Training Overview

The Center works collaboratively with public, private, and nonprofit sector partners. It focuses on key areas of system and program performance including: diversion, outreach, coordinated assessment and entry, emergency shelter and services, self-resolution, rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing, and housing subsidy. It covers the full spectrum of homeless subpopulations including children and youth, families, veterans, individual adults, chronically homeless people, and people with disabilities. It is always attentive to the special needs of LGBTQ people and racial and ethnic minorities, and the particular strategies needed to address their distinct experiences of homelessness.

The Center offers both remote, virtual, and on-site technical assistance and training. Training and technical assistance is provided based on The Center’s availability and capacity as well as the community’s specific technical assistance needs.

Topic: Housing First

• The Housing First 101 Training is designed to improve providers’ knowledge about and implementation of an effective Housing First approach. The training introduces the Housing First philosophy and provides participants with the core concepts of Housing First and best practice implementation.

• The Housing First and Effective System Training is designed to improve providers’ knowledge about and implementation of an effective Housing First Approach. The training focuses on best practices in using a Housing First Approach across the homeless response system and provider programs including the role that messaging plays in the effectiveness of the approach. The training is interactive and includes group discussions, small group breakouts, and large group debriefs from participants.

• The Housing First Permanent Housing Provider Training is designed to improve providers’ knowledge about and implementation of a Housing First Approach in permanent housing programs (RRH, TH, TH/RRH, PSH) within a Housing First-oriented Homeless Response System. The training situates permanent housing programs’ roles within the larger system and focuses on the promotion of effective practices and the dispelling of myths and misconceptions about Housing First.

Topic: System Design

• System Design Training and Technical Assistance – The Alliance works with CoCs to make changes in their homeless response system including implementing best practice policies and procedures, and right sizing their system to ensure that homelessness is rare, brief, and one time. the Alliance collects and analyzes a comprehensive set of data elements that describe a community’s homeless population, the system’s ability to move people to permanent housing quickly, and the system’s cost-efficiency. The Alliance will qualitatively analyze a system by surveying community leaders, providers including executive directors and front-line staff, and people experiencing homelessness. Our qualitative analysis also involves reviewing planning and operation documents, and evaluation reports. Through training and consultation, the Alliance guides the community in creating action plans to achieve identified priorities and, following a training and/or technical assistance, support implementation efforts. System Design training and technical assistance is offered on-site and/or virtually.

• Homeless Response System Assessment and Recommendations – The Alliance works with CoCs to provide analysis and recommendations to the CoC Collaborative Applicant, CoC Governance Board and community stakeholders on implementation of best practices in crisis response systems, including reviewing core system components such as CoC Governance, Coordinated Entry, Outreach, Homelessness Prevention, Diversion, Emergency Shelter, Rapid Re-Housing, Permanent Supportive Housing and others, analyze data including System Performance Measures and key housing outcomes by program type, and develop recommendations on strategies, including the role of CoC governance and its critical role in coordinating this system, to address identified challenges to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and one time.

• Remote technical assistance and guidance on designing an outcomes-focused homelessness crisis response system.

Topic: Rapid Re-Housing

• A Rapid Re-Housing Workshop is a training that will address the three core components of rapid re-housing–housing identification, financial assistance and case management and services–and instruct on practical strategies for implementation. This training is offered on-site and/or virtually.

• A Rapid Re-Housing Learning Collaborative is an opportunity for homeless services organizations to make changes in the way they operate, while being supported by their peers and rapid re-housing experts. The goal of the Rapid Re-Housing Learning Collaborative is to increase the number of households being rapidly re-housed and shorten the amount of time households remain homeless. Learning Collaboratives last a year or more, involve three to five in-person meetings, and in-depth technical assistance for participating organizations. The Learning Collaborative is delivered through a combination of on-site and virtual training and technical assistance.

• Rapid Re-housing System Design Technical Assistance provides remote technical assistance to help implement rapid re-housing aligned with recommended practice in a standardized way across a community.

Topic: Emergency Shelter and the Critical Role in the Crisis Response System

• The Keys to Effective Low-Barrier and Housing-focused Emergency Shelter Training (offered on-site and/or virtually) emphasizes that emergency shelters play a critical role in reducing the length of time households experience homelessness, as well as how many return to housing. This training focuses on how emergency shelters can align with a Housing First approach, as well as focus on helping clients exit back to housing more quickly. Participants will understand that five key elements of emergency shelter:
  • Housing First approach;
  • Diversion;
  • Immediate and low-barrier access to shelter;
  • Housing-focused services, rapid exits services; and
  • Measuring outcomes to improve performance.

• An Emergency Shelter Learning Collaborative is an opportunity for homeless services organizations to make changes in the way they operate, while being supported by their peers and emergency shelter/homeless crisis response experts. The goal of the Learning Collaborative is to support the implementation of a Housing First approach to shelter services, increase the number of households being permanently housed, and shorten the amount of time households remain homeless. Learning Collaboratives last a year or more, involve three to five in-person meetings, and in-depth technical assistance for participating organizations. The Learning Collaborative is delivered through a combination of on-site and virtual training and technical assistance.

Topic: Housing Problem-Solving and Diversion Training and Technical Assistance

• The Diversion and Problem-Solving Strategies Training involves system leaders, providers, coordinated entry staff, HMIS staff, and key community stakeholders to improve the understanding of an effective system, and the role of effective diversion practice. The training focuses on the effective implementation of housing problem-solving as an intervention across the homeless response system. The training begins with an overview of the effective homeless response system, then focuses on the core components of an effective housing problem-solving approach and defines housing problem-solving, diversion, and rapid exit and how these interventions are distinguished from prevention. Last, the training focuses on various diversion and housing problem-solving strategies, including data collection and analysis; integration with coordinated entry; and effective practices. This training is offered on-site and/or virtually.

If one of the above options does not fit your community’s needs, please contact us and we can work with you to find a solution to your technical assistance and training needs.