Thank You to Jonathan Hunter for 13 Years of Leadership at CSH

A letter from Connie Tempel, Chief Operating Officer

 

We wanted to let you know that after thirteen years with CSH, Jonathan Hunter has decided to transition into part-time consulting work, effective February 7, 2014. Jonathan has been a highly valued member of the senior leadership team during his tenure.   Jonathan joined CSH in November 2000 and served four years as Director of the CSH California program and for the last six years as Western Region Managing Director.  In that role he has provided leadership for CSH in the western United States, coordinating the work of staff deployed in Texas, Arizona and California.  Jonathan announced that he will be working as an independent consultant, continuing to focus on the needs of vulnerable people.

During his tenure, he has made a tremendous impact on the organization and the supportive housing industry. Jonathan was instrumental in establishing the presence of CSH in Los Angeles and providing leadership for a growing staff that have supported the creation of more than 3,000 units of new supportive housing over the last nine years.  He convened an ad hoc committee of public and private stakeholders that led to the creation of the Mental Health Services Act Housing Program, a $400 million effort that has produced more than 2,000 new units of supportive housing throughout the State of California.  He led the Frequent Users of Health Services Initiative (FUHSI), a six-county demonstration pilot which connected frequent users of crisis care to housing and health care.  Under his leadership CSH also significantly expanded its work in Texas and Arizona.

Jonathan was recognized by the Board of Housing California for his three years as President of that Board and was awarded the Tom McGuiness Community Leadership Award in 2011 by Housing Works and the 2013 William F. McKenna Award for leadership in affordable housing presented by LINC Housing.

In announcing his resignation, Jonathan said, “I will always be grateful for the time I have spent at CSH.  I have been given the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of some of our most vulnerable neighbors.  I have also had the privilege of working with an incredibly talented and passionate group of colleagues.  I am proud of what we have accomplished together.  I know that in my new role I will continue to have opportunities to work alongside CSH as we share a commitment to finding real solutions to the needs of people facing multiple challenges related to homelessness, mental illness and substance use.”

Please join me and CSH as it wishes Jonathan well in his new venture.  We will be immediately posting a job announcement for a new Managing Director focused on expanding our work throughout the Western Region and hope that you will help us find a worthy candidate to fill Jonathan’s shoes.

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The Larry Itliong Village Grand Opening

On Friday, December 13 the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) Community Development Corporation celebrated the grand opening of the Larry Itliong Village in historic Filipinotown – a 45 unit affordable and permanent supportive housing community for families and transitional age youth.

The Larry Itliong Village includes on-site supportive services as well as on on-site manager. The project was financed with a combination of private and public funding, including $1,341,000 from CSH.

Targeting Health High Utilizers in Arizona and Michigan

CSH's  six-year frequent user pilot in California demonstrated that homeless clients who were connected to permanent housing experienced deeper reductions in ER and inpatient hospital stays than those not in supportive housing.  Since that initial pilot, we have expanded our FUSE work to other cities and counties across the country to connect individuals with supportive housing and health care in an effort to reduce overall hospital and emergency services costs. Maricopa County and Detroit are two examples of our FUSE work around health high utilizers.

In Maricopa County, Arizona, the Frequent Users Systems Engagement (FUSE) initiative is targeting 15 chronically homeless individuals who are the most frequent and costly utilizers of St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center Emergency Room and county shelters. CSH assisted with the program development and will be conducting an evaluation of the program, which began housing people identified through a data match between St. Joseph’s and the county HMIS system in 2013. Clients are engaged in the hospital, respite care, or shelter setting by a Care Coordinator who coordinates service delivery between the hospital, mental health provider, and community health center.  The goal of the Maricopa FUSE pilot is to create a programmatic model that links the target population to supportive housing and to develop a sustainable financing model and mechanism to fund hospital in-reach, housing and service provision for this population, all while reducing the costly and unnecessary utilization of hospitals and homeless shelters.

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In Detroit, Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO), along with other local partners including hospitals, community mental health and homeless service providers are seeking to meet the needs of frequent users of hospital systems who are homeless.  Together, CSH and NSO have designed a 100-person FUSE Initiative.  With CSH and foundation support, this initiative intends to demonstrate the effectiveness of supportive housing and integrated care in reducing health care costs and improving outcomes. Participants are identified and recruited at area hospitals and randomly assigned to receive enhanced services and housing or to receive “services as usual”.  Utilization for the two groups will be tracked for two years to determine the effect of the FUSE intervention on utilization, cost and outcomes.  The rigorous research element of this initiative will demonstrate the efficacy of supportive housing with enhanced service coordination.  The FUSE service model provides subsidized housing and services provided by a Social Worker, Registered Nurse and Peer Support Specialist using Critical Time Intervention (CTI).  The focus of treatment will be to stabilize any health conditions, coordinate outpatient care and ensure housing stability.  The Detroit FUSE project began recruitment in May 2013 and to date has 8 enrollees.

Read more on our work in Maricopa County, AZ.

Read more on our work in Detroit.

 

Spotlight on Seattle Housing Authority

When the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) wanted to increase efficiency and reduce barriers to housing for people who are homeless, they changed the criminal screening criteria for their housing choice voucher program to be less stringent with respect to applicants’ histories of convictions.

Previously, SHA required variable waiting periods after an applicant has been released from incarceration based upon the crime committed. This waiting period had ranged from 20 years for homicide to two years for burglary or criminal assault. SHA changed this waiting period to a uniform time of 12 months.

This standard is currently in use by King County Housing Authority, which has jurisdiction over most of the county surrounding Seattle. Instituting a uniform standard among the two PHAs increased efficiency by allowing families with vouchers the opportunity to move between the two Housing Authorities’ jurisdictions.

Moving To Work (MTW) was not required to implement this program, and no additional funding or PHA resources were required.

SHA offers this advice to other PHAs, “Anecdotally we hear from staff about how this policy has helped parents who had crimes that took place when they were young adults access housing and assist them on a path to success. We would recommend identifying stakeholders and having small meetings with key groups before starting the full public discourse process.”

Learn more about SHA’s program, view documents they used to implement the program, and learn from other PHAs on CSH’s PHA Webpage and in our Toolkit.

Spotlight on Tacoma Housing Authority

Students of McCarver Elementary school in Tacoma, Washington have high turnover rates, high poverty rates, and low levels of achievement, some of which can be attributed to difficulties in finding affordable housing.  To address these compounding issues for families, the Tacoma Housing Authority (THA) developed the McCarver Elementary School Special Housing Program. This program provides rental assistance for up to five years to 50 eligible families of McCarver kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders.  THA is a Moving To Work (MTW) agency and utilized its MTW flexibility to design an alternate rental assistance structure under its Housing Choice Voucher program.

Many partners came together to create this program, including the Tacoma School District; the Tacoma Housing Authority; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Pierce County, Building Changes, a community non-profit; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and community service providers. Early evaluation reports indicate that families who are enrolled have fewer student suspensions, higher school attendance, increased parental engagement, and student academic and behavioral progress.

THA offers this advice to other PHAs partnering with schools, “The McCarver Elementary School Project seeks to prove that by providing housing and supportive services to needy families it can improve school outcomes for their children and improve outcomes for the schools that serve its communities. Housing authorities should embed these strategies into their normal program operations as part of the appropriate mission of an alert and engaged public housing authority.”

Learn more about THA’s program, view documents they used to implement the program, and learn from other PHAs in CSH’s PHA Toolkit.

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