The Office to Prevent and End Homelessness (OPEH) provides a variety of training and technical assistance opportunities directly or through partnerships.
Current opportunities include:
Illinois Medical Respite Capacity Building Initiative
The Medical Respite Capacity Building Initiative offers technical assistance and training to help organizations develop or expand medical respite programs for individuals experiencing homelessness. This opportunity is ideal for healthcare providers, social service agencies, and community organizations looking to enhance their ability to provide comprehensive care for people without stable housing.
For more information, visit Illinois Medical Respite Capacity Building Initiative - IPHI
Illinois Quality Data Cohort
The Illinois Quality Data Cohort, led by Community Solutions, offers technical assistance and training to support organizations in improving data collection, analysis, and reporting to enhance service delivery and outcomes in line with Built for Zero methodology. This opportunity is best suited for homeless service providers and particularly Continuum of Care lead agencies interested in technical assistance focused on quality improvement and data-driven decision-making.
For more information, please visit 'Illinois Quality Data Collaborative' Hub - Built For Zero
Statewide Veterans Initiative
Building on the work of the Quality Data Cohort, in 2025, the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness and our partners including Community Solutions and CSH are partnering on a related Statewide Veterans Initiative supporting Illinois Continuums of Care in achieving quality data standards and building on them to pursue an end to homelessness among veterans in their communities. This targeted population focus allows communities to successfully attain functional zero in homelessness for one population, which provides a framework to build on in pursuing a community-wide end to homelessness.
For more on the initiative, please see the December 12, 2024 recording of the Illinois Interagency Task Force on Homelessness:
View Illinois Interagency Task Force on Homelessness Webinar
Core Public Benefits Training
Through a partnership with experts at Legal Aid Chicago, the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness has made a series of 4 1-hour trainings available to equip service providers with the knowledge and tools to assist individuals experiencing homelessness in accessing public benefits, including Social Security programs, food assistance (or SNAP), Medicaid and Medicare, and cash assistance programs. This training is ideal for social workers, case managers, and other people supporting people experiencing homelessness or in supportive housing.
To access recordings and materials from the 4-part training, visit www.shpa-il.org/public-benefits-training-series.
One System Initiative Digital Training Curriculum
To support providers working in the unified Chicago-area shelter system, the Homelessness Training and Technical Assistance Center funded by the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness (OPEH) coordinated the development of the OSI Training Curriculum in collaboration with OPEH, All Chicago, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), and the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services. The training series makes over 30 hours of free, professional development content available on demand. While developed with an eye toward service providers working in Chicago-area shelters, the series is relevant to any provider working with people experiencing homelessness.
To access the training series, please email homeless.office@illinois.gov.
