In this Week's Edition
News
Social Security Announces
5.9% Benefit Increase for 2022
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HUD Releases 18th Annual
Worst Case Housing Needs Report
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National Council Releases
CCBHC Model Impact Report
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Murphy Administration Announces
More Child Care Investments
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NJ DHS Announces ConnectEBT Mobile App for NJ Residents with SNAP
and Income Assistance Benefits
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DCA Mails Utility Relief
Applications to Households with
Overdue Electric and Natural Gas Bills
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Arc of New Jersey
2021 Get Out The Vote Guide
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NJ Legislative Disability Caucus Roundtable
October 26
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CSH Webinar Series:
Denver Social Impact Bond (SIB)
Service Model Improving and
Investing in Health and Housing Stability
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nTIDE September 2021 Jobs Report
Job Numbers Surpass Pre-pandemic Levels
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1 Day Left of Early Bird Pricing
October 15th!
Join us at SHA's Conference
Nov 9th and Nov 10th
Resources & Virtual Forums
Financing and Implementing Quality Services
for Supportive Housing Conversion Projects
October 20, 2021
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76th National Disability Employment
Awareness Month (DEAM) Event
October 28, 2021
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Free Virtual Community Academy:
Providing Another Housing Chance
October–November 2021
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Last Day for Early Bird
November 9-10, 2021
SHA 23rd Annual Supportive Housing Conference
Virtual Event
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SHA Lunch
and Learn
Attracting and Retaining
Employees in Challenging Times
October 27, 2021
12:00-1:00 PM ET
RSVP to
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New Listings
Arriving Today
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New Jersey Citizen Action
Interested applicants
should e-mail their resume to Jerome Montes at
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The Madison
Housing Authority
is looking for a Deputy Director/Housing Manager.
Click the link below for listing
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SHA Welcomes New Members In 2021 |
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Social Security Announces 5.9% Benefit Increase for 2022 |
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Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70
million Americans will increase 5.9 percent in 2022, the Social Security Administration
announced. The 5.9 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 64 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2022. Increased payments to approximately 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2021. (Note: some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits). The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some other adjustments that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $147,000 from $142,800.
Social Security and SSI beneficiaries are normally notified by mail starting in early
December about their new benefit amount. Most people who receive Social Security
payments will be able to view their COLA notice online through their personal my Social
Security account. People may create or access their my Social Security account online at
Information about Medicare changes for 2022, when announced, will be available at
www.medicare.gov. For Social Security beneficiaries receiving Medicare, Social
Security will not be able to compute their new benefit amount until after the Medicare
premium amounts for 2022 are announced. Final 2022 benefit amounts will be
communicated to beneficiaries in December through the mailed COLA notice and my
Social Security’s Message Center.
The Social Security Act provides for how the COLA is calculated. To read more, please
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HUD Releases 18th Annual
Worst Case Housing Needs Report
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HUD has released the 18th Worst Case Housing Needs report, which provides national data and analysis of critical housing problems facing very low-income renting families. Low-income renters without government housing assistance are defined as having worst case needs for adequate, affordable rental housing if they pay more than one-half of their income for rent, live in severely inadequate conditions, or both.
Using American Housing Survey data, the report determines that 7.77 million renter households had worst case housing needs in 2019, and there were only 62 affordable housing units per 100 very low-income renters. Since this report uses data captured just before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic recession, it includes a Special Addendum to examine the impacts of the recession and relief legislation on worst case needs.
Within the metropolitan area data, New Jersey saw increases of over a full percentage point in worst case needs among very-low income renters.
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Very low-income renters (thousands) |
Worst case needs (thousands) |
Percent with worst case needs |
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Senior HUD officials will present the report's key findings and discuss policy implications with a panel of experts at a briefing event hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center's J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy on October 18, 2021 from 1:00 pm to 2:15 pm EDT. You can register for the event here: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/event/huds-worst-case-housing-needs-report/.
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National Council Releases CCBHC Model Impact Report |
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There are currently 42 states with CCBHC-Expansion grantees, an initial support for providers that may help build on or toward the state-based CCBHC model. Of those states, ten states are now part of the CCBHC demonstration, three states passed legislation to develop the CCBHC model, and multiple other states are in conversations on the CCBHC model as well. This includes the alignment of the CCBHC model and 988, the National Suicide Prevention hotline.
Some key takeaways for New Jersey from this report:
- New Jersey reported a decline in all-cause emergency room readmission rates from the first to second demonstration year.
- In New Jersey, the rate of follow-up after hospitalization for mental illness nearly doubled in the second year of the demonstration. New Jersey also reported that treatment initiation and engagement rates for alcohol and other drug use in adults increased from the first to the second demonstration year. CCBHCs far outperformed statewide averages on these measures.
- In New Jersey, CCBHCs nearly doubled the number of clients receiving MAT from the first to the second demonstration year
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Murphy Administration Announces
More Child Care Investments
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TRENTON – Governor Phil Murphy and Human Services Acting Commissioner Sarah Adelman announced plans to invest more than $700 million to help parents pay for child care, provide bonus pay to child care workers, and distribute grants and increase support for child care providers. The initiative builds upon previous efforts by the Murphy Administration to support child care and reflects input from families served in the state’s child care assistance program, child care providers and various stakeholders through listening sessions, and parent roundtables the department held over the last few months. With the announcement of this new funding, Governor Murphy and Human Services will have invested more than $1 billion in child care over the course of the administration, after more than a decade of the child care industry receiving no new increases. (Insider NJ, October 13, 2021)
The initiative relies mainly on American Rescue Plan funding allocated to Human Services by the federal Administration for Children & Families and includes the following key areas:
- Supporting Children and Families by reducing child care costs and putting dollars back into the pockets of New Jersey Families.
- Recruiting and Supporting Child Care Workers
- Supporting Child Care Providers
During the pandemic, the state has spent $400 million on pandemic-related child care programs, including:
- Launching a temporary emergency child care program for essential workers;
- Providing various grants and enhanced payments to child care providers;
- Implementing a temporary program to help families with school-age children with unanticipated child care costs due to remote learning; and
- Paying full-time rates for school-age children in the state’s child care assistance program due to remote learning. Funding was also made available to summer camp providers.
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NJ DHS Announces ConnectEBT Mobile App for
NJ Residents with SNAP and Income Assistance Benefits
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Free App Allows Recipients to Manage SNAP,
General Assistance and TANF Benefits on Mobile Devices
(TRENTON) – The Department of Human Services today announced that individuals enrolled in the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Work First New Jersey (WFNJ) General Assistance (GA) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) can now download the ConnectEBT mobile app to manage their electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards on their mobile devices.
Recipients can use the ConnectEBT app to check their balance, review up to 12 months of transaction history, confirm their last benefit deposit and change their PIN. The mobile app is free and available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
The ConnectEBT app is the official app for New Jersey’s SNAP and Work First New Jersey programs. The app, developed by Conduent, Inc., is available in English and Spanish, and provides a safe and convenient way for SNAP and WFNJ recipients to view benefits and account information and access other customer service functions through their mobile devices.
Recipients can search for and download the ConnectEBT mobile app from Google Play or the Apple App Store, depending on the type of mobile device they are using and register their EBT card account. Once installed, recipients will have to validate their identity, and use the same username and password for the mobile app as they use for their web portal. (InsiderNJ, October 14, 2021)
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DCA Mails Utility Relief Applications to Households
with Overdue Electric and Natural Gas Bills
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Letters mailed out to approximately 350,000 households eligible for assistance; DCA urges households that receive a letter to immediately apply for help
TRENTON, NJ – The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) mailed out letters to approximately 350,000 households with overdue electric and natural gas bills to notify them that they are potentially eligible for assistance to pay their utility arrearages. The Department urges people who receive a letter to act quickly and immediately apply for help since the assistance is available for a limited time only. The letter contains a QR code that households can scan with their smartphone to access a State website to apply for utility relief. The letter also includes a web address and toll-free phone number for those households that don’t have a smartphone or internet.
Households will have one month from the time they receive the letter to complete the application form and certify that a COVID-related hardship affected their ability to pay for electric and/or gas bills. If found eligible, households will receive credits on their utility accounts.
For those households that are current on their utility bills, but are still in need of assistance, the LIHEAP and New Jersey Universal Service Fund (USF) program application period opened on October 1, 2021. New Jersey residents can apply online by visiting https://njdca-housing.dynamics365portals.us/en-US/dcaid-services/. To find out if they’re eligible for this assistance, people can use the completely anonymous online screening tool called DCAid by visiting nj.gov/dca/dcaid.
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Arc of New Jersey 2021 Get Out The Vote Guide |
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Each year, The Arc of New Jersey publishes a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) Guide to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families navigate the voting process. The Guide outlines the various ways to vote (in-person, by mail or via secure drop-box!), highlights important deadlines and dates of importance and includes a Q&A with the gubernatorial candidates about issues impacting people with IDD and their families.
As we approach Election Day (November 2, 2021), you can download a copy of the Get Out the Vote Guide and familiarize yourself with the ways in which you can make your voice heard at the ballot box. This year, voters should be aware of rules related to mask wearing at the polls as well as early-voting which takes place the final week of October. Additionally, the Guide offers you insights about the gubernatorial race and the Self-Advocate and family perspective about why it's important to vote.
Visit our the Arc of New Jersey voting website, www.gotvnj.org, to download a copy of the Guide and to access additional resources and information.
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NJ Legislative Disability Caucus Roundtable - October 26 |
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On Tuesday, October 26 from 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET, the New Jersey Legislative Disability Caucus will be holding its quarterly Roundtable discussion focused on key transportation issues impacting people with disabilities. The Roundtable is a webinar format where you have a front row seat of the Legislative Disability Caucus at work. An enormous amount of ground is covered during the hour-long session where the legislators and invited disability advocates examine a topic to find actionable steps forward.
The Disability Caucus website has sign up forms for both legislators and supporting agencies. It also provides the public the opportunity to submit questions for the Caucus.
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CSH Webinar Series:
Denver Social Impact Bond (SIB) Service Model
Improving and Investing in Health and Housing Stability
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Hundreds of people with a history of chronic homelessness achieved stability and improved health through an innovative five-year program that linked housing with supportive services. The groundbreaking study based in Denver, Colorado, and named the Denver Social Impact Bond (SIB) Initiative targeted people entrenched in the cycle of homelessness and stays in jail, and matched them with supportive housing.
The SIB Initiative used a “pay for success” model, an innovative financing approach linking public and private investment in social services to improve outcomes. The five-year project that included a randomized control trial study, ended in December of 2020. The Urban Institute led the study and released the final results in July of 2021. Results showed that the project was a remarkable success and that Housing First Breaks the Homeless-Jail Cycle.
You will also learn about the project design from some of the project's architects and will hear from the City of Denver staff. Each webinar features speakers from the Urban Institute who will review outcomes across the final reports. This in-depth look at a recent successful supportive housing program will be sure to spark ideas on how to better serve members in your community who are stuck in the homelessness-jail cycle.
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October 20, 2021
12:30 - 2:00 PM ET
The first session will focus on the Outreach, Engagement and Housing Services, and the project’s outcomes in housing stability and jail-day reduction. Panelists will include representatives from the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, the Mental Health Center of Denver, the Urban Institute and CSH.
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November 16, 2021
12:30 - 2:00 PM ET
The second session will focus on the project’s health outcomes and the delivery of behavioral health services through an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model. Panelists will include representatives from the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, the Mental Health Center of Denver, the Urban Institute and CSH.
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December 14, 2021
12:30 - 2:00 PM ET
The final webinar in this series will focus on the local government perspective and the project’s recently released Cost Study. Panelists in the third webinar will include representatives from the City of Denver, CSH, Enterprise Community Partners and the Urban Institute.
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nTIDE September 2021 Jobs Report
Job Numbers Surpass Pre-pandemic Levels
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East Hanover, NJ – Job numbers improved for people with disabilities, whose engagement with the labor market surpassed their pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, according to today’s National Trends in Disability Employment – Monthly Update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). Their gains contrast with those of people without disabilities, whose job numbers have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels.
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Last Day for Early Bird Pricing!
Join SHA for the 23rd Annual Conference
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Get the best of both worlds for our 23rd Annual Supportive Housing Conference with an in-person awards reception and virtual workshop and keynote experiences. Save on registering with Early Bird Pricing before October 15th. Save even more when you register 3 or more together on the same order and get 25% off your entire purchase!
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November 9-10
Virtual Conference
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Early Bird before October 15th |
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Regular Price after October 15th |
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Register 3 or more attendees get 25% off your entire purchase!
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November 9, 2021 – November 10, 2021
Join us this November from the comfort of your computer as we provide two half-days of excellent workshop presentations and discussions. Registered attendees won't miss a moment as all sessions will be recorded and accessible to attendees for 3-months following.
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Tuesday, November 9, 2021
The Old Way Just Isn’t Working: Person-Centered, Data-Driven, Technology First Care
- A dynamic, interactive conversation between leaders on an innovative technology-first approach that transforms the care model and drives person-centered outcomes.
What’s Next for Behavioral Health Benefits in New Jersey FamilyCare?
- This workshop will examine the behavioral health landscape across the nation as well as proposed changes to mental health and substance abuse service delivery in New Jersey.
Innovative Partnerships to End homelessness
- Through this moderated panel discussion practitioners in the field from California, New York and New Jersey will highlight emerging models of partnerships being developed to support at-risk, homeless populations at the intersection of health and housing.
And More To Be Announced . . .
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Mission Ready: Supporting Veterans with Permanent Homes & Services
- National experts discuss policy and strategy to combat issues facing homeless veterans while New Jersey leaders offer successful models of community based projects that are quickly becoming a blueprint for opening doors for veterans across the nation.
Medicaid and Housing Supports, A Game Changer
- For people finding or maintaining a permanent home receiving housing support services is critical. For agencies who provide these services the opportunity to receive Medicaid funding to deliver them is a game changer.
Being Seen and Heard, Voices of People with Lived Experience
- Learning from the experts, Peri Nearon, Executive Director of the NJ Division of Disability Services (DDS) will moderate a panel of advocates who will share their challenges, hopes and dreams.
And More To Be Announced . . .
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Support and Share Your Message! |
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Keynote Sponsor Listings have been filled but there are still great opportunities to sponsor at premier levels, sponsoring a workshop, or sponsoring the award event. |
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Conference Sponsors
Make the most of your support and sharing your organization with attendees through various levels of sponsorship. Review our form and choose a sponsor level to start sharing your logo, information, and content with our attendees.
Premier Level Sponsors (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) will also receive a year of membership with the Supportive Housing Association of New Jersey.
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Conference Exhibitors
Do you have a product or service to share with our attendees? Exhibitors can access contact options with great tools to interact with attendees. Event passport will help attendees engage with exhibitors through prize and gift incentives on the platform. Consider booking a virtual exhibit space during our conference and share your story with community members.
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Resources & Virtual Forums |
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Financing and Implementing Quality Services
for Supportive Housing Conversion Projects
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October 20, 2021 – 2:30 PM ET
With unprecedented levels of federal funding available to develop supportive housing through acquisition and conversion across the county, we must build quality supportive housing units and establish strong service partnerships that promote resilient and equitable communities.
Join CSH for a timely conversation around effective strategies to plan, finance, and implement quality supportive services for conversion projects. Topics will include:
- Strategies to leverage cross-sector resources to finance quality supportive services
- Tools to develop, plan, and implement quality supportive services
- Strategies to overcome implementation challenges with converting existing real estate into quality supportive housing
- Community examples demonstrating service planning and implementation through a quality lens
This webinar is sponsored by Capital One.
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76th National Disability Employment
Awareness Month (DEAM) Event
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America’s Recovery: Powered by Inclusion
October 28, 2021 | 1:00 to 3:00 PM
REGISTER NOW:
This is a VIRTUAL event. The link to log on will be sent to all attendees prior to the event.
This year’s DEAM event highlights a virtual JOB FAIR and guest speaker.
All registered DVRS clients who register for the job fair will be automatically entered
into a raffle for a chance to win a $25 gift card.
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Free Virtual Community Academy:
Providing Another Housing Chance
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A free and virtual New Jersey academy is available to community partners interested in collaborating to increase access to low barrier housing for people with disabilities and behavioral health challenges. Facilitated by Pathways to Housing PA, the Anti-Poverty Program of New Jersey Citizen Action, in collaboration with CSH
The Academy will include four 2.5-hour sessions and cohorts will be capped at 15 to 30 participants. Academy sessions will include sharing experiences and expertise in leasing to tenants with housing barriers (e.g. chronic homelessness, serious and persistent mental illness, substance use, and other disabilities, and justice histories), learning about Housing First best practices, including Harm Reduction, and best practices for building relationships across different New Jersey communities.
The virtual academy is offering two different cohorts, please register for the times that work best for you:
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First cohort:
Oct. 25, 2021 | 10:00am – 12:30pm Nov. 8, 2021 10:00am – 12-30pm
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Second cohort:
Nov. 1, 2021 | 10:00am – 12:30pm Nov. 15, 2021 10:00am – 12-30pm
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Community partners can include but are not limited to outreach programs, shelters, harm reduction programs (e.g. syringe exchanges), community health clinics, outpatient MH and SUD providers, supportive employment programs, MOUD/MAT programs, jail/prison reentry programs, emergency room/hospitals, Continuum of Care (CoC) coordinated entry, case management agencies, housing programs, and other behavioral health providers.
If you have questions or you have recommendations of partners in your community we should invite , please reach out to Cassondra Warney (cassondra.warney@csh.org / 646-640-6069).
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There are many great ways of supporting SHA: Join as a member, send donations, or shop with AmazonSmile. Thank you for your support!
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Want all the member benefits with SHA? Visit our website or contact Joseph Christensen to apply or manage your membership.
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Members can post jobs to find applicants within the wider supportive housing community. Click on the button to visit our job page.
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Diane Riley, Executive Director
Joseph Christensen, Membership & Communication Manager
Kate Kelly, MSW – Integrated Community Project Manager
Diane Klein, Conference Registrar
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Advocate ● Educate ● Support
The Supportive Housing Association of New Jersey unites its diverse coalition of members engaging development, resources, and information to sustain supportive housing systems within New Jersey. Since 1998, our statewide mission seeks to enhance lives and accessibility to enable independent living within our communities.
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Supportive Housing Association of New Jersey
185 Valley Street, South Orange, NJ 07079
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