The Casebook Blog

A workflow is a management tool that both leaders and case managers can use to follow best practices. As the word suggests it is something like a flow chart. It documents a series of steps or tasks you need to complete. It adapts well to the process you must follow for making home visits as part of child welfare services. It can involve different people, tools, and resources. Case management platforms like Casebook provide a workflow builder a case worker with basic computer skills can use to design a helpful process. This is particularly critical when the federal government updates it rules and guidance for child welfare services. In fact, in November 2023 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules for Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Child service providers for children and youth in foster care must collaborate with educational agencies. Leaders can insure compliance simply by adding new steps to their standard workflows. This simplifies their oversight. Requirements to collaborate with community-based and government agencies are not new. Given the number of entities in your community that may be part of the child welfare system this could get complicated. Efficient case management software will help you organize and coordinate services with your collaborators. You can even set up workflows for the processes your agency has for creating and maintaining each one. You can use calendar functions to plan homes visits and follow-up activities you do by phone or email. Another advantage for overworked case managers: automate repeating steps in your processes. Workflows can trigger the system to complete certain steps for you, such as populating information based on a value you assign in the workflow’s design. Say you work with a particular agency frequently. You can assign that agency’s name as a trigger that automatically fills in its service type, license type and its status, and the contact person. That eliminates four steps! You can use workflows as a task checklist for each process. When you set up the workflow it can create a list of all tasks that you need to work through in a particular order. They can be established as recurring or one-time tasks. When you open or update a record you can choose only those tasks that are pertinent for that individual case. Supervisors can use the workflow as a staff planning tool to assign cases to people. Case managers can use the Assignee field for tracking who will perform other tasks in a collaboration. Common Workflow Needs Child welfare cases have multiple steps, each of which may have relevant tasks and data collection needs. The agency can define a workflow for each step. You can connect data to a given step, such as a link to a stored document. This will keep your organized despite heavy caseloads and deadlines for completing certain actions. Referral: Research into a family’s history may be your first step when you receive a referral. If your agency uses a case management system you can start with searching internal records to find out whether there have been previous reports about the family’s welfare. Even if the case was originally closed as unsubstantiated additional reports may suggest more is going on that it appeared to be during earlier inquiries. If you make inquiries of other agencies that take reports you can scan their responses and upload them to the case file. There is value in a client record beyond any history of child welfare reports. A record for any social services your agency provided to a family will have basic data. You can review any historical information although you will want to bring your own perspectives to the case. Still, it never hurts to have another professional’s observations. Investigation As readers know, investigations start with a referral from a concerned party, who may be a teacher, neighbor, health care provider or as a part of a routine wellness check. Agency policies, governing rules, and legislation can establish what kind of reports warrant an investigation. Your agency’s case management system (whether it is computer based or uses paper records) should include fields that you use to document the incident and its characteristics. A strict process for this decision and the documentation for it may be a critical factor if a complaint is made later that the decision led to a poor outcome. A workflow is a management tool that both leaders and case managers can use to follow best practices. As the word suggests it is something like a flow chart. It documents a series of steps or tasks you need to complete. It adapts well to the process you must follow for making home visits as part of child welfare services. It can involve different people, tools, and resources. Case management platforms like Casebook provide a workflow builder a case worker with basic computer skills can use to design a helpful process. This is particularly critical when the federal government updates it rules and guidance for child welfare services. In fact, in November 2023 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules for Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Child service providers for children and youth in foster care must collaborate with educational agencies. Leaders can insure compliance simply by adding new steps to their standard workflows. This simplifies their oversight. Requirements to collaborate with community-based and government agencies are not new. Given the number of entities in your community that may be part of the child welfare system this could get complicated. Efficient case management software will help you organize and coordinate services with your collaborators. You can even set up workflows for the processes your agency has for creating and maintaining each one. You can use calendar functions to plan homes visits and follow-up activities you do by phone or email. Another advantage for overworked case managers: automate repeating steps in your processes. Workflows can trigger the system to complete certain steps for you, such as populating information based on a value you assign in the workflow’s design. Say you work with a particular agency frequently. You can assign that agency’s name as a trigger that automatically fills in its service type, license type and its status, and the contact person. That eliminates four steps! You can use workflows as a task checklist for each process. When you set up the workflow it can create a list of all tasks that you need to work through in a particular order. They can be established as recurring or one-time tasks. When you open or update a record you can choose only those tasks that are pertinent for that individual case. Supervisors can use the workflow as a staff planning tool to assign cases to people. Case managers can use the Assignee field for tracking who will perform other tasks in a collaboration. Common Workflow Needs Child welfare cases have multiple steps, each of which may have relevant tasks and data collection needs. The agency can define a workflow for each step. You can connect data to a given step, such as a link to a stored document. This will keep your organized despite heavy caseloads and deadlines for completing certain actions. Referral: Research into a family’s history may be your first step when you receive a referral. If your agency uses a case management system you can start with searching internal records to find out whether there have been previous reports about the family’s welfare. Even if the case was originally closed as unsubstantiated additional reports may suggest more is going on that it appeared to be during earlier inquiries. If you make inquiries of other agencies that take reports you can scan their responses and upload them to the case file. There is value in a client record beyond any history of child welfare reports. A record for any social services your agency provided to a family will have basic data. You can review any historical information although you will want to bring your own perspectives to the case. Still, it never hurts to have another professional’s observations. Investigation As readers know, investigations start with a referral from a concerned party, who may be a teacher, neighbor, health care provider or as a part of a routine wellness check. Agency policies, governing rules, and legislation can establish what kind of reports warrant an investigation. Your agency’s case management system (whether it is computer based or uses paper records) should include fields that you use to document the incident and its characteristics. A strict process for this decision and the documentation for it may be a critical factor if a complaint is made later that the decision led to a poor outcome. A workflow is a management tool that both leaders and case managers can use to follow best practices. As the word suggests it is something like a flow chart. It documents a series of steps or tasks you need to complete. It adapts well to the process you must follow for making home visits as part of child welfare services. It can involve different people, tools, and resources. Case management platforms like Casebook provide a workflow builder a case worker with basic computer skills can use to design a helpful process. This is particularly critical when the federal government updates it rules and guidance for child welfare services. In fact, in November 2023 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules for Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Child service providers for children and youth in foster care must collaborate with educational agencies. Leaders can insure compliance simply by adding new steps to their standard workflows. This simplifies their oversight. Requirements to collaborate with community-based and government agencies are not new. Given the number of entities in your community that may be part of the child welfare system this could get complicated. Efficient case management software will help you organize and coordinate services with your collaborators. You can even set up workflows for the processes your agency has for creating and maintaining each one. You can use calendar functions to plan homes visits and follow-up activities you do by phone or email. Another advantage for overworked case managers: automate repeating steps in your processes. Workflows can trigger the system to complete certain steps for you, such as populating information based on a value you assign in the workflow’s design. Say you work with a particular agency frequently. You can assign that agency’s name as a trigger that automatically fills in its service type, license type and its status, and the contact person. That eliminates four steps! You can use workflows as a task checklist for each process. When you set up the workflow it can create a list of all tasks that you need to work through in a particular order. They can be established as recurring or one-time tasks. When you open or update a record you can choose only those tasks that are pertinent for that individual case. Supervisors can use the workflow as a staff planning tool to assign cases to people. Case managers can use the Assignee field for tracking who will perform other tasks in a collaboration. Common Workflow Needs Child welfare cases have multiple steps, each of which may have relevant tasks and data collection needs. The agency can define a workflow for each step. You can connect data to a given step, such as a link to a stored document. This will keep your organized despite heavy caseloads and deadlines for completing certain actions. Referral: Research into a family’s history may be your first step when you receive a referral. If your agency uses a case management system you can start with searching internal records to find out whether there have been previous reports about the family’s welfare. Even if the case was originally closed as unsubstantiated additional reports may suggest more is going on that it appeared to be during earlier inquiries. If you make inquiries of other agencies that take reports you can scan their responses and upload them to the case file. There is value in a client record beyond any history of child welfare reports. A record for any social services your agency provided to a family will have basic data. You can review any historical information although you will want to bring your own perspectives to the case. Still, it never hurts to have another professional’s observations. Investigation As readers know, investigations start with a referral from a concerned party, who may be a teacher, neighbor, health care provider or as a part of a routine wellness check. Agency policies, governing rules, and legislation can establish what kind of reports warrant an investigation. Your agency’s case management system (whether it is computer based or uses paper records) should include fields that you use to document the incident and its characteristics. A strict process for this decision and the documentation for it may be a critical factor if a complaint is made later that the decision led to a poor outcome. A workflow is a management tool that both leaders and case managers can use to follow best practices. As the word suggests it is something like a flow chart. It documents a series of steps or tasks you need to complete. It adapts well to the process you must follow for making home visits as part of child welfare services. It can involve different people, tools, and resources. Case management platforms like Casebook provide a workflow builder a case worker with basic computer skills can use to design a helpful process. This is particularly critical when the federal government updates it rules and guidance for child welfare services. In fact, in November 2023 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules for Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Child service providers for children and youth in foster care must collaborate with educational agencies. Leaders can insure compliance simply by adding new steps to their standard workflows. This simplifies their oversight. Requirements to collaborate with community-based and government agencies are not new. Given the number of entities in your community that may be part of the child welfare system this could get complicated. Efficient case management software will help you organize and coordinate services with your collaborators. You can even set up workflows for the processes your agency has for creating and maintaining each one. You can use calendar functions to plan homes visits and follow-up activities you do by phone or email. Another advantage for overworked case managers: automate repeating steps in your processes. Workflows can trigger the system to complete certain steps for you, such as populating information based on a value you assign in the workflow’s design. Say you work with a particular agency frequently. You can assign that agency’s name as a trigger that automatically fills in its service type, license type and its status, and the contact person. That eliminates four steps! You can use workflows as a task checklist for each process. When you set up the workflow it can create a list of all tasks that you need to work through in a particular order. They can be established as recurring or one-time tasks. When you open or update a record you can choose only those tasks that are pertinent for that individual case. Supervisors can use the workflow as a staff planning tool to assign cases to people. Case managers can use the Assignee field for tracking who will perform other tasks in a collaboration. Common Workflow Needs Child welfare cases have multiple steps, each of which may have relevant tasks and data collection needs. The agency can define a workflow for each step. You can connect data to a given step, such as a link to a stored document. This will keep your organized despite heavy caseloads and deadlines for completing certain actions. Referral: Research into a family’s history may be your first step when you receive a referral. If your agency uses a case management system you can start with searching internal records to find out whether there have been previous reports about the family’s welfare. Even if the case was originally closed as unsubstantiated additional reports may suggest more is going on that it appeared to be during earlier inquiries. If you make inquiries of other agencies that take reports you can scan their responses and upload them to the case file. There is value in a client record beyond any history of child welfare reports. A record for any social services your agency provided to a family will have basic data. You can review any historical information although you will want to bring your own perspectives to the case. Still, it never hurts to have another professional’s observations. Investigation As readers know, investigations start with a referral from a concerned party, who may be a teacher, neighbor, health care provider or as a part of a routine wellness check. Agency policies, governing rules, and legislation can establish what kind of reports warrant an investigation. Your agency’s case management system (whether it is computer based or uses paper records) should include fields that you use to document the incident and its characteristics. A strict process for this decision and the documentation for it may be a critical factor if a complaint is made later that the decision led to a poor outcome. A workflow is a management tool that both leaders and case managers can use to follow best practices. As the word suggests it is something like a flow chart. It documents a series of steps or tasks you need to complete. It adapts well to the process you must follow for making home visits as part of child welfare services. It can involve different people, tools, and resources. Case management platforms like Casebook provide a workflow builder a case worker with basic computer skills can use to design a helpful process. This is particularly critical when the federal government updates it rules and guidance for child welfare services. In fact, in November 2023 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules for Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Child service providers for children and youth in foster care must collaborate with educational agencies. Leaders can insure compliance simply by adding new steps to their standard workflows. This simplifies their oversight. Requirements to collaborate with community-based and government agencies are not new. Given the number of entities in your community that may be part of the child welfare system this could get complicated. Efficient case management software will help you organize and coordinate services with your collaborators. You can even set up workflows for the processes your agency has for creating and maintaining each one. You can use calendar functions to plan homes visits and follow-up activities you do by phone or email. Another advantage for overworked case managers: automate repeating steps in your processes. Workflows can trigger the system to complete certain steps for you, such as populating information based on a value you assign in the workflow’s design. Say you work with a particular agency frequently. You can assign that agency’s name as a trigger that automatically fills in its service type, license type and its status, and the contact person. That eliminates four steps! You can use workflows as a task checklist for each process. When you set up the workflow it can create a list of all tasks that you need to work through in a particular order. They can be established as recurring or one-time tasks. When you open or update a record you can choose only those tasks that are pertinent for that individual case. Supervisors can use the workflow as a staff planning tool to assign cases to people. Case managers can use the Assignee field for tracking who will perform other tasks in a collaboration. Common Workflow Needs Child welfare cases have multiple steps, each of which may have relevant tasks and data collection needs. The agency can define a workflow for each step. You can connect data to a given step, such as a link to a stored document. This will keep your organized despite heavy caseloads and deadlines for completing certain actions. Referral: Research into a family’s history may be your first step when you receive a referral. If your agency uses a case management system you can start with searching internal records to find out whether there have been previous reports about the family’s welfare. Even if the case was originally closed as unsubstantiated additional reports may suggest more is going on that it appeared to be during earlier inquiries. If you make inquiries of other agencies that take reports you can scan their responses and upload them to the case file. There is value in a client record beyond any history of child welfare reports. A record for any social services your agency provided to a family will have basic data. You can review any historical information although you will want to bring your own perspectives to the case. Still, it never hurts to have another professional’s observations. Investigation As readers know, investigations start with a referral from a concerned party, who may be a teacher, neighbor, health care provider or as a part of a routine wellness check. Agency policies, governing rules, and legislation can establish what kind of reports warrant an investigation. Your agency’s case management system (whether it is computer based or uses paper records) should include fields that you use to document the incident and its characteristics. A strict process for this decision and the documentation for it may be a critical factor if a complaint is made later that the decision led to a poor outcome. A workflow is a management tool that both leaders and case managers can use to follow best practices. As the word suggests it is something like a flow chart. It documents a series of steps or tasks you need to complete. It adapts well to the process you must follow for making home visits as part of child welfare services. It can involve different people, tools, and resources. Case management platforms like Casebook provide a workflow builder a case worker with basic computer skills can use to design a helpful process. This is particularly critical when the federal government updates it rules and guidance for child welfare services. In fact, in November 2023 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules for Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Child service providers for children and youth in foster care must collaborate with educational agencies. Leaders can insure compliance simply by adding new steps to their standard workflows. This simplifies their oversight. Requirements to collaborate with community-based and government agencies are not new. Given the number of entities in your community that may be part of the child welfare system this could get complicated. Efficient case management software will help you organize and coordinate services with your collaborators. You can even set up workflows for the processes your agency has for creating and maintaining each one. You can use calendar functions to plan homes visits and follow-up activities you do by phone or email. Another advantage for overworked case managers: automate repeating steps in your processes. Workflows can trigger the system to complete certain steps for you, such as populating information based on a value you assign in the workflow’s design. Say you work with a particular agency frequently. You can assign that agency’s name as a trigger that automatically fills in its service type, license type and its status, and the contact person. That eliminates four steps! You can use workflows as a task checklist for each process. When you set up the workflow it can create a list of all tasks that you need to work through in a particular order. They can be established as recurring or one-time tasks. When you open or update a record you can choose only those tasks that are pertinent for that individual case. Supervisors can use the workflow as a staff planning tool to assign cases to people. Case managers can use the Assignee field for tracking who will perform other tasks in a collaboration. Common Workflow Needs Child welfare cases have multiple steps, each of which may have relevant tasks and data collection needs. The agency can define a workflow for each step. You can connect data to a given step, such as a link to a stored document. This will keep your organized despite heavy caseloads and deadlines for completing certain actions. Referral: Research into a family’s history may be your first step when you receive a referral. If your agency uses a case management system you can start with searching internal records to find out whether there have been previous reports about the family’s welfare. Even if the case was originally closed as unsubstantiated additional reports may suggest more is going on that it appeared to be during earlier inquiries. If you make inquiries of other agencies that take reports you can scan their responses and upload them to the case file. There is value in a client record beyond any history of child welfare reports. A record for any social services your agency provided to a family will have basic data. You can review any historical information although you will want to bring your own perspectives to the case. Still, it never hurts to have another professional’s observations. Investigation As readers know, investigations start with a referral from a concerned party, who may be a teacher, neighbor, health care provider or as a part of a routine wellness check. Agency policies, governing rules, and legislation can establish what kind of reports warrant an investigation. Your agency’s case management system (whether it is computer based or uses paper records) should include fields that you use to document the incident and its characteristics. A strict process for this decision and the documentation for it may be a critical factor if a complaint is made later that the decision led to a poor outcome. A workflow is a management tool that both leaders and case managers can use to follow best practices. As the word suggests it is something like a flow chart. It documents a series of steps or tasks you need to complete. It adapts well to the process you must follow for making home visits as part of child welfare services. It can involve different people, tools, and resources. Case management platforms like Casebook provide a workflow builder a case worker with basic computer skills can use to design a helpful process. This is particularly critical when the federal government updates it rules and guidance for child welfare services. In fact, in November 2023 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules for Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Child service providers for children and youth in foster care must collaborate with educational agencies. Leaders can insure compliance simply by adding new steps to their standard workflows. This simplifies their oversight. Requirements to collaborate with community-based and government agencies are not new. Given the number of entities in your community that may be part of the child welfare system this could get complicated. Efficient case management software will help you organize and coordinate services with your collaborators. You can even set up workflows for the processes your agency has for creating and maintaining each one. You can use calendar functions to plan homes visits and follow-up activities you do by phone or email. Another advantage for overworked case managers: automate repeating steps in your processes. Workflows can trigger the system to complete certain steps for you, such as populating information based on a value you assign in the workflow’s design. Say you work with a particular agency frequently. You can assign that agency’s name as a trigger that automatically fills in its service type, license type and its status, and the contact person. That eliminates four steps! You can use workflows as a task checklist for each process. When you set up the workflow it can create a list of all tasks that you need to work through in a particular order. They can be established as recurring or one-time tasks. When you open or update a record you can choose only those tasks that are pertinent for that individual case. Supervisors can use the workflow as a staff planning tool to assign cases to people. Case managers can use the Assignee field for tracking who will perform other tasks in a collaboration. Common Workflow Needs Child welfare cases have multiple steps, each of which may have relevant tasks and data collection needs. The agency can define a workflow for each step. You can connect data to a given step, such as a link to a stored document. This will keep your organized despite heavy caseloads and deadlines for completing certain actions. Referral: Research into a family’s history may be your first step when you receive a referral. If your agency uses a case management system you can start with searching internal records to find out whether there have been previous reports about the family’s welfare. Even if the case was originally closed as unsubstantiated additional reports may suggest more is going on that it appeared to be during earlier inquiries. If you make inquiries of other agencies that take reports you can scan their responses and upload them to the case file. There is value in a client record beyond any history of child welfare reports. A record for any social services your agency provided to a family will have basic data. You can review any historical information although you will want to bring your own perspectives to the case. Still, it never hurts to have another professional’s observations. Investigation As readers know, investigations start with a referral from a concerned party, who may be a teacher, neighbor, health care provider or as a part of a routine wellness check. Agency policies, governing rules, and legislation can establish what kind of reports warrant an investigation. Your agency’s case management system (whether it is computer based or uses paper records) should include fields that you use to document the incident and its characteristics. A strict process for this decision and the documentation for it may be a critical factor if a complaint is made later that the decision led to a poor outcome. A workflow is a management tool that both leaders and case managers can use to follow best practices. As the word suggests it is something like a flow chart. It documents a series of steps or tasks you need to complete. It adapts well to the process you must follow for making home visits as part of child welfare services. It can involve different people, tools, and resources. Case management platforms like Casebook provide a workflow builder a case worker with basic computer skills can use to design a helpful process. This is particularly critical when the federal government updates it rules and guidance for child welfare services. In fact, in November 2023 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules for Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Child service providers for children and youth in foster care must collaborate with educational agencies. Leaders can insure compliance simply by adding new steps to their standard workflows. This simplifies their oversight. Requirements to collaborate with community-based and government agencies are not new. Given the number of entities in your community that may be part of the child welfare system this could get complicated. Efficient case management software will help you organize and coordinate services with your collaborators. You can even set up workflows for the processes your agency has for creating and maintaining each one. You can use calendar functions to plan homes visits and follow-up activities you do by phone or email. Another advantage for overworked case managers: automate repeating steps in your processes. Workflows can trigger the system to complete certain steps for you, such as populating information based on a value you assign in the workflow’s design. Say you work with a particular agency frequently. You can assign that agency’s name as a trigger that automatically fills in its service type, license type and its status, and the contact person. That eliminates four steps! You can use workflows as a task checklist for each process. When you set up the workflow it can create a list of all tasks that you need to work through in a particular order. They can be established as recurring or one-time tasks. When you open or update a record you can choose only those tasks that are pertinent for that individual case. Supervisors can use the workflow as a staff planning tool to assign cases to people. Case managers can use the Assignee field for tracking who will perform other tasks in a collaboration. Common Workflow Needs Child welfare cases have multiple steps, each of which may have relevant tasks and data collection needs. The agency can define a workflow for each step. You can connect data to a given step, such as a link to a stored document. This will keep your organized despite heavy caseloads and deadlines for completing certain actions. Referral: Research into a family’s history may be your first step when you receive a referral. If your agency uses a case management system you can start with searching internal records to find out whether there have been previous reports about the family’s welfare. Even if the case was originally closed as unsubstantiated additional reports may suggest more is going on that it appeared to be during earlier inquiries. If you make inquiries of other agencies that take reports you can scan their responses and upload them to the case file. There is value in a client record beyond any history of child welfare reports. A record for any social services your agency provided to a family will have basic data. You can review any historical information although you will want to bring your own perspectives to the case. Still, it never hurts to have another professional’s observations. Investigation As readers know, investigations start with a referral from a concerned party, who may be a teacher, neighbor, health care provider or as a part of a routine wellness check. Agency policies, governing rules, and legislation can establish what kind of reports warrant an investigation. Your agency’s case management system (whether it is computer based or uses paper records) should include fields that you use to document the incident and its characteristics. A strict process for this decision and the documentation for it may be a critical factor if a complaint is made later that the decision led to a poor outcome. A workflow is a management tool that both leaders and case managers can use to follow best practices. As the word suggests it is something like a flow chart. It documents a series of steps or tasks you need to complete. It adapts well to the process you must follow for making home visits as part of child welfare services. It can involve different people, tools, and resources. Case management platforms like Casebook provide a workflow builder a case worker with basic computer skills can use to design a helpful process. This is particularly critical when the federal government updates it rules and guidance for child welfare services. In fact, in November 2023 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules for Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Child service providers for children and youth in foster care must collaborate with educational agencies. Leaders can insure compliance simply by adding new steps to their standard workflows. This simplifies their oversight. Requirements to collaborate with community-based and government agencies are not new. Given the number of entities in your community that may be part of the child welfare system this could get complicated. Efficient case management software will help you organize and coordinate services with your collaborators. You can even set up workflows for the processes your agency has for creating and maintaining each one. You can use calendar functions to plan homes visits and follow-up activities you do by phone or email. Another advantage for overworked case managers: automate repeating steps in your processes. Workflows can trigger the system to complete certain steps for you, such as populating information based on a value you assign in the workflow’s design. Say you work with a particular agency frequently. You can assign that agency’s name as a trigger that automatically fills in its service type, license type and its status, and the contact person. That eliminates four steps! You can use workflows as a task checklist for each process. When you set up the workflow it can create a list of all tasks that you need to work through in a particular order. They can be established as recurring or one-time tasks. When you open or update a record you can choose only those tasks that are pertinent for that individual case. Supervisors can use the workflow as a staff planning tool to assign cases to people. Case managers can use the Assignee field for tracking who will perform other tasks in a collaboration. Common Workflow Needs Child welfare cases have multiple steps, each of which may have relevant tasks and data collection needs. The agency can define a workflow for each step. You can connect data to a given step, such as a link to a stored document. This will keep your organized despite heavy caseloads and deadlines for completing certain actions. Referral: Research into a family’s history may be your first step when you receive a referral. If your agency uses a case management system you can start with searching internal records to find out whether there have been previous reports about the family’s welfare. Even if the case was originally closed as unsubstantiated additional reports may suggest more is going on that it appeared to be during earlier inquiries. If you make inquiries of other agencies that take reports you can scan their responses and upload them to the case file. There is value in a client record beyond any history of child welfare reports. A record for any social services your agency provided to a family will have basic data. You can review any historical information although you will want to bring your own perspectives to the case. Still, it never hurts to have another professional’s observations. Investigation As readers know, investigations start with a referral from a concerned party, who may be a teacher, neighbor, health care provider or as a part of a routine wellness check. Agency policies, governing rules, and legislation can establish what kind of reports warrant an investigation. Your agency’s case management system (whether it is computer based or uses paper records) should include fields that you use to document the incident and its characteristics. A strict process for this decision and the documentation for it may be a critical factor if a complaint is made later that the decision led to a poor outcome. A workflow is a management tool that both leaders and case managers can use to follow best practices. As the word suggests it is something like a flow chart. It documents a series of steps or tasks you need to complete. It adapts well to the process you must follow for making home visits as part of child welfare services. It can involve different people, tools, and resources. Case management platforms like Casebook provide a workflow builder a case worker with basic computer skills can use to design a helpful process. This is particularly critical when the federal government updates it rules and guidance for child welfare services. In fact, in November 2023 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued new rules for Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Child service providers for children and youth in foster care must collaborate with educational agencies. Leaders can insure compliance simply by adding new steps to their standard workflows. This simplifies their oversight. Requirements to collaborate with community-based and government agencies are not new. Given the number of entities in your community that may be part of the child welfare system this could get complicated. Efficient case management software will help you organize and coordinate services with your collaborators. You can even set up workflows for the processes your agency has for creating and maintaining each one. You can use calendar functions to plan homes visits and follow-up activities you do by phone or email. Another advantage for overworked case managers: automate repeating steps in your processes. Workflows can trigger the system to complete certain steps for you, such as populating information based on a value you assign in the workflow’s design. Say you work with a particular agency frequently. You can assign that agency’s name as a trigger that automatically fills in its service type, license type and its status, and the contact person. That eliminates four steps! You can use workflows as a task checklist for each process. When you set up the workflow it can create a list of all tasks that you need to work through in a particular order. They can be established as recurring or one-time tasks. When you open or update a record you can choose only those tasks that are pertinent for that individual case. Supervisors can use the workflow as a staff planning tool to assign cases to people. Case managers can use the Assignee field for tracking who will perform other tasks in a collaboration. Common Workflow Needs Child welfare cases have multiple steps, each of which may have relevant tasks and data collection needs. The agency can define a workflow for each step. You can connect data to a given step, such as a link to a stored document. This will keep your organized despite heavy caseloads and deadlines for completing certain actions. Referral: Research into a family’s history may be your first step when you receive a referral. If your agency uses a case management system you can start with searching internal records to find out whether there have been previous reports about the family’s welfare. Even if the case was originally closed as unsubstantiated additional reports may suggest more is going on that it appeared to be during earlier inquiries. If you make inquiries of other agencies that take reports you can scan their responses and upload them to the case file. There is value in a client record beyond any history of child welfare reports. A record for any social services your agency provided to a family will have basic data. You can review any historical information although you will want to bring your own perspectives to the case. Still, it never hurts to have another professional’s observations. Investigation As readers know, investigations start with a referral from a concerned party, who may be a teacher, neighbor, health care provider or as a part of a routine wellness check. Agency policies, governing rules, and legislation can establish what kind of reports warrant an investigation. Your agency’s case management system (whether it is computer based or uses paper records) should include fields that you use to document the incident and its characteristics. A strict process for this decision and the documentation for it may be a critical factor if a complaint is made later that the decision led to a poor outcome.

Working in the human services sector can be complicated and overwhelming, which is why many organizations use case management systems. These platforms and apps help improve case management practices by compiling information and automating responsibilities. This gives caseworkers more time to focus on their clients' needs and other business processes. What does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion even mean? Diversity has been discussed for decades, primarily within the realm of racial, gender and ethnic identities. That is a narrow definition, when in fact there are other differences among people to understand. Socio-economic backgrounds as well as current circumstances influence clients’ perceptions. A wider lens on diversity considers clients’ culture, neurodiversity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Your clients may have other differences as well, considering it’s tough to create an exhaustive list. Measuring the diversity of your clients can demonstrate whether your organization is reaching all of the people who may be eligible for its services and looking for ways to engage underrepresented groups. Equity applies to outcomes, not inputs. In other words, people’s needs are not the same for achieving the same goal they may have in common. If you shoot for a certain outcome for all of your clients, they will need different interventions and support to get there. Consider the picture from the Interaction Institute for Social Change. All of the children have a goal to see over the fence. On the left all of the children received the same sized box to boost them. In the picture, the first child is tall enough to see over the fence without a box. It is a wasted resource. The middle child has a box perfect for his height. This box solved his problem efficiently. When the same sized box was given to the third child it did not solve his problem because it was inadequate, even if it was the same as the others. But the right side of the picture reveals how redistributing the boxes equalized the children’s outcomes. All of them could see the game beyond the fence by getting exactly what they needed. Inclusion refers to how your clients experience your organization, services and you. Think of it as a form of psychological safety. Do your clients feel respected and accepted? Can they tell you the truth of their lives without fear of judgement? And if they experience a disturbing reaction, do they have meaningful redress? Creating an inclusive environment means clients feel safe to spend time with you, around your co-workers and throughout the physical space. They are more likely to open up and share information they would otherwise hide. You are trained to listen without bias or judgement when they describe their circumstances. But with a diverse set of clients your responses to them can feel different even if you are delivering them in the way you think it’s appropriate. At its heart, you and your agency are adapting to your client’s culture, as opposed to expecting them to adapt to yours. Benefits of a DEI Focus Many organizations have accepted the ideals of DEI conceptually. They may have worked to put principles in place, but have not really measured whether they are achieving them. In fact, employees may perceive that their desire to help a diverse population may automatically lead to a sense of inclusion and equity among the clients. But this desire is a motivation, not an outcome. Setting measurable DEI goals will require social service practitioners like you to understand the unique needs and perspectives of diverse clients more intentionally. This greater understanding will help you determine the interventions that are most likely to serve their clients. It will also lead to more productive conversations with clients where you can work together for better problem-solving. Gathering the DEI data can document the ways our social and economic systems are inequitable and have built in barriers to success for the very people social services are designed to help. When you track the data and can show how the systems are failing you are contributing to the big picture. This is useful for advocacy either by social workers individually or through professional associations. The benefits of client rapport go both ways. You, as a case manager, can experience burnout from feeling like you are getting nowhere with your clients. If you are not communicating in a way that reaches them based on their cultural and social norms they are less likely to respond to your advice and efforts. When they engage and actively work in resolving their issues you will gain satisfaction as their service provider. Setting Your DEI Goals The most successful DEI goals are actionable, measurable, and transparent, with timelines and identified parties who are responsible for overseeing the work and reaching your goals. This is just as true for any effort to set standards and create action steps for improving DEI outcomes. Before you can establish activities to improve DEI outcomes you must know what you want to accomplish. This begins as a high level view of the typical person profile you serve versus the range of client profiles that could benefit from your services. Working in the human services sector can be complicated and overwhelming, which is why many organizations use case management systems. These platforms and apps help improve case management practices by compiling information and automating responsibilities. This gives caseworkers more time to focus on their clients' needs and other business processes. What does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion even mean? Diversity has been discussed for decades, primarily within the realm of racial, gender and ethnic identities. That is a narrow definition, when in fact there are other differences among people to understand. Socio-economic backgrounds as well as current circumstances influence clients’ perceptions. A wider lens on diversity considers clients’ culture, neurodiversity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Your clients may have other differences as well, considering it’s tough to create an exhaustive list. Measuring the diversity of your clients can demonstrate whether your organization is reaching all of the people who may be eligible for its services and looking for ways to engage underrepresented groups. Equity applies to outcomes, not inputs. In other words, people’s needs are not the same for achieving the same goal they may have in common. If you shoot for a certain outcome for all of your clients, they will need different interventions and support to get there. Consider the picture from the Interaction Institute for Social Change. All of the children have a goal to see over the fence. On the left all of the children received the same sized box to boost them. In the picture, the first child is tall enough to see over the fence without a box. It is a wasted resource. The middle child has a box perfect for his height. This box solved his problem efficiently. When the same sized box was given to the third child it did not solve his problem because it was inadequate, even if it was the same as the others. But the right side of the picture reveals how redistributing the boxes equalized the children’s outcomes. All of them could see the game beyond the fence by getting exactly what they needed. Inclusion refers to how your clients experience your organization, services and you. Think of it as a form of psychological safety. Do your clients feel respected and accepted? Can they tell you the truth of their lives without fear of judgement? And if they experience a disturbing reaction, do they have meaningful redress? Creating an inclusive environment means clients feel safe to spend time with you, around your co-workers and throughout the physical space. They are more likely to open up and share information they would otherwise hide. You are trained to listen without bias or judgement when they describe their circumstances. But with a diverse set of clients your responses to them can feel different even if you are delivering them in the way you think it’s appropriate. At its heart, you and your agency are adapting to your client’s culture, as opposed to expecting them to adapt to yours. Benefits of a DEI Focus Many organizations have accepted the ideals of DEI conceptually. They may have worked to put principles in place, but have not really measured whether they are achieving them. In fact, employees may perceive that their desire to help a diverse population may automatically lead to a sense of inclusion and equity among the clients. But this desire is a motivation, not an outcome. Setting measurable DEI goals will require social service practitioners like you to understand the unique needs and perspectives of diverse clients more intentionally. This greater understanding will help you determine the interventions that are most likely to serve their clients. It will also lead to more productive conversations with clients where you can work together for better problem-solving. Gathering the DEI data can document the ways our social and economic systems are inequitable and have built in barriers to success for the very people social services are designed to help. When you track the data and can show how the systems are failing you are contributing to the big picture. This is useful for advocacy either by social workers individually or through professional associations. The benefits of client rapport go both ways. You, as a case manager, can experience burnout from feeling like you are getting nowhere with your clients. If you are not communicating in a way that reaches them based on their cultural and social norms they are less likely to respond to your advice and efforts. When they engage and actively work in resolving their issues you will gain satisfaction as their service provider. Setting Your DEI Goals The most successful DEI goals are actionable, measurable, and transparent, with timelines and identified parties who are responsible for overseeing the work and reaching your goals. This is just as true for any effort to set standards and create action steps for improving DEI outcomes. Before you can establish activities to improve DEI outcomes you must know what you want to accomplish. This begins as a high level view of the typical person profile you serve versus the range of client profiles that could benefit from your services. Working in the human services sector can be complicated and overwhelming, which is why many organizations use case management systems. These platforms and apps help improve case management practices by compiling information and automating responsibilities. This gives caseworkers more time to focus on their clients' needs and other business processes. What does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion even mean? Diversity has been discussed for decades, primarily within the realm of racial, gender and ethnic identities. That is a narrow definition, when in fact there are other differences among people to understand. Socio-economic backgrounds as well as current circumstances influence clients’ perceptions. A wider lens on diversity considers clients’ culture, neurodiversity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Your clients may have other differences as well, considering it’s tough to create an exhaustive list. Measuring the diversity of your clients can demonstrate whether your organization is reaching all of the people who may be eligible for its services and looking for ways to engage underrepresented groups. Equity applies to outcomes, not inputs. In other words, people’s needs are not the same for achieving the same goal they may have in common. If you shoot for a certain outcome for all of your clients, they will need different interventions and support to get there. Consider the picture from the Interaction Institute for Social Change. All of the children have a goal to see over the fence. On the left all of the children received the same sized box to boost them. In the picture, the first child is tall enough to see over the fence without a box. It is a wasted resource. The middle child has a box perfect for his height. This box solved his problem efficiently. When the same sized box was given to the third child it did not solve his problem because it was inadequate, even if it was the same as the others. But the right side of the picture reveals how redistributing the boxes equalized the children’s outcomes. All of them could see the game beyond the fence by getting exactly what they needed. Inclusion refers to how your clients experience your organization, services and you. Think of it as a form of psychological safety. Do your clients feel respected and accepted? Can they tell you the truth of their lives without fear of judgement? And if they experience a disturbing reaction, do they have meaningful redress? Creating an inclusive environment means clients feel safe to spend time with you, around your co-workers and throughout the physical space. They are more likely to open up and share information they would otherwise hide. You are trained to listen without bias or judgement when they describe their circumstances. But with a diverse set of clients your responses to them can feel different even if you are delivering them in the way you think it’s appropriate. At its heart, you and your agency are adapting to your client’s culture, as opposed to expecting them to adapt to yours. Benefits of a DEI Focus Many organizations have accepted the ideals of DEI conceptually. They may have worked to put principles in place, but have not really measured whether they are achieving them. In fact, employees may perceive that their desire to help a diverse population may automatically lead to a sense of inclusion and equity among the clients. But this desire is a motivation, not an outcome. Setting measurable DEI goals will require social service practitioners like you to understand the unique needs and perspectives of diverse clients more intentionally. This greater understanding will help you determine the interventions that are most likely to serve their clients. It will also lead to more productive conversations with clients where you can work together for better problem-solving. Gathering the DEI data can document the ways our social and economic systems are inequitable and have built in barriers to success for the very people social services are designed to help. When you track the data and can show how the systems are failing you are contributing to the big picture. This is useful for advocacy either by social workers individually or through professional associations. The benefits of client rapport go both ways. You, as a case manager, can experience burnout from feeling like you are getting nowhere with your clients. If you are not communicating in a way that reaches them based on their cultural and social norms they are less likely to respond to your advice and efforts. When they engage and actively work in resolving their issues you will gain satisfaction as their service provider. Setting Your DEI Goals The most successful DEI goals are actionable, measurable, and transparent, with timelines and identified parties who are responsible for overseeing the work and reaching your goals. This is just as true for any effort to set standards and create action steps for improving DEI outcomes. Before you can establish activities to improve DEI outcomes you must know what you want to accomplish. This begins as a high level view of the typical person profile you serve versus the range of client profiles that could benefit from your services. Working in the human services sector can be complicated and overwhelming, which is why many organizations use case management systems. These platforms and apps help improve case management practices by compiling information and automating responsibilities. This gives caseworkers more time to focus on their clients' needs and other business processes. What does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion even mean? Diversity has been discussed for decades, primarily within the realm of racial, gender and ethnic identities. That is a narrow definition, when in fact there are other differences among people to understand. Socio-economic backgrounds as well as current circumstances influence clients’ perceptions. A wider lens on diversity considers clients’ culture, neurodiversity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Your clients may have other differences as well, considering it’s tough to create an exhaustive list. Measuring the diversity of your clients can demonstrate whether your organization is reaching all of the people who may be eligible for its services and looking for ways to engage underrepresented groups. Equity applies to outcomes, not inputs. In other words, people’s needs are not the same for achieving the same goal they may have in common. If you shoot for a certain outcome for all of your clients, they will need different interventions and support to get there. Consider the picture from the Interaction Institute for Social Change. All of the children have a goal to see over the fence. On the left all of the children received the same sized box to boost them. In the picture, the first child is tall enough to see over the fence without a box. It is a wasted resource. The middle child has a box perfect for his height. This box solved his problem efficiently. When the same sized box was given to the third child it did not solve his problem because it was inadequate, even if it was the same as the others. But the right side of the picture reveals how redistributing the boxes equalized the children’s outcomes. All of them could see the game beyond the fence by getting exactly what they needed. Inclusion refers to how your clients experience your organization, services and you. Think of it as a form of psychological safety. Do your clients feel respected and accepted? Can they tell you the truth of their lives without fear of judgement? And if they experience a disturbing reaction, do they have meaningful redress? Creating an inclusive environment means clients feel safe to spend time with you, around your co-workers and throughout the physical space. They are more likely to open up and share information they would otherwise hide. You are trained to listen without bias or judgement when they describe their circumstances. But with a diverse set of clients your responses to them can feel different even if you are delivering them in the way you think it’s appropriate. At its heart, you and your agency are adapting to your client’s culture, as opposed to expecting them to adapt to yours. Benefits of a DEI Focus Many organizations have accepted the ideals of DEI conceptually. They may have worked to put principles in place, but have not really measured whether they are achieving them. In fact, employees may perceive that their desire to help a diverse population may automatically lead to a sense of inclusion and equity among the clients. But this desire is a motivation, not an outcome. Setting measurable DEI goals will require social service practitioners like you to understand the unique needs and perspectives of diverse clients more intentionally. This greater understanding will help you determine the interventions that are most likely to serve their clients. It will also lead to more productive conversations with clients where you can work together for better problem-solving. Gathering the DEI data can document the ways our social and economic systems are inequitable and have built in barriers to success for the very people social services are designed to help. When you track the data and can show how the systems are failing you are contributing to the big picture. This is useful for advocacy either by social workers individually or through professional associations. The benefits of client rapport go both ways. You, as a case manager, can experience burnout from feeling like you are getting nowhere with your clients. If you are not communicating in a way that reaches them based on their cultural and social norms they are less likely to respond to your advice and efforts. When they engage and actively work in resolving their issues you will gain satisfaction as their service provider. Setting Your DEI Goals The most successful DEI goals are actionable, measurable, and transparent, with timelines and identified parties who are responsible for overseeing the work and reaching your goals. This is just as true for any effort to set standards and create action steps for improving DEI outcomes. Before you can establish activities to improve DEI outcomes you must know what you want to accomplish. This begins as a high level view of the typical person profile you serve versus the range of client profiles that could benefit from your services. Working in the human services sector can be complicated and overwhelming, which is why many organizations use case management systems. These platforms and apps help improve case management practices by compiling information and automating responsibilities. This gives caseworkers more time to focus on their clients' needs and other business processes. What does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion even mean? Diversity has been discussed for decades, primarily within the realm of racial, gender and ethnic identities. That is a narrow definition, when in fact there are other differences among people to understand. Socio-economic backgrounds as well as current circumstances influence clients’ perceptions. A wider lens on diversity considers clients’ culture, neurodiversity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Your clients may have other differences as well, considering it’s tough to create an exhaustive list. Measuring the diversity of your clients can demonstrate whether your organization is reaching all of the people who may be eligible for its services and looking for ways to engage underrepresented groups. Equity applies to outcomes, not inputs. In other words, people’s needs are not the same for achieving the same goal they may have in common. If you shoot for a certain outcome for all of your clients, they will need different interventions and support to get there. Consider the picture from the Interaction Institute for Social Change. All of the children have a goal to see over the fence. On the left all of the children received the same sized box to boost them. In the picture, the first child is tall enough to see over the fence without a box. It is a wasted resource. The middle child has a box perfect for his height. This box solved his problem efficiently. When the same sized box was given to the third child it did not solve his problem because it was inadequate, even if it was the same as the others. But the right side of the picture reveals how redistributing the boxes equalized the children’s outcomes. All of them could see the game beyond the fence by getting exactly what they needed. Inclusion refers to how your clients experience your organization, services and you. Think of it as a form of psychological safety. Do your clients feel respected and accepted? Can they tell you the truth of their lives without fear of judgement? And if they experience a disturbing reaction, do they have meaningful redress? Creating an inclusive environment means clients feel safe to spend time with you, around your co-workers and throughout the physical space. They are more likely to open up and share information they would otherwise hide. You are trained to listen without bias or judgement when they describe their circumstances. But with a diverse set of clients your responses to them can feel different even if you are delivering them in the way you think it’s appropriate. At its heart, you and your agency are adapting to your client’s culture, as opposed to expecting them to adapt to yours. Benefits of a DEI Focus Many organizations have accepted the ideals of DEI conceptually. They may have worked to put principles in place, but have not really measured whether they are achieving them. In fact, employees may perceive that their desire to help a diverse population may automatically lead to a sense of inclusion and equity among the clients. But this desire is a motivation, not an outcome. Setting measurable DEI goals will require social service practitioners like you to understand the unique needs and perspectives of diverse clients more intentionally. This greater understanding will help you determine the interventions that are most likely to serve their clients. It will also lead to more productive conversations with clients where you can work together for better problem-solving. Gathering the DEI data can document the ways our social and economic systems are inequitable and have built in barriers to success for the very people social services are designed to help. When you track the data and can show how the systems are failing you are contributing to the big picture. This is useful for advocacy either by social workers individually or through professional associations. The benefits of client rapport go both ways. You, as a case manager, can experience burnout from feeling like you are getting nowhere with your clients. If you are not communicating in a way that reaches them based on their cultural and social norms they are less likely to respond to your advice and efforts. When they engage and actively work in resolving their issues you will gain satisfaction as their service provider. Setting Your DEI Goals The most successful DEI goals are actionable, measurable, and transparent, with timelines and identified parties who are responsible for overseeing the work and reaching your goals. This is just as true for any effort to set standards and create action steps for improving DEI outcomes. Before you can establish activities to improve DEI outcomes you must know what you want to accomplish. This begins as a high level view of the typical person profile you serve versus the range of client profiles that could benefit from your services. Working in the human services sector can be complicated and overwhelming, which is why many organizations use case management systems. These platforms and apps help improve case management practices by compiling information and automating responsibilities. This gives caseworkers more time to focus on their clients' needs and other business processes. What does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion even mean? Diversity has been discussed for decades, primarily within the realm of racial, gender and ethnic identities. That is a narrow definition, when in fact there are other differences among people to understand. Socio-economic backgrounds as well as current circumstances influence clients’ perceptions. A wider lens on diversity considers clients’ culture, neurodiversity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Your clients may have other differences as well, considering it’s tough to create an exhaustive list. Measuring the diversity of your clients can demonstrate whether your organization is reaching all of the people who may be eligible for its services and looking for ways to engage underrepresented groups. Equity applies to outcomes, not inputs. In other words, people’s needs are not the same for achieving the same goal they may have in common. If you shoot for a certain outcome for all of your clients, they will need different interventions and support to get there. Consider the picture from the Interaction Institute for Social Change. All of the children have a goal to see over the fence. On the left all of the children received the same sized box to boost them. In the picture, the first child is tall enough to see over the fence without a box. It is a wasted resource. The middle child has a box perfect for his height. This box solved his problem efficiently. When the same sized box was given to the third child it did not solve his problem because it was inadequate, even if it was the same as the others. But the right side of the picture reveals how redistributing the boxes equalized the children’s outcomes. All of them could see the game beyond the fence by getting exactly what they needed. Inclusion refers to how your clients experience your organization, services and you. Think of it as a form of psychological safety. Do your clients feel respected and accepted? Can they tell you the truth of their lives without fear of judgement? And if they experience a disturbing reaction, do they have meaningful redress? Creating an inclusive environment means clients feel safe to spend time with you, around your co-workers and throughout the physical space. They are more likely to open up and share information they would otherwise hide. You are trained to listen without bias or judgement when they describe their circumstances. But with a diverse set of clients your responses to them can feel different even if you are delivering them in the way you think it’s appropriate. At its heart, you and your agency are adapting to your client’s culture, as opposed to expecting them to adapt to yours. Benefits of a DEI Focus Many organizations have accepted the ideals of DEI conceptually. They may have worked to put principles in place, but have not really measured whether they are achieving them. In fact, employees may perceive that their desire to help a diverse population may automatically lead to a sense of inclusion and equity among the clients. But this desire is a motivation, not an outcome. Setting measurable DEI goals will require social service practitioners like you to understand the unique needs and perspectives of diverse clients more intentionally. This greater understanding will help you determine the interventions that are most likely to serve their clients. It will also lead to more productive conversations with clients where you can work together for better problem-solving. Gathering the DEI data can document the ways our social and economic systems are inequitable and have built in barriers to success for the very people social services are designed to help. When you track the data and can show how the systems are failing you are contributing to the big picture. This is useful for advocacy either by social workers individually or through professional associations. The benefits of client rapport go both ways. You, as a case manager, can experience burnout from feeling like you are getting nowhere with your clients. If you are not communicating in a way that reaches them based on their cultural and social norms they are less likely to respond to your advice and efforts. When they engage and actively work in resolving their issues you will gain satisfaction as their service provider. Setting Your DEI Goals The most successful DEI goals are actionable, measurable, and transparent, with timelines and identified parties who are responsible for overseeing the work and reaching your goals. This is just as true for any effort to set standards and create action steps for improving DEI outcomes. Before you can establish activities to improve DEI outcomes you must know what you want to accomplish. This begins as a high level view of the typical person profile you serve versus the range of client profiles that could benefit from your services. Working in the human services sector can be complicated and overwhelming, which is why many organizations use case management systems. These platforms and apps help improve case management practices by compiling information and automating responsibilities. This gives caseworkers more time to focus on their clients' needs and other business processes. What does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion even mean? Diversity has been discussed for decades, primarily within the realm of racial, gender and ethnic identities. That is a narrow definition, when in fact there are other differences among people to understand. Socio-economic backgrounds as well as current circumstances influence clients’ perceptions. A wider lens on diversity considers clients’ culture, neurodiversity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Your clients may have other differences as well, considering it’s tough to create an exhaustive list. Measuring the diversity of your clients can demonstrate whether your organization is reaching all of the people who may be eligible for its services and looking for ways to engage underrepresented groups. Equity applies to outcomes, not inputs. In other words, people’s needs are not the same for achieving the same goal they may have in common. If you shoot for a certain outcome for all of your clients, they will need different interventions and support to get there. Consider the picture from the Interaction Institute for Social Change. All of the children have a goal to see over the fence. On the left all of the children received the same sized box to boost them. In the picture, the first child is tall enough to see over the fence without a box. It is a wasted resource. The middle child has a box perfect for his height. This box solved his problem efficiently. When the same sized box was given to the third child it did not solve his problem because it was inadequate, even if it was the same as the others. But the right side of the picture reveals how redistributing the boxes equalized the children’s outcomes. All of them could see the game beyond the fence by getting exactly what they needed. Inclusion refers to how your clients experience your organization, services and you. Think of it as a form of psychological safety. Do your clients feel respected and accepted? Can they tell you the truth of their lives without fear of judgement? And if they experience a disturbing reaction, do they have meaningful redress? Creating an inclusive environment means clients feel safe to spend time with you, around your co-workers and throughout the physical space. They are more likely to open up and share information they would otherwise hide. You are trained to listen without bias or judgement when they describe their circumstances. But with a diverse set of clients your responses to them can feel different even if you are delivering them in the way you think it’s appropriate. At its heart, you and your agency are adapting to your client’s culture, as opposed to expecting them to adapt to yours. Benefits of a DEI Focus Many organizations have accepted the ideals of DEI conceptually. They may have worked to put principles in place, but have not really measured whether they are achieving them. In fact, employees may perceive that their desire to help a diverse population may automatically lead to a sense of inclusion and equity among the clients. But this desire is a motivation, not an outcome. Setting measurable DEI goals will require social service practitioners like you to understand the unique needs and perspectives of diverse clients more intentionally. This greater understanding will help you determine the interventions that are most likely to serve their clients. It will also lead to more productive conversations with clients where you can work together for better problem-solving. Gathering the DEI data can document the ways our social and economic systems are inequitable and have built in barriers to success for the very people social services are designed to help. When you track the data and can show how the systems are failing you are contributing to the big picture. This is useful for advocacy either by social workers individually or through professional associations. The benefits of client rapport go both ways. You, as a case manager, can experience burnout from feeling like you are getting nowhere with your clients. If you are not communicating in a way that reaches them based on their cultural and social norms they are less likely to respond to your advice and efforts. When they engage and actively work in resolving their issues you will gain satisfaction as their service provider. Setting Your DEI Goals The most successful DEI goals are actionable, measurable, and transparent, with timelines and identified parties who are responsible for overseeing the work and reaching your goals. This is just as true for any effort to set standards and create action steps for improving DEI outcomes. Before you can establish activities to improve DEI outcomes you must know what you want to accomplish. This begins as a high level view of the typical person profile you serve versus the range of client profiles that could benefit from your services. Working in the human services sector can be complicated and overwhelming, which is why many organizations use case management systems. These platforms and apps help improve case management practices by compiling information and automating responsibilities. This gives caseworkers more time to focus on their clients' needs and other business processes. What does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion even mean? Diversity has been discussed for decades, primarily within the realm of racial, gender and ethnic identities. That is a narrow definition, when in fact there are other differences among people to understand. Socio-economic backgrounds as well as current circumstances influence clients’ perceptions. A wider lens on diversity considers clients’ culture, neurodiversity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Your clients may have other differences as well, considering it’s tough to create an exhaustive list. Measuring the diversity of your clients can demonstrate whether your organization is reaching all of the people who may be eligible for its services and looking for ways to engage underrepresented groups. Equity applies to outcomes, not inputs. In other words, people’s needs are not the same for achieving the same goal they may have in common. If you shoot for a certain outcome for all of your clients, they will need different interventions and support to get there. Consider the picture from the Interaction Institute for Social Change. All of the children have a goal to see over the fence. On the left all of the children received the same sized box to boost them. In the picture, the first child is tall enough to see over the fence without a box. It is a wasted resource. The middle child has a box perfect for his height. This box solved his problem efficiently. When the same sized box was given to the third child it did not solve his problem because it was inadequate, even if it was the same as the others. But the right side of the picture reveals how redistributing the boxes equalized the children’s outcomes. All of them could see the game beyond the fence by getting exactly what they needed. Inclusion refers to how your clients experience your organization, services and you. Think of it as a form of psychological safety. Do your clients feel respected and accepted? Can they tell you the truth of their lives without fear of judgement? And if they experience a disturbing reaction, do they have meaningful redress? Creating an inclusive environment means clients feel safe to spend time with you, around your co-workers and throughout the physical space. They are more likely to open up and share information they would otherwise hide. You are trained to listen without bias or judgement when they describe their circumstances. But with a diverse set of clients your responses to them can feel different even if you are delivering them in the way you think it’s appropriate. At its heart, you and your agency are adapting to your client’s culture, as opposed to expecting them to adapt to yours. Benefits of a DEI Focus Many organizations have accepted the ideals of DEI conceptually. They may have worked to put principles in place, but have not really measured whether they are achieving them. In fact, employees may perceive that their desire to help a diverse population may automatically lead to a sense of inclusion and equity among the clients. But this desire is a motivation, not an outcome. Setting measurable DEI goals will require social service practitioners like you to understand the unique needs and perspectives of diverse clients more intentionally. This greater understanding will help you determine the interventions that are most likely to serve their clients. It will also lead to more productive conversations with clients where you can work together for better problem-solving. Gathering the DEI data can document the ways our social and economic systems are inequitable and have built in barriers to success for the very people social services are designed to help. When you track the data and can show how the systems are failing you are contributing to the big picture. This is useful for advocacy either by social workers individually or through professional associations. The benefits of client rapport go both ways. You, as a case manager, can experience burnout from feeling like you are getting nowhere with your clients. If you are not communicating in a way that reaches them based on their cultural and social norms they are less likely to respond to your advice and efforts. When they engage and actively work in resolving their issues you will gain satisfaction as their service provider. Setting Your DEI Goals The most successful DEI goals are actionable, measurable, and transparent, with timelines and identified parties who are responsible for overseeing the work and reaching your goals. This is just as true for any effort to set standards and create action steps for improving DEI outcomes. Before you can establish activities to improve DEI outcomes you must know what you want to accomplish. This begins as a high level view of the typical person profile you serve versus the range of client profiles that could benefit from your services. Working in the human services sector can be complicated and overwhelming, which is why many organizations use case management systems. These platforms and apps help improve case management practices by compiling information and automating responsibilities. This gives caseworkers more time to focus on their clients' needs and other business processes. What does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion even mean? Diversity has been discussed for decades, primarily within the realm of racial, gender and ethnic identities. That is a narrow definition, when in fact there are other differences among people to understand. Socio-economic backgrounds as well as current circumstances influence clients’ perceptions. A wider lens on diversity considers clients’ culture, neurodiversity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Your clients may have other differences as well, considering it’s tough to create an exhaustive list. Measuring the diversity of your clients can demonstrate whether your organization is reaching all of the people who may be eligible for its services and looking for ways to engage underrepresented groups. Equity applies to outcomes, not inputs. In other words, people’s needs are not the same for achieving the same goal they may have in common. If you shoot for a certain outcome for all of your clients, they will need different interventions and support to get there. Consider the picture from the Interaction Institute for Social Change. All of the children have a goal to see over the fence. On the left all of the children received the same sized box to boost them. In the picture, the first child is tall enough to see over the fence without a box. It is a wasted resource. The middle child has a box perfect for his height. This box solved his problem efficiently. When the same sized box was given to the third child it did not solve his problem because it was inadequate, even if it was the same as the others. But the right side of the picture reveals how redistributing the boxes equalized the children’s outcomes. All of them could see the game beyond the fence by getting exactly what they needed. Inclusion refers to how your clients experience your organization, services and you. Think of it as a form of psychological safety. Do your clients feel respected and accepted? Can they tell you the truth of their lives without fear of judgement? And if they experience a disturbing reaction, do they have meaningful redress? Creating an inclusive environment means clients feel safe to spend time with you, around your co-workers and throughout the physical space. They are more likely to open up and share information they would otherwise hide. You are trained to listen without bias or judgement when they describe their circumstances. But with a diverse set of clients your responses to them can feel different even if you are delivering them in the way you think it’s appropriate. At its heart, you and your agency are adapting to your client’s culture, as opposed to expecting them to adapt to yours. Benefits of a DEI Focus Many organizations have accepted the ideals of DEI conceptually. They may have worked to put principles in place, but have not really measured whether they are achieving them. In fact, employees may perceive that their desire to help a diverse population may automatically lead to a sense of inclusion and equity among the clients. But this desire is a motivation, not an outcome. Setting measurable DEI goals will require social service practitioners like you to understand the unique needs and perspectives of diverse clients more intentionally. This greater understanding will help you determine the interventions that are most likely to serve their clients. It will also lead to more productive conversations with clients where you can work together for better problem-solving. Gathering the DEI data can document the ways our social and economic systems are inequitable and have built in barriers to success for the very people social services are designed to help. When you track the data and can show how the systems are failing you are contributing to the big picture. This is useful for advocacy either by social workers individually or through professional associations. The benefits of client rapport go both ways. You, as a case manager, can experience burnout from feeling like you are getting nowhere with your clients. If you are not communicating in a way that reaches them based on their cultural and social norms they are less likely to respond to your advice and efforts. When they engage and actively work in resolving their issues you will gain satisfaction as their service provider. Setting Your DEI Goals The most successful DEI goals are actionable, measurable, and transparent, with timelines and identified parties who are responsible for overseeing the work and reaching your goals. This is just as true for any effort to set standards and create action steps for improving DEI outcomes. Before you can establish activities to improve DEI outcomes you must know what you want to accomplish. This begins as a high level view of the typical person profile you serve versus the range of client profiles that could benefit from your services. Working in the human services sector can be complicated and overwhelming, which is why many organizations use case management systems. These platforms and apps help improve case management practices by compiling information and automating responsibilities. This gives caseworkers more time to focus on their clients' needs and other business processes. What does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion even mean? Diversity has been discussed for decades, primarily within the realm of racial, gender and ethnic identities. That is a narrow definition, when in fact there are other differences among people to understand. Socio-economic backgrounds as well as current circumstances influence clients’ perceptions. A wider lens on diversity considers clients’ culture, neurodiversity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Your clients may have other differences as well, considering it’s tough to create an exhaustive list. Measuring the diversity of your clients can demonstrate whether your organization is reaching all of the people who may be eligible for its services and looking for ways to engage underrepresented groups. Equity applies to outcomes, not inputs. In other words, people’s needs are not the same for achieving the same goal they may have in common. If you shoot for a certain outcome for all of your clients, they will need different interventions and support to get there. Consider the picture from the Interaction Institute for Social Change. All of the children have a goal to see over the fence. On the left all of the children received the same sized box to boost them. In the picture, the first child is tall enough to see over the fence without a box. It is a wasted resource. The middle child has a box perfect for his height. This box solved his problem efficiently. When the same sized box was given to the third child it did not solve his problem because it was inadequate, even if it was the same as the others. But the right side of the picture reveals how redistributing the boxes equalized the children’s outcomes. All of them could see the game beyond the fence by getting exactly what they needed. Inclusion refers to how your clients experience your organization, services and you. Think of it as a form of psychological safety. Do your clients feel respected and accepted? Can they tell you the truth of their lives without fear of judgement? And if they experience a disturbing reaction, do they have meaningful redress? Creating an inclusive environment means clients feel safe to spend time with you, around your co-workers and throughout the physical space. They are more likely to open up and share information they would otherwise hide. You are trained to listen without bias or judgement when they describe their circumstances. But with a diverse set of clients your responses to them can feel different even if you are delivering them in the way you think it’s appropriate. At its heart, you and your agency are adapting to your client’s culture, as opposed to expecting them to adapt to yours. Benefits of a DEI Focus Many organizations have accepted the ideals of DEI conceptually. They may have worked to put principles in place, but have not really measured whether they are achieving them. In fact, employees may perceive that their desire to help a diverse population may automatically lead to a sense of inclusion and equity among the clients. But this desire is a motivation, not an outcome. Setting measurable DEI goals will require social service practitioners like you to understand the unique needs and perspectives of diverse clients more intentionally. This greater understanding will help you determine the interventions that are most likely to serve their clients. It will also lead to more productive conversations with clients where you can work together for better problem-solving. Gathering the DEI data can document the ways our social and economic systems are inequitable and have built in barriers to success for the very people social services are designed to help. When you track the data and can show how the systems are failing you are contributing to the big picture. This is useful for advocacy either by social workers individually or through professional associations. The benefits of client rapport go both ways. You, as a case manager, can experience burnout from feeling like you are getting nowhere with your clients. If you are not communicating in a way that reaches them based on their cultural and social norms they are less likely to respond to your advice and efforts. When they engage and actively work in resolving their issues you will gain satisfaction as their service provider. Setting Your DEI Goals The most successful DEI goals are actionable, measurable, and transparent, with timelines and identified parties who are responsible for overseeing the work and reaching your goals. This is just as true for any effort to set standards and create action steps for improving DEI outcomes. Before you can establish activities to improve DEI outcomes you must know what you want to accomplish. This begins as a high level view of the typical person profile you serve versus the range of client profiles that could benefit from your services.

Is your client homeless? How do you define homelessness? In human services It’s not a simple yes or no answer. Instead it’s multiple choice. There are four categories of homelessness used for federal housing programs. Then it gets complicated, but we’ll break it down. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the bulk of financial support for housing programs. Some HUD programs are dedicated for one category of homelessness only. Others are for multiple categories of homelessness. Some programs can differ at the state or local level. It’s a great big puzzle. (After you look at the puzzle pieces you might be inclined to call it something more colorful.) This article can explain the four types of homelessness that are set by HUD. Other federal agencies and many states use these definitions as well This article reviews some of the available resources for people who fit one or more of the definitions. By the end of this article you will understand the terms you will hear when you investigate housing programs. It introduces you to resources to investigate to stabilize your client’s housing. Category 1: Literal Homelessness Category 1 defines homelessness as people who are literally homeless. HUD’s verbatim explanation for a household follows: Individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning: Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation; or Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state and local government programs); or Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution. Public or private spaces captures locations such as tents, cars, or abandoned buildings. In my years as a director of an agency serving homeless people we saw people get creative. One gentleman liked to sleep in our front garden; another slept under our large, outdoor utility box. (It gave them one advantage: they could enter our drop in center the minute we opened our doors.) If your client has been in an institution such as jail, hospital, or intermediate care facility for less than 90 days, and goes there from the street or shelter they retain their homeless status. In other words, there has been no break in homelessness. If they went to a temporary, but legitimate housing situation (consider a family member’s home who took them in until they healed) they lose their homeless status. You should also understand the term chronic homeless status. This definition is the most restrictive. Households must: Have a documented disability, and They have been homeless continuously for one year, or have had at least episodes in the last four years that add up to 12 months. When you are aware that your client is literally homeless, record each homeless episode in your case management software. If you document a single incident in a month HUD counts it for the entire month. There’s one more term on Category 1 to keep in mind if you are trying to document chronic status that adds up to 12 months. A “break” in homelessness is considered to be seven or more nights. For example, John has been in an emergency shelter for 30 days. He slept on a friend’s couch for six nights and then returned to the shelter for 30 days. He’s been homeless for 67 days continuously. Suppose John spent 30 days in a shelter, slept on a friend’s couch for eight nights and returned to the shelter for 30 days. He had two incidents of homelessness that add up to 60 days. See HUD’s flow chart to document chronic homelessness here. Is your client homeless? How do you define homelessness? In human services It’s not a simple yes or no answer. Instead it’s multiple choice. There are four categories of homelessness used for federal housing programs. Then it gets complicated, but we’ll break it down. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the bulk of financial support for housing programs. Some HUD programs are dedicated for one category of homelessness only. Others are for multiple categories of homelessness. Some programs can differ at the state or local level. It’s a great big puzzle. (After you look at the puzzle pieces you might be inclined to call it something more colorful.) This article can explain the four types of homelessness that are set by HUD. Other federal agencies and many states use these definitions as well This article reviews some of the available resources for people who fit one or more of the definitions. By the end of this article you will understand the terms you will hear when you investigate housing programs. It introduces you to resources to investigate to stabilize your client’s housing. Category 1: Literal Homelessness Category 1 defines homelessness as people who are literally homeless. HUD’s verbatim explanation for a household follows: Individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning: Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation; or Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state and local government programs); or Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution. Public or private spaces captures locations such as tents, cars, or abandoned buildings. In my years as a director of an agency serving homeless people we saw people get creative. One gentleman liked to sleep in our front garden; another slept under our large, outdoor utility box. (It gave them one advantage: they could enter our drop in center the minute we opened our doors.) If your client has been in an institution such as jail, hospital, or intermediate care facility for less than 90 days, and goes there from the street or shelter they retain their homeless status. In other words, there has been no break in homelessness. If they went to a temporary, but legitimate housing situation (consider a family member’s home who took them in until they healed) they lose their homeless status. You should also understand the term chronic homeless status. This definition is the most restrictive. Households must: Have a documented disability, and They have been homeless continuously for one year, or have had at least episodes in the last four years that add up to 12 months. When you are aware that your client is literally homeless, record each homeless episode in your case management software. If you document a single incident in a month HUD counts it for the entire month. There’s one more term on Category 1 to keep in mind if you are trying to document chronic status that adds up to 12 months. A “break” in homelessness is considered to be seven or more nights. For example, John has been in an emergency shelter for 30 days. He slept on a friend’s couch for six nights and then returned to the shelter for 30 days. He’s been homeless for 67 days continuously. Suppose John spent 30 days in a shelter, slept on a friend’s couch for eight nights and returned to the shelter for 30 days. He had two incidents of homelessness that add up to 60 days. See HUD’s flow chart to document chronic homelessness here. Is your client homeless? How do you define homelessness? In human services It’s not a simple yes or no answer. Instead it’s multiple choice. There are four categories of homelessness used for federal housing programs. Then it gets complicated, but we’ll break it down. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the bulk of financial support for housing programs. Some HUD programs are dedicated for one category of homelessness only. Others are for multiple categories of homelessness. Some programs can differ at the state or local level. It’s a great big puzzle. (After you look at the puzzle pieces you might be inclined to call it something more colorful.) This article can explain the four types of homelessness that are set by HUD. Other federal agencies and many states use these definitions as well This article reviews some of the available resources for people who fit one or more of the definitions. By the end of this article you will understand the terms you will hear when you investigate housing programs. It introduces you to resources to investigate to stabilize your client’s housing. Category 1: Literal Homelessness Category 1 defines homelessness as people who are literally homeless. HUD’s verbatim explanation for a household follows: Individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning: Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation; or Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state and local government programs); or Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution. Public or private spaces captures locations such as tents, cars, or abandoned buildings. In my years as a director of an agency serving homeless people we saw people get creative. One gentleman liked to sleep in our front garden; another slept under our large, outdoor utility box. (It gave them one advantage: they could enter our drop in center the minute we opened our doors.) If your client has been in an institution such as jail, hospital, or intermediate care facility for less than 90 days, and goes there from the street or shelter they retain their homeless status. In other words, there has been no break in homelessness. If they went to a temporary, but legitimate housing situation (consider a family member’s home who took them in until they healed) they lose their homeless status. You should also understand the term chronic homeless status. This definition is the most restrictive. Households must: Have a documented disability, and They have been homeless continuously for one year, or have had at least episodes in the last four years that add up to 12 months. When you are aware that your client is literally homeless, record each homeless episode in your case management software. If you document a single incident in a month HUD counts it for the entire month. There’s one more term on Category 1 to keep in mind if you are trying to document chronic status that adds up to 12 months. A “break” in homelessness is considered to be seven or more nights. For example, John has been in an emergency shelter for 30 days. He slept on a friend’s couch for six nights and then returned to the shelter for 30 days. He’s been homeless for 67 days continuously. Suppose John spent 30 days in a shelter, slept on a friend’s couch for eight nights and returned to the shelter for 30 days. He had two incidents of homelessness that add up to 60 days. See HUD’s flow chart to document chronic homelessness here. Is your client homeless? How do you define homelessness? In human services It’s not a simple yes or no answer. Instead it’s multiple choice. There are four categories of homelessness used for federal housing programs. Then it gets complicated, but we’ll break it down. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the bulk of financial support for housing programs. Some HUD programs are dedicated for one category of homelessness only. Others are for multiple categories of homelessness. Some programs can differ at the state or local level. It’s a great big puzzle. (After you look at the puzzle pieces you might be inclined to call it something more colorful.) This article can explain the four types of homelessness that are set by HUD. Other federal agencies and many states use these definitions as well This article reviews some of the available resources for people who fit one or more of the definitions. By the end of this article you will understand the terms you will hear when you investigate housing programs. It introduces you to resources to investigate to stabilize your client’s housing. Category 1: Literal Homelessness Category 1 defines homelessness as people who are literally homeless. HUD’s verbatim explanation for a household follows: Individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning: Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation; or Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state and local government programs); or Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution. Public or private spaces captures locations such as tents, cars, or abandoned buildings. In my years as a director of an agency serving homeless people we saw people get creative. One gentleman liked to sleep in our front garden; another slept under our large, outdoor utility box. (It gave them one advantage: they could enter our drop in center the minute we opened our doors.) If your client has been in an institution such as jail, hospital, or intermediate care facility for less than 90 days, and goes there from the street or shelter they retain their homeless status. In other words, there has been no break in homelessness. If they went to a temporary, but legitimate housing situation (consider a family member’s home who took them in until they healed) they lose their homeless status. You should also understand the term chronic homeless status. This definition is the most restrictive. Households must: Have a documented disability, and They have been homeless continuously for one year, or have had at least episodes in the last four years that add up to 12 months. When you are aware that your client is literally homeless, record each homeless episode in your case management software. If you document a single incident in a month HUD counts it for the entire month. There’s one more term on Category 1 to keep in mind if you are trying to document chronic status that adds up to 12 months. A “break” in homelessness is considered to be seven or more nights. For example, John has been in an emergency shelter for 30 days. He slept on a friend’s couch for six nights and then returned to the shelter for 30 days. He’s been homeless for 67 days continuously. Suppose John spent 30 days in a shelter, slept on a friend’s couch for eight nights and returned to the shelter for 30 days. He had two incidents of homelessness that add up to 60 days. See HUD’s flow chart to document chronic homelessness here. Is your client homeless? How do you define homelessness? In human services It’s not a simple yes or no answer. Instead it’s multiple choice. There are four categories of homelessness used for federal housing programs. Then it gets complicated, but we’ll break it down. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the bulk of financial support for housing programs. Some HUD programs are dedicated for one category of homelessness only. Others are for multiple categories of homelessness. Some programs can differ at the state or local level. It’s a great big puzzle. (After you look at the puzzle pieces you might be inclined to call it something more colorful.) This article can explain the four types of homelessness that are set by HUD. Other federal agencies and many states use these definitions as well This article reviews some of the available resources for people who fit one or more of the definitions. By the end of this article you will understand the terms you will hear when you investigate housing programs. It introduces you to resources to investigate to stabilize your client’s housing. Category 1: Literal Homelessness Category 1 defines homelessness as people who are literally homeless. HUD’s verbatim explanation for a household follows: Individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning: Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation; or Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state and local government programs); or Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution. Public or private spaces captures locations such as tents, cars, or abandoned buildings. In my years as a director of an agency serving homeless people we saw people get creative. One gentleman liked to sleep in our front garden; another slept under our large, outdoor utility box. (It gave them one advantage: they could enter our drop in center the minute we opened our doors.) If your client has been in an institution such as jail, hospital, or intermediate care facility for less than 90 days, and goes there from the street or shelter they retain their homeless status. In other words, there has been no break in homelessness. If they went to a temporary, but legitimate housing situation (consider a family member’s home who took them in until they healed) they lose their homeless status. You should also understand the term chronic homeless status. This definition is the most restrictive. Households must: Have a documented disability, and They have been homeless continuously for one year, or have had at least episodes in the last four years that add up to 12 months. When you are aware that your client is literally homeless, record each homeless episode in your case management software. If you document a single incident in a month HUD counts it for the entire month. There’s one more term on Category 1 to keep in mind if you are trying to document chronic status that adds up to 12 months. A “break” in homelessness is considered to be seven or more nights. For example, John has been in an emergency shelter for 30 days. He slept on a friend’s couch for six nights and then returned to the shelter for 30 days. He’s been homeless for 67 days continuously. Suppose John spent 30 days in a shelter, slept on a friend’s couch for eight nights and returned to the shelter for 30 days. He had two incidents of homelessness that add up to 60 days. See HUD’s flow chart to document chronic homelessness here. Is your client homeless? How do you define homelessness? In human services It’s not a simple yes or no answer. Instead it’s multiple choice. There are four categories of homelessness used for federal housing programs. Then it gets complicated, but we’ll break it down. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the bulk of financial support for housing programs. Some HUD programs are dedicated for one category of homelessness only. Others are for multiple categories of homelessness. Some programs can differ at the state or local level. It’s a great big puzzle. (After you look at the puzzle pieces you might be inclined to call it something more colorful.) This article can explain the four types of homelessness that are set by HUD. Other federal agencies and many states use these definitions as well This article reviews some of the available resources for people who fit one or more of the definitions. By the end of this article you will understand the terms you will hear when you investigate housing programs. It introduces you to resources to investigate to stabilize your client’s housing. Category 1: Literal Homelessness Category 1 defines homelessness as people who are literally homeless. HUD’s verbatim explanation for a household follows: Individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning: Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation; or Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state and local government programs); or Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution. Public or private spaces captures locations such as tents, cars, or abandoned buildings. In my years as a director of an agency serving homeless people we saw people get creative. One gentleman liked to sleep in our front garden; another slept under our large, outdoor utility box. (It gave them one advantage: they could enter our drop in center the minute we opened our doors.) If your client has been in an institution such as jail, hospital, or intermediate care facility for less than 90 days, and goes there from the street or shelter they retain their homeless status. In other words, there has been no break in homelessness. If they went to a temporary, but legitimate housing situation (consider a family member’s home who took them in until they healed) they lose their homeless status. You should also understand the term chronic homeless status. This definition is the most restrictive. Households must: Have a documented disability, and They have been homeless continuously for one year, or have had at least episodes in the last four years that add up to 12 months. When you are aware that your client is literally homeless, record each homeless episode in your case management software. If you document a single incident in a month HUD counts it for the entire month. There’s one more term on Category 1 to keep in mind if you are trying to document chronic status that adds up to 12 months. A “break” in homelessness is considered to be seven or more nights. For example, John has been in an emergency shelter for 30 days. He slept on a friend’s couch for six nights and then returned to the shelter for 30 days. He’s been homeless for 67 days continuously. Suppose John spent 30 days in a shelter, slept on a friend’s couch for eight nights and returned to the shelter for 30 days. He had two incidents of homelessness that add up to 60 days. See HUD’s flow chart to document chronic homelessness here. Is your client homeless? How do you define homelessness? In human services It’s not a simple yes or no answer. Instead it’s multiple choice. There are four categories of homelessness used for federal housing programs. Then it gets complicated, but we’ll break it down. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the bulk of financial support for housing programs. Some HUD programs are dedicated for one category of homelessness only. Others are for multiple categories of homelessness. Some programs can differ at the state or local level. It’s a great big puzzle. (After you look at the puzzle pieces you might be inclined to call it something more colorful.) This article can explain the four types of homelessness that are set by HUD. Other federal agencies and many states use these definitions as well This article reviews some of the available resources for people who fit one or more of the definitions. By the end of this article you will understand the terms you will hear when you investigate housing programs. It introduces you to resources to investigate to stabilize your client’s housing. Category 1: Literal Homelessness Category 1 defines homelessness as people who are literally homeless. HUD’s verbatim explanation for a household follows: Individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning: Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation; or Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state and local government programs); or Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution. Public or private spaces captures locations such as tents, cars, or abandoned buildings. In my years as a director of an agency serving homeless people we saw people get creative. One gentleman liked to sleep in our front garden; another slept under our large, outdoor utility box. (It gave them one advantage: they could enter our drop in center the minute we opened our doors.) If your client has been in an institution such as jail, hospital, or intermediate care facility for less than 90 days, and goes there from the street or shelter they retain their homeless status. In other words, there has been no break in homelessness. If they went to a temporary, but legitimate housing situation (consider a family member’s home who took them in until they healed) they lose their homeless status. You should also understand the term chronic homeless status. This definition is the most restrictive. Households must: Have a documented disability, and They have been homeless continuously for one year, or have had at least episodes in the last four years that add up to 12 months. When you are aware that your client is literally homeless, record each homeless episode in your case management software. If you document a single incident in a month HUD counts it for the entire month. There’s one more term on Category 1 to keep in mind if you are trying to document chronic status that adds up to 12 months. A “break” in homelessness is considered to be seven or more nights. For example, John has been in an emergency shelter for 30 days. He slept on a friend’s couch for six nights and then returned to the shelter for 30 days. He’s been homeless for 67 days continuously. Suppose John spent 30 days in a shelter, slept on a friend’s couch for eight nights and returned to the shelter for 30 days. He had two incidents of homelessness that add up to 60 days. See HUD’s flow chart to document chronic homelessness here. Is your client homeless? How do you define homelessness? In human services It’s not a simple yes or no answer. Instead it’s multiple choice. There are four categories of homelessness used for federal housing programs. Then it gets complicated, but we’ll break it down. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the bulk of financial support for housing programs. Some HUD programs are dedicated for one category of homelessness only. Others are for multiple categories of homelessness. Some programs can differ at the state or local level. It’s a great big puzzle. (After you look at the puzzle pieces you might be inclined to call it something more colorful.) This article can explain the four types of homelessness that are set by HUD. Other federal agencies and many states use these definitions as well This article reviews some of the available resources for people who fit one or more of the definitions. By the end of this article you will understand the terms you will hear when you investigate housing programs. It introduces you to resources to investigate to stabilize your client’s housing. Category 1: Literal Homelessness Category 1 defines homelessness as people who are literally homeless. HUD’s verbatim explanation for a household follows: Individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning: Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation; or Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state and local government programs); or Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution. Public or private spaces captures locations such as tents, cars, or abandoned buildings. In my years as a director of an agency serving homeless people we saw people get creative. One gentleman liked to sleep in our front garden; another slept under our large, outdoor utility box. (It gave them one advantage: they could enter our drop in center the minute we opened our doors.) If your client has been in an institution such as jail, hospital, or intermediate care facility for less than 90 days, and goes there from the street or shelter they retain their homeless status. In other words, there has been no break in homelessness. If they went to a temporary, but legitimate housing situation (consider a family member’s home who took them in until they healed) they lose their homeless status. You should also understand the term chronic homeless status. This definition is the most restrictive. Households must: Have a documented disability, and They have been homeless continuously for one year, or have had at least episodes in the last four years that add up to 12 months. When you are aware that your client is literally homeless, record each homeless episode in your case management software. If you document a single incident in a month HUD counts it for the entire month. There’s one more term on Category 1 to keep in mind if you are trying to document chronic status that adds up to 12 months. A “break” in homelessness is considered to be seven or more nights. For example, John has been in an emergency shelter for 30 days. He slept on a friend’s couch for six nights and then returned to the shelter for 30 days. He’s been homeless for 67 days continuously. Suppose John spent 30 days in a shelter, slept on a friend’s couch for eight nights and returned to the shelter for 30 days. He had two incidents of homelessness that add up to 60 days. See HUD’s flow chart to document chronic homelessness here. Is your client homeless? How do you define homelessness? In human services It’s not a simple yes or no answer. Instead it’s multiple choice. There are four categories of homelessness used for federal housing programs. Then it gets complicated, but we’ll break it down. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the bulk of financial support for housing programs. Some HUD programs are dedicated for one category of homelessness only. Others are for multiple categories of homelessness. Some programs can differ at the state or local level. It’s a great big puzzle. (After you look at the puzzle pieces you might be inclined to call it something more colorful.) This article can explain the four types of homelessness that are set by HUD. Other federal agencies and many states use these definitions as well This article reviews some of the available resources for people who fit one or more of the definitions. By the end of this article you will understand the terms you will hear when you investigate housing programs. It introduces you to resources to investigate to stabilize your client’s housing. Category 1: Literal Homelessness Category 1 defines homelessness as people who are literally homeless. HUD’s verbatim explanation for a household follows: Individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning: Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation; or Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state and local government programs); or Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution. Public or private spaces captures locations such as tents, cars, or abandoned buildings. In my years as a director of an agency serving homeless people we saw people get creative. One gentleman liked to sleep in our front garden; another slept under our large, outdoor utility box. (It gave them one advantage: they could enter our drop in center the minute we opened our doors.) If your client has been in an institution such as jail, hospital, or intermediate care facility for less than 90 days, and goes there from the street or shelter they retain their homeless status. In other words, there has been no break in homelessness. If they went to a temporary, but legitimate housing situation (consider a family member’s home who took them in until they healed) they lose their homeless status. You should also understand the term chronic homeless status. This definition is the most restrictive. Households must: Have a documented disability, and They have been homeless continuously for one year, or have had at least episodes in the last four years that add up to 12 months. When you are aware that your client is literally homeless, record each homeless episode in your case management software. If you document a single incident in a month HUD counts it for the entire month. There’s one more term on Category 1 to keep in mind if you are trying to document chronic status that adds up to 12 months. A “break” in homelessness is considered to be seven or more nights. For example, John has been in an emergency shelter for 30 days. He slept on a friend’s couch for six nights and then returned to the shelter for 30 days. He’s been homeless for 67 days continuously. Suppose John spent 30 days in a shelter, slept on a friend’s couch for eight nights and returned to the shelter for 30 days. He had two incidents of homelessness that add up to 60 days. See HUD’s flow chart to document chronic homelessness here. Is your client homeless? How do you define homelessness? In human services It’s not a simple yes or no answer. Instead it’s multiple choice. There are four categories of homelessness used for federal housing programs. Then it gets complicated, but we’ll break it down. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the bulk of financial support for housing programs. Some HUD programs are dedicated for one category of homelessness only. Others are for multiple categories of homelessness. Some programs can differ at the state or local level. It’s a great big puzzle. (After you look at the puzzle pieces you might be inclined to call it something more colorful.) This article can explain the four types of homelessness that are set by HUD. Other federal agencies and many states use these definitions as well This article reviews some of the available resources for people who fit one or more of the definitions. By the end of this article you will understand the terms you will hear when you investigate housing programs. It introduces you to resources to investigate to stabilize your client’s housing. Category 1: Literal Homelessness Category 1 defines homelessness as people who are literally homeless. HUD’s verbatim explanation for a household follows: Individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning: Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation; or Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state and local government programs); or Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution. Public or private spaces captures locations such as tents, cars, or abandoned buildings. In my years as a director of an agency serving homeless people we saw people get creative. One gentleman liked to sleep in our front garden; another slept under our large, outdoor utility box. (It gave them one advantage: they could enter our drop in center the minute we opened our doors.) If your client has been in an institution such as jail, hospital, or intermediate care facility for less than 90 days, and goes there from the street or shelter they retain their homeless status. In other words, there has been no break in homelessness. If they went to a temporary, but legitimate housing situation (consider a family member’s home who took them in until they healed) they lose their homeless status. You should also understand the term chronic homeless status. This definition is the most restrictive. Households must: Have a documented disability, and They have been homeless continuously for one year, or have had at least episodes in the last four years that add up to 12 months. When you are aware that your client is literally homeless, record each homeless episode in your case management software. If you document a single incident in a month HUD counts it for the entire month. There’s one more term on Category 1 to keep in mind if you are trying to document chronic status that adds up to 12 months. A “break” in homelessness is considered to be seven or more nights. For example, John has been in an emergency shelter for 30 days. He slept on a friend’s couch for six nights and then returned to the shelter for 30 days. He’s been homeless for 67 days continuously. Suppose John spent 30 days in a shelter, slept on a friend’s couch for eight nights and returned to the shelter for 30 days. He had two incidents of homelessness that add up to 60 days. See HUD’s flow chart to document chronic homelessness here.

People released from all types of detention facilities may not be fully prepared to re-enter society. They will transition from a life in which they had few choices to one in which they will have much greater control over their decisions. Many public resources bar ex-offenders, taking away supports that could help establish a crime-free life. The returnees find themselves at a crossroads; they can repeat the poor choices that led them to incarceration or make better ones and correct their life direction. Case managers coordinate with other service providers for their expertise and resources so that the client has a framework for making better decisions. , As discussed in a previous post, “Reduce Recidivism with the Right Assessment Tools”, case managers must meet with individuals who seek help or for whom you received a referral and screen them for eligibility. After a thorough screening, it’s time to move onto the next phase and develop the case management plan. Ideally, a single case plan is developed with input from all agencies interacting with the client - including the corrections, probation, and community-based providers - and the case plan follows the client into the community upon release. The corrections facility staff can provide insights on that to supplement your own assessment. In-Reach There is not a hard line between eligibility screening and initiating the services that meet each client’s constellation of needs. You can use the time you spend with them for screening to begin building trust. Many may not know what to expect when they return to society, particularly if they have been incarcerated for years. All of the networks from their life before incarceration may be broken. They might have lost family connections. Employment, housing, and public benefits are gone. Terms of release are likely to restrict contact with family and friends if they also have criminal histories. Assessment can flow into informal discussions with clients about their need to rebuild and what they have available to them. Defining those needs is the starting point for identifying the right post-release assistance and to create the structure for the service plan you will coordinate. Basic information about the client goes into the initial Casebook file. You can build on that with notes from your interviews. If you have set up a directory of providers within the program, you can enter them into the file as a workflow for the interventions you anticipate. Casebook provides organizations with the flexibility to configure it to suit their needs. Users can establish appropriate values for tracking legal factors for reentry. If the client has been sentenced to a period of probation or parole, you can maintain information about the requirements and the client’s compliance. This includes the assigned officer, when the client must report, and any other key information about terms and conditions of supervision. You can be a partner to the community probation or parole supervisor to support the client in making good choices and avoiding new offenses or technical violations that could return them to incarceration. People released from all types of detention facilities may not be fully prepared to re-enter society. They will transition from a life in which they had few choices to one in which they will have much greater control over their decisions. Many public resources bar ex-offenders, taking away supports that could help establish a crime-free life. The returnees find themselves at a crossroads; they can repeat the poor choices that led them to incarceration or make better ones and correct their life direction. Case managers coordinate with other service providers for their expertise and resources so that the client has a framework for making better decisions. , As discussed in a previous post, “Reduce Recidivism with the Right Assessment Tools”, case managers must meet with individuals who seek help or for whom you received a referral and screen them for eligibility. After a thorough screening, it’s time to move onto the next phase and develop the case management plan. Ideally, a single case plan is developed with input from all agencies interacting with the client - including the corrections, probation, and community-based providers - and the case plan follows the client into the community upon release. The corrections facility staff can provide insights on that to supplement your own assessment. In-Reach There is not a hard line between eligibility screening and initiating the services that meet each client’s constellation of needs. You can use the time you spend with them for screening to begin building trust. Many may not know what to expect when they return to society, particularly if they have been incarcerated for years. All of the networks from their life before incarceration may be broken. They might have lost family connections. Employment, housing, and public benefits are gone. Terms of release are likely to restrict contact with family and friends if they also have criminal histories. Assessment can flow into informal discussions with clients about their need to rebuild and what they have available to them. Defining those needs is the starting point for identifying the right post-release assistance and to create the structure for the service plan you will coordinate. Basic information about the client goes into the initial Casebook file. You can build on that with notes from your interviews. If you have set up a directory of providers within the program, you can enter them into the file as a workflow for the interventions you anticipate. Casebook provides organizations with the flexibility to configure it to suit their needs. Users can establish appropriate values for tracking legal factors for reentry. If the client has been sentenced to a period of probation or parole, you can maintain information about the requirements and the client’s compliance. This includes the assigned officer, when the client must report, and any other key information about terms and conditions of supervision. You can be a partner to the community probation or parole supervisor to support the client in making good choices and avoiding new offenses or technical violations that could return them to incarceration. People released from all types of detention facilities may not be fully prepared to re-enter society. They will transition from a life in which they had few choices to one in which they will have much greater control over their decisions. Many public resources bar ex-offenders, taking away supports that could help establish a crime-free life. The returnees find themselves at a crossroads; they can repeat the poor choices that led them to incarceration or make better ones and correct their life direction. Case managers coordinate with other service providers for their expertise and resources so that the client has a framework for making better decisions. , As discussed in a previous post, “Reduce Recidivism with the Right Assessment Tools”, case managers must meet with individuals who seek help or for whom you received a referral and screen them for eligibility. After a thorough screening, it’s time to move onto the next phase and develop the case management plan. Ideally, a single case plan is developed with input from all agencies interacting with the client - including the corrections, probation, and community-based providers - and the case plan follows the client into the community upon release. The corrections facility staff can provide insights on that to supplement your own assessment. In-Reach There is not a hard line between eligibility screening and initiating the services that meet each client’s constellation of needs. You can use the time you spend with them for screening to begin building trust. Many may not know what to expect when they return to society, particularly if they have been incarcerated for years. All of the networks from their life before incarceration may be broken. They might have lost family connections. Employment, housing, and public benefits are gone. Terms of release are likely to restrict contact with family and friends if they also have criminal histories. Assessment can flow into informal discussions with clients about their need to rebuild and what they have available to them. Defining those needs is the starting point for identifying the right post-release assistance and to create the structure for the service plan you will coordinate. Basic information about the client goes into the initial Casebook file. You can build on that with notes from your interviews. If you have set up a directory of providers within the program, you can enter them into the file as a workflow for the interventions you anticipate. Casebook provides organizations with the flexibility to configure it to suit their needs. Users can establish appropriate values for tracking legal factors for reentry. If the client has been sentenced to a period of probation or parole, you can maintain information about the requirements and the client’s compliance. This includes the assigned officer, when the client must report, and any other key information about terms and conditions of supervision. You can be a partner to the community probation or parole supervisor to support the client in making good choices and avoiding new offenses or technical violations that could return them to incarceration. People released from all types of detention facilities may not be fully prepared to re-enter society. They will transition from a life in which they had few choices to one in which they will have much greater control over their decisions. Many public resources bar ex-offenders, taking away supports that could help establish a crime-free life. The returnees find themselves at a crossroads; they can repeat the poor choices that led them to incarceration or make better ones and correct their life direction. Case managers coordinate with other service providers for their expertise and resources so that the client has a framework for making better decisions. , As discussed in a previous post, “Reduce Recidivism with the Right Assessment Tools”, case managers must meet with individuals who seek help or for whom you received a referral and screen them for eligibility. After a thorough screening, it’s time to move onto the next phase and develop the case management plan. Ideally, a single case plan is developed with input from all agencies interacting with the client - including the corrections, probation, and community-based providers - and the case plan follows the client into the community upon release. The corrections facility staff can provide insights on that to supplement your own assessment. In-Reach There is not a hard line between eligibility screening and initiating the services that meet each client’s constellation of needs. You can use the time you spend with them for screening to begin building trust. Many may not know what to expect when they return to society, particularly if they have been incarcerated for years. All of the networks from their life before incarceration may be broken. They might have lost family connections. Employment, housing, and public benefits are gone. Terms of release are likely to restrict contact with family and friends if they also have criminal histories. Assessment can flow into informal discussions with clients about their need to rebuild and what they have available to them. Defining those needs is the starting point for identifying the right post-release assistance and to create the structure for the service plan you will coordinate. Basic information about the client goes into the initial Casebook file. You can build on that with notes from your interviews. If you have set up a directory of providers within the program, you can enter them into the file as a workflow for the interventions you anticipate. Casebook provides organizations with the flexibility to configure it to suit their needs. Users can establish appropriate values for tracking legal factors for reentry. If the client has been sentenced to a period of probation or parole, you can maintain information about the requirements and the client’s compliance. This includes the assigned officer, when the client must report, and any other key information about terms and conditions of supervision. You can be a partner to the community probation or parole supervisor to support the client in making good choices and avoiding new offenses or technical violations that could return them to incarceration. People released from all types of detention facilities may not be fully prepared to re-enter society. They will transition from a life in which they had few choices to one in which they will have much greater control over their decisions. Many public resources bar ex-offenders, taking away supports that could help establish a crime-free life. The returnees find themselves at a crossroads; they can repeat the poor choices that led them to incarceration or make better ones and correct their life direction. Case managers coordinate with other service providers for their expertise and resources so that the client has a framework for making better decisions. , As discussed in a previous post, “Reduce Recidivism with the Right Assessment Tools”, case managers must meet with individuals who seek help or for whom you received a referral and screen them for eligibility. After a thorough screening, it’s time to move onto the next phase and develop the case management plan. Ideally, a single case plan is developed with input from all agencies interacting with the client - including the corrections, probation, and community-based providers - and the case plan follows the client into the community upon release. The corrections facility staff can provide insights on that to supplement your own assessment. In-Reach There is not a hard line between eligibility screening and initiating the services that meet each client’s constellation of needs. You can use the time you spend with them for screening to begin building trust. Many may not know what to expect when they return to society, particularly if they have been incarcerated for years. All of the networks from their life before incarceration may be broken. They might have lost family connections. Employment, housing, and public benefits are gone. Terms of release are likely to restrict contact with family and friends if they also have criminal histories. Assessment can flow into informal discussions with clients about their need to rebuild and what they have available to them. Defining those needs is the starting point for identifying the right post-release assistance and to create the structure for the service plan you will coordinate. Basic information about the client goes into the initial Casebook file. You can build on that with notes from your interviews. If you have set up a directory of providers within the program, you can enter them into the file as a workflow for the interventions you anticipate. Casebook provides organizations with the flexibility to configure it to suit their needs. Users can establish appropriate values for tracking legal factors for reentry. If the client has been sentenced to a period of probation or parole, you can maintain information about the requirements and the client’s compliance. This includes the assigned officer, when the client must report, and any other key information about terms and conditions of supervision. You can be a partner to the community probation or parole supervisor to support the client in making good choices and avoiding new offenses or technical violations that could return them to incarceration. People released from all types of detention facilities may not be fully prepared to re-enter society. They will transition from a life in which they had few choices to one in which they will have much greater control over their decisions. Many public resources bar ex-offenders, taking away supports that could help establish a crime-free life. The returnees find themselves at a crossroads; they can repeat the poor choices that led them to incarceration or make better ones and correct their life direction. Case managers coordinate with other service providers for their expertise and resources so that the client has a framework for making better decisions. , As discussed in a previous post, “Reduce Recidivism with the Right Assessment Tools”, case managers must meet with individuals who seek help or for whom you received a referral and screen them for eligibility. After a thorough screening, it’s time to move onto the next phase and develop the case management plan. Ideally, a single case plan is developed with input from all agencies interacting with the client - including the corrections, probation, and community-based providers - and the case plan follows the client into the community upon release. The corrections facility staff can provide insights on that to supplement your own assessment. In-Reach There is not a hard line between eligibility screening and initiating the services that meet each client’s constellation of needs. You can use the time you spend with them for screening to begin building trust. Many may not know what to expect when they return to society, particularly if they have been incarcerated for years. All of the networks from their life before incarceration may be broken. They might have lost family connections. Employment, housing, and public benefits are gone. Terms of release are likely to restrict contact with family and friends if they also have criminal histories. Assessment can flow into informal discussions with clients about their need to rebuild and what they have available to them. Defining those needs is the starting point for identifying the right post-release assistance and to create the structure for the service plan you will coordinate. Basic information about the client goes into the initial Casebook file. You can build on that with notes from your interviews. If you have set up a directory of providers within the program, you can enter them into the file as a workflow for the interventions you anticipate. Casebook provides organizations with the flexibility to configure it to suit their needs. Users can establish appropriate values for tracking legal factors for reentry. If the client has been sentenced to a period of probation or parole, you can maintain information about the requirements and the client’s compliance. This includes the assigned officer, when the client must report, and any other key information about terms and conditions of supervision. You can be a partner to the community probation or parole supervisor to support the client in making good choices and avoiding new offenses or technical violations that could return them to incarceration. People released from all types of detention facilities may not be fully prepared to re-enter society. They will transition from a life in which they had few choices to one in which they will have much greater control over their decisions. Many public resources bar ex-offenders, taking away supports that could help establish a crime-free life. The returnees find themselves at a crossroads; they can repeat the poor choices that led them to incarceration or make better ones and correct their life direction. Case managers coordinate with other service providers for their expertise and resources so that the client has a framework for making better decisions. , As discussed in a previous post, “Reduce Recidivism with the Right Assessment Tools”, case managers must meet with individuals who seek help or for whom you received a referral and screen them for eligibility. After a thorough screening, it’s time to move onto the next phase and develop the case management plan. Ideally, a single case plan is developed with input from all agencies interacting with the client - including the corrections, probation, and community-based providers - and the case plan follows the client into the community upon release. The corrections facility staff can provide insights on that to supplement your own assessment. In-Reach There is not a hard line between eligibility screening and initiating the services that meet each client’s constellation of needs. You can use the time you spend with them for screening to begin building trust. Many may not know what to expect when they return to society, particularly if they have been incarcerated for years. All of the networks from their life before incarceration may be broken. They might have lost family connections. Employment, housing, and public benefits are gone. Terms of release are likely to restrict contact with family and friends if they also have criminal histories. Assessment can flow into informal discussions with clients about their need to rebuild and what they have available to them. Defining those needs is the starting point for identifying the right post-release assistance and to create the structure for the service plan you will coordinate. Basic information about the client goes into the initial Casebook file. You can build on that with notes from your interviews. If you have set up a directory of providers within the program, you can enter them into the file as a workflow for the interventions you anticipate. Casebook provides organizations with the flexibility to configure it to suit their needs. Users can establish appropriate values for tracking legal factors for reentry. If the client has been sentenced to a period of probation or parole, you can maintain information about the requirements and the client’s compliance. This includes the assigned officer, when the client must report, and any other key information about terms and conditions of supervision. You can be a partner to the community probation or parole supervisor to support the client in making good choices and avoiding new offenses or technical violations that could return them to incarceration. People released from all types of detention facilities may not be fully prepared to re-enter society. They will transition from a life in which they had few choices to one in which they will have much greater control over their decisions. Many public resources bar ex-offenders, taking away supports that could help establish a crime-free life. The returnees find themselves at a crossroads; they can repeat the poor choices that led them to incarceration or make better ones and correct their life direction. Case managers coordinate with other service providers for their expertise and resources so that the client has a framework for making better decisions. , As discussed in a previous post, “Reduce Recidivism with the Right Assessment Tools”, case managers must meet with individuals who seek help or for whom you received a referral and screen them for eligibility. After a thorough screening, it’s time to move onto the next phase and develop the case management plan. Ideally, a single case plan is developed with input from all agencies interacting with the client - including the corrections, probation, and community-based providers - and the case plan follows the client into the community upon release. The corrections facility staff can provide insights on that to supplement your own assessment. In-Reach There is not a hard line between eligibility screening and initiating the services that meet each client’s constellation of needs. You can use the time you spend with them for screening to begin building trust. Many may not know what to expect when they return to society, particularly if they have been incarcerated for years. All of the networks from their life before incarceration may be broken. They might have lost family connections. Employment, housing, and public benefits are gone. Terms of release are likely to restrict contact with family and friends if they also have criminal histories. Assessment can flow into informal discussions with clients about their need to rebuild and what they have available to them. Defining those needs is the starting point for identifying the right post-release assistance and to create the structure for the service plan you will coordinate. Basic information about the client goes into the initial Casebook file. You can build on that with notes from your interviews. If you have set up a directory of providers within the program, you can enter them into the file as a workflow for the interventions you anticipate. Casebook provides organizations with the flexibility to configure it to suit their needs. Users can establish appropriate values for tracking legal factors for reentry. If the client has been sentenced to a period of probation or parole, you can maintain information about the requirements and the client’s compliance. This includes the assigned officer, when the client must report, and any other key information about terms and conditions of supervision. You can be a partner to the community probation or parole supervisor to support the client in making good choices and avoiding new offenses or technical violations that could return them to incarceration. People released from all types of detention facilities may not be fully prepared to re-enter society. They will transition from a life in which they had few choices to one in which they will have much greater control over their decisions. Many public resources bar ex-offenders, taking away supports that could help establish a crime-free life. The returnees find themselves at a crossroads; they can repeat the poor choices that led them to incarceration or make better ones and correct their life direction. Case managers coordinate with other service providers for their expertise and resources so that the client has a framework for making better decisions. , As discussed in a previous post, “Reduce Recidivism with the Right Assessment Tools”, case managers must meet with individuals who seek help or for whom you received a referral and screen them for eligibility. After a thorough screening, it’s time to move onto the next phase and develop the case management plan. Ideally, a single case plan is developed with input from all agencies interacting with the client - including the corrections, probation, and community-based providers - and the case plan follows the client into the community upon release. The corrections facility staff can provide insights on that to supplement your own assessment. In-Reach There is not a hard line between eligibility screening and initiating the services that meet each client’s constellation of needs. You can use the time you spend with them for screening to begin building trust. Many may not know what to expect when they return to society, particularly if they have been incarcerated for years. All of the networks from their life before incarceration may be broken. They might have lost family connections. Employment, housing, and public benefits are gone. Terms of release are likely to restrict contact with family and friends if they also have criminal histories. Assessment can flow into informal discussions with clients about their need to rebuild and what they have available to them. Defining those needs is the starting point for identifying the right post-release assistance and to create the structure for the service plan you will coordinate. Basic information about the client goes into the initial Casebook file. You can build on that with notes from your interviews. If you have set up a directory of providers within the program, you can enter them into the file as a workflow for the interventions you anticipate. Casebook provides organizations with the flexibility to configure it to suit their needs. Users can establish appropriate values for tracking legal factors for reentry. If the client has been sentenced to a period of probation or parole, you can maintain information about the requirements and the client’s compliance. This includes the assigned officer, when the client must report, and any other key information about terms and conditions of supervision. You can be a partner to the community probation or parole supervisor to support the client in making good choices and avoiding new offenses or technical violations that could return them to incarceration. People released from all types of detention facilities may not be fully prepared to re-enter society. They will transition from a life in which they had few choices to one in which they will have much greater control over their decisions. Many public resources bar ex-offenders, taking away supports that could help establish a crime-free life. The returnees find themselves at a crossroads; they can repeat the poor choices that led them to incarceration or make better ones and correct their life direction. Case managers coordinate with other service providers for their expertise and resources so that the client has a framework for making better decisions. , As discussed in a previous post, “Reduce Recidivism with the Right Assessment Tools”, case managers must meet with individuals who seek help or for whom you received a referral and screen them for eligibility. After a thorough screening, it’s time to move onto the next phase and develop the case management plan. Ideally, a single case plan is developed with input from all agencies interacting with the client - including the corrections, probation, and community-based providers - and the case plan follows the client into the community upon release. The corrections facility staff can provide insights on that to supplement your own assessment. In-Reach There is not a hard line between eligibility screening and initiating the services that meet each client’s constellation of needs. You can use the time you spend with them for screening to begin building trust. Many may not know what to expect when they return to society, particularly if they have been incarcerated for years. All of the networks from their life before incarceration may be broken. They might have lost family connections. Employment, housing, and public benefits are gone. Terms of release are likely to restrict contact with family and friends if they also have criminal histories. Assessment can flow into informal discussions with clients about their need to rebuild and what they have available to them. Defining those needs is the starting point for identifying the right post-release assistance and to create the structure for the service plan you will coordinate. Basic information about the client goes into the initial Casebook file. You can build on that with notes from your interviews. If you have set up a directory of providers within the program, you can enter them into the file as a workflow for the interventions you anticipate. Casebook provides organizations with the flexibility to configure it to suit their needs. Users can establish appropriate values for tracking legal factors for reentry. If the client has been sentenced to a period of probation or parole, you can maintain information about the requirements and the client’s compliance. This includes the assigned officer, when the client must report, and any other key information about terms and conditions of supervision. You can be a partner to the community probation or parole supervisor to support the client in making good choices and avoiding new offenses or technical violations that could return them to incarceration.

Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... You might be one of those people who think a family is homeless just because it doesn’t have a place to live. Technically you are correct, but that doesn’t mean the family is eligible for housing for homeless people. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the lion’s share of funding for homeless programs, making it the final arbiter of who counts as homeless. Before you read further let me clarify that homelessness is not an eligibility factor for Public Housing Authority housing and Housing Choice Vouchers. Every client you serve who is homeless or low-income may be eligible and benefit from it’s long term stability. But it can take years to move up the Housing Authority waiting lists. If you have clients who are literally homeless, they may qualify for another pool of money designed specifically for people who experience literal homelessness. The programs for literally homeless people flow through local Continuum of Care programs (CoC) to nonprofit housing agencies. That is, they are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation. That could be sleeping in their car, under a highway overpass or in an abandoned building. Residents of homeless shelters retain their homeless status. Sleeping under a bridge still might not be enough to get CoC help. HUD established a funding preference for people who have repeated or lengthy episodes of homelessness. If your client meets this criteria, they might just be homeless enough to qualify for this program and a relatively short waiting list. This article explains HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness, documentation you will need, and advice for collecting it in Casebook. Categories of Homelessness HUD has four categories of homelessness. Only Categories 1 and 4 are relevant to HUD programs for CoC funds for homeless people. Clients must fall into Category 1 if they are seeking long-term housing assistance. For example, they want a rent subsidy that will not expire for as long as they need it, (assuming they follow program guidelines.) Category 1: Literally Homeless Literal homeless, which is the most restrictive category for eligibility. Individuals or families enter one of the permanent programs if they are in at least one of the following situations: A homeless shelter designed to provide temporary living arrangements OR Living on the streets, in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not fit for human habitation Exceptions that don’t end their status as literally homeless: They entered an institution from the streets and leave within 90 days of entering it, and they will return to the streets or a shelter. Institutions include a jail, hospital or nursing home. They have a room in a motel room that is paid for by a non-profit or a government program. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... You might be one of those people who think a family is homeless just because it doesn’t have a place to live. Technically you are correct, but that doesn’t mean the family is eligible for housing for homeless people. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the lion’s share of funding for homeless programs, making it the final arbiter of who counts as homeless. Before you read further let me clarify that homelessness is not an eligibility factor for Public Housing Authority housing and Housing Choice Vouchers. Every client you serve who is homeless or low-income may be eligible and benefit from it’s long term stability. But it can take years to move up the Housing Authority waiting lists. If you have clients who are literally homeless, they may qualify for another pool of money designed specifically for people who experience literal homelessness. The programs for literally homeless people flow through local Continuum of Care programs (CoC) to nonprofit housing agencies. That is, they are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation. That could be sleeping in their car, under a highway overpass or in an abandoned building. Residents of homeless shelters retain their homeless status. Sleeping under a bridge still might not be enough to get CoC help. HUD established a funding preference for people who have repeated or lengthy episodes of homelessness. If your client meets this criteria, they might just be homeless enough to qualify for this program and a relatively short waiting list. This article explains HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness, documentation you will need, and advice for collecting it in Casebook. Categories of Homelessness HUD has four categories of homelessness. Only Categories 1 and 4 are relevant to HUD programs for CoC funds for homeless people. Clients must fall into Category 1 if they are seeking long-term housing assistance. For example, they want a rent subsidy that will not expire for as long as they need it, (assuming they follow program guidelines.) Category 1: Literally Homeless Literal homeless, which is the most restrictive category for eligibility. Individuals or families enter one of the permanent programs if they are in at least one of the following situations: A homeless shelter designed to provide temporary living arrangements OR Living on the streets, in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not fit for human habitation Exceptions that don’t end their status as literally homeless: They entered an institution from the streets and leave within 90 days of entering it, and they will return to the streets or a shelter. Institutions include a jail, hospital or nursing home. They have a room in a motel room that is paid for by a non-profit or a government program. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... You might be one of those people who think a family is homeless just because it doesn’t have a place to live. Technically you are correct, but that doesn’t mean the family is eligible for housing for homeless people. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the lion’s share of funding for homeless programs, making it the final arbiter of who counts as homeless. Before you read further let me clarify that homelessness is not an eligibility factor for Public Housing Authority housing and Housing Choice Vouchers. Every client you serve who is homeless or low-income may be eligible and benefit from it’s long term stability. But it can take years to move up the Housing Authority waiting lists. If you have clients who are literally homeless, they may qualify for another pool of money designed specifically for people who experience literal homelessness. The programs for literally homeless people flow through local Continuum of Care programs (CoC) to nonprofit housing agencies. That is, they are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation. That could be sleeping in their car, under a highway overpass or in an abandoned building. Residents of homeless shelters retain their homeless status. Sleeping under a bridge still might not be enough to get CoC help. HUD established a funding preference for people who have repeated or lengthy episodes of homelessness. If your client meets this criteria, they might just be homeless enough to qualify for this program and a relatively short waiting list. This article explains HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness, documentation you will need, and advice for collecting it in Casebook. Categories of Homelessness HUD has four categories of homelessness. Only Categories 1 and 4 are relevant to HUD programs for CoC funds for homeless people. Clients must fall into Category 1 if they are seeking long-term housing assistance. For example, they want a rent subsidy that will not expire for as long as they need it, (assuming they follow program guidelines.) Category 1: Literally Homeless Literal homeless, which is the most restrictive category for eligibility. Individuals or families enter one of the permanent programs if they are in at least one of the following situations: A homeless shelter designed to provide temporary living arrangements OR Living on the streets, in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not fit for human habitation Exceptions that don’t end their status as literally homeless: They entered an institution from the streets and leave within 90 days of entering it, and they will return to the streets or a shelter. Institutions include a jail, hospital or nursing home. They have a room in a motel room that is paid for by a non-profit or a government program. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... You might be one of those people who think a family is homeless just because it doesn’t have a place to live. Technically you are correct, but that doesn’t mean the family is eligible for housing for homeless people. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the lion’s share of funding for homeless programs, making it the final arbiter of who counts as homeless. Before you read further let me clarify that homelessness is not an eligibility factor for Public Housing Authority housing and Housing Choice Vouchers. Every client you serve who is homeless or low-income may be eligible and benefit from it’s long term stability. But it can take years to move up the Housing Authority waiting lists. If you have clients who are literally homeless, they may qualify for another pool of money designed specifically for people who experience literal homelessness. The programs for literally homeless people flow through local Continuum of Care programs (CoC) to nonprofit housing agencies. That is, they are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation. That could be sleeping in their car, under a highway overpass or in an abandoned building. Residents of homeless shelters retain their homeless status. Sleeping under a bridge still might not be enough to get CoC help. HUD established a funding preference for people who have repeated or lengthy episodes of homelessness. If your client meets this criteria, they might just be homeless enough to qualify for this program and a relatively short waiting list. This article explains HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness, documentation you will need, and advice for collecting it in Casebook. Categories of Homelessness HUD has four categories of homelessness. Only Categories 1 and 4 are relevant to HUD programs for CoC funds for homeless people. Clients must fall into Category 1 if they are seeking long-term housing assistance. For example, they want a rent subsidy that will not expire for as long as they need it, (assuming they follow program guidelines.) Category 1: Literally Homeless Literal homeless, which is the most restrictive category for eligibility. Individuals or families enter one of the permanent programs if they are in at least one of the following situations: A homeless shelter designed to provide temporary living arrangements OR Living on the streets, in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not fit for human habitation Exceptions that don’t end their status as literally homeless: They entered an institution from the streets and leave within 90 days of entering it, and they will return to the streets or a shelter. Institutions include a jail, hospital or nursing home. They have a room in a motel room that is paid for by a non-profit or a government program. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... You might be one of those people who think a family is homeless just because it doesn’t have a place to live. Technically you are correct, but that doesn’t mean the family is eligible for housing for homeless people. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the lion’s share of funding for homeless programs, making it the final arbiter of who counts as homeless. Before you read further let me clarify that homelessness is not an eligibility factor for Public Housing Authority housing and Housing Choice Vouchers. Every client you serve who is homeless or low-income may be eligible and benefit from it’s long term stability. But it can take years to move up the Housing Authority waiting lists. If you have clients who are literally homeless, they may qualify for another pool of money designed specifically for people who experience literal homelessness. The programs for literally homeless people flow through local Continuum of Care programs (CoC) to nonprofit housing agencies. That is, they are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation. That could be sleeping in their car, under a highway overpass or in an abandoned building. Residents of homeless shelters retain their homeless status. Sleeping under a bridge still might not be enough to get CoC help. HUD established a funding preference for people who have repeated or lengthy episodes of homelessness. If your client meets this criteria, they might just be homeless enough to qualify for this program and a relatively short waiting list. This article explains HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness, documentation you will need, and advice for collecting it in Casebook. Categories of Homelessness HUD has four categories of homelessness. Only Categories 1 and 4 are relevant to HUD programs for CoC funds for homeless people. Clients must fall into Category 1 if they are seeking long-term housing assistance. For example, they want a rent subsidy that will not expire for as long as they need it, (assuming they follow program guidelines.) Category 1: Literally Homeless Literal homeless, which is the most restrictive category for eligibility. Individuals or families enter one of the permanent programs if they are in at least one of the following situations: A homeless shelter designed to provide temporary living arrangements OR Living on the streets, in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not fit for human habitation Exceptions that don’t end their status as literally homeless: They entered an institution from the streets and leave within 90 days of entering it, and they will return to the streets or a shelter. Institutions include a jail, hospital or nursing home. They have a room in a motel room that is paid for by a non-profit or a government program. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... You might be one of those people who think a family is homeless just because it doesn’t have a place to live. Technically you are correct, but that doesn’t mean the family is eligible for housing for homeless people. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the lion’s share of funding for homeless programs, making it the final arbiter of who counts as homeless. Before you read further let me clarify that homelessness is not an eligibility factor for Public Housing Authority housing and Housing Choice Vouchers. Every client you serve who is homeless or low-income may be eligible and benefit from it’s long term stability. But it can take years to move up the Housing Authority waiting lists. If you have clients who are literally homeless, they may qualify for another pool of money designed specifically for people who experience literal homelessness. The programs for literally homeless people flow through local Continuum of Care programs (CoC) to nonprofit housing agencies. That is, they are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation. That could be sleeping in their car, under a highway overpass or in an abandoned building. Residents of homeless shelters retain their homeless status. Sleeping under a bridge still might not be enough to get CoC help. HUD established a funding preference for people who have repeated or lengthy episodes of homelessness. If your client meets this criteria, they might just be homeless enough to qualify for this program and a relatively short waiting list. This article explains HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness, documentation you will need, and advice for collecting it in Casebook. Categories of Homelessness HUD has four categories of homelessness. Only Categories 1 and 4 are relevant to HUD programs for CoC funds for homeless people. Clients must fall into Category 1 if they are seeking long-term housing assistance. For example, they want a rent subsidy that will not expire for as long as they need it, (assuming they follow program guidelines.) Category 1: Literally Homeless Literal homeless, which is the most restrictive category for eligibility. Individuals or families enter one of the permanent programs if they are in at least one of the following situations: A homeless shelter designed to provide temporary living arrangements OR Living on the streets, in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not fit for human habitation Exceptions that don’t end their status as literally homeless: They entered an institution from the streets and leave within 90 days of entering it, and they will return to the streets or a shelter. Institutions include a jail, hospital or nursing home. They have a room in a motel room that is paid for by a non-profit or a government program. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... You might be one of those people who think a family is homeless just because it doesn’t have a place to live. Technically you are correct, but that doesn’t mean the family is eligible for housing for homeless people. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the lion’s share of funding for homeless programs, making it the final arbiter of who counts as homeless. Before you read further let me clarify that homelessness is not an eligibility factor for Public Housing Authority housing and Housing Choice Vouchers. Every client you serve who is homeless or low-income may be eligible and benefit from it’s long term stability. But it can take years to move up the Housing Authority waiting lists. If you have clients who are literally homeless, they may qualify for another pool of money designed specifically for people who experience literal homelessness. The programs for literally homeless people flow through local Continuum of Care programs (CoC) to nonprofit housing agencies. That is, they are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation. That could be sleeping in their car, under a highway overpass or in an abandoned building. Residents of homeless shelters retain their homeless status. Sleeping under a bridge still might not be enough to get CoC help. HUD established a funding preference for people who have repeated or lengthy episodes of homelessness. If your client meets this criteria, they might just be homeless enough to qualify for this program and a relatively short waiting list. This article explains HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness, documentation you will need, and advice for collecting it in Casebook. Categories of Homelessness HUD has four categories of homelessness. Only Categories 1 and 4 are relevant to HUD programs for CoC funds for homeless people. Clients must fall into Category 1 if they are seeking long-term housing assistance. For example, they want a rent subsidy that will not expire for as long as they need it, (assuming they follow program guidelines.) Category 1: Literally Homeless Literal homeless, which is the most restrictive category for eligibility. Individuals or families enter one of the permanent programs if they are in at least one of the following situations: A homeless shelter designed to provide temporary living arrangements OR Living on the streets, in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not fit for human habitation Exceptions that don’t end their status as literally homeless: They entered an institution from the streets and leave within 90 days of entering it, and they will return to the streets or a shelter. Institutions include a jail, hospital or nursing home. They have a room in a motel room that is paid for by a non-profit or a government program. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... You might be one of those people who think a family is homeless just because it doesn’t have a place to live. Technically you are correct, but that doesn’t mean the family is eligible for housing for homeless people. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the lion’s share of funding for homeless programs, making it the final arbiter of who counts as homeless. Before you read further let me clarify that homelessness is not an eligibility factor for Public Housing Authority housing and Housing Choice Vouchers. Every client you serve who is homeless or low-income may be eligible and benefit from it’s long term stability. But it can take years to move up the Housing Authority waiting lists. If you have clients who are literally homeless, they may qualify for another pool of money designed specifically for people who experience literal homelessness. The programs for literally homeless people flow through local Continuum of Care programs (CoC) to nonprofit housing agencies. That is, they are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation. That could be sleeping in their car, under a highway overpass or in an abandoned building. Residents of homeless shelters retain their homeless status. Sleeping under a bridge still might not be enough to get CoC help. HUD established a funding preference for people who have repeated or lengthy episodes of homelessness. If your client meets this criteria, they might just be homeless enough to qualify for this program and a relatively short waiting list. This article explains HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness, documentation you will need, and advice for collecting it in Casebook. Categories of Homelessness HUD has four categories of homelessness. Only Categories 1 and 4 are relevant to HUD programs for CoC funds for homeless people. Clients must fall into Category 1 if they are seeking long-term housing assistance. For example, they want a rent subsidy that will not expire for as long as they need it, (assuming they follow program guidelines.) Category 1: Literally Homeless Literal homeless, which is the most restrictive category for eligibility. Individuals or families enter one of the permanent programs if they are in at least one of the following situations: A homeless shelter designed to provide temporary living arrangements OR Living on the streets, in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not fit for human habitation Exceptions that don’t end their status as literally homeless: They entered an institution from the streets and leave within 90 days of entering it, and they will return to the streets or a shelter. Institutions include a jail, hospital or nursing home. They have a room in a motel room that is paid for by a non-profit or a government program. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... You might be one of those people who think a family is homeless just because it doesn’t have a place to live. Technically you are correct, but that doesn’t mean the family is eligible for housing for homeless people. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the lion’s share of funding for homeless programs, making it the final arbiter of who counts as homeless. Before you read further let me clarify that homelessness is not an eligibility factor for Public Housing Authority housing and Housing Choice Vouchers. Every client you serve who is homeless or low-income may be eligible and benefit from it’s long term stability. But it can take years to move up the Housing Authority waiting lists. If you have clients who are literally homeless, they may qualify for another pool of money designed specifically for people who experience literal homelessness. The programs for literally homeless people flow through local Continuum of Care programs (CoC) to nonprofit housing agencies. That is, they are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation. That could be sleeping in their car, under a highway overpass or in an abandoned building. Residents of homeless shelters retain their homeless status. Sleeping under a bridge still might not be enough to get CoC help. HUD established a funding preference for people who have repeated or lengthy episodes of homelessness. If your client meets this criteria, they might just be homeless enough to qualify for this program and a relatively short waiting list. This article explains HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness, documentation you will need, and advice for collecting it in Casebook. Categories of Homelessness HUD has four categories of homelessness. Only Categories 1 and 4 are relevant to HUD programs for CoC funds for homeless people. Clients must fall into Category 1 if they are seeking long-term housing assistance. For example, they want a rent subsidy that will not expire for as long as they need it, (assuming they follow program guidelines.) Category 1: Literally Homeless Literal homeless, which is the most restrictive category for eligibility. Individuals or families enter one of the permanent programs if they are in at least one of the following situations: A homeless shelter designed to provide temporary living arrangements OR Living on the streets, in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not fit for human habitation Exceptions that don’t end their status as literally homeless: They entered an institution from the streets and leave within 90 days of entering it, and they will return to the streets or a shelter. Institutions include a jail, hospital or nursing home. They have a room in a motel room that is paid for by a non-profit or a government program. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... You might be one of those people who think a family is homeless just because it doesn’t have a place to live. Technically you are correct, but that doesn’t mean the family is eligible for housing for homeless people. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides the lion’s share of funding for homeless programs, making it the final arbiter of who counts as homeless. Before you read further let me clarify that homelessness is not an eligibility factor for Public Housing Authority housing and Housing Choice Vouchers. Every client you serve who is homeless or low-income may be eligible and benefit from it’s long term stability. But it can take years to move up the Housing Authority waiting lists. If you have clients who are literally homeless, they may qualify for another pool of money designed specifically for people who experience literal homelessness. The programs for literally homeless people flow through local Continuum of Care programs (CoC) to nonprofit housing agencies. That is, they are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation. That could be sleeping in their car, under a highway overpass or in an abandoned building. Residents of homeless shelters retain their homeless status. Sleeping under a bridge still might not be enough to get CoC help. HUD established a funding preference for people who have repeated or lengthy episodes of homelessness. If your client meets this criteria, they might just be homeless enough to qualify for this program and a relatively short waiting list. This article explains HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness, documentation you will need, and advice for collecting it in Casebook. Categories of Homelessness HUD has four categories of homelessness. Only Categories 1 and 4 are relevant to HUD programs for CoC funds for homeless people. Clients must fall into Category 1 if they are seeking long-term housing assistance. For example, they want a rent subsidy that will not expire for as long as they need it, (assuming they follow program guidelines.) Category 1: Literally Homeless Literal homeless, which is the most restrictive category for eligibility. Individuals or families enter one of the permanent programs if they are in at least one of the following situations: A homeless shelter designed to provide temporary living arrangements OR Living on the streets, in cars, abandoned buildings or other places not fit for human habitation Exceptions that don’t end their status as literally homeless: They entered an institution from the streets and leave within 90 days of entering it, and they will return to the streets or a shelter. Institutions include a jail, hospital or nursing home. They have a room in a motel room that is paid for by a non-profit or a government program.

Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... It’s difficult for some charities to ask for donations. They don’t have a history of it, they are shy about asking for money or maybe they don’t have the staff or board members with the right skills. Take heart! If your agency needs a strategy to build a donor base online, then donor education sites can be valuable partners. “Too often, we give not to the causes that are most effective, but rather to those that are best at asking for it.” Nicholas Kristoff, Year of Living Better Donor education sites give you a place to build donor trust in your organization as an effective, financially healthy nonprofit. After all, there is a high correlation between trust and financial support. A 2019 Give.org survey found that 70% of survey respondents believe that trust is the most important consideration when they are considering charitable donations, ranking trust a 9 on a 10 point scale. Articulating successful outcomes is the foundation of strong appeals for donations. Proof of impact and effective solicitation for resources is a powerful combination. The donor education platforms share your success to a broad audience. You can use them as tools to solidify your position with existing donors and introduce you to others that care about your mission. These sites have missions to provide donors with accurate information they can use for wise giving. They have established benchmarks that they use to assess agencies objectively. Most of them welcome input from individual nonprofits. You can provide the information to demonstrate you meet those standards. This article provides an understanding of donor education sites and how you can optimize their value to you. A follow-up article will build on that knowledge with more in-depth descriptions of five sites: Charity Navigator, GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Watch and Great Nonprofits. What is a donor education service? It is an established resource donors can use to evaluate charities. There is a wealth of advice for donors – and educating them on making an informed choice is at the top of the list. This is true for donors already familiar with a particular agency. It is also true that donors use them to search for charities addressing an issue important to them, where they may give an unsolicited contribution. They also serve to prevent a misuse of scarce resources. Dishonest nonprofits target donors with emotional appeals that vacuum up donations that won’t be used as intended. Some are outright scams, using names that mislead donors into thinking their donations are going to organizations with good reputations. Other nonprofits seek donations for legitimate reasons but they do not achieve much for each dollar they receive. Given the need charities have for money, compared to resources available to them, donors need information about where their contributions will be used most effectively. There are multiple donor education sites with similar missions: to provide objective and detailed information about agencies that donors can use to evaluate their investments before making them. Remember, donations are investments. Donors care about causes and outcomes. They look for the organizations that will pay a good dividend, measured as an improved quality of life for its constituents. To be more explicit, the sites word their objectives a bit differently but each one strives to serve as a reliable source of information. Donors should be able to trust that an agency achieves the most impact per dollar possible and uses its funding with integrity. This information is clearly in demand. Donors make millions of visits to information sources about charities every year. The sites have another goal - to inspire people and organizations to begin making charitable contributions, if they have not done so in the past, or to increase their gifts if they have a history of giving. The sites bring together information in one place for ease of donor use. Not only does that reduce research time for donors, but it can also provide information they may not know how to find. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... It’s difficult for some charities to ask for donations. They don’t have a history of it, they are shy about asking for money or maybe they don’t have the staff or board members with the right skills. Take heart! If your agency needs a strategy to build a donor base online, then donor education sites can be valuable partners. “Too often, we give not to the causes that are most effective, but rather to those that are best at asking for it.” Nicholas Kristoff, Year of Living Better Donor education sites give you a place to build donor trust in your organization as an effective, financially healthy nonprofit. After all, there is a high correlation between trust and financial support. A 2019 Give.org survey found that 70% of survey respondents believe that trust is the most important consideration when they are considering charitable donations, ranking trust a 9 on a 10 point scale. Articulating successful outcomes is the foundation of strong appeals for donations. Proof of impact and effective solicitation for resources is a powerful combination. The donor education platforms share your success to a broad audience. You can use them as tools to solidify your position with existing donors and introduce you to others that care about your mission. These sites have missions to provide donors with accurate information they can use for wise giving. They have established benchmarks that they use to assess agencies objectively. Most of them welcome input from individual nonprofits. You can provide the information to demonstrate you meet those standards. This article provides an understanding of donor education sites and how you can optimize their value to you. A follow-up article will build on that knowledge with more in-depth descriptions of five sites: Charity Navigator, GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Watch and Great Nonprofits. What is a donor education service? It is an established resource donors can use to evaluate charities. There is a wealth of advice for donors – and educating them on making an informed choice is at the top of the list. This is true for donors already familiar with a particular agency. It is also true that donors use them to search for charities addressing an issue important to them, where they may give an unsolicited contribution. They also serve to prevent a misuse of scarce resources. Dishonest nonprofits target donors with emotional appeals that vacuum up donations that won’t be used as intended. Some are outright scams, using names that mislead donors into thinking their donations are going to organizations with good reputations. Other nonprofits seek donations for legitimate reasons but they do not achieve much for each dollar they receive. Given the need charities have for money, compared to resources available to them, donors need information about where their contributions will be used most effectively. There are multiple donor education sites with similar missions: to provide objective and detailed information about agencies that donors can use to evaluate their investments before making them. Remember, donations are investments. Donors care about causes and outcomes. They look for the organizations that will pay a good dividend, measured as an improved quality of life for its constituents. To be more explicit, the sites word their objectives a bit differently but each one strives to serve as a reliable source of information. Donors should be able to trust that an agency achieves the most impact per dollar possible and uses its funding with integrity. This information is clearly in demand. Donors make millions of visits to information sources about charities every year. The sites have another goal - to inspire people and organizations to begin making charitable contributions, if they have not done so in the past, or to increase their gifts if they have a history of giving. The sites bring together information in one place for ease of donor use. Not only does that reduce research time for donors, but it can also provide information they may not know how to find. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... It’s difficult for some charities to ask for donations. They don’t have a history of it, they are shy about asking for money or maybe they don’t have the staff or board members with the right skills. Take heart! If your agency needs a strategy to build a donor base online, then donor education sites can be valuable partners. “Too often, we give not to the causes that are most effective, but rather to those that are best at asking for it.” Nicholas Kristoff, Year of Living Better Donor education sites give you a place to build donor trust in your organization as an effective, financially healthy nonprofit. After all, there is a high correlation between trust and financial support. A 2019 Give.org survey found that 70% of survey respondents believe that trust is the most important consideration when they are considering charitable donations, ranking trust a 9 on a 10 point scale. Articulating successful outcomes is the foundation of strong appeals for donations. Proof of impact and effective solicitation for resources is a powerful combination. The donor education platforms share your success to a broad audience. You can use them as tools to solidify your position with existing donors and introduce you to others that care about your mission. These sites have missions to provide donors with accurate information they can use for wise giving. They have established benchmarks that they use to assess agencies objectively. Most of them welcome input from individual nonprofits. You can provide the information to demonstrate you meet those standards. This article provides an understanding of donor education sites and how you can optimize their value to you. A follow-up article will build on that knowledge with more in-depth descriptions of five sites: Charity Navigator, GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Watch and Great Nonprofits. What is a donor education service? It is an established resource donors can use to evaluate charities. There is a wealth of advice for donors – and educating them on making an informed choice is at the top of the list. This is true for donors already familiar with a particular agency. It is also true that donors use them to search for charities addressing an issue important to them, where they may give an unsolicited contribution. They also serve to prevent a misuse of scarce resources. Dishonest nonprofits target donors with emotional appeals that vacuum up donations that won’t be used as intended. Some are outright scams, using names that mislead donors into thinking their donations are going to organizations with good reputations. Other nonprofits seek donations for legitimate reasons but they do not achieve much for each dollar they receive. Given the need charities have for money, compared to resources available to them, donors need information about where their contributions will be used most effectively. There are multiple donor education sites with similar missions: to provide objective and detailed information about agencies that donors can use to evaluate their investments before making them. Remember, donations are investments. Donors care about causes and outcomes. They look for the organizations that will pay a good dividend, measured as an improved quality of life for its constituents. To be more explicit, the sites word their objectives a bit differently but each one strives to serve as a reliable source of information. Donors should be able to trust that an agency achieves the most impact per dollar possible and uses its funding with integrity. This information is clearly in demand. Donors make millions of visits to information sources about charities every year. The sites have another goal - to inspire people and organizations to begin making charitable contributions, if they have not done so in the past, or to increase their gifts if they have a history of giving. The sites bring together information in one place for ease of donor use. Not only does that reduce research time for donors, but it can also provide information they may not know how to find. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... It’s difficult for some charities to ask for donations. They don’t have a history of it, they are shy about asking for money or maybe they don’t have the staff or board members with the right skills. Take heart! If your agency needs a strategy to build a donor base online, then donor education sites can be valuable partners. “Too often, we give not to the causes that are most effective, but rather to those that are best at asking for it.” Nicholas Kristoff, Year of Living Better Donor education sites give you a place to build donor trust in your organization as an effective, financially healthy nonprofit. After all, there is a high correlation between trust and financial support. A 2019 Give.org survey found that 70% of survey respondents believe that trust is the most important consideration when they are considering charitable donations, ranking trust a 9 on a 10 point scale. Articulating successful outcomes is the foundation of strong appeals for donations. Proof of impact and effective solicitation for resources is a powerful combination. The donor education platforms share your success to a broad audience. You can use them as tools to solidify your position with existing donors and introduce you to others that care about your mission. These sites have missions to provide donors with accurate information they can use for wise giving. They have established benchmarks that they use to assess agencies objectively. Most of them welcome input from individual nonprofits. You can provide the information to demonstrate you meet those standards. This article provides an understanding of donor education sites and how you can optimize their value to you. A follow-up article will build on that knowledge with more in-depth descriptions of five sites: Charity Navigator, GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Watch and Great Nonprofits. What is a donor education service? It is an established resource donors can use to evaluate charities. There is a wealth of advice for donors – and educating them on making an informed choice is at the top of the list. This is true for donors already familiar with a particular agency. It is also true that donors use them to search for charities addressing an issue important to them, where they may give an unsolicited contribution. They also serve to prevent a misuse of scarce resources. Dishonest nonprofits target donors with emotional appeals that vacuum up donations that won’t be used as intended. Some are outright scams, using names that mislead donors into thinking their donations are going to organizations with good reputations. Other nonprofits seek donations for legitimate reasons but they do not achieve much for each dollar they receive. Given the need charities have for money, compared to resources available to them, donors need information about where their contributions will be used most effectively. There are multiple donor education sites with similar missions: to provide objective and detailed information about agencies that donors can use to evaluate their investments before making them. Remember, donations are investments. Donors care about causes and outcomes. They look for the organizations that will pay a good dividend, measured as an improved quality of life for its constituents. To be more explicit, the sites word their objectives a bit differently but each one strives to serve as a reliable source of information. Donors should be able to trust that an agency achieves the most impact per dollar possible and uses its funding with integrity. This information is clearly in demand. Donors make millions of visits to information sources about charities every year. The sites have another goal - to inspire people and organizations to begin making charitable contributions, if they have not done so in the past, or to increase their gifts if they have a history of giving. The sites bring together information in one place for ease of donor use. Not only does that reduce research time for donors, but it can also provide information they may not know how to find. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... It’s difficult for some charities to ask for donations. They don’t have a history of it, they are shy about asking for money or maybe they don’t have the staff or board members with the right skills. Take heart! If your agency needs a strategy to build a donor base online, then donor education sites can be valuable partners. “Too often, we give not to the causes that are most effective, but rather to those that are best at asking for it.” Nicholas Kristoff, Year of Living Better Donor education sites give you a place to build donor trust in your organization as an effective, financially healthy nonprofit. After all, there is a high correlation between trust and financial support. A 2019 Give.org survey found that 70% of survey respondents believe that trust is the most important consideration when they are considering charitable donations, ranking trust a 9 on a 10 point scale. Articulating successful outcomes is the foundation of strong appeals for donations. Proof of impact and effective solicitation for resources is a powerful combination. The donor education platforms share your success to a broad audience. You can use them as tools to solidify your position with existing donors and introduce you to others that care about your mission. These sites have missions to provide donors with accurate information they can use for wise giving. They have established benchmarks that they use to assess agencies objectively. Most of them welcome input from individual nonprofits. You can provide the information to demonstrate you meet those standards. This article provides an understanding of donor education sites and how you can optimize their value to you. A follow-up article will build on that knowledge with more in-depth descriptions of five sites: Charity Navigator, GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Watch and Great Nonprofits. What is a donor education service? It is an established resource donors can use to evaluate charities. There is a wealth of advice for donors – and educating them on making an informed choice is at the top of the list. This is true for donors already familiar with a particular agency. It is also true that donors use them to search for charities addressing an issue important to them, where they may give an unsolicited contribution. They also serve to prevent a misuse of scarce resources. Dishonest nonprofits target donors with emotional appeals that vacuum up donations that won’t be used as intended. Some are outright scams, using names that mislead donors into thinking their donations are going to organizations with good reputations. Other nonprofits seek donations for legitimate reasons but they do not achieve much for each dollar they receive. Given the need charities have for money, compared to resources available to them, donors need information about where their contributions will be used most effectively. There are multiple donor education sites with similar missions: to provide objective and detailed information about agencies that donors can use to evaluate their investments before making them. Remember, donations are investments. Donors care about causes and outcomes. They look for the organizations that will pay a good dividend, measured as an improved quality of life for its constituents. To be more explicit, the sites word their objectives a bit differently but each one strives to serve as a reliable source of information. Donors should be able to trust that an agency achieves the most impact per dollar possible and uses its funding with integrity. This information is clearly in demand. Donors make millions of visits to information sources about charities every year. The sites have another goal - to inspire people and organizations to begin making charitable contributions, if they have not done so in the past, or to increase their gifts if they have a history of giving. The sites bring together information in one place for ease of donor use. Not only does that reduce research time for donors, but it can also provide information they may not know how to find. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... It’s difficult for some charities to ask for donations. They don’t have a history of it, they are shy about asking for money or maybe they don’t have the staff or board members with the right skills. Take heart! If your agency needs a strategy to build a donor base online, then donor education sites can be valuable partners. “Too often, we give not to the causes that are most effective, but rather to those that are best at asking for it.” Nicholas Kristoff, Year of Living Better Donor education sites give you a place to build donor trust in your organization as an effective, financially healthy nonprofit. After all, there is a high correlation between trust and financial support. A 2019 Give.org survey found that 70% of survey respondents believe that trust is the most important consideration when they are considering charitable donations, ranking trust a 9 on a 10 point scale. Articulating successful outcomes is the foundation of strong appeals for donations. Proof of impact and effective solicitation for resources is a powerful combination. The donor education platforms share your success to a broad audience. You can use them as tools to solidify your position with existing donors and introduce you to others that care about your mission. These sites have missions to provide donors with accurate information they can use for wise giving. They have established benchmarks that they use to assess agencies objectively. Most of them welcome input from individual nonprofits. You can provide the information to demonstrate you meet those standards. This article provides an understanding of donor education sites and how you can optimize their value to you. A follow-up article will build on that knowledge with more in-depth descriptions of five sites: Charity Navigator, GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Watch and Great Nonprofits. What is a donor education service? It is an established resource donors can use to evaluate charities. There is a wealth of advice for donors – and educating them on making an informed choice is at the top of the list. This is true for donors already familiar with a particular agency. It is also true that donors use them to search for charities addressing an issue important to them, where they may give an unsolicited contribution. They also serve to prevent a misuse of scarce resources. Dishonest nonprofits target donors with emotional appeals that vacuum up donations that won’t be used as intended. Some are outright scams, using names that mislead donors into thinking their donations are going to organizations with good reputations. Other nonprofits seek donations for legitimate reasons but they do not achieve much for each dollar they receive. Given the need charities have for money, compared to resources available to them, donors need information about where their contributions will be used most effectively. There are multiple donor education sites with similar missions: to provide objective and detailed information about agencies that donors can use to evaluate their investments before making them. Remember, donations are investments. Donors care about causes and outcomes. They look for the organizations that will pay a good dividend, measured as an improved quality of life for its constituents. To be more explicit, the sites word their objectives a bit differently but each one strives to serve as a reliable source of information. Donors should be able to trust that an agency achieves the most impact per dollar possible and uses its funding with integrity. This information is clearly in demand. Donors make millions of visits to information sources about charities every year. The sites have another goal - to inspire people and organizations to begin making charitable contributions, if they have not done so in the past, or to increase their gifts if they have a history of giving. The sites bring together information in one place for ease of donor use. Not only does that reduce research time for donors, but it can also provide information they may not know how to find. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... It’s difficult for some charities to ask for donations. They don’t have a history of it, they are shy about asking for money or maybe they don’t have the staff or board members with the right skills. Take heart! If your agency needs a strategy to build a donor base online, then donor education sites can be valuable partners. “Too often, we give not to the causes that are most effective, but rather to those that are best at asking for it.” Nicholas Kristoff, Year of Living Better Donor education sites give you a place to build donor trust in your organization as an effective, financially healthy nonprofit. After all, there is a high correlation between trust and financial support. A 2019 Give.org survey found that 70% of survey respondents believe that trust is the most important consideration when they are considering charitable donations, ranking trust a 9 on a 10 point scale. Articulating successful outcomes is the foundation of strong appeals for donations. Proof of impact and effective solicitation for resources is a powerful combination. The donor education platforms share your success to a broad audience. You can use them as tools to solidify your position with existing donors and introduce you to others that care about your mission. These sites have missions to provide donors with accurate information they can use for wise giving. They have established benchmarks that they use to assess agencies objectively. Most of them welcome input from individual nonprofits. You can provide the information to demonstrate you meet those standards. This article provides an understanding of donor education sites and how you can optimize their value to you. A follow-up article will build on that knowledge with more in-depth descriptions of five sites: Charity Navigator, GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Watch and Great Nonprofits. What is a donor education service? It is an established resource donors can use to evaluate charities. There is a wealth of advice for donors – and educating them on making an informed choice is at the top of the list. This is true for donors already familiar with a particular agency. It is also true that donors use them to search for charities addressing an issue important to them, where they may give an unsolicited contribution. They also serve to prevent a misuse of scarce resources. Dishonest nonprofits target donors with emotional appeals that vacuum up donations that won’t be used as intended. Some are outright scams, using names that mislead donors into thinking their donations are going to organizations with good reputations. Other nonprofits seek donations for legitimate reasons but they do not achieve much for each dollar they receive. Given the need charities have for money, compared to resources available to them, donors need information about where their contributions will be used most effectively. There are multiple donor education sites with similar missions: to provide objective and detailed information about agencies that donors can use to evaluate their investments before making them. Remember, donations are investments. Donors care about causes and outcomes. They look for the organizations that will pay a good dividend, measured as an improved quality of life for its constituents. To be more explicit, the sites word their objectives a bit differently but each one strives to serve as a reliable source of information. Donors should be able to trust that an agency achieves the most impact per dollar possible and uses its funding with integrity. This information is clearly in demand. Donors make millions of visits to information sources about charities every year. The sites have another goal - to inspire people and organizations to begin making charitable contributions, if they have not done so in the past, or to increase their gifts if they have a history of giving. The sites bring together information in one place for ease of donor use. Not only does that reduce research time for donors, but it can also provide information they may not know how to find. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... It’s difficult for some charities to ask for donations. They don’t have a history of it, they are shy about asking for money or maybe they don’t have the staff or board members with the right skills. Take heart! If your agency needs a strategy to build a donor base online, then donor education sites can be valuable partners. “Too often, we give not to the causes that are most effective, but rather to those that are best at asking for it.” Nicholas Kristoff, Year of Living Better Donor education sites give you a place to build donor trust in your organization as an effective, financially healthy nonprofit. After all, there is a high correlation between trust and financial support. A 2019 Give.org survey found that 70% of survey respondents believe that trust is the most important consideration when they are considering charitable donations, ranking trust a 9 on a 10 point scale. Articulating successful outcomes is the foundation of strong appeals for donations. Proof of impact and effective solicitation for resources is a powerful combination. The donor education platforms share your success to a broad audience. You can use them as tools to solidify your position with existing donors and introduce you to others that care about your mission. These sites have missions to provide donors with accurate information they can use for wise giving. They have established benchmarks that they use to assess agencies objectively. Most of them welcome input from individual nonprofits. You can provide the information to demonstrate you meet those standards. This article provides an understanding of donor education sites and how you can optimize their value to you. A follow-up article will build on that knowledge with more in-depth descriptions of five sites: Charity Navigator, GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Watch and Great Nonprofits. What is a donor education service? It is an established resource donors can use to evaluate charities. There is a wealth of advice for donors – and educating them on making an informed choice is at the top of the list. This is true for donors already familiar with a particular agency. It is also true that donors use them to search for charities addressing an issue important to them, where they may give an unsolicited contribution. They also serve to prevent a misuse of scarce resources. Dishonest nonprofits target donors with emotional appeals that vacuum up donations that won’t be used as intended. Some are outright scams, using names that mislead donors into thinking their donations are going to organizations with good reputations. Other nonprofits seek donations for legitimate reasons but they do not achieve much for each dollar they receive. Given the need charities have for money, compared to resources available to them, donors need information about where their contributions will be used most effectively. There are multiple donor education sites with similar missions: to provide objective and detailed information about agencies that donors can use to evaluate their investments before making them. Remember, donations are investments. Donors care about causes and outcomes. They look for the organizations that will pay a good dividend, measured as an improved quality of life for its constituents. To be more explicit, the sites word their objectives a bit differently but each one strives to serve as a reliable source of information. Donors should be able to trust that an agency achieves the most impact per dollar possible and uses its funding with integrity. This information is clearly in demand. Donors make millions of visits to information sources about charities every year. The sites have another goal - to inspire people and organizations to begin making charitable contributions, if they have not done so in the past, or to increase their gifts if they have a history of giving. The sites bring together information in one place for ease of donor use. Not only does that reduce research time for donors, but it can also provide information they may not know how to find. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... It’s difficult for some charities to ask for donations. They don’t have a history of it, they are shy about asking for money or maybe they don’t have the staff or board members with the right skills. Take heart! If your agency needs a strategy to build a donor base online, then donor education sites can be valuable partners. “Too often, we give not to the causes that are most effective, but rather to those that are best at asking for it.” Nicholas Kristoff, Year of Living Better Donor education sites give you a place to build donor trust in your organization as an effective, financially healthy nonprofit. After all, there is a high correlation between trust and financial support. A 2019 Give.org survey found that 70% of survey respondents believe that trust is the most important consideration when they are considering charitable donations, ranking trust a 9 on a 10 point scale. Articulating successful outcomes is the foundation of strong appeals for donations. Proof of impact and effective solicitation for resources is a powerful combination. The donor education platforms share your success to a broad audience. You can use them as tools to solidify your position with existing donors and introduce you to others that care about your mission. These sites have missions to provide donors with accurate information they can use for wise giving. They have established benchmarks that they use to assess agencies objectively. Most of them welcome input from individual nonprofits. You can provide the information to demonstrate you meet those standards. This article provides an understanding of donor education sites and how you can optimize their value to you. A follow-up article will build on that knowledge with more in-depth descriptions of five sites: Charity Navigator, GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Watch and Great Nonprofits. What is a donor education service? It is an established resource donors can use to evaluate charities. There is a wealth of advice for donors – and educating them on making an informed choice is at the top of the list. This is true for donors already familiar with a particular agency. It is also true that donors use them to search for charities addressing an issue important to them, where they may give an unsolicited contribution. They also serve to prevent a misuse of scarce resources. Dishonest nonprofits target donors with emotional appeals that vacuum up donations that won’t be used as intended. Some are outright scams, using names that mislead donors into thinking their donations are going to organizations with good reputations. Other nonprofits seek donations for legitimate reasons but they do not achieve much for each dollar they receive. Given the need charities have for money, compared to resources available to them, donors need information about where their contributions will be used most effectively. There are multiple donor education sites with similar missions: to provide objective and detailed information about agencies that donors can use to evaluate their investments before making them. Remember, donations are investments. Donors care about causes and outcomes. They look for the organizations that will pay a good dividend, measured as an improved quality of life for its constituents. To be more explicit, the sites word their objectives a bit differently but each one strives to serve as a reliable source of information. Donors should be able to trust that an agency achieves the most impact per dollar possible and uses its funding with integrity. This information is clearly in demand. Donors make millions of visits to information sources about charities every year. The sites have another goal - to inspire people and organizations to begin making charitable contributions, if they have not done so in the past, or to increase their gifts if they have a history of giving. The sites bring together information in one place for ease of donor use. Not only does that reduce research time for donors, but it can also provide information they may not know how to find. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... It’s difficult for some charities to ask for donations. They don’t have a history of it, they are shy about asking for money or maybe they don’t have the staff or board members with the right skills. Take heart! If your agency needs a strategy to build a donor base online, then donor education sites can be valuable partners. “Too often, we give not to the causes that are most effective, but rather to those that are best at asking for it.” Nicholas Kristoff, Year of Living Better Donor education sites give you a place to build donor trust in your organization as an effective, financially healthy nonprofit. After all, there is a high correlation between trust and financial support. A 2019 Give.org survey found that 70% of survey respondents believe that trust is the most important consideration when they are considering charitable donations, ranking trust a 9 on a 10 point scale. Articulating successful outcomes is the foundation of strong appeals for donations. Proof of impact and effective solicitation for resources is a powerful combination. The donor education platforms share your success to a broad audience. You can use them as tools to solidify your position with existing donors and introduce you to others that care about your mission. These sites have missions to provide donors with accurate information they can use for wise giving. They have established benchmarks that they use to assess agencies objectively. Most of them welcome input from individual nonprofits. You can provide the information to demonstrate you meet those standards. This article provides an understanding of donor education sites and how you can optimize their value to you. A follow-up article will build on that knowledge with more in-depth descriptions of five sites: Charity Navigator, GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Watch and Great Nonprofits. What is a donor education service? It is an established resource donors can use to evaluate charities. There is a wealth of advice for donors – and educating them on making an informed choice is at the top of the list. This is true for donors already familiar with a particular agency. It is also true that donors use them to search for charities addressing an issue important to them, where they may give an unsolicited contribution. They also serve to prevent a misuse of scarce resources. Dishonest nonprofits target donors with emotional appeals that vacuum up donations that won’t be used as intended. Some are outright scams, using names that mislead donors into thinking their donations are going to organizations with good reputations. Other nonprofits seek donations for legitimate reasons but they do not achieve much for each dollar they receive. Given the need charities have for money, compared to resources available to them, donors need information about where their contributions will be used most effectively. There are multiple donor education sites with similar missions: to provide objective and detailed information about agencies that donors can use to evaluate their investments before making them. Remember, donations are investments. Donors care about causes and outcomes. They look for the organizations that will pay a good dividend, measured as an improved quality of life for its constituents. To be more explicit, the sites word their objectives a bit differently but each one strives to serve as a reliable source of information. Donors should be able to trust that an agency achieves the most impact per dollar possible and uses its funding with integrity. This information is clearly in demand. Donors make millions of visits to information sources about charities every year. The sites have another goal - to inspire people and organizations to begin making charitable contributions, if they have not done so in the past, or to increase their gifts if they have a history of giving. The sites bring together information in one place for ease of donor use. Not only does that reduce research time for donors, but it can also provide information they may not know how to find.

Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense of how to cope with the outside world. They often face confusion and anxiety about what life will be like. There are practical obstacles as well. They are likely to know life will be harder as an ex-offender. It will be harder to get a job, and thus harder to establish a stable life. Statistically, nearly half of them are likely to return to incarceration within one year. Recidivism means an individual has returned to criminal behavior. Research from the Council of State Governments (CSG) shows that you, as a case manager, will be most effective in preventing recidivism by focusing intensive supervision and treatment on the people who are most likely to reoffend. Although we may expect more positive outcomes by serving low-level offenders, the opposite is true. Intensive programming for people at a low risk of reoffending is counterproductive, and often increases their likelihood of reoffending. This perspective leads you to the highest need individuals. Setting Up the Initial File Inquiries about programs may come directly from inmates, or as a recommendation from law enforcement, courts and other service providers working with them. You will have to determine whether they are eligible for the services that your agency provides. You can set up the file to record the information you need in this phase, from the initial referral through the assessment to the final decision about eligibility. Casebook Intake’s virtual front desk is a powerful tool that provides flexibility in documenting that first contact with a referral. It presents a choice of fields suited to collect demographics, need assessments and input from others – the information you need to determine eligibility for your agency’s programs. This might include: Client profile with demographics Documented source of referral and agency’s basis for it Documented history of involvement with law enforcement and justice system History of services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment disorders, etc. Implementing the CSG Best Practices adds another level of eligibility screening. You will interview inmates and collect documentation that helps you understand whether they engage in criminal thinking. If so, it’s a risk factor you will address in service planning. You can set up notes to record how offenders fare on the ten factors as a preliminary step for service planning after the eligibility phase is complete. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense of how to cope with the outside world. They often face confusion and anxiety about what life will be like. There are practical obstacles as well. They are likely to know life will be harder as an ex-offender. It will be harder to get a job, and thus harder to establish a stable life. Statistically, nearly half of them are likely to return to incarceration within one year. Recidivism means an individual has returned to criminal behavior. Research from the Council of State Governments (CSG) shows that you, as a case manager, will be most effective in preventing recidivism by focusing intensive supervision and treatment on the people who are most likely to reoffend. Although we may expect more positive outcomes by serving low-level offenders, the opposite is true. Intensive programming for people at a low risk of reoffending is counterproductive, and often increases their likelihood of reoffending. This perspective leads you to the highest need individuals. Setting Up the Initial File Inquiries about programs may come directly from inmates, or as a recommendation from law enforcement, courts and other service providers working with them. You will have to determine whether they are eligible for the services that your agency provides. You can set up the file to record the information you need in this phase, from the initial referral through the assessment to the final decision about eligibility. Casebook Intake’s virtual front desk is a powerful tool that provides flexibility in documenting that first contact with a referral. It presents a choice of fields suited to collect demographics, need assessments and input from others – the information you need to determine eligibility for your agency’s programs. This might include: Client profile with demographics Documented source of referral and agency’s basis for it Documented history of involvement with law enforcement and justice system History of services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment disorders, etc. Implementing the CSG Best Practices adds another level of eligibility screening. You will interview inmates and collect documentation that helps you understand whether they engage in criminal thinking. If so, it’s a risk factor you will address in service planning. You can set up notes to record how offenders fare on the ten factors as a preliminary step for service planning after the eligibility phase is complete. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense of how to cope with the outside world. They often face confusion and anxiety about what life will be like. There are practical obstacles as well. They are likely to know life will be harder as an ex-offender. It will be harder to get a job, and thus harder to establish a stable life. Statistically, nearly half of them are likely to return to incarceration within one year. Recidivism means an individual has returned to criminal behavior. Research from the Council of State Governments (CSG) shows that you, as a case manager, will be most effective in preventing recidivism by focusing intensive supervision and treatment on the people who are most likely to reoffend. Although we may expect more positive outcomes by serving low-level offenders, the opposite is true. Intensive programming for people at a low risk of reoffending is counterproductive, and often increases their likelihood of reoffending. This perspective leads you to the highest need individuals. Setting Up the Initial File Inquiries about programs may come directly from inmates, or as a recommendation from law enforcement, courts and other service providers working with them. You will have to determine whether they are eligible for the services that your agency provides. You can set up the file to record the information you need in this phase, from the initial referral through the assessment to the final decision about eligibility. Casebook Intake’s virtual front desk is a powerful tool that provides flexibility in documenting that first contact with a referral. It presents a choice of fields suited to collect demographics, need assessments and input from others – the information you need to determine eligibility for your agency’s programs. This might include: Client profile with demographics Documented source of referral and agency’s basis for it Documented history of involvement with law enforcement and justice system History of services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment disorders, etc. Implementing the CSG Best Practices adds another level of eligibility screening. You will interview inmates and collect documentation that helps you understand whether they engage in criminal thinking. If so, it’s a risk factor you will address in service planning. You can set up notes to record how offenders fare on the ten factors as a preliminary step for service planning after the eligibility phase is complete. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense of how to cope with the outside world. They often face confusion and anxiety about what life will be like. There are practical obstacles as well. They are likely to know life will be harder as an ex-offender. It will be harder to get a job, and thus harder to establish a stable life. Statistically, nearly half of them are likely to return to incarceration within one year. Recidivism means an individual has returned to criminal behavior. Research from the Council of State Governments (CSG) shows that you, as a case manager, will be most effective in preventing recidivism by focusing intensive supervision and treatment on the people who are most likely to reoffend. Although we may expect more positive outcomes by serving low-level offenders, the opposite is true. Intensive programming for people at a low risk of reoffending is counterproductive, and often increases their likelihood of reoffending. This perspective leads you to the highest need individuals. Setting Up the Initial File Inquiries about programs may come directly from inmates, or as a recommendation from law enforcement, courts and other service providers working with them. You will have to determine whether they are eligible for the services that your agency provides. You can set up the file to record the information you need in this phase, from the initial referral through the assessment to the final decision about eligibility. Casebook Intake’s virtual front desk is a powerful tool that provides flexibility in documenting that first contact with a referral. It presents a choice of fields suited to collect demographics, need assessments and input from others – the information you need to determine eligibility for your agency’s programs. This might include: Client profile with demographics Documented source of referral and agency’s basis for it Documented history of involvement with law enforcement and justice system History of services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment disorders, etc. Implementing the CSG Best Practices adds another level of eligibility screening. You will interview inmates and collect documentation that helps you understand whether they engage in criminal thinking. If so, it’s a risk factor you will address in service planning. You can set up notes to record how offenders fare on the ten factors as a preliminary step for service planning after the eligibility phase is complete. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense of how to cope with the outside world. They often face confusion and anxiety about what life will be like. There are practical obstacles as well. They are likely to know life will be harder as an ex-offender. It will be harder to get a job, and thus harder to establish a stable life. Statistically, nearly half of them are likely to return to incarceration within one year. Recidivism means an individual has returned to criminal behavior. Research from the Council of State Governments (CSG) shows that you, as a case manager, will be most effective in preventing recidivism by focusing intensive supervision and treatment on the people who are most likely to reoffend. Although we may expect more positive outcomes by serving low-level offenders, the opposite is true. Intensive programming for people at a low risk of reoffending is counterproductive, and often increases their likelihood of reoffending. This perspective leads you to the highest need individuals. Setting Up the Initial File Inquiries about programs may come directly from inmates, or as a recommendation from law enforcement, courts and other service providers working with them. You will have to determine whether they are eligible for the services that your agency provides. You can set up the file to record the information you need in this phase, from the initial referral through the assessment to the final decision about eligibility. Casebook Intake’s virtual front desk is a powerful tool that provides flexibility in documenting that first contact with a referral. It presents a choice of fields suited to collect demographics, need assessments and input from others – the information you need to determine eligibility for your agency’s programs. This might include: Client profile with demographics Documented source of referral and agency’s basis for it Documented history of involvement with law enforcement and justice system History of services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment disorders, etc. Implementing the CSG Best Practices adds another level of eligibility screening. You will interview inmates and collect documentation that helps you understand whether they engage in criminal thinking. If so, it’s a risk factor you will address in service planning. You can set up notes to record how offenders fare on the ten factors as a preliminary step for service planning after the eligibility phase is complete. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense of how to cope with the outside world. They often face confusion and anxiety about what life will be like. There are practical obstacles as well. They are likely to know life will be harder as an ex-offender. It will be harder to get a job, and thus harder to establish a stable life. Statistically, nearly half of them are likely to return to incarceration within one year. Recidivism means an individual has returned to criminal behavior. Research from the Council of State Governments (CSG) shows that you, as a case manager, will be most effective in preventing recidivism by focusing intensive supervision and treatment on the people who are most likely to reoffend. Although we may expect more positive outcomes by serving low-level offenders, the opposite is true. Intensive programming for people at a low risk of reoffending is counterproductive, and often increases their likelihood of reoffending. This perspective leads you to the highest need individuals. Setting Up the Initial File Inquiries about programs may come directly from inmates, or as a recommendation from law enforcement, courts and other service providers working with them. You will have to determine whether they are eligible for the services that your agency provides. You can set up the file to record the information you need in this phase, from the initial referral through the assessment to the final decision about eligibility. Casebook Intake’s virtual front desk is a powerful tool that provides flexibility in documenting that first contact with a referral. It presents a choice of fields suited to collect demographics, need assessments and input from others – the information you need to determine eligibility for your agency’s programs. This might include: Client profile with demographics Documented source of referral and agency’s basis for it Documented history of involvement with law enforcement and justice system History of services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment disorders, etc. Implementing the CSG Best Practices adds another level of eligibility screening. You will interview inmates and collect documentation that helps you understand whether they engage in criminal thinking. If so, it’s a risk factor you will address in service planning. You can set up notes to record how offenders fare on the ten factors as a preliminary step for service planning after the eligibility phase is complete. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense of how to cope with the outside world. They often face confusion and anxiety about what life will be like. There are practical obstacles as well. They are likely to know life will be harder as an ex-offender. It will be harder to get a job, and thus harder to establish a stable life. Statistically, nearly half of them are likely to return to incarceration within one year. Recidivism means an individual has returned to criminal behavior. Research from the Council of State Governments (CSG) shows that you, as a case manager, will be most effective in preventing recidivism by focusing intensive supervision and treatment on the people who are most likely to reoffend. Although we may expect more positive outcomes by serving low-level offenders, the opposite is true. Intensive programming for people at a low risk of reoffending is counterproductive, and often increases their likelihood of reoffending. This perspective leads you to the highest need individuals. Setting Up the Initial File Inquiries about programs may come directly from inmates, or as a recommendation from law enforcement, courts and other service providers working with them. You will have to determine whether they are eligible for the services that your agency provides. You can set up the file to record the information you need in this phase, from the initial referral through the assessment to the final decision about eligibility. Casebook Intake’s virtual front desk is a powerful tool that provides flexibility in documenting that first contact with a referral. It presents a choice of fields suited to collect demographics, need assessments and input from others – the information you need to determine eligibility for your agency’s programs. This might include: Client profile with demographics Documented source of referral and agency’s basis for it Documented history of involvement with law enforcement and justice system History of services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment disorders, etc. Implementing the CSG Best Practices adds another level of eligibility screening. You will interview inmates and collect documentation that helps you understand whether they engage in criminal thinking. If so, it’s a risk factor you will address in service planning. You can set up notes to record how offenders fare on the ten factors as a preliminary step for service planning after the eligibility phase is complete. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense of how to cope with the outside world. They often face confusion and anxiety about what life will be like. There are practical obstacles as well. They are likely to know life will be harder as an ex-offender. It will be harder to get a job, and thus harder to establish a stable life. Statistically, nearly half of them are likely to return to incarceration within one year. Recidivism means an individual has returned to criminal behavior. Research from the Council of State Governments (CSG) shows that you, as a case manager, will be most effective in preventing recidivism by focusing intensive supervision and treatment on the people who are most likely to reoffend. Although we may expect more positive outcomes by serving low-level offenders, the opposite is true. Intensive programming for people at a low risk of reoffending is counterproductive, and often increases their likelihood of reoffending. This perspective leads you to the highest need individuals. Setting Up the Initial File Inquiries about programs may come directly from inmates, or as a recommendation from law enforcement, courts and other service providers working with them. You will have to determine whether they are eligible for the services that your agency provides. You can set up the file to record the information you need in this phase, from the initial referral through the assessment to the final decision about eligibility. Casebook Intake’s virtual front desk is a powerful tool that provides flexibility in documenting that first contact with a referral. It presents a choice of fields suited to collect demographics, need assessments and input from others – the information you need to determine eligibility for your agency’s programs. This might include: Client profile with demographics Documented source of referral and agency’s basis for it Documented history of involvement with law enforcement and justice system History of services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment disorders, etc. Implementing the CSG Best Practices adds another level of eligibility screening. You will interview inmates and collect documentation that helps you understand whether they engage in criminal thinking. If so, it’s a risk factor you will address in service planning. You can set up notes to record how offenders fare on the ten factors as a preliminary step for service planning after the eligibility phase is complete. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense of how to cope with the outside world. They often face confusion and anxiety about what life will be like. There are practical obstacles as well. They are likely to know life will be harder as an ex-offender. It will be harder to get a job, and thus harder to establish a stable life. Statistically, nearly half of them are likely to return to incarceration within one year. Recidivism means an individual has returned to criminal behavior. Research from the Council of State Governments (CSG) shows that you, as a case manager, will be most effective in preventing recidivism by focusing intensive supervision and treatment on the people who are most likely to reoffend. Although we may expect more positive outcomes by serving low-level offenders, the opposite is true. Intensive programming for people at a low risk of reoffending is counterproductive, and often increases their likelihood of reoffending. This perspective leads you to the highest need individuals. Setting Up the Initial File Inquiries about programs may come directly from inmates, or as a recommendation from law enforcement, courts and other service providers working with them. You will have to determine whether they are eligible for the services that your agency provides. You can set up the file to record the information you need in this phase, from the initial referral through the assessment to the final decision about eligibility. Casebook Intake’s virtual front desk is a powerful tool that provides flexibility in documenting that first contact with a referral. It presents a choice of fields suited to collect demographics, need assessments and input from others – the information you need to determine eligibility for your agency’s programs. This might include: Client profile with demographics Documented source of referral and agency’s basis for it Documented history of involvement with law enforcement and justice system History of services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment disorders, etc. Implementing the CSG Best Practices adds another level of eligibility screening. You will interview inmates and collect documentation that helps you understand whether they engage in criminal thinking. If so, it’s a risk factor you will address in service planning. You can set up notes to record how offenders fare on the ten factors as a preliminary step for service planning after the eligibility phase is complete. Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense Maryellen Hess Cameron spent over 25 years as the Executive Director of non-profit agencies in the social.... Inmates in any kind of detention may experience a wide range of emotions about their release. After only one year of incarceration they may already have lost their sense of how to cope with the outside world. They often face confusion and anxiety about what life will be like. There are practical obstacles as well. They are likely to know life will be harder as an ex-offender. It will be harder to get a job, and thus harder to establish a stable life. Statistically, nearly half of them are likely to return to incarceration within one year. Recidivism means an individual has returned to criminal behavior. Research from the Council of State Governments (CSG) shows that you, as a case manager, will be most effective in preventing recidivism by focusing intensive supervision and treatment on the people who are most likely to reoffend. Although we may expect more positive outcomes by serving low-level offenders, the opposite is true. Intensive programming for people at a low risk of reoffending is counterproductive, and often increases their likelihood of reoffending. This perspective leads you to the highest need individuals. Setting Up the Initial File Inquiries about programs may come directly from inmates, or as a recommendation from law enforcement, courts and other service providers working with them. You will have to determine whether they are eligible for the services that your agency provides. You can set up the file to record the information you need in this phase, from the initial referral through the assessment to the final decision about eligibility. Casebook Intake’s virtual front desk is a powerful tool that provides flexibility in documenting that first contact with a referral. It presents a choice of fields suited to collect demographics, need assessments and input from others – the information you need to determine eligibility for your agency’s programs. This might include: Client profile with demographics Documented source of referral and agency’s basis for it Documented history of involvement with law enforcement and justice system History of services such as mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment disorders, etc. Implementing the CSG Best Practices adds another level of eligibility screening. You will interview inmates and collect documentation that helps you understand whether they engage in criminal thinking. If so, it’s a risk factor you will address in service planning. You can set up notes to record how offenders fare on the ten factors as a preliminary step for service planning after the eligibility phase is complete.

Teachers face a challenge to keep children focused on their lesson plans. For some, the student's needs exceed their expertise, time for individual attention, or the resources and support to help children with special needs. That’s where you come in. Wraparound services address the underlying factors in the child’s life. Effective wraparound services don’t happen in a vacuum. They are built with a collaboration of committed representatives from the organizations that serve the child. They could include: School-linked and school-based services Non-educational or supportive services Parental or caregiver involvement Program funders Business leaders Law enforcement agencies Health care providers Mental health/substance abuse service providers Other organizations with needed resources or expertise Teachers face a challenge to keep children focused on their lesson plans. For some, the student's needs exceed their expertise, time for individual attention, or the resources and support to help children with special needs. That’s where you come in. Wraparound services address the underlying factors in the child’s life. Effective wraparound services don’t happen in a vacuum. They are built with a collaboration of committed representatives from the organizations that serve the child. They could include: School-linked and school-based services Non-educational or supportive services Parental or caregiver involvement Program funders Business leaders Law enforcement agencies Health care providers Mental health/substance abuse service providers Other organizations with needed resources or expertise Teachers face a challenge to keep children focused on their lesson plans. For some, the student's needs exceed their expertise, time for individual attention, or the resources and support to help children with special needs. That’s where you come in. Wraparound services address the underlying factors in the child’s life. Effective wraparound services don’t happen in a vacuum. They are built with a collaboration of committed representatives from the organizations that serve the child. They could include: School-linked and school-based services Non-educational or supportive services Parental or caregiver involvement Program funders Business leaders Law enforcement agencies Health care providers Mental health/substance abuse service providers Other organizations with needed resources or expertise Teachers face a challenge to keep children focused on their lesson plans. For some, the student's needs exceed their expertise, time for individual attention, or the resources and support to help children with special needs. That’s where you come in. Wraparound services address the underlying factors in the child’s life. Effective wraparound services don’t happen in a vacuum. They are built with a collaboration of committed representatives from the organizations that serve the child. They could include: School-linked and school-based services Non-educational or supportive services Parental or caregiver involvement Program funders Business leaders Law enforcement agencies Health care providers Mental health/substance abuse service providers Other organizations with needed resources or expertise Teachers face a challenge to keep children focused on their lesson plans. For some, the student's needs exceed their expertise, time for individual attention, or the resources and support to help children with special needs. That’s where you come in. Wraparound services address the underlying factors in the child’s life. Effective wraparound services don’t happen in a vacuum. They are built with a collaboration of committed representatives from the organizations that serve the child. They could include: School-linked and school-based services Non-educational or supportive services Parental or caregiver involvement Program funders Business leaders Law enforcement agencies Health care providers Mental health/substance abuse service providers Other organizations with needed resources or expertise Teachers face a challenge to keep children focused on their lesson plans. For some, the student's needs exceed their expertise, time for individual attention, or the resources and support to help children with special needs. That’s where you come in. Wraparound services address the underlying factors in the child’s life. Effective wraparound services don’t happen in a vacuum. They are built with a collaboration of committed representatives from the organizations that serve the child. They could include: School-linked and school-based services Non-educational or supportive services Parental or caregiver involvement Program funders Business leaders Law enforcement agencies Health care providers Mental health/substance abuse service providers Other organizations with needed resources or expertise Teachers face a challenge to keep children focused on their lesson plans. For some, the student's needs exceed their expertise, time for individual attention, or the resources and support to help children with special needs. That’s where you come in. Wraparound services address the underlying factors in the child’s life. Effective wraparound services don’t happen in a vacuum. They are built with a collaboration of committed representatives from the organizations that serve the child. They could include: School-linked and school-based services Non-educational or supportive services Parental or caregiver involvement Program funders Business leaders Law enforcement agencies Health care providers Mental health/substance abuse service providers Other organizations with needed resources or expertise Teachers face a challenge to keep children focused on their lesson plans. For some, the student's needs exceed their expertise, time for individual attention, or the resources and support to help children with special needs. That’s where you come in. Wraparound services address the underlying factors in the child’s life. Effective wraparound services don’t happen in a vacuum. They are built with a collaboration of committed representatives from the organizations that serve the child. They could include: School-linked and school-based services Non-educational or supportive services Parental or caregiver involvement Program funders Business leaders Law enforcement agencies Health care providers Mental health/substance abuse service providers Other organizations with needed resources or expertise Teachers face a challenge to keep children focused on their lesson plans. For some, the student's needs exceed their expertise, time for individual attention, or the resources and support to help children with special needs. That’s where you come in. Wraparound services address the underlying factors in the child’s life. Effective wraparound services don’t happen in a vacuum. They are built with a collaboration of committed representatives from the organizations that serve the child. They could include: School-linked and school-based services Non-educational or supportive services Parental or caregiver involvement Program funders Business leaders Law enforcement agencies Health care providers Mental health/substance abuse service providers Other organizations with needed resources or expertise Teachers face a challenge to keep children focused on their lesson plans. For some, the student's needs exceed their expertise, time for individual attention, or the resources and support to help children with special needs. That’s where you come in. Wraparound services address the underlying factors in the child’s life. Effective wraparound services don’t happen in a vacuum. They are built with a collaboration of committed representatives from the organizations that serve the child. They could include: School-linked and school-based services Non-educational or supportive services Parental or caregiver involvement Program funders Business leaders Law enforcement agencies Health care providers Mental health/substance abuse service providers Other organizations with needed resources or expertise

Emergency assistance to help people with unpaid rent and utilities is on its way; this article reviews how you can help clients gather information for their applications. There’s nothing like a government program to generate paperwork. Ironically, since the Paperwork Reduction Act passed 40 years ago the documentation needed for housing assistance programs seems to increase regularly. And there’s no getting out of it. Housing agencies must collect all of this information as a condition of their grants. This burden rolls downhill. The good news is that you and your client can gather this documentation in advance and create a “housing portfolio” to simplify the application process. You may have to apply for housing at multiple organizations. Having a portfolio will prevent many headaches for you, your clients and housing providers. Casebook has functions to track information your client needs in their housing portfolio, as I will describe later in this post. Billions in Emergency Assistance are Pending The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (Plan) added billions of dollars in rental assistance. Most of it is temporary to help people pay off rent arrearages and stabilize their housing. Emergency rental assistance: $21.5 billion to help households remain in their homes. Emergency housing vouchers: $5 billion for people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of it. Homelessness assistance and supportive services: $5 billion to create new housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Housing assistance for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians: $750 million to reduce housing-related health risks Emergency assistance for rural housing:$100 million to help people in rural communities keep their homes during the pandemic. That adds up to $32 billion dollars, on top of rental assistance funds included in the December 2020 CARES act. That is a lot of money. But it has to go a very long way. At the end of February 2021 over 13.5 million people said they were behind on their rent -- nearly 1 in 5 of all renters -- according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis . Renters owe an estimated $57 billion in back rent. These numbers show the need is greater than the emergency help available. Your clients need to apply for the money early to get what they need. If you have the documents in hand your client can start applications as soon as housing agencies can accept them. The rules and regulations governing these programs were not yet issued at the time of this writing. This article reviews typical documents clients will need to provide, based on my 16 years of experience leading an affordable housing agency. They were created for permanent affordable housing such as Housing Choice Vouchers, meaning your client’s housing portfolio is valuable long after the Plan funding is exhausted. For now, it is likely your client will need this documentation plus proof the pandemic caused their housing emergency. Emergency assistance to help people with unpaid rent and utilities is on its way; this article reviews how you can help clients gather information for their applications. There’s nothing like a government program to generate paperwork. Ironically, since the Paperwork Reduction Act passed 40 years ago the documentation needed for housing assistance programs seems to increase regularly. And there’s no getting out of it. Housing agencies must collect all of this information as a condition of their grants. This burden rolls downhill. The good news is that you and your client can gather this documentation in advance and create a “housing portfolio” to simplify the application process. You may have to apply for housing at multiple organizations. Having a portfolio will prevent many headaches for you, your clients and housing providers. Casebook has functions to track information your client needs in their housing portfolio, as I will describe later in this post. Billions in Emergency Assistance are Pending The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (Plan) added billions of dollars in rental assistance. Most of it is temporary to help people pay off rent arrearages and stabilize their housing. Emergency rental assistance: $21.5 billion to help households remain in their homes. Emergency housing vouchers: $5 billion for people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of it. Homelessness assistance and supportive services: $5 billion to create new housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Housing assistance for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians: $750 million to reduce housing-related health risks Emergency assistance for rural housing:$100 million to help people in rural communities keep their homes during the pandemic. That adds up to $32 billion dollars, on top of rental assistance funds included in the December 2020 CARES act. That is a lot of money. But it has to go a very long way. At the end of February 2021 over 13.5 million people said they were behind on their rent -- nearly 1 in 5 of all renters -- according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis . Renters owe an estimated $57 billion in back rent. These numbers show the need is greater than the emergency help available. Your clients need to apply for the money early to get what they need. If you have the documents in hand your client can start applications as soon as housing agencies can accept them. The rules and regulations governing these programs were not yet issued at the time of this writing. This article reviews typical documents clients will need to provide, based on my 16 years of experience leading an affordable housing agency. They were created for permanent affordable housing such as Housing Choice Vouchers, meaning your client’s housing portfolio is valuable long after the Plan funding is exhausted. For now, it is likely your client will need this documentation plus proof the pandemic caused their housing emergency. Emergency assistance to help people with unpaid rent and utilities is on its way; this article reviews how you can help clients gather information for their applications. There’s nothing like a government program to generate paperwork. Ironically, since the Paperwork Reduction Act passed 40 years ago the documentation needed for housing assistance programs seems to increase regularly. And there’s no getting out of it. Housing agencies must collect all of this information as a condition of their grants. This burden rolls downhill. The good news is that you and your client can gather this documentation in advance and create a “housing portfolio” to simplify the application process. You may have to apply for housing at multiple organizations. Having a portfolio will prevent many headaches for you, your clients and housing providers. Casebook has functions to track information your client needs in their housing portfolio, as I will describe later in this post. Billions in Emergency Assistance are Pending The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (Plan) added billions of dollars in rental assistance. Most of it is temporary to help people pay off rent arrearages and stabilize their housing. Emergency rental assistance: $21.5 billion to help households remain in their homes. Emergency housing vouchers: $5 billion for people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of it. Homelessness assistance and supportive services: $5 billion to create new housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Housing assistance for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians: $750 million to reduce housing-related health risks Emergency assistance for rural housing:$100 million to help people in rural communities keep their homes during the pandemic. That adds up to $32 billion dollars, on top of rental assistance funds included in the December 2020 CARES act. That is a lot of money. But it has to go a very long way. At the end of February 2021 over 13.5 million people said they were behind on their rent -- nearly 1 in 5 of all renters -- according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis . Renters owe an estimated $57 billion in back rent. These numbers show the need is greater than the emergency help available. Your clients need to apply for the money early to get what they need. If you have the documents in hand your client can start applications as soon as housing agencies can accept them. The rules and regulations governing these programs were not yet issued at the time of this writing. This article reviews typical documents clients will need to provide, based on my 16 years of experience leading an affordable housing agency. They were created for permanent affordable housing such as Housing Choice Vouchers, meaning your client’s housing portfolio is valuable long after the Plan funding is exhausted. For now, it is likely your client will need this documentation plus proof the pandemic caused their housing emergency. Emergency assistance to help people with unpaid rent and utilities is on its way; this article reviews how you can help clients gather information for their applications. There’s nothing like a government program to generate paperwork. Ironically, since the Paperwork Reduction Act passed 40 years ago the documentation needed for housing assistance programs seems to increase regularly. And there’s no getting out of it. Housing agencies must collect all of this information as a condition of their grants. This burden rolls downhill. The good news is that you and your client can gather this documentation in advance and create a “housing portfolio” to simplify the application process. You may have to apply for housing at multiple organizations. Having a portfolio will prevent many headaches for you, your clients and housing providers. Casebook has functions to track information your client needs in their housing portfolio, as I will describe later in this post. Billions in Emergency Assistance are Pending The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (Plan) added billions of dollars in rental assistance. Most of it is temporary to help people pay off rent arrearages and stabilize their housing. Emergency rental assistance: $21.5 billion to help households remain in their homes. Emergency housing vouchers: $5 billion for people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of it. Homelessness assistance and supportive services: $5 billion to create new housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Housing assistance for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians: $750 million to reduce housing-related health risks Emergency assistance for rural housing:$100 million to help people in rural communities keep their homes during the pandemic. That adds up to $32 billion dollars, on top of rental assistance funds included in the December 2020 CARES act. That is a lot of money. But it has to go a very long way. At the end of February 2021 over 13.5 million people said they were behind on their rent -- nearly 1 in 5 of all renters -- according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis . Renters owe an estimated $57 billion in back rent. These numbers show the need is greater than the emergency help available. Your clients need to apply for the money early to get what they need. If you have the documents in hand your client can start applications as soon as housing agencies can accept them. The rules and regulations governing these programs were not yet issued at the time of this writing. This article reviews typical documents clients will need to provide, based on my 16 years of experience leading an affordable housing agency. They were created for permanent affordable housing such as Housing Choice Vouchers, meaning your client’s housing portfolio is valuable long after the Plan funding is exhausted. For now, it is likely your client will need this documentation plus proof the pandemic caused their housing emergency. Emergency assistance to help people with unpaid rent and utilities is on its way; this article reviews how you can help clients gather information for their applications. There’s nothing like a government program to generate paperwork. Ironically, since the Paperwork Reduction Act passed 40 years ago the documentation needed for housing assistance programs seems to increase regularly. And there’s no getting out of it. Housing agencies must collect all of this information as a condition of their grants. This burden rolls downhill. The good news is that you and your client can gather this documentation in advance and create a “housing portfolio” to simplify the application process. You may have to apply for housing at multiple organizations. Having a portfolio will prevent many headaches for you, your clients and housing providers. Casebook has functions to track information your client needs in their housing portfolio, as I will describe later in this post. Billions in Emergency Assistance are Pending The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (Plan) added billions of dollars in rental assistance. Most of it is temporary to help people pay off rent arrearages and stabilize their housing. Emergency rental assistance: $21.5 billion to help households remain in their homes. Emergency housing vouchers: $5 billion for people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of it. Homelessness assistance and supportive services: $5 billion to create new housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Housing assistance for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians: $750 million to reduce housing-related health risks Emergency assistance for rural housing:$100 million to help people in rural communities keep their homes during the pandemic. That adds up to $32 billion dollars, on top of rental assistance funds included in the December 2020 CARES act. That is a lot of money. But it has to go a very long way. At the end of February 2021 over 13.5 million people said they were behind on their rent -- nearly 1 in 5 of all renters -- according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis . Renters owe an estimated $57 billion in back rent. These numbers show the need is greater than the emergency help available. Your clients need to apply for the money early to get what they need. If you have the documents in hand your client can start applications as soon as housing agencies can accept them. The rules and regulations governing these programs were not yet issued at the time of this writing. This article reviews typical documents clients will need to provide, based on my 16 years of experience leading an affordable housing agency. They were created for permanent affordable housing such as Housing Choice Vouchers, meaning your client’s housing portfolio is valuable long after the Plan funding is exhausted. For now, it is likely your client will need this documentation plus proof the pandemic caused their housing emergency. Emergency assistance to help people with unpaid rent and utilities is on its way; this article reviews how you can help clients gather information for their applications. There’s nothing like a government program to generate paperwork. Ironically, since the Paperwork Reduction Act passed 40 years ago the documentation needed for housing assistance programs seems to increase regularly. And there’s no getting out of it. Housing agencies must collect all of this information as a condition of their grants. This burden rolls downhill. The good news is that you and your client can gather this documentation in advance and create a “housing portfolio” to simplify the application process. You may have to apply for housing at multiple organizations. Having a portfolio will prevent many headaches for you, your clients and housing providers. Casebook has functions to track information your client needs in their housing portfolio, as I will describe later in this post. Billions in Emergency Assistance are Pending The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (Plan) added billions of dollars in rental assistance. Most of it is temporary to help people pay off rent arrearages and stabilize their housing. Emergency rental assistance: $21.5 billion to help households remain in their homes. Emergency housing vouchers: $5 billion for people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of it. Homelessness assistance and supportive services: $5 billion to create new housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Housing assistance for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians: $750 million to reduce housing-related health risks Emergency assistance for rural housing:$100 million to help people in rural communities keep their homes during the pandemic. That adds up to $32 billion dollars, on top of rental assistance funds included in the December 2020 CARES act. That is a lot of money. But it has to go a very long way. At the end of February 2021 over 13.5 million people said they were behind on their rent -- nearly 1 in 5 of all renters -- according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis . Renters owe an estimated $57 billion in back rent. These numbers show the need is greater than the emergency help available. Your clients need to apply for the money early to get what they need. If you have the documents in hand your client can start applications as soon as housing agencies can accept them. The rules and regulations governing these programs were not yet issued at the time of this writing. This article reviews typical documents clients will need to provide, based on my 16 years of experience leading an affordable housing agency. They were created for permanent affordable housing such as Housing Choice Vouchers, meaning your client’s housing portfolio is valuable long after the Plan funding is exhausted. For now, it is likely your client will need this documentation plus proof the pandemic caused their housing emergency. Emergency assistance to help people with unpaid rent and utilities is on its way; this article reviews how you can help clients gather information for their applications. There’s nothing like a government program to generate paperwork. Ironically, since the Paperwork Reduction Act passed 40 years ago the documentation needed for housing assistance programs seems to increase regularly. And there’s no getting out of it. Housing agencies must collect all of this information as a condition of their grants. This burden rolls downhill. The good news is that you and your client can gather this documentation in advance and create a “housing portfolio” to simplify the application process. You may have to apply for housing at multiple organizations. Having a portfolio will prevent many headaches for you, your clients and housing providers. Casebook has functions to track information your client needs in their housing portfolio, as I will describe later in this post. Billions in Emergency Assistance are Pending The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (Plan) added billions of dollars in rental assistance. Most of it is temporary to help people pay off rent arrearages and stabilize their housing. Emergency rental assistance: $21.5 billion to help households remain in their homes. Emergency housing vouchers: $5 billion for people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of it. Homelessness assistance and supportive services: $5 billion to create new housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Housing assistance for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians: $750 million to reduce housing-related health risks Emergency assistance for rural housing:$100 million to help people in rural communities keep their homes during the pandemic. That adds up to $32 billion dollars, on top of rental assistance funds included in the December 2020 CARES act. That is a lot of money. But it has to go a very long way. At the end of February 2021 over 13.5 million people said they were behind on their rent -- nearly 1 in 5 of all renters -- according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis . Renters owe an estimated $57 billion in back rent. These numbers show the need is greater than the emergency help available. Your clients need to apply for the money early to get what they need. If you have the documents in hand your client can start applications as soon as housing agencies can accept them. The rules and regulations governing these programs were not yet issued at the time of this writing. This article reviews typical documents clients will need to provide, based on my 16 years of experience leading an affordable housing agency. They were created for permanent affordable housing such as Housing Choice Vouchers, meaning your client’s housing portfolio is valuable long after the Plan funding is exhausted. For now, it is likely your client will need this documentation plus proof the pandemic caused their housing emergency. Emergency assistance to help people with unpaid rent and utilities is on its way; this article reviews how you can help clients gather information for their applications. There’s nothing like a government program to generate paperwork. Ironically, since the Paperwork Reduction Act passed 40 years ago the documentation needed for housing assistance programs seems to increase regularly. And there’s no getting out of it. Housing agencies must collect all of this information as a condition of their grants. This burden rolls downhill. The good news is that you and your client can gather this documentation in advance and create a “housing portfolio” to simplify the application process. You may have to apply for housing at multiple organizations. Having a portfolio will prevent many headaches for you, your clients and housing providers. Casebook has functions to track information your client needs in their housing portfolio, as I will describe later in this post. Billions in Emergency Assistance are Pending The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (Plan) added billions of dollars in rental assistance. Most of it is temporary to help people pay off rent arrearages and stabilize their housing. Emergency rental assistance: $21.5 billion to help households remain in their homes. Emergency housing vouchers: $5 billion for people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of it. Homelessness assistance and supportive services: $5 billion to create new housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Housing assistance for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians: $750 million to reduce housing-related health risks Emergency assistance for rural housing:$100 million to help people in rural communities keep their homes during the pandemic. That adds up to $32 billion dollars, on top of rental assistance funds included in the December 2020 CARES act. That is a lot of money. But it has to go a very long way. At the end of February 2021 over 13.5 million people said they were behind on their rent -- nearly 1 in 5 of all renters -- according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis . Renters owe an estimated $57 billion in back rent. These numbers show the need is greater than the emergency help available. Your clients need to apply for the money early to get what they need. If you have the documents in hand your client can start applications as soon as housing agencies can accept them. The rules and regulations governing these programs were not yet issued at the time of this writing. This article reviews typical documents clients will need to provide, based on my 16 years of experience leading an affordable housing agency. They were created for permanent affordable housing such as Housing Choice Vouchers, meaning your client’s housing portfolio is valuable long after the Plan funding is exhausted. For now, it is likely your client will need this documentation plus proof the pandemic caused their housing emergency. Emergency assistance to help people with unpaid rent and utilities is on its way; this article reviews how you can help clients gather information for their applications. There’s nothing like a government program to generate paperwork. Ironically, since the Paperwork Reduction Act passed 40 years ago the documentation needed for housing assistance programs seems to increase regularly. And there’s no getting out of it. Housing agencies must collect all of this information as a condition of their grants. This burden rolls downhill. The good news is that you and your client can gather this documentation in advance and create a “housing portfolio” to simplify the application process. You may have to apply for housing at multiple organizations. Having a portfolio will prevent many headaches for you, your clients and housing providers. Casebook has functions to track information your client needs in their housing portfolio, as I will describe later in this post. Billions in Emergency Assistance are Pending The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (Plan) added billions of dollars in rental assistance. Most of it is temporary to help people pay off rent arrearages and stabilize their housing. Emergency rental assistance: $21.5 billion to help households remain in their homes. Emergency housing vouchers: $5 billion for people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of it. Homelessness assistance and supportive services: $5 billion to create new housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Housing assistance for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians: $750 million to reduce housing-related health risks Emergency assistance for rural housing:$100 million to help people in rural communities keep their homes during the pandemic. That adds up to $32 billion dollars, on top of rental assistance funds included in the December 2020 CARES act. That is a lot of money. But it has to go a very long way. At the end of February 2021 over 13.5 million people said they were behind on their rent -- nearly 1 in 5 of all renters -- according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis . Renters owe an estimated $57 billion in back rent. These numbers show the need is greater than the emergency help available. Your clients need to apply for the money early to get what they need. If you have the documents in hand your client can start applications as soon as housing agencies can accept them. The rules and regulations governing these programs were not yet issued at the time of this writing. This article reviews typical documents clients will need to provide, based on my 16 years of experience leading an affordable housing agency. They were created for permanent affordable housing such as Housing Choice Vouchers, meaning your client’s housing portfolio is valuable long after the Plan funding is exhausted. For now, it is likely your client will need this documentation plus proof the pandemic caused their housing emergency. Emergency assistance to help people with unpaid rent and utilities is on its way; this article reviews how you can help clients gather information for their applications. There’s nothing like a government program to generate paperwork. Ironically, since the Paperwork Reduction Act passed 40 years ago the documentation needed for housing assistance programs seems to increase regularly. And there’s no getting out of it. Housing agencies must collect all of this information as a condition of their grants. This burden rolls downhill. The good news is that you and your client can gather this documentation in advance and create a “housing portfolio” to simplify the application process. You may have to apply for housing at multiple organizations. Having a portfolio will prevent many headaches for you, your clients and housing providers. Casebook has functions to track information your client needs in their housing portfolio, as I will describe later in this post. Billions in Emergency Assistance are Pending The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (Plan) added billions of dollars in rental assistance. Most of it is temporary to help people pay off rent arrearages and stabilize their housing. Emergency rental assistance: $21.5 billion to help households remain in their homes. Emergency housing vouchers: $5 billion for people who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of it. Homelessness assistance and supportive services: $5 billion to create new housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Housing assistance for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians: $750 million to reduce housing-related health risks Emergency assistance for rural housing:$100 million to help people in rural communities keep their homes during the pandemic. That adds up to $32 billion dollars, on top of rental assistance funds included in the December 2020 CARES act. That is a lot of money. But it has to go a very long way. At the end of February 2021 over 13.5 million people said they were behind on their rent -- nearly 1 in 5 of all renters -- according to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis . Renters owe an estimated $57 billion in back rent. These numbers show the need is greater than the emergency help available. Your clients need to apply for the money early to get what they need. If you have the documents in hand your client can start applications as soon as housing agencies can accept them. The rules and regulations governing these programs were not yet issued at the time of this writing. This article reviews typical documents clients will need to provide, based on my 16 years of experience leading an affordable housing agency. They were created for permanent affordable housing such as Housing Choice Vouchers, meaning your client’s housing portfolio is valuable long after the Plan funding is exhausted. For now, it is likely your client will need this documentation plus proof the pandemic caused their housing emergency.