September 2016

A letter from Lisa Tepper Bates

Hello friends, 
 
As we approach the end summer, we are excited by how much we have already achieved as a state this year! In the last week we have celebrated with you our progress toward ending chronic homelessness with DOH, all our partners, and congressional leaders across Connecticut. Thanks to your hard work we are on track to end chronic homelessness this year. 
 
CCEH has been hard at work this summer to help you improve housing services to special populations. This month we will be the first state to incorporate the Next Step Tool for youth and young adults into our Homeless Management Information System as well as to create pathways for domestic violence survivors to access resources to end their homelessness. 
 
Thank you for being brilliant advocates and providers for Connecticut's homeless. It is your hard work that has driven change and built the momentum that will end chronic homelessness this year.

Best regards,

 
Zero:2016
Zero: 2016 Update
Congressional Events Across the State


Over the past few weeks, CCEH has been teaming up with the Department of Housing to celebrate the work taking place in Congressional Districts through the statewide Zero: 2016 Initiative.  Thanks to your outstanding work, Connecticut is on track to eliminate chronic homelessness by the end of the year, an accomplishment lauded by Senator Richard Blumenthal, Senator Chris Murphy, Congressman John Larson, Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, and Congressman Jim Himes.

At each of the Congressional District CAN Events, State Commissioner Evonne Klein has recognized the significant progress made this year towards housing the state's chronically homeless and the praised the work being done by providers in each CAN to build a system to identify and rapidly house homeless individuals.

To read more about these events, click here
HMISChanges
Serving Special Populations More Effectively
Introducing the Next Step Tool

The Next Step Tool is a version of the VI-SPDAT, or Vulnerability Index- Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool, tailored for youth and young adults age 24 and below. The goal of this tool is to help level the playing field for accessing housing services for youth and young adults. Connecticut is leading the way, as the first state to implement the Next Step Tool. 

Click here to access the recorded webinar and additional resources.
Coordinated Access for Domestic Violence Survivors 

Survivors of Domestic Violence face some of the most challenging barriers in accessing homeless services because of confidentiality, urgency, and trauma histories. In order to overcome these  difficulties , CCEH has partnered with the CT Department of Housing and the  Connecticut  Coalition Against Domestic Violence to create a pathway for this population to access  services and end their homelessness as quickly as possible. 

For more information or to view the recorded webinar, click here
NAEHRecap
Serving Survivors of Domestic Violence with Rapid Re-Housing

Kris Billhardt, who has worked in the domestic violence movement for over 30 years,  is a pioneer in finding housing solutions that meet the needs of DV survivors experiencing homelessness. She has found over her many years of experience that housing solutions are central - not tangential - to helping DV survivors. Increased housing stability is a significant predictor of improvements for DV survivors in many areas of life and Rapid Re-housing can be an effective strategy for achieving this goal.

Trainings
Upcoming Trainings and Events:
Diversion Training Series
Tuesday, September 20th
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday, October 18th
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday, November 15
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday, December 20
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
To learn more, please click  here or  c ontact Training & Communications Coordinator Sarah Chess at  schess@cceh.org  f or more information. 

Safe Shelter and Fair Housing for Transgendered Individuals
Monday, November 21st
1:00PM - 3:00 PM

Monday, December 19th
1:00PM - 3:00 PM

To learn more, please click  here or  c ontact Katie Kenney at kkenney@cceh.org  f or more information. 

behom
be homeful update
CCEH seeking educators to pilot new Paddington family homelessness lesson plans

Do you know any innovative educators who care about homelessness?  Developed in collaboration with Paddington Bear, the BE HOMEFUL lesson plans are tailored to help educators lead age-appropriate conversations about homelessness at the pre-K, elementary, and middle school levels and support kids in taking action to raise shelter diversion funds for their local BE HOMEFUL fund. 

We are seeking educators from a variety of educational settings. If you know of any great educators who you think would be strong candidates for CCEH's educators panel, please email Madeline Ravich at   mravich@cceh.org .

2016 Connecticut Housing Coalition Conference

The annual conference will be held on Thursday,
 September 22, 2016 from 8:15-3:00 at the Connecticut
 Convention Center. This event draws attendees from every part of Connecticut to come together and celebrate, learn and challenge ourselves. This year's plenary session features Alex Kotlowitz from Northwestern University,   Connecticut Department of Housing  Commissioner Evonne Klein, and Jim Reed from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

To register and learn more, please click  here.

Data
CCEH Data Updates
 
If you haven't subscribed to the CCEH data newsletter, you are missing out on a monthly dose of everything data-related that is coming from CCEH! You can  click here to sign up , and never miss out on exciting data related releases like the Coordinated Entry Reports , Regional  PIT Reports , or the upcoming supplemental youth count data report.