City of Lawrence, Kansas

HOMELESS ISSUES ADVISORY COMMITTEE

March 12, 2013 Minutes (Lawrence City Commission Room)

Members present: Brad Cook (Bert Nash Homeless Outreach Team), Michael Brouwer (Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Re-Entry Program), Hubbard Collinsworth (at-large), Becky Peters (Family Promise), Laurie Hooker (LDCHA)

Members absent: Lt. Matt McCluer (Salvation Army), Trent McKinley (LPD), Cary Strong (Lawrence Business Community), Kadie Jorgensen (LMH)

Staff present: Danelle Dresslar, Rhonda Peterson, Margene Swarts

Public present: Saunny Scott, Andy Brown (LCS), Steve Cowen (HUD VASH), Doug Wallace (KSHC), Jason Dye (KU student)

The meeting was called to order at 8:31 a.m. by Chair Cook.

ITEM NO. 1 Introductions

The members of the HIAC, city staff and guests introduced themselves.

ITEM NO. 2 Approval of the Agenda and the February 12, 2013 Minutes.

Motion by Collinsworth to approve the Agenda and the February 12, 2013 meeting minutes of the HIAC; seconded by Hooker.

Motion passed unanimously.

ITEM NO. 3 Discuss May HIAC meeting

Dresslar said the date of the May HIAC meeting needs to be changed to May 7 instead of May 14 due to a scheduling conflict. She asked that the committee members check to see if that would work with their schedules.

Motion by Brouwer to move the date of the May HIAC meeting from May 14 to May 7, 2013; seconded by Peters.

Motion passed unanimously.

Dresslar said she would send an email to the committee members that are not present advising them of the meeting date change. She also indicated the June meeting would probably need to be changed as she will be out of state at a conference. That issue will be addressed at the next meeting in order to give staff time to check the room availability for alternate dates.

ITEM NO. 4 Housing Vision Reports

A. Non-Housing – KSHC Homeless Summit

Doug Wallace, Balance of State Coordinator with the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition (KSHC), introduced himself and invited all the committee members and staff to attend the 14^th Annual Summit on Homelessness and Housing. It will be held on April 15-17 in Pittsburg, Kansas at the Memorial Hall. The summit begins on the 15th at 5:00 p.m. with a networking reception. The conference begins the morning of April 16th with a full day of presentations followed by a progressive dinner event. The conference resumes on the 17th with another day of presentations, followed by the annual meeting which will begin around 1:00-1:30. Some of the presenters include the Topeka Crisis Intervention Team, Kansas Pathways Providers, and also a best practices presentation.

The cost of registration is $50 per person, or $40 per person when three or more are registered from the same organization. Scholarships are available to help with the registration fee. If someone needs a scholarship, please contact Wallace for an application. Registration forms are on the KSHC website, www.kshomeless.com.

Cook asked if Pittsburg is about two and one half hours away from Lawrence; Wallace replied yes, it is.

There were no more questions for Wallace.

B. Emergency Shelter/Temporary Housing – LCS Update

Andy Brown with the Lawrence Community Shelter (LCS) introduced himself. He said there is not much new to report as they have only occupied the new shelter since December 28, 2012. Brown passed out copies of the 2012 Annual Activities Report, but reminded the committee that the data pertained to the previous shelter location. He stated that the shelter has been operating at or around capacity, with 120-125 people being provided shelter most nights.

Dresslar asked how the ongoing programs have changed now that they are in the new shelter. Brown said there are several programs currently being offered. They have a program that provides meals three times a day. They have a volunteer that manages the kitchen and oversees the other volunteers who help with the food preparation and activities. There is also a garden in back of the facility which provides some of the food for meals. LCS also works with partner agencies to provide assistance to individuals and families. Catholic Charities will be presenting “All My Money”, a 2 week long financial seminar. Housing & Credit Counseling is putting on a month long series in April that will address topics like debt repayment, rent delinquency, balancing budgets and other entry level financial topics. LCS also offers parenting skill classes and information for families for trauma-based family management and interventions. The facility is also used for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings four times each week, which are open to both the public and guests of the shelter. LCS has been working on expanding its drug and alcohol programs for the past two months. Americor is providing a patient navigator who handles health-related functions, and they are holding a health fair at the shelter this weekend. LCS is also collaborating with Amerigroup, which includes fifteen different agencies, and Independence Inc., which is providing assistance with prescriptions and acute care for shelter guests.

Collinsworth asked what is the shelter doing with regard to transportation.

Brown responded the shelter owns a van that is used to transport guests, which causes a significant cost each month for gas. The shelter also has volunteers who provide transportation, and LCS also offers bus passes; there is a bus stop at the corner by the jail which stops 10-15 times each day from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The new shelter also has more parking available for those guests who have their own transportation.

Collinsworth asked about the partnership with Independence Inc. and whether it provides transportation.

Brown responded the partnership is specifically for trips to the Health Care Access clinic; no additional transportation is offered as a result of the collaboration.

Peters asked if the health fair is for the public to attend as well as guests.

Brown replied currently the health fair is only open to guests of the shelter, but they are hoping to make it available to the public in the future. LCS has applied for a public art grant, which includes an open house for a mobile arts event. Also, United Way will be holding its quarterly agency meeting at the shelter’s facility, and Americor is holding a meeting there later this month. This is allowing the shelter to show people what has been accomplished with the new facility.

Collinsworth asked if the dining facility is fully staffed and if three hot meals are offered.

Brown responded two hot meals are served; breakfast is not a hot meal. The shelter has one full-time kitchen manager who averages 50-60 hours per week. She plans and prepares the meals, makes sure there is enough food to serve at mealtime, keeps the kitchen and dining areas clean and purchases the food. She also oversees the guests and volunteers who assist with preparation and serving. Overall the dining process is more orderly.

Collinsworth inquired what Brown’s title and responsibilities are at the shelter.

Brown replied his title is Director of Development, and he writes grants, oversees fundraisers and represents the facility at meetings like this one.

Brouwer asked what the timeline is for a canopy at the bus stop.

Brown responded he hasn’t heard from the City, but that a bench had been placed at the stop.

Brouwer added the stop is frequently used; he will check and see if he can get some information on his end from someone in the City.

Dresslar said it is a question for city transit.

Swarts added the area and stop are scheduled to be reconfigured; there are route planning issues but the City is being sensitive to the needs in the meantime.

Brown indicated the original bus stop was located in a different spot.

Dresslar indicated a stoplight is planned to be added at the corner of O’Connell and K-10.

Collinsworth asked if there are two bus shelters planned, one for east bound and one for west bound.

Swarts responded that only one shelter is planned, but the City is planning to reconfigure the traffic loop in the area to better serve pedestrian and vehicle traffic.

Brown added LCS is pushing for a transportation route on 21^st Street to Iowa.

There were no additional questions for Brown.

C. Transitional Housing/Supportive Services – HUD VASH

Steve Cowen with HUD- VASH (Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing) introduced himself. HUD-VASH’s goals are to place homeless Veterans in safe, stable, affordable, and, most importantly, permanent housing. Under the program, HUD provides housing vouchers while the VA provides long-term case management, ensuring not only that Veterans receive the medical and counseling services they need, but that they are able to sustain residence and avoid relapsing into homelessness. Any homeless Veteran eligible for VA medical care is eligible for HUD-VASH assistance, but must have been homeless continuously for a year or more, or have three or more instances of homelessness in the previous three years. Providing them housing is the first priority of the program.

Cowen said he had worked at the Housing Authority for several years. He has been based out of the Topeka Veterans Administration office and still has a small caseload there, but is transitioning to Lawrence, currently 4 days in Lawrence and one day in Topeka each week. Since starting in August, six people with families have been housed, 19 individuals are now housed, and he has four pending plus has received several additional calls for assistance. So far there have been no evictions.

Cowen said Lawrence has a community based outreach clinic (CBOC) which offers a physician’s assistant, therapist and lab services. Bert Nash has also been helpful, and several Veterans go to LCS on a regular basis. The shelter provides assistance with identifying veterans on the front end.

Support Services for Veterans’ Families (SSVF) also offers assistance. It is administered through the Salvation Army. The program helps with utility deposits and rental unit deposits but not the actual rent payments. Occasionally application fees are paid for Veterans as well, but that is not typical. Its purpose is to help Veterans pay the costs up front to aid in obtaining housing, because many people don’t have enough money saved up for deposits on the front end.

Cowen said the only issued that would block a veteran’s eligibility is if he or she is on the lifetime sexual offender registry. Additionally, a written statement from family or friends that indicate they will help with monthly expenses helps buy the recipient time. Family members and non-relatives, like roommates or friends, may also benefit from the program if they reside with the Veteran.

Hooker asked if Cowen knows the number of homeless Veterans in Douglas County.

Cowen responded he does not have that information.

Hooker asked where the clinic is located in Lawrence, and what the hours of operation are.

Cowen replied it is located at 2200 Harvard. It is staffed every day with a physician’s assistant, phone care nurse, lab services and a psychotherapist. Most Veterans typically get connected to it through the VA for the initial appointment.

There were no additional questions for Cowen.

D. Permanent Supportive Housing – Salvation Army Project Able PSH

Lieutenant McCluer was not present to discuss this item.

E. Permanent Housing – No Update

ITEM NO. 5 Miscellaneous/Calendar

The next meeting is scheduled for April 9. The May meeting has been moved to May 7. Changing the date for the June meeting will be discussed at the next meeting. Dresslar will notify the committee members who are absent of the date change for the May meeting.

Saunny Scott asked that the calendar change be posted and made available so the public would be aware of this and any future changes.

Dresslar responded that the calendar change would go out on listserv and will be posted on the City’s website.

Brouwer reminded everyone that this is Swarts’ last meeting as she is retiring next week. He again thanked Swarts for all of her help over and said she will be missed.

Collinsworth stated there is a possible problem with the permanent supportive housing piece of the Housing Vision. There have been no recent updated reports, and no providers in attendance for it. He said staff should be alerted as it is becoming a problem, and the committee has not been provided any updates.

Peters responded the Family Promise representative who was going to discuss the mentoring was not quite ready for this meeting but would be making a presentation in a couple of months.

Dresslar stated there were no updates currently as Tenants to Homeowners has nothing new to report, and she asked again for suggestions from any of the committee members for permanent housing topics.

Collinsworth asked about the progress on the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).

Dresslar asked Wallace if he would mind addressing Collinsworth’s concerns.

Wallace said the HMIS is developed and maintained by the Mid America Assistance Coalition (MAACLink). He is part of the Balance of State Oversight Committee (BHOC), which coordinates and oversees the implementation and standards of the HMIS. The group is looking for feedback from users; they are aware there is an issue with training and whether it has been adequate. They hope to improve the system by helping the users learn the basics. BHOC holds meetings every two months, where they go over data quality reports. Feedback from users will help them determine if there is a training or system issue; if it’s a system issue, MAACLink can be held responsible for deficiencies.

Wallace indicated they are looking for members for a sub-committee of users with representatives throughout the state to attend meetings by phone or in person. They hope to have the sub-committee gather information and provide feedback from the users’ standpoints to the oversight committee. Wallace asked that anyone experiencing or hearing of problems with the system call or email him with the information. He added that there will be a break-out session with MAACLink at the annual summit that was discussed earlier to talk about reports; the developer will be there.

Collinsworth asked if this was an ongoing issue.

Wallace responded yes it is. It is a ten year project, and won’t be completed until the end of the tenth year. The plan is that once the system is in place and is being utilized, reports could be generated to help develop the basis for new funding sources, etc. Wallace said they are approximately 25% down the road to completion of a viable system. He added that MAACLink has said the reports are there ready to use, the data just needs to be entered, and the users either need to be shown how to run the reports or it needs to be determined if there is a system error getting the reports. The Kansas Housing Resource Commission is funding the project; MAACLink is the vendor. They are interested and committed to getting it working for everyone.

Brown with LCS said they have a staff person that manages the HMIS data entry at the shelter. They can distribute reports out of the system, but the completeness and accuracy of the data is limited by the agencies that actually use HMIS and input their data. Brown knows that currently Hope House, Catholic Charities and LCS all use HMIS, but other agencies have an individualized data system. There has not been a community-wide buy-in to implement the system.

Cook added several agencies had signed on originally when the system was proposed and selected, but they have fallen off because of issues with the system.

Brown said there is a lack of buy-in from the service providers, a lack of training and the integrity of the data is questionable due to there not being uniform data entry, which is causing issues. Brown said LCS would be willing to provide a representative for the sub-committee.

Hooker asked what is needed for buy-in.

Dresslar responded the community has to see the value of utilizing the system. The only users of the system right now are the ones forced to use it due to grant funding.

Wallace asked if it would be beneficial for a MAACLink representative to talk to the committee and demo the reports.

Dresslar replied it would be more appropriate for the representative to come to a Housing Authority provider meeting, or another meeting where agencies are represented that are actually entering in data to that system or another.

Brown added most agencies already have a data collection system.

Hooker said one collection point is needed for all data.

Peters said there is a problem finding volunteers for data entry.

Dresslar added that there is also confidentiality issues with having people enter the data that are not agency specific. There are waivers and forms that are signed that protect the information. Having one person enter multiple agency data would be problematic.

ITEM NO. 6 Public Comment.

There was no additional public comment.

ITEM NO. 7 Adjourn.

Motion by Cook to adjourn the March 12, 2013 meeting of the HIAC; seconded by Brouwer.

Motion passed unanimously.

Attendance Record

Members

01/13

02/13

03/13

04/13

05/13

06/13

07/13

08/13

09/13

10/13

11/13

12/ 13

Michael Brouwer

Hubbard Collinsworth

Brad Cook

Brent Hoffman

Matt McCluer

Trent McKinley

Cary Strong

Laurie Hooker

Becky Peters

Kadie Jorgensen

X - Meeting Cancelled Due to Inclement Weather

E - Excused Absence

U - Unexcused Absence

() – Last meeting in term.

* - First meeting in term.

^ - Last Meeting