Author: Jason Thorpe

The Arizona Veterans StandDown Alliance will be hosting a Veterans Resource Fair on March 7, 2020 (9AM-2PM).

Location: Grand Luxe Hotel, 1365 W Grant Rd, Tucson, AZ 85745

This event is open to ALL Service Members: Active, Veterans, National Guard and Reservists in the local area in need. Local resource providers will be on site. Come for Hot Meals, Clothing, Haircuts, First Aid/Minor Medical Treatment, Housing Options, Veterans Court, Mental Health and Religious Counseling, Substance Abuse Counseling and Treatment Referrals, Employment and Job Training Referrals, Job Search and Resume Writing Help, Vocational Rehabilitation, Disability Claims, Benefits Applications, Legal Matters, Pet Vaccinations, Spay/Neuter vouchers, and more.

For more information, please visit https://www.azhousingcoalition.org/avsa.html.

Tucson Homeless Connect will once again be providing a one-day event designed to offer services and hospitality to people experiencing homelessness in a convenient one-stop model. This is the 18th event of its kind to be held in Tucson and is designed to help homeless individuals and their family to get off the streets.

Tucson Homeless Connect will be held on Friday, March 27, 2020, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at Santa Rita Park, 401 E 22nd Street

*Lunch will be served from 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Volunteers are still needed for this important community event.  If you would like to volunteer with Tucson Homeless Connect, please sign up at https://www.volunteersignup.org/9AE3D.

The TPCH Board voted to form a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee at its February 25, 2020 meeting.  The new committee will be responsible for reviewing TPCH’s initial racial equity analysis conducted in Fall 2019, guiding further data analysis as it relates to housing access and outcomes, gathering community input and best practices, and developing an action plan to improve racial equity, LGBTQ+ inclusivity, and cultural responsiveness to non-citizens experiencing or at risk of homelessness within the local homeless response system.

The committee will hold its first meeting in late March and is currently seeking volunteer members who:

• are committed to improving racial equity, LGBTQ+ inclusivity, and cultural responsiveness to non-citizens experiencing or at risk of homelessness
• are willing to engage vulnerably and authentically in difficult conversations related to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and citizenship
• are ready to work hard and commit time and energy to advancing system- and program-level strategies to create a more equitable response to homelessness in Tucson and throughout Pima County

The committee will work aggressively toward system improvements and will require considerable time and investment (an estimated 6-10 hours/month).  Individuals interested in joining the committee should email tpch@tucsonaz.gov as soon as possible.

Stage 1 – February 2020: Recommendations that address the overall governance structure of the CoC, distribution of responsibilities, and role and composition of the CoC Board and Committees.

Stage 2 – May 2020: Detailed recommendations and proposed revisions to the CoC Governance Charter that incorporate approved Stage 1 recommendations and detail a proposed approach to actualize those recommendations (identify standing committees, committee and board composition, etc.)

This two-stage process is intended to assess General Council approval for the foundational recommendations and collect additional CoC member input before proposing detailed governance charter revisions.

Approved Stage 1 Governance Updates:

Stage 1 recommendations were approved by the TPCH General Council on February 13., a summary of which is provided below. A full description of the recommendations as approved by the General Council is available here.

1. To re-assign responsibility for developing the CoC’s strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness from the CoC Board to the CoC General Council in partnership with the CoC Board and Lead Entities.

2. To limit CoC Board membership to not more than 20 individuals reflective and representative of the General Council with a priority on recruiting community decision-makers to Board service.

3. To assess and re-align committees to strategic plan goals.

4. To re-structure committee membership by establishing an elected or appointed voting membership roster of relevant subject matter experts and people with lived experience of homelessness and housing instability to provide expertise and guidance to the CoC Board and General Council in the committee’s subject area.

5. To permit the CoC Board to approve the total number of members to be seated on each CoC committee to ensure community representation while promoting efficient, effective decision-making to advance strategic plan priorities.

6. To develop a community process by which the CoC Board and/or General Council elect or appoint individuals or organizations with relevant expertise and experience to CoC Committees.

7. To permit non-members to attend committee meetings to provide additional information and perspective to items on the committee’s agenda.

8. To clarify the role of CoC Committees as expert deliberative forums to conduct research and provide policy recommendations to the CoC Board, and to implement decisions made by the CoC Board.

9. To establish a succession plan for Committee leadership by electing Vice-Chairs with the anticipation that Vice-Chairs will advance to Chair in the subsequent year, and encouraging a minimum of one year continued membership for exiting Chairs.

10. To eliminate committee participation as a requirement for obtaining and maintaining CoC voting membership and to develop appropriate alternative requirements for CoC voting membership.

11. To permit CoC committees comprised primarily of people with lived experiences of homelessness and housing instability to adopt alternative governance structures, voting requirements, and membership criteria if approved by the CoC Board.

VI-SPDAT Scores for Families and Veterans Referred to Transitional Housing and Rapid Rehousing

Veterans and families with children with VI-SPDAT scores between 4 and 10 will be referred to rapid rehousing and/or transitional housing services. This formally increases the VI-SPDAT scoring range for referrals to rapid rehousing and transitional housing as a result of the successful pilot initiative and allows TPCH to more quickly deploy permanent housing resources to vulnerable Veterans and families.

Active By Name List 

TPCH has piloted an active by name list policy since Summer 2019. Through the pilot initiative, individuals and families experiencing homelessness who have not made contact with a homeless service provider (as recorded in the Homelessness Management Information System) within the past 90 days have been placed on inactive status.  Referrals to housing openings have been made from the active by name list and any individual or family on inactive status has been immediately returned to active status upon re-connecting with a homeless service provider. This policy has enabled housing providers to more quickly locate individuals matched to their programs and reduced the amount of time housing resources are left vacant while projects attempt to locate households which have obtained alternate housing, entered in-patient treatment or other institutional settings, left the area, or are otherwise unable to be contacted.  Through the pilot period, the rate of returns from inactive to active status was monitored to assess possible negative impacts.  The pilot proved successful in its aims of expediting housing placement with limited negative impacts. As a result, the TPCH Board has formally approved the Active By Name List Policy.

Termination of Pre-Navigation Pilot

The Coordinated Entry Committee has also decided to terminate the pre-navigation pilot which has been in operation since 2019. This pilot initiative provided limited navigation services to help high priority individuals in need of Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) obtain identity documents and maintain contact with community providers in order to quickly access housing services once referred to a PSH project. Limited navigation capacity and availability of PSH openings hindered the success of this pilot. The City of Tucson has received Continuum of Care funding to support the local Coordinated Entry system which includes the addition of two community navigators beginning July 1, 2020. This project will incorporate successful elements of the completed pilot using a more real-time approach to housing navigation and placement in order to achieve the original aims of the pre-navigation pilot.

Updates to Governance Documents

These changes require multiple updates to the TPCH Written Standards and Coordinated Entry Policies and Procedures.  The Collaborative Applicant and HMIS Lead are working to prepare these updates which will be posted to TPCH website on or before March 31, 2020.