CommStat 1/25/18
Making Homelessness in Chittenden County Rare and Brief Burlington Housing Authority’s Role as a Member of Chittenden County’s Continuum of Care ( CoC)
BHA’s Mission Provide low-income, vulnerable members of our community access to safe, affordable housing and retention support services in ways that promote resident self-sufficiency and vibrant neighborhoods
Str trategic ic Prio iorities – Affordable le Housing Ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing by acquiring, developing, and maintaining a variety of housing options • 31 owned/managed properties, 680 apartments • Certain properties provide targeted supportive housing for some of our community’s most vulnerable residents, including the formerly incarcerated, victims of domestic violence, the elderly and disabled, and families • BHA properties, which are conveniently located downtown and in a number of neighborhoods, are well maintained and operated, and offer unique retention-focused resident supportive services designed to help tenants retain their housing and build a sense of community
Str trategic ic Prio iorities – Rental l Subsid idie ies Provide rental subsidies to the most vulnerable, low-income residents of the Burlington-area, including the chronically homeless, elderly, people with mental, physical, or intellectual disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, and the formerly incarcerated • Provide over 2,500 low-income households with more than $21 million annually in Federal rental subsidies, through a number of programs managed by BHA, including: o Tenant-Based Housing Choice Vouchers o Project-Based Vouchers, subsidizing rent on specific units owned by BHA and other Burlington-area housing providers • Manage the housing subsidy portion of Federally-funded Permanent Supportive Housing assistance grants, which provide housing and support services to chronically homeless households • Offer a variety of programs serving special needs populations, though partnership support from several organizations, including Spectrum, Howard, Pathways, VermontCares , Steps to End Domestic Violence, and CHC’s Safe Harbor Clinic
Str trategic ic Pri riorities: Rental l Subsid idie ies (conti tinued) One type of subsidy BHA awards is the Family Unification Voucher (FUV) • FUVs provide rental assistance to families where the lack of adequate housing is a primary factor in: o The imminent placement of a family’s child or children in out -of-home care, or o A delay in discharging a child or children to a family from out-of-home care • BHA is currently allocated 375 FUVs, a significant resource for our community • FUV referrals come to BHA primarily from DCF-Family Services, as well as from Economic Services Division-Reach-Up, Lund, Spectrum, Steps to End Domestic Violence, & COTS. • Historically the FUV program has had the highest attrition and turnover of any of the rental assistance programs BHA manages • Families leaving this program often cycle back into homelessness, creating additional barriers (eviction, back rent etc.) along the way, making it harder to regain housing Our community would benefit from more/different services to better support families receiving FUV housing subsidies to better enable them to retain their housing
Str trategic ic Prio iorities – Retentio ion Services Deliver comprehensive social services designed to prevent eviction and help end homelessness in the community • Prioritize the most vulnerable and homeless individuals in our community when possible in offering housing and rental subsidies, subject to Federal funding and related regulations • Provide one-on-one and site-based supportive services to BHA residents and others in the community designed to help people retain their housing by addressing individual challenges, e.g., financial matters, mental health, hoarding, and alcohol or drug addictions • Offer Wellness Programs at each of BHA’s three high -rises for seniors and adults with disabilities, including on-site health care coordination, information, referrals, and limited home-care services (financially supported by Medicare for the SASH program) • Operate an Offender Re-Entry Housing Program, funded by the State of Vermont Department of Corrections, which assists offenders returning to the community find and maintain transitional and permanent supportive housing
Supporting Community’s Focus on Retention BHA is recognized as a leader in providing eviction-avoidance retention services to our community • BHA’s Retention Team works with vulnerable families and individuals who are at the highest risk of becoming or returning to homelessness, to enable them to stay in their homes • Retention specialists assess individual challenges, develop plans for addressing these issues, and then work directly with these households to preserve their housing whenever possible • The team also coordinates services and skilled care with other community service providers, as needed and when appropriate • Funded in part by grants from the State of Vermont, UVM Medical Center, and leading housing/ shelter providers allows BHA retention services to be offered more widely in our community Through these and other efforts, BHA found permanent housing for more than 100 formerly homeless or incarcerated households & prevented homelessness for more than 70 other households this past year.
CoC’s Coordin inated Entry try System The Coordinated Entry System of Identifying, Assessing, and Prioritizing Services and Housing for Chittenden County’s Most Vulnerable Will Inform BHA Housing Policies and Procedures • The new Coordinated Entry System will: o Produce a real-time, “By Name List” that provides accurate homelessness data for our community, including identifying all individuals known to be currently homeless or at risk of being homeless o Enable our community to collectively prioritize and utilize our limited resources optimally as we work to secure permanent housing for the most vulnerable people on that list • The CoC is hosting an upcoming Action Lab, facilitated by housing experts, which will develop best practices we can use in creating, maintaining, and using this By Name List , as the means by which we will make homelessness rare and brief in our community • BHA is updating its rental subsidy and leasing processes, as appropriate, to incorporate Coordinated Entry referrals of individuals and households determined to be our community’s most vulnerable
Vermont Hub-and-Spoke Model of Care for Opioid Use Disorders: An Evaluation Richard A. Rawson, Ph.D. Research Professor Vermont Center on Behavior and Health Department of Psychiatry University of Vermont Burlington, Vermont 05401
Acknowledgement • This work was funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant (NB01OT009090-01) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (TI010055-17).
The Vermont Hub and Spoke System • Vermont has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic. In response, Vermont developed a statewide system to expand medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with methadone and buprenorphine. MAT has strong empirical support as the most effective form of treatment for opioid use disorders. (OUDs; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, 2016). • Vermont’s innovative treatment system is the Care Alliance for Opioid Addiction, also known as the “hub -and- spoke” system (Brooklyn and Sigmon, 2017; Simpatico, 2015).
The Vermont Hub and Spoke System • Vermont’s opioid treatment service system is organized by geographic regions — Northwest, Northeast, Central, Southeast, and Southwest. • Each region has a “hub,” which is a licensed specialty outpatient treatment program (OTP) with the authority to dispense buprenorphine and methadone to treat individuals with OUDs. • “Spokes” are medical (and mental health) practices that provide office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) with buprenorphine (and to a lesser degree, naltrexone).
The Vermont Hub and Spoke System • Hubs have an extensive staff of addiction-trained MDs, nurses, and counselors who provide intensive specialty care addiction treatment. • Spokes are primary care settings that are staffed by at least one buprenorphine-prescribing physician who is supported by a “MAT team” consisting of a registered nurse (RN) and a master’s -level licensed counselor. • Patients transfer between hubs and spokes when appropriate
The H&S Evaluation: Objectives • Primary objective: • To gain preliminary information (quantitative and qualitative) on the impact of participation in the Vermont H & S system and to assess the usefulness of these services to opioid users. • Secondary objectives : • To determine when and why individuals with opioid use disorders in Vermont (1) avoid treatment or (2) discontinue treatment prior to completion or discharge. • To determine from the perspective of the individuals in treatment the most helpful and positive aspects, as well as the least helpful and most challenging aspects, of treatment. • To understand family members/significant others’ perspectives on the strengths and weaknesses of treatment. • To collect data/information on the extent to which the H & S system is providing adequate access to opioid care throughout the state of Vermont.
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