MARCH 2022

The Office to Prevent and End Homelessness – now part of the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development – is committed to eliminating the disproportionality of people at-risk of or experiencing homelessness from communities of color and other marginalized populations by providing equitable paths to safe, stable, affordable housing.
 

PARTNERSHIP UPDATES
 

• Continuum of Care (CoC) Committee: The CoC Committee, the governance of the CoC, will be meeting on March 4 at 2:00 p.m., in conference rooms 9 and 10 at the Fairfax County Government Center (12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, VA 22030). The agenda, meeting materials, and minutes will be available at https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/homeless/coccommittee
   
• 2022 Fairfax County Housing Symposium: The third annual Fairfax County Housing Symposium will take place on March 17th from 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. The Symposium will once again bring together elected leaders, industry professionals, policy experts, and housing advocates with the primary goal of advancing the role of affordable housing within the fabric of our community. This year’s theme – A Foundation for Economic Recovery, Growth, and Opportunity – will include a look at the impacts of and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; growing personal wealth through homeownership; advancing economic mobility through housing opportunities; and the preservation/modernization of affordable housing through innovation.

• FY2023 One Year Action Plan: Fairfax County is seeking public comment on the One-Year Action Plan for utilizing federal housing dollars to advance affordable housing, community development and public services countywide during Fiscal Year 2023 (July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023). The plan outlines proposed activities and projects that will receive approximately $9 million in federal funding, including Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and Emergency Solutions Grant. Comments are requested by March 22, 2022.

• FY2023 Advertised Budget Plan: The Fairfax County Executive presented the FY2023 Advertised Budget Plan to the Board of Supervisors on February 22, 2022. This includes the proposed funding to support affordable housing.

• USICH Executive Director Announced: The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) announced that Jeff Olivet has been named as the Executive Director. Olivet outlined a number of focus areas, including reframing homelessness as a public health crisis, amplifying the voice of people who have experienced homelessness, eliminating racial disparities, and going upstream to prevent homelessness. USICH will continue to work with staff across the federal government—including Cabinet members and White House leaders—to create a federal strategic plan to guide the work ahead. 

• Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit: The Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit are large tax refund payments that people can receive when they file a tax return. The 2021 American Rescue Plan expanded who can receive these payments and increased the amount of money available to many families and individuals. These tax credits are not income. Receiving these benefits will not impact eligibility for other federal benefits. The best way to receive these benefits is to file a tax return before April 18, 2022. Service providers can support their clients in receiving these tax credits by:

  • Making sure clients are aware of the credits. See the IRS Toolkit, one pagers and flyers for more information on both tax credits and easy to share resources, and

  • Connecting clients to free tax filing support online or via IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program centers.

• New Team Member at the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness (OPEH): OPEH is excited to welcome Hannah Park (she/her) as the HMIS User Support Specialist as of February 28th. In this role Hannah will be focusing on managing the Super User Committees, which are responsible for governance of the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), as well as the management of the HMIS Partners Portal and training related to the Super Users. Hannah studied Management Information Systems in college and has over 10 years of IT experience, mainly in database management and reporting software.

FUNDING INFORMATION
 

• Housing Trust Fund – Homeless Reduction Grant: As part of the application process for the Virginia Homeless Solutions Program, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development’s Homeless and Special Needs Housing division introduced a new bonus opportunity to apply for Housing Trust Fund – Homeless Reduction Grant (HTF-HRG) funding. This opportunity is open to existing HTF-HRG grantees as well as new applicants and can be used for Rapid Rehousing projects and Permanent Supportive Housing projects that serve people experiencing chronic homelessness. To access the application, please contact jamie.ergas@fairfaxcounty.gov. Applications are due to the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness by March 21, 2022.
   
• Request for Proposals Issued for Redevelopment of the Franconia Government Center Property: The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) has issued a Request for Proposals for the redevelopment of the Franconia Governmental Center at 6121 Franconia Road, Alexandria. The FCRHA is seeking a qualified developer to design, develop, construct, own, and operate an affordable multifamily community (up to 120 units) on the 3.26-acre property. Submissions are due by 2 p.m. on April 14, 2022.

DATA SPOTLIGHT

• Continuum of Care Performance Profile Report: The latest Continuum of Care (CoC) Performance Profile Report was released by the Department of Housing & Urban Development at the beginning of February. This report provides a snapshot of a CoC’s performance in addressing homelessness using performance indicators such as the length of time persons have been homeless, returns to homelessness over time, and exits to permanent housing. The report compiles data from the Point-in-Time count, Housing Inventory Count, system performance measures, and CoC Program Competition; displays the data as graphics; and summarizes much of the data in a table.
   
• Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) Part 1: The Department of Housing & Urban Development recently released its 2021 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part 1 to Congress at the beginning of February. This report outlines the key findings of the Point-in-Time (PIT) Count and Housing Inventory Count (HIC) conducted in January 2021. Specifically, this report provides 2021 national, state, and CoC-level PIT and HIC estimates of homelessness, as well as estimates of chronically homeless persons, homeless veterans, and homeless children and youth. Because of pandemic-related disruptions to counts of unsheltered homeless people in January 2021, this report focuses on people experiencing sheltered homelessness.

Training Opportunities

• Domestic Violence Network Tier I Training
  March 8, 10, 15, 17, 22, 24, 29, 31
  4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
  Tier One is a training on the dynamics of domestic violence, the systems that respond to those experiencing violence, and available resources in our community. The training is designed for professionals interested in learning the dynamics of domestic violence in order to deepen their work with clients and community members, and anyone interested in volunteering with Domestic and Sexual Violence Services. Please note that you must attend all 8 sessions to receive a certificate of completion.

• Fair Housing Office Hours
  March 8, 2022
  4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
  This bimonthly series of virtual office hours will review topics in Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH). Each session will provide HUD grantees with an opportunity to ask questions on fair housing planning. The first session of the month will be general in nature and cover topics including but not limited to: conducting an analysis of impediments, assessment of fair housing, or other fair housing planning document; conducting effective community participation to reach all protested class groups; implementing any fair housing planning documents; reporting on any fair housing planning documents. The office hours are intended for HUD grantees, including participating jurisdictions and public housing agencies who are responsible for fair housing documents.

• ESG Onboarding Toolkit: Rapid Rehousing Case Management and Services
  HUD Exchange (recorded webinar)

  This video describes in detail the three core components of Rapid Rehousing

• ESG Onboarding Toolkit: Rapid Rehousing Supervisor – Strategies for Supporting Rapid Rehousing Staff
  HUD Exchange (recorded webinar)
  Supervisors provide a critical role in supporting the consistent implementation of Rapid Rehousing principals and strategies. Supervisors ensure quality assurance, accountability and grants compliance for funds being used to support households being served in Rapid Rehousing.