# Presentation: 038299

## Improving Access to Mainstream Services for Persons Experiencing Chronic Homelessness

- Jointly Sponsored by
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- and
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

## OVERVIEW OF THE POLICY ACADEMY PROCESS

## What is a Policy Academy?

- Process, not an event
- Technical assistance to help decision makers:
- Think through policy options
- Make existing systems and programs more effective and coordinated; and/or
- Design and implement new systems and programs

## What are the Objectives of the Policy Academy?

- Bringing stakeholders together to focus on increasing access to mainstream services
- Enhancing coordination, collaboration, and integration among systems providing mainstream services for people experiencing chronic homelessness
- Identifying and sharing evidence-based practices
- Identifying and coordinating resources

## What’s Involved in the Policy Academy Process?

## Why a Policy Academy?

- Promote strategic planning
- Provide opportunities to learn from other State experiences
- Establish/reinforce dialogue
- Build consensus among stakeholders and plan for change
- Provide technical assistance and develop local capacity

## Purpose of this Academy

- For your team to develop a State-wide policy initiative (Action Plan) that can be realistically implemented in your State to increase access to mainstream services for people experiencing chronic homelessness, enhance the linkages between services with housing, and develop prevention strategies.

## Participant States - Academy I (focusing on homeless families with children)

- Connecticut 		Illinois
- Kentucky 	 	 Maryland
- Nevada 			New Jersey
- Oregon			Washington

## Participant States - Academy II(focusing on the chronically homeless)

- Colorado 		   Georgia
- Hawaii 	 	 	   Maine
- New Hampshire 	   New York
- Puerto Rico

## Participant States - Academy III (focusing on the chronically homeless)

- Arizona 			Arkansas
- Florida 	 	 	Minnesota
- Mississippi 		Missouri
- New Mexico		North Carolina
- 				South Carolina

## General Team Composition

- Senior-level policymakers from State agencies
- State legislators
- Local, county, or city-level government representatives
- Regional health and human service officials
- State/local advocates
- Providers
- Consumers

## Key Leaders from MainstreamPrograms and Services

- Governor’s Office
- Veterans Affairs
- Medicaid
- Mental health treatment systems
- Substance abuse prevention and treatment systems
- Primary health care and treatment systems
- State-level homeless services administrators or Continuum-of-Care contacts

## Potential Outcome(s)

- Executive Order(s)
- Legislation
- Budget proposals/funding mechanisms
- Interagency agreements (Memoranda of Understanding/Agreement)
- Informal partnerships
- Program standards/ guidelines (licensure requirements)
- Task forces/Committees

## During the Site Visit

- Become familiar with the Academy process
- Identify key components of a comprehensive service system
- Develop a common vision
- Develop a draft SWOT analysis
- Begin to identify TA needs
- Formalize decision-making process and choose leader(s), timekeeper, and scribe
- Identify key points for team presentation

## During the Academy Meeting

- Teams briefly present vision statement and their State’s key issues and efforts
- Faculty present on systems change, evidence-based practices, and resources
- Teams continue developing Action Plans and identifying TA needs
- Teams receive feedback and technical assistance from faculty and peers
- Teams report-out on Action Plan, priorities, next steps, and TA needs

## Following the Academy Meeting

- Finalize strategies (short- and long-range)
- Finalize specific action steps
- Submit revised action plan and receive comments from Federal Planning Committee
- Prioritize and coordinate TA with HSR
- Implement the Action Plan
- Submit 6-month progress reports

## Team Challenges 

- Building team consensus around Action Plan
- Identifying feasible strategies
- Presenting a clear message to influential policymakers
- Generating public and political will to support Action Plan
- Implementing the Action Plan through executive, legislative, administrative, and private sector (non-government) processes

## Team Tips

- Try to stay focused
- Develop and respect Team ground rules
- Encourage ideas
- Challenge your assumptions
- Highlight and explore your differences
- Differentiate between what you are totally committed to and what you can live with

## What Should Be Accomplished Before Arriving At The Academy Meeting?

- Circulate draft vision statement to all members of team for polishing
- Provide HSR with revised vision statement and completed SWOT analysis to be included in meeting packet (by January 4, 2003)
- Select team leader(s), timekeeper, scribe
- Review resource material

## THE ACTION PLANNING PROCESS

## Policy Initiative Framework(The Action Plan)

- The Vision (Your State Tomorrow)
- The Reality Assessment (Your State Today)
- Priorities/Goals (Gaps)
- Strategies with Potential (Tactical Plan)
- Action Steps (Work Assignments)
- Technical Assistance and Follow-up

## The Vision for Improving Access to Mainstream Services for People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness(Your State Tomorrow)

- Provides a statement of purpose
- Presents a picture of your ideal future (independent of the current reality)
- Serves as a reference point for all future decisions
- Specifically addresses issue of improving access to mainstream services

## Sample Vision Statement (using oral health as an example)

- We envision a State where every child enjoys optimal oral health; where prevention is emphasized and treatment is available, accessible, affordable, and timely; where parents are involved, providers are engaged, and insurers are responsible; where government is a guarantor of resources, quality, and patient protection; and where total well-being of the child is promoted.

## Puerto Rico’s Vision Statement

- To provide a dignified and comprehensive network of public and private agencies that can offer chronically homeless persons an opportunity to live life fully by providing accessible, affordable, available, and timely preventative and active specialized and mainstream services and housing.

## The Reality Assessment of Access to Mainstream Services for People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness(Your State Today)

- Requires a review/inventory of:
- Key problems issues in your State
- Previous policy actions taken to address these issues
- Current political environment
- Assesses your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
- Helps to identify resources at your disposal
- Provides context for your efforts

## Team Priorities/Goals (Gaps)

- Areas where you will focus your energy and resources in order to influence policy
- Likely to be the “gaps” between your vision and the current reality
- Form the basis for planning, policy-making and setting performance standards
- May be short-term and/or long-term

## Strategies with Potential(Tactical Plans)

- Broad range tactics to affect change
- Often require Statewide or cross-agency efforts
- Usually involve the combination of several courses of action
- Should be directly related to your priorities/goals

## Action Steps(Work Assignments)

- Specific activities undertaken based on your strategy(-ies)
- Require action from specific individuals or entities (differentiate between what is within your control and what is not)
- Considerations
- Who is responsible for coordinating each action?
- Who is responsible for completing action?
- What resources are required?
- What is the timeline?
- Who will be affected?
- How will success be measured?

## Visualizing the Action Plan

## Visualizing the Action Plan

## Technical Assistance and Follow-up

- Teams will clarify, and prioritize technical assistance needs with HSR via conference call
- Requests may include:
- Written or internet-based materials and contacts
- Web site chat room and other resources
- Peer-based TA with other States
- Teleconference with content experts/consultants
- On-site visit from content experts/consultants
- On-site facilitation of State Team
- Teams will submit 6-month progress reports
- HSR will track and coordinate evaluation of TA