Collaboration, Capacity and Planning
Preventing and ending homelessness will only be possible through coordinated efforts of strong public and private organizations.
Homelessness is a complex problem with a variety of causes and manifestations. It requires comprehensive solutions that cut across multiple service systems. Strong leadership and effective collaboration, with an emphasis on strategic planning and performance management, are essential to success.
Capacity varies from community to community and resources are limited. Progress on reducing homelessness requires that communities use data to understand needs and gaps in the local service system, develop strategies to address these gaps, invest in proven solutions, and establish targets and timelines to guide implementation. Successful implementation occurs when there is broad support for the strategies, which is evidenced by the involvement of business and civic leadership, local public officials, the faith-based community, and mainstream systems that provide housing, human services, and health care. The federal government can lead the way by making evidence-based best practices standard operating procedure.
Collaboration is at the core of the work of USICH and its partners at all levels. The Directors of USICH reflected on collaboration in the planning and implementation of Opening Doors for our colleagues at the Office of Management and Budget in this short report. They shared their lessons learned, how the strategic planning process unfolded, and next steps in states and communities for reaching the goals of Opening Doors.
Below users will find information and resources related to:
- Community Strategic Planning
- Performance Management
- Collecting and using data
- Building effective coalitions
- Developing organizational capacity
- Public-private partnerships
- Increasing public awareness and involvement
Additionally, users may be interested in visiting our Research and Evaluation library to learn more about solutions that are working in the field.
Blog
The People Behind the Count: A PIT Count Reflection from HUD’s New Hampshire Field Office Director Greg Carson
Homelessness in Washington, DC: Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Fellows participate in DC’s Point-In-Time Count
Everyone Counts in Winston-Salem
Counting the Hard to Find in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada
Sub-zero Snapshot: Experiences from Chicago’s Homeless Point in Time Count
Making it Count: Reflections on Boston’s Annual Homeless Census
All About HEARTH: A Webinar from USICH December 10 and more resources
New Department of Labor “Innovation Fund” To Test Employment and Housing Services Collaborations
How We’ve Made Progress: Valley of the Sun United Way Shares Their Journey
Homelessness, stigma, and human rights
2012 Southeast Institute on Homelessness: Building Successful Communities
What We're Talking About: The Week at USICH - September 10-14
A New Way to Invest in Solutions: Social impact bonds and Homelessness
Chicago's Plan 2.0 - Implementing Strategies that Work
The Power of Collaboration at Work in Los Angeles
In the Fishbowl: Community Strategic Planning Charrette in Indiana
June Council Meeting Focuses on New Framework to End Youth Homelessness
Rapid Results Boot Camp: The 100 Day Challenge
What will it take to end family homelessness?
Home For Good: Creating a New Los Angeles
Hollywood Joins the Fight against Veteran Homelessness
New Mexico: Steps to Make a Plan Come to Life
Local United Ways Playing a Leading Role
Reflections on the 2012 Point-in-Time Count in New Orleans
5 tips for getting the most mileage out of your local plan to end homelessness
Fact Sheets
Opening Doors: Private Sector, Philanthropy and Faith-Based Organizations
Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness calls for an unprecedented level of collaboration between the ...
Opening Doors: State and Local Government Partners
Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness proposes a set of strategies that call upon the federal ...
Creating an Effective State Interagency Council
One page fact sheet on creating a successful State Interagency Council on ...
Toolkit: Developing a State Interagency Council on Homelessness
A toolkit for how to develop a State Interagency Council on Homelessness, which includes example Governor Executive Orders, ...
Helpful Websites
Find Youth Info
http://www.findyouthinfo.gov/index.shtml Find Youth Info is the homepage for the Obama Administration's Interagency Working ...
Programs
Federal Surplus Personal Property Donation
The GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service’s Office of Personal Property Management manages the Personal Property Utilization ...
Federal Surplus Real Property
The purpose of Title V of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is to provide suitable federal properties (land or buildings) ...
Related Research
Covering Low-Income Childless Adults in Medicaid: Experiences from Selected States
Stephen A. Somers and Allison Hamblin, Center for Health Care Strategies, James M. Verdier and Vivian L.H. Byrd August 2010 Under ...
The Health Status of New Medicaid Enrollees Under Health Reform
John Holahan, Genevieve Kenney, and Jennifer Pelletier August 2010 According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Affordable ...
An Evaluation of an Initiative to Improve Coordination and Service Delivery of Homeless Services Networks
Greg A. Greenberg and Robert A. Rosenheck Feburary 2007 In 2003, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department ...
An evaluation of an initiative to improve coordination and service delivery of homeless services networks. Preliminary Report: Draft 2.
Greg A. Greenberg 2007 In 2003, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, and ...
Outcome Measurement in Homeless Systems of Care
Wendy P. Crook, Ronald L. Mullis, Thomas A. Cornille and Ann K. Mullis November 2005 Public and private interest groups are ...
Developing Programs for Homeless Veterans: Understanding Driving Forces of Implementation
John Nakashima, Jim McGuire, Stephen Berman and William Daniels February 2004 Between 1992 and 2003, services for homeless ...
Developing programs for homeless veterans: understanding driving forces in implementation
John Nakashima 2004 Between 1992 and 2003, services for homeless veterans at the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare ...
Closing Service System Gaps for Homeless Clients with a Dual Diagnosis: Integrated Teams and Interagency Cooperation
Robert A. Rosenheck, Sandra G. Resnick and Joseph P. Morrissey June 2003 There is great concern about fragmentation of mental ...
Homelessness in the US and Germany: A Cross‐National Analysis
Carolyn J. Tompsett, Paul A. Toro, Melissa Guzicki, Marc Blume, Sylvie Lombardo April 2003 A public opinion survey was ...
Current Opportunities for Medicaid Financing
Corporation for Supportive Housing 2003 This White Paper is part of an ongoing Corporation for Supportive Housing project to study ...
Lessons From the Evaluation of the ACCESS Program
Howard H. Goldman, Joseph P. Morrissey, Robert A. Rosenheck, Joseph Cocozza, Margaret Blasinsky, and Frances Randolph August ...
Integration of Service Systems for Homeless Persons With Mental Illness Through the ACCESS Program
Joseph P. Morrissey, Michael O. Calloway, Neil Thakur, Joseph Cocozza, Henry J. Steadman, Deborah Dennis August 2002 The aim of ...
Service Systems Integration and Outcomes For Mentally Ill Homeless Persons
Robert A. Rosenheck, Julie Lam, Joseph P. Morrissey, Michael O. Calloway, Marilyn Stolar, and Frances Randolph August ...
Overview of the ACCESS Program
Frances Randolph, Margaret Blasinsky, Joseph P. Morrissey, Robert A. Rosenheck, Joseph Cocozza, Howard H. Goldman and the ACCESS ...
Evaluations of Continuums of Care for Homeless People: Final Report
Martha R. Burt, Dave Pollack, Abby Sosland, Kelly S. Mikelson, Elizabeth Drapa, Kristy Greenwalt, Patrick T. Sharkey May 2002 A ...
Expanding Service Delivery: Does it Improve Relationships among agencies serving homeless people with mental illness?
James McGuire, Robert Rosenheck and Craig Burnette January 2002 Enhancing interagency services integration has been advocated as ...
Expanding Service Delivery: Does it Improve Relationships among Agencies Serving Homeless People with Mental Illness?
James McGuire, Robert Rosenheck and Craig Burnette January 2002 Enhancing interagency services integration for homeless people has ...
Service System Integration, Access to Services, and Housing Outcomes in a Program for Homeless Persons with Severe Mental Illness
Robert Rosenheck, Joseph Morrissey, Julie Lam, Michael Calloway, Matthew Johnsen, Howard Goldman, Frances Randolph, Margaret ...
Service Delivery and Community: Social Capital, Service Systems Integration, and Outcomes among Homeless Persons with Severe Mental Illness
Robert Rosenheck, Joseph Morrissey, Julie Lam, Michael Calloway, Marilyn Stolar, Matthew Johnsen, Frances Randolph, Margaret ...
Homelessness: Programs and the people they serve
Martha R. Burt 1999 The National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (NSHAPC) was conducted in 1996 to provide ...
Individual and Community-Level Variation in Intensity and Diversity of Service Utilization by Homeless Persons with Serious Mental Illness
Robert Rosenheck and Julie A. Lam October 1997 This study examines individual client- and community-level sources of variation in ...
What Do You Know About Systems Integration and Homelessness?
Deborah L. Dennis, Joseph J. Cocozza, and Henry J. Steadman August 1999 Comprehensive systems of care to address the needs of ...
Making Homelessness Programs Accountable
Dennis Culhane, David Eldridge, Robert Rosenheck and Carol Wilkins August 1999 This paper discusses how different types of ...
Housing Characteristics and Adequacy of the Physical Care of Children: An Exploratory Analysis
Joy Swanson Ernst 2004 This study explored the relationship between housing conditions and the adequacy of the physical care of ...
Homelessness in the United States: Assessing Changes in Prevalence and Public Opinion, 1993–2001
Carolyn J. Tompsett, Paul A. Toro, Melissa Guzicki, Manuel Manrique and Jigna Zatakia March 2006 A national survey was ...
Resources for Accessing Technical Assistance
Children’s Bureau Training and Technical Assistance Network
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/tta/ Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families The ...
Homeless Resource Center
http://homeless.samhsa.gov Department of Health and Human Services, SAMHSA The Homeless Resource Center provides three types of ...
Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network
http://peerta.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=viewIndex&nav=H Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children ...
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
http://www.nrcdv.org/ Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families The National Resource ...
Speeches
Presentation - Pre-Conference Session at NAEH 2012 Annual Conference: Maximizing the Opportunity of Interagency Councils on Homelessness
7/16/12 USICH Regional Coordinators presented this session on State Interagency Councils on Homelessness as a preconference workshop ...
USICH Webpages
Using Data to Measure Results: a Rural Community Profile
Clallam County, Washington, is located on the northernmost point of the Olympic Peninsula, three hours away from Seattle, Washington ...
Using Data to Get Measurable Results
Too often, program managers view data collection and reporting as nothing more than an administrative requirement imposed by ...
Local and Community Strategic Planning
While preventing and ending homelessness is and should be a national goal, the real work to accomplish this goal takes place on the ...
A Guide to Developing a State Interagency Council
The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness believes partnerships with local communities and states are more important than ...
