Texas Balance of State Continuum of Care News
February 2019
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Texas Homeless Network is the lead agency for the
Texas Balance of State Continuum of Care (TX BoS CoC)
. The TX BoS CoC is a group of stakeholders that collaboratively plan and operate the CoC and a range of housing and services to prevent and end homelessness. The TX BoS CoC covers
215 counties
and includes 24 Local Homeless Coalitions (LHCs) that plan, deliver, and evaluate local systems.
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2019 Point-In-Time Count
We had 32 counties across the TX BoS CoC participate in the annual Point-in-time Count for 2019! More than 800 volunteers led by 70 PIT leads pulled off the truly impressive feat of coordinating to count individuals experiencing homelessness in their communities. The final results of this count are pending and will be sent out in the coming weeks. Thank you to all of the participating communities on their hard work and determination! We appreciate you and your dedication to serving people experiencing homelessness in your communities!
Contact
kyra@thn.org
with any questions or updates you may have.
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2019 Housing Inventory Count
The Housing Inventory Count is also conducted the night of January 24th. The Housing Inventory Count (HIC) is a point-in-time inventory of provider programs within a CoC that provide beds and units dedicated to serve persons who are homeless..
Emergency Shelters, Transitional Housing, Rapid Re-housing, and Permanent Supportive Housing projects were asked to complete the Annual Housing Inventory Count (HIC) Worksheet. We are still in need of several HIC worksheets and we will be reaching out to those projects who did not submit. If you are in charge of completing a HIC worksheet, please get that information over to us as soon as possible.
Contact
kyra@thn.org
with any questions or updates you may have.
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The 2019 CoC NOFA Season is Here!
On January 31, 2019 HUD released of the 2019 CoC Program Registration. For each Fiscal Year (FY), HUD requires each Continuum of Care’s (CoC) designated Collaborative Applicant (THN in the TX BoS CoC's case) to register in advance of applying for funding available under the FY CoC Program Competition.
To complete the Registration, a CoC must confirm the contact information for the collaborative applicant and review and confirm the Continuum of Care's Geographic Coverage Area.
No action is required from project applicants or potential applicants. THN, the Collaborative Applicant for the TX BoS CoC,will submit the required registration forms by the March 14th deadline.
Want to learn more about Registration? The CoC Program Registration is required per HUD
Notice CPD-18-03
.
Entities interested in applying for CoC Program funding should contact
txboscoc@thn.org
for more information.
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Built For Zero Update
In 2018 two communities from the Texas Balance of State participated in Built for Zero, a year-long challenge to build effective systems that end homelessness.
In January, THN released an application for new communities interested in participating in the TX BoS CoC Built for Zero Learning Collaborative.
Based on responses to the application,
we have decided to work more closely and more intensively with existing Built for Zero participants in 2019 due to capacity and do more outreach and education about systems change and Built For Zero to prepare applicants for the next application round.
Please be on the lookout for more opportunities to get involved with Built For Zero in the future. Built For Zero has been a great investment for the TX BoS CoC, and it is something we want to continue.
If your community is interested in doing 100-day challenges, please let us know! We've also seen great success with 100-day challenges, and we would love to support your community. Submit a community interest form
here.
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2019 Conference on Ending Homelessness
The 2019 Texas Conference on Ending Homelessness will happen October 8-10 in Houston! There are some big changes this year! Since 2011, we have had the pleasure of presenting the Texas Conference on Ending Homelessness with our partners at Region 10 Education Service Center and Texas Homeless Education Office (THEO). This year, to meet the growing needs of our audiences, the Texas Conference on Ending Homelessness will no longer offer a track for the education grant recipients. We will, however, still have a youth track and encourage educators to attend. (Thank you to Region 10 and THEO for 7 great years!)
THN is accepting suggestions and workshop summary proposals until Friday, February 22, 2019. Please
complete the workshop survey
if you are interested in presenting or have an idea for a workshop you would like to see.
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Home at Head Start Campaign
The Office of Head Start (OHS) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has announced a new national campaign called
"Home at Head Start"
that aims to boost the enrollment of children and families experiencing homelessness in Early Head Start (EHS) and Head Start (HS) Programs, with the goal of enrolling 10,000 homeless families by the end of March. Locate contact information for local EHS/HS programs at
https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/center-locator
.
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Apply or Nominate a Young Person Today for the True Colors Fellowship
The True Colors Fellowship offers up to five young people ages 18-24 the unique opportunity to execute a six-month project that contributes to a more inclusive world for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people. Throughout the experience, True Colors Fellows make lasting professional connections, gain hands-on organizing experience, and build their leadership skills.
Applications are open to LGBTQ-identified young people ages 18-24 with lived experiences of housing instability and/or homelessness.
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Housing Assistance Council Offers Grants for Housing Aid to Rural Veterans
The
Affordable Housing for Rural Veterans
initiative supports local nonprofit housing development organizations that meet or help meet the affordable housing needs of veterans in rural areas. Grants may be up to $30,000 and must support bricks-and-mortar projects that assist low-income, elderly and/or disabled veterans with home repair and rehab needs, support homeless veterans, help veterans become homeowners, and/or secure affordable rental housing. This initiative is funded through the generous support of the
Home Depot Foundation
.
Applications are due March 11, 2019.
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South Texas
Arturo Garcia, a TX BoS CoC Board Member, is cited in this article about a new bill that would help people experiencing homelessness acquire identification documents. Thank you for all of your hard work to help people experiencing homelessness, Arturo!
East Texas
North Texas
Central Texas
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These articles were gathered from Google Alerts and emails sent directly to us. If you have articles about your community's efforts to prevent and end homelessness that you want highlighted in our next newsletter, please email the articles to
txboscoc@thn.org.
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The following are resources TX BoS CoC Lead Agency staff have found that we believe would be beneficial to your local efforts to make homelessness rare, brief, and one-time:
Housing + Substance Use Recovery
CSH is offering a free series aimed at bringing together supportive housing and homeless services providers and other systems to work more effectively with people who use substances, including opioids.
This free webinar will consider ways to create links between systems, how to encourage new resources that are targeted to the most vulnerable in your community, and information needed to create partnerships to increase supportive housing capacity. The webinar will examine the differences between Medicaid expansion and non-expansion states for these topics.
The kick-off webinar for the series will be held on February 20, 1:30pm ET. You can register for the webinar -- Addiction Services 101: Recovery Support Services, Medication Assisted Treatment or MAT, and Addiction Treatment -- by
clicking here
.
Resources for Integrating Health Centers and Housing
Toolkit to Combat the Criminalization of Homelessness
USICH Report "Strengthening Systems for Ending Rural Homelessness"
Office of Head Start's (OHS's) Training Course on Supporting Homeless Families
Sesame Street's Free Bilingual Resources on Family Homelessness
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FEBRUARY
TX BoS CoC General Meeting
Wednesday, 2/13/2019
2:00-4:00 PM
Topic: Outreach
SSVF Applications Due
Friday, 2/22/2019
MARCH
True Colors Fellowship Applications Due
Friday, 3/1/2019
Coordinated Entry Unplugged
Tuesday, 3/12/2019
10:00-11:00 AM
Topic: 1 Year of Coordinated Entry Operation in the TX BoS CoC
TX BoS CoC March General Meeting
Wednesday, 3/13/2019
2:00-4:00 PM
Topic:
Emergency Shelter (ES) and Interim Housing
APRIL
Homelessness Awareness Day
Thursday, 4/4/2019
Join us for Homelessness Awareness Day (HAD) at the Texas State Capitol!
TX BoS CoC April General Meeting
Wednesday, 4/10/2019
2:00-4:00 PM
Topic:
Permanent Housing/Rapid Re-Housing (PH-RRH)
Affordable Housing for Rural Veterans Applications Due
Monday, 4/11/2019
SAVE THE DATE
So You Want to Receive CoC Program Funding...
Applying for Continuum of Care Program Funding can be a difficult process, especially if you are applying for the first time. THN, the Continuum of Care Lead Agency, will demystify the process and prepare potential new project applicants for applying for funding this year. During this webinar, new applicants will learn the basics of applying for Continuum of Care Program Funding.
Tuesday, 4/23/2019
1:30-3:00 PM
The registration link will be available in next month's newsletter. Stay tuned!
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Anyone who works or lives in the CoC's geographic area, and all housing and homeless services projects in the CoC's geographic area, are considered to be members of the CoC. The CoC has an open invitation process, so members may join at any time.
Share this email with anyone you think may be interested!
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CoC General Meeting Schedule
Stay informed about CoC happenings by participating in the monthly webinars. Each meeting will feature a topic that is important to preventing and ending homelessness. See the
schedule for dates, topics, and registration links.
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CoC Program Funding
If you are a representative of an agency that is interested in applying for United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care (CoC) Program funding, please contact
txboscoc@thn.org
.
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Your CoC Team
We look like the Brady Bunch when all our video cameras are turned on during CoC General Meeting webinars. Join us on the second Tuesday of every month!
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The TX BoS CoC is a focus area of the Texas Homeless Network.
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See what's happening on our social sites
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