Change Ideas:
1. Complete Housing First assessment: Convene providers to complete “housing first” self-assessment and identify areas for improvement; prompt providers to make design changes to their existing programs or reallocate resources to a new program build on a housing-first model
Housing First Checklist (USICH) (2016) – program and system level
Housing First Program Assessment Tool (HUD) (2017) – Excel document
Housing First Self Assessment Tools (Ontario Evidence Exchange) (2017)
2. Develop Housing First policies: Adopt system-wide housing-first policy in your community’s written standards
Examples Of Housing First Policy (a number of resources in Google drive)
3. Get funders to support Housing First: Work with funders outside of the homeless serving sector, e.g. city, state or community foundations, to align contracts and require housing-first practices
4. Provide training on Housing First and its key practices: Provide regular, shared training for providers and the community on the housing-first approach and strategies that ensure fidelity to the model (including harm reduction, trauma-informed care, and motivational interviewing).
See 20KHomes Website “Program Areas” – Housing with Support (videos, fact sheets, etc.)
Canadian community-based training centres: Core Collaborative Learning Hamilton || Toronto Hostel Training Centre || Waterloo HHUG Housing Stability Training Centre
Housing First training resources:
CAEH Training and Technical Support – training and community of practice calls
OrgCode – training and tools
Trauma-informed care resources:
Trauma Informed Care Webinar Series (National Health Care for the Homeless Council – 2016)
Motivational interviewing resources:
Harm reduction resources:
On-Line Harm Reduction Training (National Health Care for the Homeless Council – 2016)