Access: The TAC Blog

Beyond Pizza — How Communities Handle Compensation and other Practical Issues with Young Adult Partners

Communities working to end youth homelessness are increasingly bringing youth and young adults with lived experience of homelessness to the forefront of their planning and implementation efforts, often with the support of a HUD Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program award. Of course, the young people who contribute their energy and insights should be compensated for their time - but how, and how much? TAC Senior Associate Lauren Knott, together with consultant Lauren Leonardis, surveyed a range of Youth Action Boards (YABs) to find out how they handle this and other challenges. The results are available as The Gab on YABs, a collection of community fact sheets and topic spotlights full of useful information for any community committed to fully incorporating youth and young adult leadership.

Tools for Successful State Partnerships between Medicaid and Housing Agencies

From 2016 to 2018, sixteen states participated in a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Accelerator Program (IAP) State Medicaid-Housing Agency Partnerships track. The tools developed and used to provide technical assistance to these states, incorporating the work and expertise of many TAC colleagues, form the basis of a new State Medicaid-Housing Agency Partnerships Toolkit published recently to the LTSS website. The toolkit is designed to assist states as they consider systems-level changes that further community integration, including the intersection between health care and housing. It is available for states to download, use, and adapt.

Trainings for Trainers in a Unique Rapid Resolution Pilot Program for Veterans

TAC has recently hosted several three-day events focused on homelessness diversion and rapid exit strategies for Veterans. These "train the trainers" sessions, conducted in partnership with the Cleveland Mediation Center and Abt Associates, are part of our support for the Department of Veterans Affairs' Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program. Over the past two years, TAC and our partners have provided a wide range of onsite, remote, and training technical assistance in the development and rollout of SSVF's "Rapid Resolution" initiative, the first nationwide federal effort of its kind - a pilot program that supports diversion strategies for Veterans who are entering homelessness or have only recently become homeless. The recent trainings teach critical diversion and rapid exit skills in the context of SSVF's program design and implementation, with an emphasis on giving practitioners the tools they need to transfer that knowledge to their home communities. The training effort is led by TAC Senior Associate Douglas Tetrault, with strong support from other TAC staff members and TAC partners, and project direction from TAC Senior Consultant Jim Yates.

STAFF ACTIVITIES

TAC staff members Jenna Espinosa, Ellen Fitzpatrick, Ayana Gonzalez, Lauren Knott, & Ashley Mann-McLellan have been facilitating convenings and providing TA for Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program communities in Iowa, New York, Massachusetts, and Maine; Associate Ellen Fitzpatrick and Senior Associate Ashley Mann-McLellan conducted a 3-part training for Boston agency directors to strengthen the role of housing navigators in their organizations, and is helping the Boston Public Health Commission with a strategic plan to make its 800-bed shelter more housing-focused; Ashley was also one of 350 volunteers in Boston's 40th annual homeless census - thanks, Ashley! Senior Associate Melany Mondello led a training for the Vermont Balance of State Continuum of Care on the definition and documentation standards of chronic homelessness; Senior Consultant John O'Brien spoke about the future of policy and payment at a Substance Use Disorder Action Forum hosted by the Medicaid Transformation Project; Senior Associate Rachel Post facilitated the first cohort of Housing and Healthy Communities Learning Network, with plans for a second round in the works; Senior Associate Tyler Sadwith launched a provider-to-provider pilot program to test an approach for delivering TA on medication-assisted treatment to California's Tribal health programs; and Tyler also joined Senior Consultant John O'Brien to share strategic planning advice at a roundtable for Pew Charitable Trust's Substance Use Prevention and Treatment initiative.

STAFF TRANSITIONS

TAC is growing! A warm welcome to Project Support Specialists Laura Harris and Ari Rogers; Communications Designer Jeff Nguyen; Associates Eric Gammons and Jenna Espinosa in our housing group; and Dayana Simons and David de Voursney, two new Senior Consultants in our human services group. Learn more about our new colleagues on the TAC staff page.