From: SSVF
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2017 7:02 PM
To: SSVF
Subject: SSVF Program Update September 5, 2017
Topics:
1.
Revised
SSVF Regulations Published in the Federal Register
2.
Register
Now: SSVF National Webinar September 14, 2017 at 2PM EST
3.
Save the
Dates: Rapid Re-Housing Institutes
4.
Important:
SSVF Grantee Data Quality on Households Served and Uploaded Records
5.
Call For
Articles: SSVF Activity Accomplishments / Success Stories
Revised SSVF Regulations
Published in the Federal Register
Revisions published today in 38 CFR 62 include authority previously included in SSVF Notices of Fund Availability (NOFA)s. This authority allows VA to “offer to award a non-renewed grant to the highest-ranked applicant that is awarded a renewal grant in the same community as, or a proximate community to, the non-renewed grant, so long as that applicant has the capacity to promptly begin providing services in connection with all awards.” The revision to 38 CFR 62 also formally reduces the number of customer satisfaction surveys to be provided to program participants from two to one. The Revised SSVF Regulations may be found at the following link.
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-09-01/html/2017-18574.htm
Register Now:
SSVF National Webinar on September 14, 2017 at 2PM EST
Topic: SSVF Grant Close Out Process
The SSVF National Grantee Webinar will cover topics related to grantee operations and required activities related to closing the SSVF grant term.
Please register
at:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1785039920606044417
After
registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about
joining the webinar.
Save the Dates: Rapid Re-Housing Institutes
Earlier this week, the HUD Listserv released a Save the Date for an upcoming Rapid Rehousing Institute. The VA, in close partnership with HUD, our technical assistance providers, and other national partners, are currently planning a Rapid Rehousing Institute for October 2017. The institute will take place in lieu of SSVF’s traditional Post-Award Launch Event and will require attendance by SSVF grantees awarded for FY 2018. We anticipate that VA will announce the SSVF awards for FY 2018 in the coming weeks.
There will be two institutes (one on the West coast and one the East coast), which will be identical in content and agenda. More than 300 RRH practitioners and planners from around the country will gather for an intensive, two-day training offering two separate tracks: a Practice Track and a System Track. This new training opportunity aims to help standardize strong RRH practices across funding streams and provide an avenue for RRH practitioners and other stakeholders across the country to learn from one another and from our technical assistance specialists and faculty.
This Save the Date is being shared for awareness, as we acknowledge that FY 2018 SSVF Awards are pending. Once VA announces the FY 2018 SSVF Awards, the SSVF Program Office will send further instructions and registration information to the awarded SSVF grantees. Those who receive FY 2018 funding will be invited to attend the institute based on geographic proximity. Funded grantees should plan to send a maximum of two attendees. Please note that awarded SSVF grantees will also be attending a SSVF specific training on the third day at each location. The following dates should be saved.
· West Coast: October 31 - November 2, 2017
Please also note that representatives from SSVF grants should NOT be included in HUD's attendance restriction of three maximum attendees per CoC. We have included HUD’s Listserv announcement below.
HUD RRH Institute Save the Date From August 22, 2017
Continuums of Care (CoCs), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG)
recipients and subrecipients, and CoC recipients –
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), with the support of
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is pleased to
announce a new
training opportunity for Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) practitioners and crisis
response system planners! This is HUD-approved training. This means, while
there is no registration fee for this training, the costs associated with
travel and staff time to attend are approved CoC and ESG Program costs.
However, space will be limited as discussed below.
The VA, in close partnership with HUD, our technical assistance
providers, and other national partners, are currently planning two Rapid Rehousing Institutes
for the fall of 2017. These events, which will be identical to each other in
content and agenda, will bring together RRH practitioners and planners from
around the country for an intensive, two-day training focused on two separate
tracks: a Practice Track and a System Track. We expect RRH project staff and
stakeholders from the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF), CoC and
ESG Programs to all be represented at the events.
The Practice
Track will focus on direct training to RRH direct service
practitioners. Some topics in the practice track will include an overview of
the Core Components of RRH, Strategies for Engaging Landlords, Creating Housing
Plans, Evaluating and Improving Performance and System Planning, among others.
A separate System
Track will focus on Community Coordination, RRH planning,
Coordinated Entry/Prioritization, RRH Management and other community wide
practices relevant to successful implementation of RRH as a primary response to
homelessness. Attendees will be required to select a track during the
registration process – more detail about each track will be sent prior to
registration.
This new training opportunity aims to help standardize strong RRH
practices across funding streams and provide an avenue for RRH practitioners
and other stakeholders across the country to learn from one another and from
our technical assistance specialists and faculty.
Due to space limitations, there will be a limit to the number of
individual attendees per Continuum of Care. Most CoCs will be limited to up to
3 participants (including any ESG recipients or subrecipients interested in
attending), while CoCs with Annual Renewal Demand amounts over $20 million will
be able to send up to 8 participants. Slots will be provided on a first come
first serve basis and there are only 200 slots per institute. Once registration
opens act fast to ensure your CoC will be represented.
With all this in mind, we encourage CoC and ESG recipients to
coordinate and work with their RRH providers to identify whether there are
programs/staff interested in attending these trainings.
While the site locations are still being
confirmed, we anticipate the following schedule:
We will continue to provide information as registration and travel
logistics come into focus. In the meantime, questions related to these events
can be sent to the SSVF program’s technical assistance address at ssvf@tacinc.org.
This event is being sponsored by the VA, with primary support from HUD and our partners The Technical Assistance Collaborative, Abt Associates, and the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
Important: SSVF
Grantee Data Quality on Households Served and Uploaded Records
The SSVF Program Office has nearly completed the review of Quarterly Certification submission by grantees. Additionally, SSVF Regional Coordinators are comparing grantee quarterly certification responses to the monthly Repository uploads. It is imperative that SSVF grantees are making every effort to ensure that data is reported accurately, submitted on time, and is corrected when necessary. Grantees must ensure that they are implementing their established data quality and verification procedures. There have been several grantees with zero data reported on SSVF clients served. Please note that files that are successfully uploaded/accepted into the Repository may result in zero data records, if there are errors within the upload file. Additionally, grantees only select either RRH or HP when entering client level data in HMIS. “Other” should never be selected and will result in missing data when uploading to the VA Repository. Grantees who have received notifications from Regional Coordinators regarding data reported on households served are asked to respond as soon as possible.
Call For Articles:
SSVF Activity Accomplishments / Success Stories
The SSVF Program Office is accepting grantee submissions describing success stories related to the provision of SSVF services in the local community. These submissions provide grantees with the opportunity to chronicle successes and share them with the VA, partner Federal agencies, consumer providers, the general public and, of course, Veterans who may be seeking services. Please review the attached materials for submission instructions. Materials include an overview of process and two Releases of Information (ROIs). Please note that it is required that both ROIs be completed and submitted along with the success story.
Submission instructions are also available at:
Success stories can be viewed at:
http://www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf/?page=/home/success_stories
Thank you,
SSVF Program Office
NOTE: If you are receiving this email in error, please disregard. We request your patience as the SSVF Program Office continues to address system issues with the grants management database.