City of Lawrence, Kansas
HOMELESS ISSUES ADVISORY COMMITTEE
July 12, 2016 Minutes (Lawrence City Commission Room)
Members present: Michael Brouwer, Mathew Faulk, Laurie Hooker, Dana Ortiz, Teri Smith, Cary Strong
Members absent: Vivian Baars, Christian Ballard, Trent McKinley
Staff present: Danelle Dresslar, Brad Karr
Public present: Liz Stuewe, Trey Meyer, Cheryl Patrick, Logan Isaman
The meeting was called to order at 8:31 by Dresslar.
ITEM NO. 1 Approval of the Agenda and the January 12, 2016 Minutes
Motion by Faulk to approve the January 12, 2016 minutes of the HIAC; seconded by Brouwer.
The motion passed 6-0.
ITEM NO. 2 Election of Chair and Vice Chair
Dresslar explained Brad Cook had to step down from HIAC, so there is no current Chair; Strong is the current Vice Chair. Strong nominated himself for Chair. Smith seconded the nomination. The motion passed 6-0. Faulk nominated himself for Vice Chair. Brouwer seconded the nomination. The motion passed 6-0.
ITEM NO. 3 Introductions
The members of the HIAC introduced themselves.
ITEM NO. 4 Receive Bert Nash Homeless Outreach Team 2016 1st Quarter Report
Smith asked how the current report compares to past quarters. Faulk said the 1st quarter numbers were higher in 2016, which is an unusual occurrence compared to past 1st quarters. Faulk said 2016 2nd quarter numbers have returned to normal. Faulk indicated different factors can affect the numbers on a quarterly basis but the barriers to housing remain the same, which include clients that are extremely mentally ill, lack of affordable housing stock and lack of adequate employment or income opportunities.
Ortiz asked how precariously housed was defined in this report. Faulk said precariously housed was a general category and means the client is in adequate housing but for whatever reason, the housing could end, including eviction or utility shut-off. Ortiz indicated Family Promise keeps similar stats, and would like to work with Bert Nash to align the terms and definitions used in the reports. Faulk said he would email their definitions to Ortiz.
ITEM NO. 5 Housing Vision Reports
a. Non-Housing – Balance of State Continuum of Care – Cheryl Patrick
Cheryl Patrick is the Executive Director of the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition. Patrick spoke to the committee about renewal of grants, new permanent housing bonus money available, and HUD’s encouragement of youth housing this year. Dresslar said the two programs in Lawrence which are CoC funded are Project Able and the LDCHA Hope Building.
Faulk asked when applications are available for grants. Patrick said the applications are available now, but the amount of money available in the housing bonus will not be known until August 5th, 2016. Dresslar said the Statewide Homeless Coalition is located in the Independence Inc building in Lawrence.
b. Emergency Shelter/Temporary Housing – Lawrence Community Shelter
Trey Meyer, Executive Director of the Lawrence Community Shelter, spoke to the committee on recent activities at the shelter. Current occupancy at the shelter is around 90 people, while in January it was 141. They are trying to plan for the increase that comes with the cold weather. In the past, the culture at the shelter allowed clients to wander in, stay as long as you want, then wander out; a key part of the management strategy now is to be proactive by connecting an individual with a case manager to develop a plan for exiting the shelter. They current use a ninety day framework and have developed benchmarks for the individual to reach along the way, with the goal being after ninety days they are ready to move out to a place of their own. Some individuals do not want the accountability, so they leave the shelter on their own.
The shelter, along with the correctional facility and the county health department, received a grant from DCF to better serve the population of fathers estranged from their children. The grant will provide for a rolling thirteen week curriculum for fathers, along with an additional full time case manager, a half-time career services coach and staff training.
The shelter had two good neighbor meetings as part of the agreement with the City for the special-use permit. There will two open town-hall meetings this year, with the first being on July 20, 2016 at the train depot in North Lawrence.
The Shelter staff is currently brainstorming ideas on building a network of agencies to assist those individuals who are precariously housed by providing resources to keep them from becoming homeless. It is more cost effective to provide this support when they first begin struggling rather than waiting for them to fail and return to a shelter. The model for this would be a project currently at 910 Alabama St, which is an apartment building with 15 units, of which 13 or 14 units are occupied by former LCS clients. An LCS staff member stays in close contact with the tenants, almost on a daily basis, to identify any issues that could jeopardize their housing situation. Other agencies in town do provide such services; the shelter is just trying to bring them all together under one roof.
Dresslar asked if any other shelter representatives had anything to discuss with the committee. Liz Stuewe with the Willow Domestic Violence Center said they are past capacity, with the largest number they have ever housed. They have to be very particular about their service area and immediate danger requirements because they only have thirty beds; she said they have resources for other agencies in the state if the client would be better off relocating. Ortiz asked about a list of those resources, which would be helpful to Family Promise’s case managers. Stuewe said their two largest partners in the state are in Leavenworth and Emporia. Ortiz said Family Promise has also had an increase in calls, including 32 new families last week; they are currently at capacity serving 17 families in all of their programs.
c. Transitional Housing/Supportive Services – AFH partnership – Dani Dresslar
Dresslar spoke to the committee about the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing initiative from HUD. Fair housing has always been a requirement from HUD and in the past has been addressed by the Analysis of Impediments document. A new rule for AFFH now requires an Assessment of Fair Housing to be completed by every grantee, in conjunction with their five year Consolidated Plan. In Lawrence, the next Con Plan is in 2018, so the AFH is due to HUD for review in November 2017. The City will partner with the LDCHA to prepare the AFH, which will use a HUD provided assessment tool along with local data to identify fair housing issues and how meaningful actions will be taken to address them.
d. Permanent Supporting Housing – Project Able
Baars was not in attendance to provide an update on Project Able, but Faulk said the individual and family programs are both full; this demonstrates the extreme need for permanent supportive housing dollars and beds in the community.
e. Permanent Housing – AHAB Report - Staff
Dresslar gave the committee an overview of the Affordable Housing Advisory Board (AHAB), which was created by the City Commission to address affordable housing issues and be stewards of the Housing Trust Fund for the City. The Board members cover the spectrum of housing from transitional to permanent. Faulk asked if the AHAB will apply for the Federal Housing Trust Fund money awarded to the state. Dresslar said applications for those funds will probably be reviewed by the AHAB for a letter of recommendation, similar to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit applications.
ITEM NO. 6 Calendar/Miscellaneous
The next meeting of the HIAC will be on October 11, 2016.
The Board was provided a handout on the National Housing Trust Fund and how the state will accept, review and approve applications.
Faulk asked the board if they would like to make a statement to the City Commission about the proposed 2017 budget and cuts to social services. Brouwer said he would be supportive of a statement. Faulk offered to draft a statement for review by the committee; if approved, he offered to read the statement during the public comment period at the July 19, 2016 City Commission meeting.
ITEM NO. 7 Public Comment
There was no public comment.
ITEM NO. 8 Adjourn
Motion by Smith to adjourn the July 12, 2016 meeting of the HIAC; seconded by Brouwer.
The motion passed 6-0. Meeting was adjourned at 9:43 am.
Attendance Record
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Members |
1/16 |
4/12 |
7/12 |
10/11 |
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Michael Brouwer |
+ |
+# |
+ |
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Dana Ortiz |
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+* |
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Vivian Baars |
+* |
+# |
U |
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Trent McKinley |
+ |
+# |
E |
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Cary Strong |
U |
U# |
+ |
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Laurie Hooker |
+ |
+# |
+ |
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Christian Ballard |
+* |
U# |
U |
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Teri Smith |
+ |
E# |
+ |
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Mathew Faulk |
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+* |
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Becky Peters |
E |
E^ |
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Brad Cook |
E |
E^ |
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X - Meeting Cancelled Due to Inclement Weather
E - Excused Absence
U - Unexcused Absence
() – Last meeting in term.
* - First meeting in term.
^ - Last Meeting
# - Meeting not official – no quorum