Housing

As part of their 2004 Real Choice Systems Change Grant: Integrating Long-Term Supports with Affordable Housing, North Carolina developed this application for their one-time $1,000 awards. Grants can assist with security deposits, moving expenses, set up fees or health and safety assurances.

The revised Set Up and Completion forms are useful tools for HOME Participating Jurisdictions (PJs) to assist in collecting the required data in order to ease data entry into IDIS. The four forms - one for each HOME tenure type (homebuyer, homeowner rehabilitation, rental, and tenant-based rental assistance) - were recently revised to include the data elements required to be collected and reported on as a result of the performance measurement changes added to IDIS in version 10.0.

Guest speaker Linda Couch, Deputy Director of the National Low Income Housing Coalition presents federal housing policy updates. Topics include: HUD appropriations for the next fiscal year; proposed changes to public housing and the Section 8 voucher program (expanding the Moving to Work demonstration and almost eliminating public housing authority plans); current information on Low Income Housing Tax Credits, HOME, and CDBG; creating a National Housing Trust Fund, and other timely issues.

This report describes grant activities in three major LTC systems areas: Access to Long-Term Care Services and Supports, Services, Supports, and Housing, Administrative and Monitoring Infrastructure. For each of the focus areas the report describes Grantees’ accomplishments, illustrates the challenges and discusses the consumers’ role in the implementation and evaluation of activities. The report uses information provided during the reporting period October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005.

This report tracks the work of 8 Passport caseworkers from 3 different service organizations. Caseworkers noted that clients experienced mixed feelings about the program; they were excited at the prospect of transitioning into the community but also frustrated at the length of time it took to complete the transition. Throughout the survey period, the biggest success experienced by caseworkers was finalizing a client’s housing and assisting them in moving out of a nursing home.

A new monthly report from HUD is available on-line and is broken down state-by-state and downloadable in an MS Excel spreadsheet. Participating Jurisdiction (PJs) can use the reports to view open activities in IDIS including activities with 100% of the funds drawn and with a status code of FD, or final draw. PJs can view activities that have been open (OP) for several years with little or no HOME funds drawn. These projects, if not progressing, should be cancelled. The data is updated monthly.

The manual is a nursing home to community discharge planning manual designed primarily for use in nursing homes and may be of help to others to use in developing manuals for their communities. It is designed to orient the long-term care providers to the nursing home discharge process by defining the roles of the key partners who are involved in returning residents to community living and to document a standard protocol for accessing and maximizing partner resources.

The State of Vermont was seeking proposals from individuals or organizations interested in becoming the Medication Assistance Consultant. The deadline for submission of proposals was June 23, 2006. This RFP serves as a great example when seeking out contract work.

This publication, a series of 5 guides, provides technical assistance to HOME participating jurisdictions (PJ) and their housing partners on the fair housing laws and regulations that apply to HOME Program participants. The series reviews the applicable Federal fair housing requirements, illustrates best practices in promoting fair housing, and highlights PJ responsibilities for ensuring compliance with fair housing requirements.

The CMS Systems Change conference, Transforming Systems: Keys to Success was held April 10-12 in Baltimore. Presentations from the 2006 sessions are available in both PDF and text formats. Topics range from ideas on system transformation, stakeholder involvement, coalition building, strategic planning, sustaining systems change, and the Deficit Reduction Act. Full titles are listed in the keywords section.