How Can We Help People Rapidly Resolve their Housing Crises?
Building on what has been learned from rapid re-housing (RRH) models, how can we best design, implement, and combine interventions to rapidly resolve a person’s housing crisis — either before their situation fully escalates into homelessness, or immediately after they enter the shelter system? Earlier this month, TAC brought together over 100 local RRH practitioners with 20 federal authorities and technical assistance providers to launch a first-of-its kind, federally supported rapid resolution pilot program. Driven by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with support from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), the pilot program will operate through September 30 in eleven communities.
The overall goal of the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Rapid Resolution Pilot is to gather information about the effectiveness of practices such as diversion, rapid exit, reunification, creative housing, and financial assistance (in various forms and amounts) in helping Veterans who are in crisis to stabilize their housing situations quickly. Participating SSVF grantees will be allowed greater flexibility in using SSVF funds to immediately end a Veteran’s housing crisis, and will also focus on strengthening collaborations with local partners. Quantitative data will be gathered from Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) and other sources to analyze the process and outcomes of rapid resolution. TAC, its subcontractors, and the SSVF Program Office will document the structure, staffing, training, and procedures developed for the pilot project in each community. All of this information will inform the anticipated national implementation of rapid resolution by SSVF in the fall of 2018 – as well as future planning and guidance from HUD and USICH.
Learn more about TAC’s housing and supportive services technical assistance for Veterans.
TAC Staff in Action
Staff Activities
TAC Senior Consultant Sherry Lerch and Seattle-based subcontractor Jake Mihalak recently helped Washington State’s Trueblood Task Force to facilitate a dozen stakeholder listening sessions and regional meetings, and created a report on stakeholder recommendations for improving both the forensic mental health and broader state behavioral health systems; With support from the Melville Charitable Trust, Senior Consultant John O’Brien joined Meryl Schulman and others at the Center for Health Care Strategies to publish “Exploring Value-Based Payment to Encourage Substance Use Disorder Treatment in Primary Care“; and a whole crew of TAC folks headed to Dallas, TX to help out with the rapid resolution pilot program described above – Managing Director Marie Herb, Senior Consultant Jim Yates, Associates Phil Allen and Douglas Tetrault, TA & Training Coordinator Kyia Watkins, Federal Contracts Assistant Kim Wilder, and subcontractor Naomi Sweitzer.
