 Housing & Services Partnership Academy

Create a Community-Based Team and Develop Strategies for Service-Enriched Housing for Persons with Disabilities and Aging Texans

CSH, in partnership with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), will provide training and technical assistance to community teams across Texas to help develop comprehensive plans for improving the quantity and quality of affordable, accessible, integrated housing and supportive services for people with disabilities and older Texans, and prepare communities to address the housing needs of this population. Outcomes will guide future technical assistance based on the planning process during the Academy. Each team will participate in a follow-up needs assessment that will guide and customize technical assistance for each community plan.

Selected teams will participate in:

  • Two pre-academy webinars, scheduled for December 2015 to develop a Local Housing and Services Guide as well as baseline housing and services knowledge to prepare for the workshop;
  • A 1.5 day Academy workshop scheduled for Feb. 2016 in Austin;
  • Development of Community Strategic Action Plan and Goals.

Selected teams will receive:

  • A Housing and Services Resource Guide;
  • Follow-up, targeted technical assistance; and
  • Strategies to build partnerships between housing and services to build capacity to develop service enriched housing.

Chicago Area Community Meetings, Supportive Housing for Adults with IDD

Come learn about supportive housing for adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) in Illinois - how to create and access opportunities in your community and share your thoughts on what is needed. These meetings are open to self-advocates, family members, providers, developers, and other allies.

Click here to RSVP for any of the following meetings:

Date/Host Location
Thursday, August 6, 10:00am – 12:00pm
Hosted by Community Service Options
6845 S. Western Ave, Chicago
Tuesday, August 11, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Hosted by Anixter Center
2001 N. Clybourn, Chicago
Friday, August 14, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Hosted by UCP Seguin
3100 S. Central Ave, Cicero
Tuesday, August 18, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Hosted by The Builders at Fremont Library
1170 N. Midlothian Road, Mundelein

Supportive housing is affordable housing with supportive services. Tenants have their own home/apartment and can have a roommate if desired.

Questions? Let us know!

John Fallon, 312-332-6690 ext. 21

Stephanie Sideman, 312-332-6690 ext. 25

Hornsby House Breaks Ground in OH

The Columbiana County Counseling Center, a nonprofit behavioral healthcare organization, performed the official groundbreaking ceremony for the Hornsby House project on May 6 2015. This project will consist of the development of two new supportive housing properties. The first in Lisbon, Ohio will hold eight one-bedroom apartments on an acre of land. The other in East Liverpool, Ohio will be a duplex.

Both developments will house adults experiencing homelessness and impacted by mental heath challenges. Along with housing, several voluntary supportive services will be offered including psychiatric services, alcohol and drug treatment programs, vocational and employment training and job-site support.

The Counseling Center, with 20 years of experience managing permanent supportive housing, will manage this property. This agency currently owns and operate 39 temporary and permanent housing locations.

This project will help to fulfill the strong need to house a vulnerable population. As one of various funders, CSH played an early role through its project initiation loan to the Counseling Center aimed at funding predevelopment and acquisition costs. Construction is set to be complete by late fall of 2015.

Please click here to read local coverage.

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