Action 2: Strengthen  Municipal Workforce Capacity to Address Homelessness

Objective

Develop an informed and coordinated response to homelessness within the municipality.

Complementary Actions

  • Collect and Share Homelessness Data
  • Participate in Equity Training

What to do

Step 1

Designate and train a municipal representative on homeless services in your municipality (up to 10 points).

a. Designate a municipal employee or elected leader to serve as the designated coordinator for homeless services in your municipality.   Post the name, title and contact information of such person on your municipal website.  Register and keep up-to-date the name, title and contact information of such person with the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness as first contact for residents experiencing homelessness (5 points).

Submit: A copy of the hyperlink to the webpage housing link to the contact and a pdf of the screenshot of the website,

b. Have your designated municipal representative participate in one or more trainings related to addressing homelessness.  Topics may include but are not limited to principles of the “Housing First” approach to homelessness, housing problem-solving (including shelter diversion), Trauma-Informed Care, and how the Coordinated Access Network system works in Connecticut.

    • Attend 1 training = 5 points
    • Attend between 5 and 10 trainings = 10 points
    • Attend more than 10 trainings = 15 points

Note: Activities that are used to earn points toward this Action may not be used to earn points toward any other Sustainable CT event or training action (i.e., no “double-counting”).

Submit: The name and contact information of the individual who attended the training; and the name of the training, date(s) it occurred, and the organization that provided the training.

Step 2

Develop a municipal Task Force to address homelessness.  The Task Force should be composed of representatives from each municipal department that engages with individuals and families experiencing homelessness, including at least one representative from the police force serving the community, library staff, schools, youth services, and senior services. The Task Force may also include representation from criminal justice and hospital systems. The Task Force should support the designating municipal representative in developing a comprehensive list of every individual or household experiencing literal homelessness and should meet quarterly (at minimum) to review the housing status of every person on the list (see Sustainable CT Action Collect and Share Homelessness Data).

Submit: A list of names and titles of current Task Force members and at least one additional piece of documentation related to the meetings, such as an agenda, minutes, presentation, sign-in sheet or photographs. At least one set of minutes should include a mission statement for the task force consistent with the municipality’s resolution approved by its members.

Timeframe for Credit

Engaging Partners

Sustainable CT encourages regional collaboration and other forms of partnership. For every action, please complete the “Partners” box in your submission, indicating the name(s) of any municipalities and/or organizations you partnered with (if any) and a brief description of your municipality’s role. For additional information, please see the “Partners Guidance Document”.

Potential Municipal and Community Collaborators

Human services, Youth Services and Youth Service Bureaus, Senior Services, library staff, law enforcement, tax collection, public works, the registrar of voters, parking enforcement. Community Partners including business districts or downtown associations, healthcare providers, hospital emergency departments, soup kitchens or pantries, churches and congregations, courthouses, school districts, mental/behavioral health providers, community non-profits, and cultural centers. Regional entities including Coordinated Access Networks, DEMHS regional coordinator, Local Health Department, Local Mental Health Authority, Council of Governments, AMTRAK and state police troops, state parks. 

Funding

Resources

Toolkits, Calculators, Guidance Documents

Organizations and Relevant Programs

Benefits

Coordination between departments allows for municipal employees with varying roles and duties within the municipality and/or surrounding region to contribute to a coordinated response. This allows the municipality to take a systematic approach towards meeting the housing needs of residents experiencing homelessness.

CT Success Stories