Beyond Shelter's Institute for Research, Training and Technical Assistance is providing consulting and technical assistance services by demand to agencies and localities across the country in response to HUD's release of $1.5 billion for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP).

The economic stimulus funding from the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program provides a unique opportunity for cities, counties and states to combat the rising tide of homelessness at a time when state and local funding for such efforts has been severely undermined by the current economic recession.  

Beyond Shelter has twenty years of experience operating prevention and rapid re-housing programs in Los Angeles County. The organization pioneered the rapid re-housing model, also known as "Housing First," in the late 1980s. Since 1991, Beyond Shelter has served as the Central Coordinating Agency for a variety of countywide homeless prevention programs funded through local, state, and federal monies.

Since the early 1990s, the agency has provided training and technical assistance to organizations and communities across the country in planning, designing, implementing and evaluating rapid re-housing and homelessness prevention programs, through our Institute for Research, Training and Technical Assistance.

Technical assistance provided by the agency has fostered and supported the emergence of some of the first rapid re-housing programs in the country, including in Columbus, Ohio (1992), as well as the launch of new rapid re-housing pilots, including in Austin, Texas (2008).

Beyond Shelter's "Housing First" Program for Homeless Families is widely recognized as a model for ending and preventing family homelessness. Program awards and recognition, include, but are not limited to, the following:

• June 2000 - In its pioneering "Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness" in America, the National Alliance to End Homelessness recommended “housing first” or rapid re-housing as the principal strategy for ending homelessness for most families; the Alliance credits Beyond Shelter with introducing this innovative approach to the field;
  
  
• May 1999 - The Pew Partnership for Civic Change selected Beyond Shelter's program as one of 19 model programs nationally addressing urgent community issues as part of its national initiative “Wanted: Solutions for America;”  
  
  
• June 1996 - The "Housing First" Program was one of "25 U.S. Best Practices" chosen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to represent the U.S. at the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Habitat II, held in Istanbul, Turkey;
  
  
• June 1996 - Beyond Shelter's program was chosen one of "100 International Best Practices" by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) in Nairobi, Kenya, for dissemination worldwide.

Using our extensive experience providing skilled technical assistance and operating effective programs, Beyond Shelter is offering consulting services to localities in helping to design and implement HPRP activities. Services range from program planning and design to program implementation and capacity building to performance measurement. These services can entail short-term contracts or ongoing, longer-term technical assistance.

Consulting services focusing on program planning and design, implementation, and evaluation are available in the following areas:

• Identifying households at risk through proven outreach and screening practices
  
• Targeting resources most effectively
  
• Employing strategies to prevent evictions and stabilize housing
  
• Re-housing households at imminent risk of homelessness to avoid shelter stays
  
• Administering primary prevention programs
  
• Documenting activities and demonstrating impact

• Developing marketing materials for landlords and property management companies
  
• Conducting effective landlord outreach and engagement
  
• Overcoming client barriers to permanent housing, including poor credit, eviction histories, etc.
  
• Utilizing the Internet and other resources to find housing opportunities
  
• Accessing alternative affordable housing resources
  
• Educating tenants about their rights and responsibilities

• Engaging clients in voluntary services to promote housing stability and family well-being
  
• Determining intensity of services based on screening and assessment of needs
  
• Developing and implementing individualized service plans
  
• Implementing key components of home-based case management
  
• Linking clients with community-based resources and services
  
• Mediating landlord-tenant problems

• dentifying target populations and establishing guidelines for program participation
  
• Developing policies and procedures for single-agency and multi-agency models, including Memoranda of Understanding
  
• Establishing cost-effective program budgets and adequate staffing levels
  
• Developing and/or refining assessment tools and procedures to facilitate effective screening and referral processes
  
• Designing individualized financial assistance packages, including one-time assistance and shallow, declining, and/or bridge rental subsidies

For localities and agencies that are interested in hands-on technical assistance related to homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing, Institute staff are available to conduct on-site trainings and workshops of various types and duration, in addition to extensive and ongoing phone and in-person consultation regarding program design and/or implementation.

For further information on training and consulting opportunities, please contact Ryan Macy-Hurley, Director of the Institute for Research, Training, and Technical Assistance at Beyond Shelter, at 213.252.0772, Ext. 116 or e-mail to
Institute@beyondshelter.org.