December 6, 2023, The Community Advisory Council on Homelessness

The Community Advisory Council on Homelessness

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Virtual: WebEx

Agenda

Introduction
Informational presentation re: Medicaid updates (Kuliva Wilburn presenting)
Public comment opportunity
Welcoming new members and OPEH staff
1. Breakout discussion
2. Group discussion
OPEH updates
The Advisory Council's 2023 recommendations to the Interagency Task Force on Homelessness
1. Overview presentation
2. Discussion
Next Steps

Minutes:

Introduction by Debbie Reznick
- Community Advisory Council on Homelessness Members Present:
  - Linda Warner, SWAN
  - Debbie Reznick, Polk Brothers Foundation
  - Brenda O'Connell, Lake County
  - John Herring, Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living
  - Sandy Deters, ERBA
  - Susan Reyna, Covenant House IL
  - Carolyn Ross, All Chicago
  - Richard Rowe, Lived Experience/ CSH
  - Jennifer Hill, Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County
  - Niya Kelly, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
  - Nicole Wilson, Heart of Illinois United Way
  - Otha Gaston, Lived Experience
- Guests/Partners Present:
  - Amy Marinacci, Legal Council for Health Justice
  - Colleen Mahoney, Consultant through SHPA
  - Jeri Bond, OPEH
  - Kylon Hooks, OPEH
  - Nikita Robinson, OPEH
  - Arloa Sutter, IDHS
  - Christine Hammond, IDHS
  - Kuliva Wilburn, HFS
  - Misty Smith
  - LaTonya Butts, OPEH
  - Gabriela Moroney, HFS
  - Mallory Nolen
  - Foluke Akanni
- Welcome and agenda overview.
Informational presentation re: Medicaid updates by Kuliva Wilburn
- We are here to discuss the Medicaid waiver for healthcare transformation and the request we made. Background on Healthcare and Family Services department improves lives, empowers customers to maximize their health and wellbeing, provides consistent responsive services to colleagues and customers, and makes equity the foundation of all that we do.
- The Waiver is under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act provide expenditure authority for the state Medicaid programs to demonstrate impact of proposed innovations that would otherwise not be allowed under traditional Medicaid rules.
- The approval of the 1115 waiver allows for the addition of new services or introduction of flexibilities that would ordinarily not be allowable. The funding allows for matching to offset expenditures. Talking about ways in which we intend to expand flexible services and to get matching for things that are not already underwritten by other federal funding services.
- The 1115 Transformation Waiver proposal addresses adding new services that address health-related social needs (HRSN) and pilot HRSN services in existing initiatives and new demonstrations. There are 7 proposed HRSN benefits: housing support, violence prevention, and intervention, medical respite, community reintegration, food and nutrition, employment assistance, and non-medical transportation. Here to talk about housing support in particular.
- Collaboration and engagement: HFS seek to leverage community-driven solutions, incorporating community-based and non-traditional Medicaid providers using flexible and streamlined approaches that promote access and quality.
- Housing supports will be available to Medicaid eligible individuals who are experiencing homelessness, or at risk for homelessness or institutional placement. Those who meet the medical criteria. Eligibility for HRSN specific benefits is tied to the clinical and social criteria. We have a document available at the following link: https://hfs.illinois.gov/medicalproviders/cc/1115demonstrationwaiverhome/1115demonstrationwaiverbhtfiveyearextension.html
- Question: Will organizations have to be approved to be Medicaid billers and there any flexibility to this process? What are the compliance features?
  - The division is more than aware of the various barriers that the organizations have to deliver the supports. We are looking to get an understanding of the current capacity is and the needs are.
  - Part of the work is intended to inform some innovation in this space. We want them to be a part of the Medicaid enterprise and we know that will require new ways to make it easier for participation. The 1115 give a lot of flexibility and we will be using a lot of that information gathered through the engagement process to inform those strategies. We anticipate this to be more accessible to partners and want to do business differently with this.
  - We see it as the responsibility of the division to think through the innovative strategies.
- Question: When we are thinking about the CACH work it's a fully statewide effort, will the housing supports be statewide?
  - Yes, they will be statewide. As many listservs of partners, we can get the better.
- We are moving quickly and will be doing active engagement beginning in January. We are happy to answer any questions and will provide our contact information for further information.
- We will share the list that we currently have and details on our specific request. Sending information of contacts to HFS.
Welcoming new members and OPEH staff
- Linda Warner serves as an executive director of an agency who work with homeless and domestic violence survivors and their children. Serves in a rural area that serves over 17 counties.
- John Herring serves as an executive director for the center for independent living. We serve members with disabilities and assist them with housing needs. Very aware of the homelessness problems, transportation, and transitional housing issues that we face in Illinois.
OPEH updates by Kylon Hooks
- Kylon Hooks serves as the Deputy Chief Homelessness. Each voice here from the various sectors is very important. I come to this work with over 10 years of serving youth experiencing homelessness.
- Annual report was supported along with the CACH recommendations has been submitted. The listening sessions that were conducted throughout the state were exciting. Looking to kick off the next part of the Home Illinois Plan. We are conducting an analysis to understand the needs for the Home Illinois Plan. The planning of the Home Illinois Summit and we hope for continued participation in the planning. We have not determined a specific date at this time and those who may be interested in planning the Home Illinois Summit for 2024.
Public comment opportunity
- Question: Will the annual report being made available?
  - Yes, the annual report will be available on the website and hard copies will be sent out to the members of this group.
Breakout groups: The following are some questions to guide your conversations. What's something you're working on you'd like your CACH colleagues to know about? Is there someone in homelessness/housing/advocacy/etc. spaces who has been a teacher to you? What do you want to embody that you learned from them? When you think about our collective work around homelessness and housing, what does the future we're working toward look like for you? What does it feel like?
- Discussion share: Was surprised that many of the folks have the same sentiment of not wanting to maintain the status quo. We are all value our time and want to see systems have meaningful change.
- An unique population and was a nice opportunity to meet with the others in the group.
- Would like to lift up the work that you all are doing and building space for youth in community. Thinking about working on legislation around retaliatory evictions statute in Illinois. We are hoping to tighten that up at the state level around not receiving the services that they need.
- Shout out the Jeri with the SRN project of meeting their goal of housing 400 people. So many people within our community action agency who are all dedicated to the people that we serve. We did the first 100-day rural challenge and has been helpful to have money for resources.
- Loved hearing perspectives on homelessness outside of the Chicago area and it is helpful on hearing from others.
The Advisory Council's 2023 recommendations to the Interagency Task Force on Homelessness
- Overview presentation: The goal of this presentation is to have an overview of the CACH recommendations. Will start will some background, then an overview, and end with a robust conversation.
  - We developed these recommendations for the Task Force to give specific ideas on what they should think about for 2024 which was included in the Bill 2831. We had a workgroup who worked on drafting the recommendations. Next Thursday December 14th we will present these recommendations to the Task Force.
  - The 2023 recommendations focus on:
    - Strengthening relationships between Interagency Task Force and Community Advisory Council members
    - Increasing interaction between people with lived experience of homelessness and the Interagency Task Force
    - Building on the strong foundation laid in the Home Illinois FY 23-34 Plan
- Overview of the recommendations:
  - Goal 1: Strengthen relationships between Task Force and Council members.
    - Should be having standing updates at the CACH and Task Force meetings about the work of the other group. Opportunity to invite Task Force members and senior staff to attend organizations who are addressing homelessness. Want to have a session for the Task Force, CACH members, and OPEH staff to connect during the Home Illinois Summit. Collaborate with the council to support state agency staff on deepening their understanding of the systemic cause of homelessness. Collaboration between the Council and OPEH fellows. Collaboration with the Council to improve SRN policies and processes to help them to focus on becoming more person centered.
  - Goal 2: Increase interaction between people with lived experience and the Task Force.
    - Holding at least 1 yearly session between Task Force members and persons with lived expertise. Consult people with lived experience to advise and participate in the development of state homelessness-related policy and programmatic decisions. Ensure that persons with lived expertise are offered support to maximize their participation. Explore weighing lived experience of homelessness or housing instability when hiring for state staff roles related to homeless services or policies.
  - Goal 3: Build on the strong foundation laid in the Home Illinois FY23-24 in the development of the FY 25-26.
    - Incorporate recommendations from the Homelessness & Racial Equity Roundtable. Continue and build on the use of CoCs as partners in local policy and funding allocation decisions. Expand the capacity of Task Force departments to solicit, received and implement feedback from community experts around program and policy development. Elevate the lessons learned and the outcomes achieved through Home Illinois connected pilot projects. Include status updates on each of the state actions committed to in the Home Illinois FY23-24. Including housing and shelter needs of asylum seekers.
- This report will be presented to the Task Force next week on December 14th. Want to ask for very specific feedback next steps.
- Next step: Goal 1, Rec. 3
  - Aiming for site visits in February, OPEH staff will support planning logistics. During the 12/14 presentation will solicit input from the Interagency Council members about sit types of Interest, locations, etc.
  - What have you seen make programmatic site visits mutually meaningful? What types of sites might be most relevant for state leaders to visit going into the next Home Illinois plan? What other thoughts, comments, or ideas do you have?
    - Maybe have some of the sites volunteer to host the council.
    - How well do we understand the Council members and what would be helpful for them or us to know. What areas are the Task Force members interested.
    - Important question. We will have to learn what is important to them.
  - We thought out visiting some of the hotels and encampments and the urgency of that while winter is coming. Want your thoughts on what would be useful from your own community?
    - We are working on something internally now that may be appropriate also is to set up coffee time with individuals with lived expertise. To stay current with their identified needs would be helpful.
    - That in person connection with persons with lived expertise. Being intentional on how we are visiting those sites.
    - So important to get those voices out and allow them to speak for themselves. We have several people who are willing to share their experiences. There are benefits to empowering their voices.
- Next step: Goal 3, Rec. 3
  - Recommend that the Interagency Task Force create workgroups that bring together relevant agencies to focus on community recommendations raised in the report.
  - Examples of potential work groups: rural homelessness, increasing access to public benefits, or increasing housing access for people required to register as sex offenders. Are these the right focus areas? Do you have a recommendation of would you like to be looped in further?
    - If we give representative of several work groups. Hesitant to suggest just these specific group and they just hone in.
    - Really like the examples that are listed. Would like to add that sex offenders are not the only people required to register. Just housing amendment.
    - Trying to see how we can create capacity through workgroups so the state can move on these particular recommendations. We can reframe it to be broader.
      - I try to get away from being very specific about one population.
      - We will broaden the last point and include the Youth Prevention Subcommittee.
- Next Step: Goal, 1 Rec. 7
  - Last meeting presented some of our initial findings around the statewide referral network.
- If there is follow up you want to give to us, please just let us know.
Next Steps
Closing

Presentation:

Community Advisory Council on Homelessness Quarterly Meeting

Medicaid 1115 Healthcare Transformation Waiver Extension

Meeting Recording:

Recording