Objectives:

•	To assist State and local policymakers to develop an Action Plan intended to improve access for families with children who are homeless to mainstream health, human services, education, and employment and training programs that are coordinated with housing and other existing community programs
•	To create and reinforce relationships among the Governor’s office, State Legislators, key program administrators, and stakeholders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors
•	To provide an environment conducive to the process of strategic decision-making that is result oriented and outcome related and benefits families with children who are homeless
•	To assist State and local policymakers in identifying issues or areas of concern that may result in a formal request for technical assistance 

Tuesday, April 19, 2005
4:00 p.m. -	Registration			
7:00 p.m.	

Wednesday, April 20, 2005
7:30 a.m.	Registration and Continental Breakfast                      [Legends Pre-function Area]
			
8:30 a.m.	Welcome and Overview of the Academy  				[Discovery Ballroom]
•	Dr. Michael O’Grady, Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (HHS) 
•	Patricia Carlile, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
•	Peter Dougherty, Director, Office of Homeless Veterans Programs, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
•	Charles Ciccolella, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment and Training Services, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)

•	Cheri Nolan, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs,               U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
•	Jamie Hart, Health Systems Research, Inc., Moderator 

Introductions of State Team Members, Faculty, and Resource Persons and Brief Presentations by Each Team  

Alabama	 
Alaska 
Arkansas 
Georgia 
Hawaii
Kansas
Minnesota
Pennsylvania 

9:30 a.m.	State Team Session One: Setting the Stage and Revisiting the Vision Statement and the Reality Assessment

•	Set the Stage  
•	Objectives and format
•	Defining “mainstream services”
•	Integrating various planning activities
•	Addressing leadership, teamwork, and maintaining momentum

•	Revisit Vision Statement (if necessary, revise based on draft developed by State Team prior to Policy Academy)
•	Statement of purpose/reference point for all future decisions
•	Picture of Team’s ideal future (independent of current reality)

•	Revisit Reality Assessment (if necessary, revise based on draft developed by State Team prior to Policy Academy)
•	Inventory/review of current programs/activities, key challenges, previous policy actions, current political environment
•	SWOT Analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)
•	Provides context and identifies resources

•	Develop questions for panelists in breakouts and plenary sessions

•	Assign State Team members to specific breakout sessions

12:00 p.m.	Break

12:15 p.m.	Working Lunch/Plenary Session One: Focus on the Issues  
							[Legends Pre-function Area]
				
Involving Consumers: Why and How  
•	Janice Grady, Washington, DC 
					
		Addressing Family Homelessness 
•	Marybeth Shinn, New York University Department of Psychology

1:45 p.m.	Concurrent Breakout Sessions #1   
•	Youth Aging Out of Foster Care			        [Legends I]
•	Addressing the Health/Behavioral Health Needs of Homeless Families 
        [Legends II]
•	Helping Homeless Families Meet the Childcare and Educational Needs of Their School-Aged and Preschool-Aged Children                 [Legends III]
•	Reentry and Its Realities for Prisoners, Families, and Communities       
                                                                                            [Legends V]
•	The Dynamics and Costs of Homelessness: Informing Public Policy with Data
                                                              [Legends IV]

3:15 p.m.         Break

3:30 p.m.	State Team Session Two: Report Out, Identifying Resource Needs, and 
		Setting Priorities/Goals                                               	

•	Report Out from Breakout Sessions

•	Identify Resource Needs
•	Review biographies of resource persons 
•	Identify four or five to attend State Team sessions

•	Priority/Goal Setting - Identify:
•	Gaps between the Team’s vision statement and the current reality
•	Areas to focus energy and limited resources
•	Basis for planning, policymaking, and setting performance standards

5:30 p.m.	Dinner (on your own)

Thursday, April 21, 2004
7:00 a.m.	Networking 	                      			               [Discovery Ballroom]

8:00 a.m.	Overview of the Day/Plenary Session Two: Focus on Implementation, Integration, and Systems Change                                                             
•	John Wagner, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance  
•	Charlene Flaherty, State Homeless Coordinator, Arizona Department of Economic Security 
•	Sandra Miyoshi, Administrator, Hawaii State Homeless Programs

9:00 a.m.	Concurrent Breakout Sessions #2  
•	Housing						         [Legends I]
•	Assisting Homeless Families with Employment Skills [Legends II]
•	Creative Use of Funding Mechanisms: Medicaid and Social Services Block Grant
 									         [Legends III]
•	Supporting Homeless Families and At-risk Families Through Creative Use of TANF Funds						         [Legends V]
•	Are You Getting the Recommended Daily Allotment of Federal Nutrition Dollars?
         [Legends VI]
10:30 a.m.	State Team Session Three: Completing Priority Setting and Developing Strategies

•	Complete Priority Setting
♦	Gaps between the Team’s vision statement and the current reality
♦	Areas to focus energy and limited resources
♦	Basis for planning, policymaking, and setting performance standards

•	Develop Realistic Strategies/Tactical Plans
•	Broad-ranging tactics requiring statewide or cross-agency efforts
•	Usually involves the combination of several courses of action
•	Should be directly related to Team’s goals and priorities
•	Includes identifying technical assistance needs

12:15 p.m.      Lunch (on your own)	

1:15 p.m.	State Team Session Four: Completing Strategies and Identifying Action Steps

•	Complete Strategies/Tactical Plans
•	Broad-ranging tactics requiring statewide or cross-agency efforts
•	Usually involves the combination of several courses of action
•	Should be directly related to Team’s goals and priorities
•	Includes identifying technical assistance needs

•	Identify Action Steps
•	Specific activities to be undertaken based on strategies
•	Required action from specific individual or entities
•	Considerations:
•	Who is responsible for coordinating each action?
•	Who is responsible for completing each action?
•	What resources are required?
•	What is the timeline?
•	Who will be affected?

5:30 p.m. 	Adjourn  

Assignment: Each State Team should prepare to share with the other Teams their action planning to-date – including their written vision statement, reality assessment, and goals/priorities at tomorrow morning’s plenary session. Each Team should also identify what they anticipate their technical assistance needs to be. Results should be recorded on newsprint and posted in the main conference area.

Friday, April 22, 2004

7:00 a.m.	Networking	             [Discovery Ballroom]	

8:00 a.m.	Overview of the Day
8:15 a.m.	Exchange of Ideas/Peer-to-Peer Interviews	

9:15 a.m.	State Team Session Five: Completing Action Steps and Identifying Technical Assistance (TA) Needs 

•	Complete Action Steps
•	Specific activities to be undertaken based on strategies
•	Required action from specific individuals or entities
•	Considerations
•	Who is responsible for coordinating each action?
•	Who is responsible for completing each action?
•	What resources are required?
•	What is the timeline?
•	Who will be affected?
•	How will success be measured (benchmarks)?

•	TA Needs – Identify:
•	The nature of issue(s) or the problem(s) for which TA is needed
•	The type(s) of assistance required
•	Anticipated long- or short-term goals of the TA

12:00 p.m.	Lunch (on your own) 		

1:00 p.m.	State Team Session Six: Identifying Next Steps

•	Next Steps – Identify:
•	Follow-up activities for Policy Academy (including plans for integrating planning activities)
•	Next Team meeting date
•	Timeline and process for revision and submission of action plan

2:15 p.m.	State Team Report-Outs with Faculty Feedback     [Discovery Ballroom]
	(5 minutes each)

•	Teams Outline:
•	Key priorities and action steps included in their Action Plans
•	Technical assistance needs
•	Follow-up and next steps

3:15 p.m.	Closing Remarks and Review of Next Steps		
•	Philip Mangano, Executive Director, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness

3:30 p.m.	Adjourn

Improving Access to Mainstream Services for Families with Children Experiencing Homelessness

Sponsored by:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
Health Resources and Services Administration
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

U.S. Department of Education

In partnership with:

U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
U.S. Department of Labor
U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service
American Public Human Services Association
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
National Association of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Directors
National Association of County and City Health Program Directors
National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
National Conference of State Legislatures
National Governors Association
National Head Start Association
U.S. Conference of Mayors
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services    	 	U.S. Department of Education	                                            
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development		U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs		U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Labor		U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness

Improving Access to Mainstream Services for Families with Children Experiencing Homelessness

Intercontinental Hotel
Houston, Texas
April 20-22, 2005

Breakout Session Descriptions

Day One
1.	Youth Aging Out of Foster Care  
2.	Addressing the Health/Behavioral Health Needs of Homeless Families  
3.	Helping Homeless Families Meet the Child care and Educational Needs of Their School-Aged and Preschool-Aged Children  
4.	Reentry and Its Realities for Prisoners, Families, and Communities  
5.	The Dynamics and Costs of Homelessness: Informing Public Policy with Data  

Day Two
6.	Assisting Homeless Families with Employment Skills  
7.	Housing 
8.	Creative Use of Funding Mechanisms: Medicaid and Social Services Block Grant 
9.	Supporting Homeless Families and At-risk Families Through Creative Use of TANF Funds  
10.	Are You Getting the Recommended Daily Allotment of Federal Nutrition Dollars?  

1.   Youth Aging Out of Foster Care 

Objectives:	
•	To identify the unique set of housing and service needs required by youths aged 18-21 who have recently exited foster care
•	To present best practices and successful models of States and localities that have developed programming that serves youth aging out of foster care
•	To engage the audience in a discussion of the opportunities and challenges of serving youth aging out of foster care

Content:
•	Exploration of the variety of independent living program models currently being used to provide housing and services to youth aging out of foster care
•	Discussion of the program typologies and the range of services offered in each program type
•	Focus of the role of employment and skills training programs for youth aging out of foster care
•	Presentation of a model supervised independent living program designed for youths aged 18-21

Presenters:
•	Judith Dobbins, Executive Director of Covenant House, Washington, DC
•	Joan McAllister, Project Director, North Carolina Independent Living Program

Moderator:
•	Leon McCowan, Regional Administrator, Administration for Children and Families Regional Office, Dallas, TX

Target Audience:
•	Policymakers and representatives from the State Department of Family and Children
•	Policymakers and representatives from local workforce investment boards or the State Employment Agency
•	Practitioners who work with youth in the foster care system

2.   Addressing the Health/Behavioral Health Needs of Homeless Families

Objectives: 
•	To provide information and practical application of substance abuse, mental health, and trauma issues and services
•	To provide information about the primary health care needs of homeless families and children

Content:  
•	An overview of the health and behavioral health needs of homeless families 
•	Issues of homeless mothers, including health problems, barriers to care, reproductive health, mental and substance abuse disorders, and the role of trauma and violence in homelessness 
•	Characteristics of homeless children, including physical, emotional, and behavioral health and learning needs 
•	Keys to homelessness and parenting 
•	Issues and challenges involving funding of services, limitations on evidence-based approaches, access to mental health and substance abuse services, engaging families, prevention and early intervention concepts and care need, linkages with primary care, and cultural issues 
•	Systems change and responsiveness 
•	Emerging best or promising practices

Presenters: 	
•	Linda Weinreb, University of Massachusetts Medical School
•	Jay Sanchez, San Antonio Health Care for the Homeless grantee
•	Frances Isbell, Houston Health Care for the Homeless grantee

Moderator:
•	Lynnette Araki, Health Resources and Services Administration

Target Audience: 
•	Healthcare providers and managers 
•	Behavioral health providers and managers 
•	Policymakers who are responsible for the provision of health, mental health, and substance abuse services

3.	Helping Homeless Families Meet the Child care and Educational Needs of their School-Aged and Preschool-Aged Children

Objectives:
•	To inform teams of educational needs of school-aged and preschool-aged children in homeless families and of barriers that impede the educational access and achievement of these children
•	To provide an overview of Federal legislative and policy support from McKinney-Vento and Head Start designed to eliminate barriers 
•	To highlight effective State and local policies and practices that demonstrate how collaboration and coordination among agencies enable school and preschool programs to eliminate educational barriers for homeless families and children 
•	To identify strategies to enhance the coordination among State and local agencies to eliminate educational barriers for children in homeless families

Content:
•	Overview of educational needs of school-aged children, educational barriers, and provisions of the McKinney-Vento Act
•	Description of one State’s implementation of the McKinney-Vento Act that increases educational access and achievement of school-aged children and youth in homeless families (focusing on cross-agency and cross-program coordination)
•	Overview of educational needs of preschool-aged children, educational barriers, and Head Start policy recommendations for serving homeless preschool-aged children
•	Discussion questions:
-	What agencies and service providers need to collaborate to address issues of educational access, enrollment, transportation, and school stability?
-	What barriers exist to cross-agency collaboration?
-	How can these barriers be addressed?
-	How should stakeholders (parents, youth, educators, local school district homeless liaisons, local program coordinators) be involved in identifying needs and crafting solutions?

Presenters: 	
•	Diana Bowman, Director, National Center for Homeless Education at SERVE
•	Margie Milenkiewicz, State Homeless Contact, Colorado Department of Education
•	Judith Jerald, Director, Head Start Bureau, Administration for Children, Youth, and Families 

Moderator: 
•	Gary Rutkin, Department of Education

Target Audience:
•	State and local administrators in programs that address issues related to children in homeless families and unaccompanied youth

4.	Reentry and Its Realities for Prisoners, Families, and Communities

Objectives:
•	To discuss a comprehensive approach for working with ex-offenders as they transition from prison to the community (including intake and assessment, pre-employment training, HIV prevention and education, job referral and followup, support services to address substance abuse or mental health issues, housing, and family reunification)  
•	To discuss the impact on the family when a ex-offender transitions from prison back to the home
•	To identify barriers and solutions to housing issues raised in reentry including approaches to working with housing authorities  
•	To identify barriers and solutions to the issues ex-offenders face regarding finding and keeping a job   

Content:
Nationally, over 600,000 individuals leave prisons each year to return to their families and communities.  A comprehensive discharge plan is crucial to the returning offender’s successful transition. Several major challenges facing a returning prisoner include housing, finding a job, substance abuse and mental health treatment, medical treatment, and issues of domestic violence and family reunification. The transition process needs to begin “behind the walls.”  An offender’s needs must be assessed to adequately understand the challenges he or she will face upon release. At each phase of reentry the person’s family, if appropriate, should be involved in the process. 

Although there are a myriad of issues that ex-offenders face as they transition from prison to their community, key issues such as housing, employment, and family reunification can impact the success he or she will have in the community. Without a roof over his head and a steady paycheck, the ex-offender will has little hope of addressing other issues such as substance abuse and mental health, family, child support and child care, etc. 

This session will offer attendees models of partnerships that have worked in dealing with housing, employment, and family reunification for ex-offenders. 

Presenters:
•	B. Diane Williams, Safer Foundation, New York  
•	Carol Shapiro, Executive Director, Family Justice, New York

Moderator: Cheri Nolan,  Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs 

Target Audience:  
•	State-level policymakers

5.	The Dynamics and Costs of Homelessness: Informing Public Policy with Data

Objectives:
•	To learn how data on the dynamics of family homelessness or service use and costs can be used to inform public policy
•	To learn how one State collected and used data to inform public policy and to move forward in implementing their policy academy action plan
•	To encourage dialogue between States regarding successful strategies and approaches they have used to address this topic

Content:
•	Description of how data in selected cities have been used to examine family shelter use patterns and the impact of supportive housing on service use and costs
•	Description of Arizona’s cost study of homeless families in the State to help educate their ICH on the cost effectiveness of permanent housing

Presenters:
•	Steve Metraux, Assistant Professor of Health Policy, University of the Sciences, Philadelphia, PA
•	Charlene Moran Flaherty, State Homeless Coordinator, Department of Economic Security, Phoenix, AZ

Moderator:  
•	Patrick Moynahan, The QED Group, LLC

Target Audience:
•	State team participants interested in learning how data can be used to impact policy and how these studies can be funded

6.	Housing

Objectives: 
•	To increase awareness of how mainstream housing (i.e., non-McKinney-Vento housing resources) can be accessed to serve homeless families with children 
•	To highlight projects which have found innovative and creative ways to serve homeless families successfully and children using mainstream funding sources 
•	To encourage open dialogue between States regarding successful strategies to accessing and utilizing mainstream funding sources to house and serve homeless families and children 
  
Content:
•	This session will focus on providers who manage programs that successfully serve homeless families and children that have found ways to utilize mainstream HUD programs, such as HOME, Section 8, or Public Housing, as well as non-HUD funding sources (i.e., private funders) 
 
Presenters: 
•	Bob Davis, Executive Director of the Snohomish County Housing Authority in Washington 
•	David M. Mandell, President and CEO, Integrated Community Solutions, Inc. 
•	Bob Rowlands, Community Liaison for Pierce County Housing Authority, WA

Moderator: 
•	Edward Pringle, Director, Department of Housing and Urban Development Field Office, Fort Worth, TX 
 
Target Audience:
•	State and local administrators in programs that are interested in addressing the mainstream housing needs related to homeless families and children and finding the best solutions to serving them

7.	Assisting Homeless Families with Employment Skills

Objectives:
•	To demonstrate a collaborative, comprehensive approach to assist homeless families with employment services through many and various mainstream services, including Department of Labor Programs, TANF, and HUD
•	To highlight promising practices by local service providers, One-Stop Career Centers, and community-based organizations that effectively and efficiently serve homeless families. These practices include accessing a variety of funding streams, creating a comprehensive network to serve the homeless, collaborative and referral-based case management, building community support, creating a business alliance, and promoting a step-by-step approach
•	To encourage discussion and exchange among State Team participants with local and community-based organizations and employment service providers
•	To assist State Teams in developing a comprehensive and collaborative strategy

Content:
•	Provide overview of significant and effective programs who serve homeless families by promising proactive practices highlighted in objectives

Presenters: 
•	Jennifer Mintz, Search Project, Houston, TX
•	Steve Nelson, Pima County Jackson Employment Center, Tucson, AZ  

Moderator:
•	Jacque Mason and Randy Cooper, U.S. Department of Labor

Target audience:
•	All State Team members in accessing employment services to help homeless achieve self-sufficiency; local community based providers; State and local employment, housing, and health services agencies
•	Other participants with an interest in employment and training-related services for this population

8.	Creative Use of Funding Mechanisms: Medicaid and Social Services Block Grant

Objectives:
•	To enable State Policy Teams to recommend concrete and creative programs and mechanisms for using SSBG and Medicaid funding streams to better meet the needs of homeless families and children in their states

Content:
•	Provide examples of how SSBG funds have been used to provide services to homeless families and children (e.g., family violence shelters).
•	Describe mechanisms that State Medicaid Programs can implement to expedite and improve access to Medicaid eligibility for homeless families and children
•	Explain mandatory and optional Medicaid services 
•	Provide examples of how States have adopted Medicaid eligibility and service provisions  to benefit homeless families and children

Presenters: 
•	Pat Post, National Health Care for the Homeless Council
•	J. P. Peters, Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services Regional Office, Dallas, TX
•	Sharon Stearns, LMSW, Georgia Department of Human Resources, Family Violence Unit Chief

Moderator: Marsha Werner, Administration for Children and Families

Intended Audience:  
•	State and local administrators from Department of Human Services
•	Local community-based providers
•	State Medicaid Directors

9.	Supporting Homeless Families and At-risk Families Through Creative Use of TANF Funds

Objectives:  
•	To identify creative ways of utilizing TANF and other resources to address the prevention of, or rapid exit from, homelessness as it affects families with children
•	To present best practices and successful models of States and localities that have developed programming that utilizes TANF funding to address the needs of homeless families with children
•	To engage the audience in a discussion of the opportunities and challenges of utilizing TANF funds to provide services to families at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness

Content:
•	Presentation of two exemplary programs that utilize TANF funds (paired with other funding sources) to successfully deliver services to families in order to prevent homelessness or assure a rapid exit from homelessness 
•	Discussion of the practice of weaving TANF funds with other sources of funding to serve homeless families with children
•	Focus on the particular challenge faced by rural communities with few or no homeless assistance resources
•	Facilitated discussion to consider the transferability of these model programs to other States and the opportunities and challenges therein

Presenters: 
•	John Wagner, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance 
•	Crucita Nuanez-Ochoa, Director of Domestic Violence Programs for Chicanos Por La Causa, De Colores Shelter, Pheonix, AZ 

Moderator:
•	Charlotte Bristow, Administration for Children and Families

Target Audience
•	State TANF Administrators
•	Participants who are interested in exploring and blending funding streams and collaborating to increase resources
•	State Team members from the State Department of Family and Children Services  

10.	Are You Getting the Recommended Daily Allotment of Federal Nutrition Dollars?

Objectives:
•	To increase awareness of the availability of funding opportunities and the use of mainstream nutrition assistance programs as a tool for helping serve families experiencing homelessness	
•	To highlight the local perspective regarding the use of mainstream dollars to help families experiencing homelessness.
•	To encourage exchange among State participants regarding approaches for using nutrition programs for families experiencing homelessness.

Content:  
This session will focus on various federal nutrition programs available to serve homeless families with children, their potential funding sources, and a discussion of the Food Card Access Project – a project analyzing how families experiencing homelessness respond to outreach at the local level. It will include: 

•	A description of the Federal response to hunger and FNS funding available to help meet  
        the nutritional needs of the homeless families you serve, including a discussion of:
–	The Federal response in the area of nutritional assistance and the programs administered by the Food and Nutrition Service, USDA 
–	Various grant programs that States can use to better serve this population 
•	Examples of effective use of Federal dollars to provide nutritional assistance, including:
–	A representative from the Urban Justice Center in New York City will discuss how families experiencing homelessness react to outreach to access mainstream programs  
•	Discussion of what your State has done or would like to do and questions for speakers

Presenters:
•	Kate Fink from Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation at the Food and Nutrition Service, USDA 
•	Rebecca Widom, Urban Justice Center, New York City

Moderator:
•	Anne Hopewell, Health Systems Research, Inc.

Target Audience:
•	State administrators of nutrition programs
•	Conference participants who are interested in mainstream funding opportunities
•	Conference participants who work with local organizations in fighting hunger