Annual 2023 Homeless Count Released

Data for the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count shows increases in homelessness, specifically those experiencing homelessness for the first time. 

[Denver, CO – July 24, 2023]: The Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) released the 2023 annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count data today. The count, conducted in January each year, is required by HUD to capture the number of unduplicated individuals experiencing homelessness on a single night.  

“We are still awaiting HUD’s verification of the region’s data, but for planning purposes, it is important to share this data,” said Dr. Jamie Rife, MDHI’s Executive Director.  

The count occurred on Monday, January 30, 2023, and included both those staying in shelter and outdoors. This year, 9,065 people were counted, or a 31.7% increase from 2022. The numbers of families experiencing homelessness showed a significant rise across the region, from 1,277 last year to 2,101 this year. Additionally, those who are new to homelessness rose sharply, from 2,634 to 3,996. Families experiencing homelessness for the first time were 597 in 2022 and 1,316 in 2023. 

“While the world is no longer in a pandemic, we are beginning to feel the full economic fallout of the COVID-19 era,” shared Rife. “With COVID-19 relief funds for the prevention of homelessness coming to an end, as well as many other COVID-era protections, we’ve seen a sharp increase in the number of eviction filings as more households struggle to pay rent. This, paired with inflation and the increased cost of housing, is resulting in many people falling into homelessness and many being unable to obtain housing.”  

The PIT is an annual snapshot of homelessness on a single night with numerous variables such as weather, count participation, volunteer engagement, and a variety of other factors. “While the region continues to improve our count and was able to locate 9,065 individuals on a single night experiencing homelessness, the Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) used by our providers allows us to see this number is closer 28,000 throughout the course of the year,” stressed Rife. “We need to keep moving towards understanding who is experiencing homelessness in real-time and by name, so our response is as effective as possible”, she added.  

The Metro Denver Homeless Initiative is the Lead Agency for the region’s Continuum of Care. The organization coordinates the annual count at the regional level with local teams across the seven-county Denver region conducting counts locally. Per HUD requirements, the PIT must be conducted during the last ten days of January. For more information on the PIT count, 2023 data and county-by-county breakdowns, please visit MDHI’s website. A more comprehensive look at homelessness can be found in MDHI’s State of Homelessness Report.  

Annual CoC Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Released

The Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has officially posted the Annual CoC Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 on Grants.gov. The submission deadline for the CoC Application and CoC Priority List is September 28th, 2023 at 8:00pm EST.

MDHI hosted a NOFO Grantee Presentation on July 26th for current Grantees and anyone interested in applying. You can review the slides here or watch the webinar recording.

Timeline

• Review the NOFO Grantee Presentation slides or watch the webinar for more information

• Letters of Intent are due August 1, 2023

• Applications are due in e-snaps by 2pm on August 28, 2023

• MDHI submits Collaborative Application by September 28, 2023

Project Applicants

• Returning project applicants may choose to import FY 2022 renewal project application responses; however, this must be requested during your registration of the Renewal Funding Opportunity in e-snaps and is only available if you submitted a project application in the FY 2022 CoC Program Competition. Imported responses must be carefully reviewed to ensure accuracy.

• Projects renewing for the first time, that were previously awarded prior to the FY 2022 CoC Program Competition must complete the entire renewal project application.

• New project applications must be completed in full and in accordance with the new project application components permitted in this year’s Competition.

Additional Guidance

The following additional guidance will be posted on the CoC Program Competition page of HUD’s website by the end of this month: 

• FY 2023 CoC Estimated ARD Reports

• Detailed Instructions

• CoC Application

• CoC Priority Listing

• Project Applications – all types

• Navigational Guides

• Accessing the Project Application

• New Project Application

• Renewal Project Application

• UFA Costs Project Application

• Planning Costs Project Application

• CoC Priority Listing

Questions 

Questions regarding the FY 2023 CoC Program Competition process must be submitted to CoCNOFO@hud.gov.  

Questions related to e-snaps functionality (e.g., password lockout, access to user’s application account, updating Applicant Profile) must be submitted to e-snaps@hud.gov.

You can also contact MDHI at nofa@mdhi.org.

Welcome, New Staff!

Please join us in welcoming Jalicha, Jeevan, and Olive to our HMIS team! We are so excited to expand our team’s (and region’s) capacity to better support our information and impact.

Jalicha Davis
Training Specialist

"I'm excited to play my role in healing the world, one community at a time."

Jeevan Surendra
Data Analyst

"I'm excited to join MDHI's work to end homelessness because it's a chance to make a real difference in people's lives, providing them with the stability and support they need to thrive. It's an opportunity to be part of a compassionate community that is dedicated in creating lasting solutions for those who are most vulnerable."

Olive Strauser
Quality Assurance Specialist

"I can’t wait to see a world where individuals that now experience homelessness finally have the life and dignity they deserve, and for future generations to see this as a tragic part of history, but not a possibility for their lives."

Information & Impact - May 2023

A Monthly Homeless Management Information System Update

We’re holding off on our quarterly DPAL meeting until we receive more information about the HMIS data standards coming later this year. This means no DPAL meeting in May. Please review this newsletter for updates, which will be sent on a monthly basis to all active HMIS end users. Thank you for all your collaboration and support!

Data Quality

There has been an increase in Data Quality errors recently. Please review the reminders below so we can fix some common errors.

Zendesk Resources

As a reminder, please use Zendesk for all updates and resources. It has copies of documents and forms, announcements, quick reference guides, and the training signup link.

Client Duplicates

Before entering a new client, you must search for the client in the database using a combination of the following information:

• Name or Alias

• SSN

• Date of Birth

You can use partial information to prevent false negative results. For example, if you are searching for Candy Cane, entering “can can” in the search field makes it much easier to find the client. If you searched “candee” instead of “candy” the result would not populate. Note that Clarity will populate results as you type. You can click on the correct client as soon as they show in the pending results dropdown.

Household Management

Please ensure that you are creating and enrolling households appropriately. Use this Zendesk resource for reference.

• All program enrollments must have a Head of Household (HoH) assigned

• Children generally cannot be assigned as the HoH

• Exception: Runaway & Homeless Youth (RHY) programs​

• Make sure that families are enrolled together as a group

• If an individual enrollment is assigned to a child, email the helpdesk with the appropriate information to connect the child to the household

Clients Not Put on CQ

Remember to send a referral to the OneHome Community Queue (CQ) when you enroll a person into the OneHome program. If you do not add the person to the Community Queue, they cannot be considered for a resource referral through OneHome.

Data Standards

HUD released documentation for the FY24 HMIS Data Standards earlier this month. These changes will go into effect in HMIS on 10/1/2023.

Our team is reviewing the updated standards and preparing materials to review with DPALs and share with end users in the coming weeks. We’ll be working on updated COHMIS paperwork to be released on 10/1 when the updated data standards go into effect.

For a sneak peek of the FY24 HMIS Data Standards, review the slides from the most recent HUD HMIS Lead System Administrator webinar, beginning on slide 14. A link to the webinar is also available here.

Tableau Server Access

The COHMIS Leads recently rolled out access to an interactive suite of statewide dashboards that reflect a variety of HMIS data breakdowns. These dashboards are hosted on Tableau Server, a secure online platform provided to us by our partners at Community Solutions.

If you or staff members at your organization would like access to Tableau Server, please request access through our Tableau Server End User Agreement. Access will only be provided to staff who:

• Are employed at an organization that has a valid COHMIS Agency Partnership Agreement (APA) on file, and

• Will abide by the requirements outlined in the COHMIS Tableau Server End User Agreement

HMIS Training

How to Get Setup

All training is now conducted virtually on our Learning Management System (LMS). Only the agency DPALs can register staff for training. DPALs must log in to Zendesk and access the DPAL zone to register staff for the LMS.

Once the request is received, staff will receive an automated email with instructions on how to access the LMS. It can take up to 2 hours for the courses to be assigned after registration, so please be patient.

The email from the LMS may be marked as SPAM, so we ask that DPALs send the following message to your staff after signup. You should also work with your IT department to whitelist the LMS site.   

You will receive an email from <noreply@talentlms.com> with your username and temporary password. Check your spam folder and have your agency whitelist this email address. Please be sure to change your password when you log in. If you don't have this email, you can visit this link and use your email to reset your password. Do not change your username. Before logging in, you need to watch the video on the home page labeled “How to use Talent LMS.” Once you login to the LMS, you will only see a single course assigned. As you complete the courses, the next one will appear 15 hours later.

HMIS Login Credentials

To get HMIS login credentials, end users will have to complete both HMIS 101 and the FY 2023 set of HMIS courses (Days 1-3). The HMIS training will be spread out over a minimum of 3 days. 

Practical exam: As part of the day 3 training, staff will be expected to enter client information into the training website. The instructions will provide a login to the training site and a fake character bio. Staff must showcase proficiency in the system and a clear understanding of HUD concepts. If staff do not pass the practical exam, they will be given the next steps on a case-by-case basis. Once staff passes all of these sections, they will be issued login credentials to HMIS for their agency.

OneHome Access

If staff need access to OneHome:

1. The DPAL will need to send a request to the HMIS helpdesk

2. The Coordinated Entry course will be assigned to staff in the LMS

3. Once they pass the Coordinated Entry course, email the helpdesk to let us know

4. Our HMIS team will add OneHome access in HMIS

Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) Grant Open

Up to $15 million in federal funding available to prevent and end youth homelessness in metro Denver. See below for ways you can support our community’s application.

Interested in learning more about the YHDP? You can read the full HUD notice here or review our first stakeholder presentation from May 1.

Provider Survey

Do you work with young adults aged 24 and under that experience homelessness or housing instability? Please add your input to our Needs Assessment and Coordinated Community Plan by May 15 at 11:59pm.

Youth Survey

This survey is for young adults that have experienced homelessness or housing instability while aged 24 or under. This input will support our Needs Assessment and Coordinated Community Plan.

We encourage providers who work with young people to designate a time for them to complete it before May 15 at 11:59pm. All of the questions are optional. Young people should be compensated for their time via monetary or in-kind incentives.

Board of Directors Application Open!

Apply until noon on May 12.

Would you like to join our mission of leading and advancing collaboration to end homelessness in metro Denver? Our Board of Directors is accepting applications until May 12 at noon. Please read the Application Guide and Conflict of Interest Policy before submitting an application. We strongly encourage individuals with lived experience of homelessness and other life challenges to apply.

HUD Announces Awards for Annual CoC Competition Funding

On March 28, 2023, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced this year's Continuum of Care Competition (CoC) Awards. The Metro Denver CoC received a total of $30,714,291 in funding, the vast majority of which goes to assuring households remain housed. The region did receive $876,641 in new funding, which will support the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless’s new ‘Housing is Healthcare’ project. A full list of recipients and awards can be found here.  

Semi-Annual Stakeholder Meeting

Nearly 200 stakeholders from across the metro region attended this year’s Stakeholder Meeting on February 24, 2023. You can review the meeting slides or watch the recording below. The agenda was as follows:

• Overview of a Continuum of Care (C0C) and Membership

• Updates on Our Collective Work in Four Core CoC Areas

• Proposed Five-Year Goals for CoC

• Overview of Proposed Committee Changes •Breakout Sessions for Feedback/Discussion on Committees

Annual State of Homelessness Released

New Report Shows Nearly 28,000 in Metro Region Experienced Homelessness Annually

DENVER, COLORADO – January 27, 2023 – The Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) released its third annual Metro Denver State of Homelessness report today, highlighting new data in the region related to homelessness.

The report, for the third year in a row, demonstrates the overall issue of homelessness across multiple sources including the region’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), the 2022 Point in Time (PIT) count, as well as school district data on students experiencing homelessness.

The HMIS showed 27,860 unique individuals accessed services related to homelessness between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. This shows an annual snapshot of homelessness as compared to the region’s one night count, the PIT, which occurred on January 24, 2022, locating 6,884 individuals. Additionally, the report shared that 7,334 people stayed outdoors at some point during the year, compared to 2,078 on the evening of January 24, 2022.

“This shows the drastic difference between how many individuals are experiencing homelessness on a given night as compared to over the course of a year,” said Dr. Jamie Rife, Executive Director of MDHI. “Having more real-time data, like we do via the Homeless Management Information System, allows us to plan more effectively and demonstrate the full scope of the crisis of homelessness in our region,” she added.

Consistent in this year’s report as compared to last two years is the overrepresentation of BIPOC individuals in the population of those experiencing homelessness. “Once again, and glaringly so, the data show the overrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color among those experiencing homelessness. This the direct result of multiple systemic failures which are ultimately the root causes of homelessness,” stated Rife.

The report also outlines, in detail, the top causes of individuals experiencing homelessness. They are consistently related to economic barriers, such as the inability to pay rent or a mortgage, evictions, or familial challenges such as relationship issues or family break-up. Additionally, the report details the steps the region has been working on together to solve homelessness, specifically the Built for Zero work which is aimed at creating a path to measurable reductions. Due in part to this work, the region has seen a 31% reduction in veteran homelessness over the past two years, which is nearly three times the national average of an 11% veteran reduction.

READ THE FULL REPORT

Member Highlight: Denver Indian Family Resource Center

This Native American Heritage Month, we’re exploring the impact of culturally-inclusive programs and services with a local Native-led and serving organization that has been authentically leading this work since 2000. Denver Indian Family Resource Center (DIFRC) was founded to address the critically unmet need for culturally responsive services. They have been dedicated to addressing the overrepresentation of Native children being removed from their families, home, community, and culture through direct services and systems change efforts. DIFRC has become a trusted community resource because of the way they meaningfully support Native community members and organizations with child welfare or resource-related questions.

DIFRC recognizes that the extended family is the heart of American Indian life. Honoring the tradition of strong American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) families drives DIFRC’s work. Thus, DIFRC strives to help families create a safe, healthy, and supportive home environment where children are nurtured and can remain connected to their culture. DIFRC offers culturally appropriate services to families built upon traditions that have sustained Indian tribes, communities, and families for centuries. DIFRC acknowledges and honors the tribal diversity in the urban Indian community of which it is a part and treats every child and family member with dignity and respect, regardless of tribal affiliation, degree of cultural or tribal connectedness, enrollment status, or family knowledge of Native lineage or tribal background.

Culturally-Centered and Impactful

Denver Indian Family Resource Center offers Family Services, Housing Services, the Nurturing Parenting Program, Basic Needs Services, the Seven Stars Collaborative, the Wakanyeja Waka Youth Program, and more. Their mission is to strengthen vulnerable AI/AN children and families through collaborative and culturally-responsive services.

In 22 years, DIFRC has provided services to 2,000 families and more than 3,000 children. Of these families, nearly 89% had positive permanency outcomes, much higher than the national average of 54%. As of 2022, DIFRC has successfully reunified and preserved nearly 90% of all AI/AN families in these services. DIFRC has also been instrumental in reducing the overrepresentation of AI/AN children entering area foster care by 162%.

“Denver Indian Family Resource Center has played an important role in mine and my children’s lives. When we had open cases with the Department of Human Services, they were there to support us through the difficult process of getting out of a domestic violence situation and beginning the journey of healing. They have stood by my family every step of the way, whether it was through encouragement, planting seeds of self-belief, or listening to the hardships we have faced and helping me to work through those issues. Denver Indian Family Resource Center will always be in my family’s lives because of the amazing help and knowledge they have given us. Thank you DIFRC!”

— Previous Client Family

The Nurturing Parenting Program blends traditional Native American beliefs and practices with the national Nurturing Parenting Program curriculum. This type of culturally inclusive service is critical to supporting healthy family development in our community in a way that aligns with a family’s AI/AN culture and values rather than imposing Western ideals and beliefs. Their cultural responsiveness is what drives the long-term success of DIFRC and its client families. In 2021, a total of 274 parenting services (equivalent to 293 individual services) were provided in the parenting and adult education category to a total of 52 families:

• Nurturing Parents/Nurturing Parents Prenatal: 127 (43.35%)

• Home Visits: 94 (32.08%)

• Supervised Visitation: 29 (9.9%)

• Court Advocacy: 21 (7.17%)

• Life Skills: 19 (6.48%)

• Strengthening Families: 2 (<1%)

• Safe and Secure: 1 (<1%)

From January-October 2022, DIFRC served 25 families (33 adults and 20 children) through its Housing Services:

• 14 families moved into a new place

• 4 families were prevented from eviction

• 7 families were given rental assistance

• 72 months of rental assistance provided

• 9 months of rental arrears paid

This data doesn’t include all the basic needs provided to client families such as food vouchers, transportation, shower assistance, clothing, utilities, school supplies, medical assistance, and more. In 2021, DIFRC provided 943 Basic Needs Services (equivalent to 2,060 individual services) across all programs. These services truly meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our community with the dignity and inclusiveness they deserve.

Contribute to the Solution

Seven Stars Collaborative - DIFRC serves as a resource of culturally competent professionals to serve families in need and to support partner agencies in their efforts to increase cultural responsiveness through the Seven Stars Collaborative. Anyone is invited to join Seven Stars. To participate, email Alisiana Medina, the Resource and Referral Specialist who facilitates the monthly meeting. They meet on the second Tuesday of the month from 9-10am via Zoom.

Wakanyeja Waka Youth Program - By focusing on a youth’s needs, especially youth in foster care, kinship care, or at risk of entering foster care, this program helps establish strong resiliency and life skills to support their growth and development while serving as a prevention tool for their own future families. To join the youth group, call DIFRC at 720-500-1020.

Be Informed - In 2021, DIFRC partnered with the Native American Housing Circle to conduct a Housing Needs Assessment to examine the housing needs of Native Americans in the Denver Metro area. This is the first report of its kind in our community. View the report here.

Join their Team - DIFRC is growing and currently hiring! Please visit their website to view open positions.

Support their Needs

DIFRC needs to replace their van, which they use to transport equipment to outreach events and deliver thousands of supplies and food to families in need. In 2021, this van helped to support 191 families, including the delivery of food boxes to 168 individuals. They need $35K to make this possible!

Director of USICH to Visit Metro-Denver

MDHI is pleased to share the Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), Jeff Olivet, will visit Metro-Denver November 21 and 22.

According to the USICH website, “USICH is the only federal agency with the sole mission of preventing and ending homelessness in America. We coordinate with our 19 federal member agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector to create partnerships, use resources in the most efficient and effective ways, and implement evidence-based best practices.”

Jeff Olivet is the current executive director of USICH. Here is information about Director Olivet:

Jeff Olivet is the executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). He has worked to prevent and end homelessness for more than 25 years as a street outreach worker, case manager, coalition builder, researcher, and trainer. He is the founder of JO consulting, co-founder of Racial Equity Partners, and from 2010 to 2018, he served as CEO of C4 Innovations. Throughout his career, he has worked extensively in the areas of homelessness and housing, health and behavioral health, HIV, education, and organizational development. Jeff has been principal investigator on multiple research studies funded by private foundations and the National Institutes of Health. Jeff is deeply committed to social justice, racial equity, gender equality, and inclusion for all. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama and a master's degree from Boston College.

During the visit, the USICH team will meet with several key stakeholder groups, tour various facilities, and share information about the direction of the federal strategy to address homelessness.

Common Sense: Quality Data with Lived Expertise

Accurate data and equity are at the core of how we solve homelessness. We believe in transparently and responsibly sharing accessible, quality data to inform the public of the realities of homelessness in Metro Denver. A common sense approach to homelessness is one that adheres to a peer-reviewed, data-driven methodology rooted in equity and lived expertise. Data that mischaracterizes or misleads the public is harmful to our regional efforts and those with lived experiences of homelessness.  

Here's how we’re implementing real-time quality data to inform Metro Denver’s local and regional efforts to end homelessness. 

Homeless Management Information System 

MDHI serves as the lead agency for Colorado’s Homeless Management Information System (COHMIS), which houses data about people accessing programs or services related to homelessness. We use this data to track client and program outcomes, measure system performance, and inform regional and local efforts to end homelessness. Our goal is quality, real-time data that captures everyone experiencing homelessness by name.  

Quality, By-Name Data 

Quality data means we can account for everyone experiencing homelessness by name, in real time. This Quality By-Name List (BNL) helps us understand the scope of homelessness, describes the inflow and outflow on an ongoing basis, gives us accurate information to reduce homelessness, and helps us measure our progress towards ending it. Boulder County was the first of Metro Denver’s nine subregions to achieve quality data for all singles in August 2022. Community Solutions certified the data over a 3-month reporting period, assuring that Boulder has maintained 100% data reliability through July 2022. This means we are 100% sure we know every single adult experiencing homelessness in Boulder County. All 9 subregions of Metro Denver are on track to have quality, real time data for all single adults, youth, and families experiencing homelessness by December 31, 2027. 

Implementation of By-Name Data 

Our regional approach is working. Veteran homelessness has decreased by 31% since 2020 due to regional coordination on the issue. As of September 2022, we have operationalized the Active Veteran By-Name List reports, which share identifying information about each Veteran experiencing homelessness along with their contact information. Subregional Leads receive this data weekly. The data includes all Veterans enrolled in the Veteran By-Name List project in HMIS, as well as those specific to their subregion. Reports are sent via encrypted email to maintain client confidentiality. These reports support care coordination across the region so that unhoused veterans can be connected to housing and services more quickly as we move toward functional zero. 

Voices of Lived Expertise 

Quality data is as qualitative as it is quantitative. We must root numbers in the stories of people with lived experience to shed light on the realities and impact of homelessness. We believe in collecting these stories in a way that is healing and non-traumatizing, always compensating people fairly for their time and expertise. Last summer, our Young Adult Leadership Committee (YALC) conducted listening and healing spaces in partnership with Syah B. Consulting to understand more about the needs and struggles of unhoused youth. The YALC are using this data to inform their action cycle and create systems-level change for youth experiencing homelessness. While we work on standing up a committee for adults with lived expertise, we’ve connected with community groups such as the Native American Housing Circle that are already doing the work. Our CoC has plans to get community-wide feedback from people with lived expertise coming 2023.  

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless Challenges a Recent Report by the Common Sense Institute Regarding the Economic Impact of Homelessness in Denver

Press Release
Friday, October 21, 2022

Alexis Whitham
Director of Communications, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
970-541-9048, awhitham@coloradocoalition.org

Cathy Alderman
Chief Communications and Public Policy Officer, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
303-312-9638, calderman@coloradocoalition.org

For the second year in a row, the Common Sense Institute (CSI) has released a misleading and loosely-informed report on the economic impact of homelessness in the Denver area. Instead of taking the advice of experts in the field, service providers on the ground, and government agencies supporting the homeless response system who offered solutions to the flawed assumption about unhoused individuals and an unsound methodology for calculating costs, CSI has released a report with inflated and inaccurate numbers in order to generate “shock value” conclusions about the “total cost of homelessness” and an ill-advised “cost per person experiencing homelessness.” Despite advising CSI multiple times that their assumptions and methodology failed to accurately capture the complex issue of homelessness and how the response and resolution system actually works, CSI told the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) that they still “elected” to overcount funds, include unrelated costs in their total costs, and create a conclusion that can only be described as reductive.

“CSI’s report does a substantial disservice to the providers of homelessness services working day in and out to resolve the crisis of homelessness by attempting to reduce the complexity of these services into a single number,” said Cathy Alderman, Chief Communications and Public Policy Officer for CCH. “Further, the report perpetuates a stigma against people experiencing homelessness by asserting that all people experiencing homelessness are somehow one in the same with the exact same needs. And, while we all know that housing is the solution to homelessness, the report fails to demonstrate how best practices in the homelessness response system like Housing First, Denver’s Social Impact Bond Program, or the Denver ReHousing Collaborative might offset some costs to the current system.”

Although CSI made minor adjustments to its methodology in response to multiple experts in the field and service providers on the ground, these changes did not address many of the most egregious flaws identified including:

• The inclusion of costs of services like healthcare, housing, meal delivery, domestic violence assistance, and others provided by service providers to both housed and unhoused individuals. These costs are not attributable to the “footprint of homelessness.” CSI’s contention that they are comfortable overcounting some of these costs, as they did for Denver Health, because they also excluded some other potential costs doesn’t rectify the flaw of overcounting.

• The inclusion of people living in supportive housing and the costs of supportive housing cannot logically be said to relate to the costs of responding to homelessness. These individuals are housed and many people who live in supportive housing are people living with disabilities, seniors, and individuals and families escaping and recovering from domestic violence.

• Overestimating the number of employees and volunteers who operate in the homelessness response system to arrive at the conclusion that there is “one job related to every person experiencing homelessness” is inflammatory and insulting to the community. While many of these employees and volunteers are dedicating time to assist the unhoused community, they are also serving in other roles to assist housed individuals. Further, for those of us in the nonprofit space, we know that volunteers often offer services more than once to an organization or offer their service to multiple organizations.

• Although the Stout Street Health Center (SSHC) is owned and operated by CCH, healthcare services are provided to both housed and unhoused individuals (much like the healthcare services at Denver Health). Therefore, including all SSHC costs significantly inflates the costs included in CSI’s numerator. In fact, the inclusion of all of CCH expenditures is flawed since as a housing and healthcare provider, the Coalition spends the majority of its funds to keep people in housing and to provide healthcare to the community

• The report doesn’t account for any offsetting cost-savings associated with the proven benefits of providing people experiencing homelessness with housing, services, shelter, and other supports as demonstrated in the Denver Social Impact Bond program evaluation.

• The report also mischaracterizes subsidized housing such as that provided through the Denver Social Impact Bond Program as “free housing” when in fact, participants are responsible for paying 30% of their income towards rent.

“CSI should go back to the drawing board if they want to publish a meaningful report on homelessness,” Alderman said. “For some people experiencing homelessness, a single month’s rent or security deposit would resolve their situation whereas other people may require a higher level of supportive services, housing assistance, and health care. Other cost per person estimates referenced in CSI’s report are based on actual, not assumed, identified populations of individuals experiencing homelessness. In this report, attempting to arrive at a ‘cost per person experiencing homelessness’ without identifying a specific population of people is the very antithesis of common sense.”

While CSI claims the report is intended to bring a “critical eye to the issue” by including results from homelessness response programs in other states, they fail to acknowledge that many of these programs were only possible with significant and increased investments in homelessness resolution. CSI’s report repeatedly infers that Denver and surrounding areas might be “spending too much on homelessness,” when increased financial investment in other states and cities is the very thing that achieved the type of decreases in the number of people remaining unhoused we would hope to achieve locally.

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless is proud of the work we have done for decades to provide housing, health care, and supportive services to the housed and unhoused community and we are deeply frustrated at having our work and the work of our partners misrepresented. CSI’s flawed assumptions, questionable methodology, and failure to include off-setting cost savings and increased levels of investments from successful homelessness response programs should be a red flag for anyone questioning whether they should take this new report seriously.

The Coalition recommends the following resources in lieu of this report:

Denver Social Impact Bond Final Report from the Urban Institute

NLIHC summary of UCLA Department of Economics Working Paper

Housing First Impact on Costs and Associated Cost Offsets: Review of Literature

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About Colorado Coalition for the Homeless:

The mission of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless is to work collaboratively toward the prevention of homelessness and the creation of lasting solutions for people experiencing and at-risk of homelessness throughout Colorado. The Coalition advocates for and provides a continuum of housing and a variety of services to improve the health, well-being and stability of those it serves. Since its founding, the organization has earned state and national recognition for its integrated healthcare, housing and service programs. The Coalition’s comprehensive approach addresses the causes of homelessness, as well as the consequences, offering critical assistance to over 22,000 individuals and families each year. Learn more at

New Homelessness Report Uses Flawed Methodology

Research groups say it results in erroneous conclusions about homelessness 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: October 21, 2022
Contact: Elliot Goldbaum, 303-990-6691; Alicia Caldwell, 303-810-9909

(DENVER, CO) - October 21 - The Colorado Fiscal Institute and the Bell Policy Center, two locally based research organizations, have serious concerns about the methodology used in the Common Sense Institute’s (CSI) most recent report about homelessness in the metro Denver area.

Released today, the report by the conservative-leaning think tank claims $2 billion has been spent on the issue of homelessness in the past three years. 

CSI’s report artificially inflates the amount of money spent in addressing homelessness, and comes to extreme conclusions about the costs associated with people who are unhoused in Denver. It neither serves the public interest nor furthers constructive conversation about how to address the underlying problems.

Chris Stiffler, senior economist with the Colorado Fiscal Institute said Coloradans need context not provided in the report in order to assess homelessness programs.

“The biggest flaw with this report is that the authors didn’t give any meaningful context to their expenditure figures,” Stiffler said. “Just giving a dollar amount without any context is like a doctor telling you a test result without telling you whether the number is a good or bad one.”

Many of the methodological concerns stem from the report’s expenditure calculations. For example:

• Many organizations which provide services for those experiencing homelessness also support those who are housed. The report’s primary reliance on agency 990s and reports to the Secretary of State are unlikely to adequately represent the amount of money spent solely on supporting those experiencing homelessness.

• The use of health care expenditures from Denver Health significantly, and unnecessarily, inflates total costs. Regardless of their housing status, many of these individuals would likely still have used health care services this provider.

• These two expenditures (nonprofit spending and Denver Health) make up a significant portion of the report’s documented expenses. As a result, methodological flaws regarding these two items would significantly impact the findings.

"Coloradans deserve credible research on important issues," said Bell Policy President Scott Wasserman. "Unfortunately, the methodology used in the report produced by CSI is flawed and as a result, the conclusions are distorted, do not serve the public interest and in fact create antipathy when we should be working together to find solutions. Sadly, this isn't the first time they've done this." 

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The Colorado Fiscal Institute provides credible, independent and accessible information and analysis of fiscal and economic issues facing Colorado, and advocates for policies that promote equity and widespread prosperity.

The Bell Policy Center is committed to research, outreach and advocacy that advances public policy change to make economic mobility for every Coloradan a reality. We are nonprofit and nonpartisan. Learn more: www.bellpolicy.org

MDHI Response to Common Sense Institute Newest Report

FOR RELEASE ON: October 21, 2022  

CSI REPORT ON HOMELESSNESS INACCURATE AND PURPOSEFULLY MISLEADING 

Report Overestimates Per Person Costs and Continues Misrepresentation on Spending in Region, Purposefully Misleading the Public 

[Denver, CO – October 21, 2022]: The report issued by the Common Sense Institute (CSI) is an inaccurate and misleading look at the region’s spending on homelessness.  

The report issued today by the Common Sense Institute once again misrepresents spending on homelessness. “MDHI identified several key inaccuracies to CSI during the creation of this report,” said Dr. Jamie Rife, Executive Director of the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI). “However, the researchers chose to release the report and include these inaccuracies, knowing they would lead to inflated per person spending and misinformation in the public,” added Rife.  

The following are some of the most glaring inaccuracies contained within the report:  

• The report, by the authors’ own admission, includes spending and costs related to people in housing and other programs unrelated to homelessness. This leads to the report not being about homelessness, but rather the cost of poverty, housing instability, food insecurity, healthcare costs, and homelessness in the region. Naming the report “Homelessness in Metro Denver” is purposefully misleading and inaccurate.  

• To obtain the cost per person, the authors added the costs of permanent housing, homelessness services, healthcare, and programs related to housing and food insecurity over several different years, added them up and divided by the number of people experiencing homelessness and those housed in permanent housing on a single night. Again, this is misleading. The report, once again, fails to define an actual population for the calculations.

• Spending is still counted twice or three times as in past reports, leading to inflated costs. The authors failed to account for how funds flow between the federal, state, local governments, and nonprofits. MDHI’s own budget, included in the report, is evidence of this as our organization serves as a pass through for funding. The revenue and expenditures are included in our 990s as well as the organizations we fund.  

• The report also overestimates the number of employees and volunteers operating in the homelessness system. This is harmful to the providers and organizations that work diligently each day, in the face of incredible challenges, to serve those experiencing homelessness.  

“It is incredibly disappointing that even after several conversations with CSI to attempt to strengthen the methodology in this report, they chose to continue to mislead the public with false information,” said Rife. “Homelessness is complex with individuals having a variety of needs at varying costs. For example, our data show that in the third quarter of this year, the average assistance via our Housing Stability Flexible Fund was a mere $975 to either prevent homelessness or rehouse a household in our region. This is a sharp contrast to the numbers included in this report and demonstrates the wide range of costs, depending on the need of the inviduals and families.”  

The public deserves information that is accurate. MDHI suggests the following resources to gain an accurate picture of homelessness in our region as well as solutions that work: 

MDHI’s State of Homelessness Report 

Denver’s SIB Projects 

DOLA’s Making Homelessness History Playbook 

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About The Organization  

MDHI is the Metro Denver Continuum of Care, the regional system that coordinates services and housing for people experiencing homelessness. This includes prevention/diversion, street outreach, emergency shelter, transitional housing, rapid rehousing, and permanent supportive housing. MDHI works closely with each county in its continuum (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson) to build a homeless crisis response system that gets people back into housing as quickly as possible.  

Homelessness in Metro Denver: An Opportunity to Transform Resources and the Existing System

While homelessness is complex, communities across the country have proved it is solvable. They’ve accomplished this with Built for Zero, a data-driven, racially equitable methodology for reaching a functional end to homelessness, one population at a time. Built for Zero is an operating system that aligns quality, real-time data, local planning, and regional coordination around a shared, measurable aim: functional zero. When we approach homelessness as a solvable issue, we shift from attempting to manage the problem to creating a system that ensures it is rare, brief, and nonrecurring.

Regional Coordination

Metro Denver is a large, seven-county region with 3.2 million people across 40 municipalities. In March 2021, MDHI partnered with Community Solutions, US Department of Veterans Affairs, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, DRCOG, and the Metro Mayors Caucus to convene hundreds of elected officials and discuss the need for a comprehensive regional strategy on homelessness. Since then, the nine subregions have been working to establish Built for Zero in their local communities, starting with Veteran homelessness.

MDHI serves as the umbrella organization for these efforts, coordinating with each subregion to achieve quality data and drive measurable reductions in homelessness. Regional coordination provides a benefit to local communities by offering data management and training, support from Built for Zero Improvement Advisors, Coordinated Entry System access, strategic resource allocation, and transparent communication for non-duplicative coordination of services.

Metro Denver’s Shared Aim

By aligning the local interests of our subregions with this proven model, Metro Denver is on track to end veteran homelessness regionally. By December 31, 2027, our region will:

• have quality all singles data in 9 of 9 subregions (Adams, Arapahoe, Aurora, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, Tri-Cities)

• have quality data for youth in the region

• have quality data for families in the region

• have reached functional zero in all subregions for Veterans

• have 4 subregions ended homelessness for at least one of the following sub-populations (all singles, chronic singles, families)

Steps to Functional Zero

Here’s how we plan to solve homelessness in each subregion, one population at a time:

• 1. Adopt Built for Zero (BFZ)

  Built for Zero (BFZ) is a proven methodology for ending homelessness so that it is rare, brief, and nonrecurring.

• 2. Assess Community Baseline via Scorecard

  Answering YES or NO to each question establishes a baseline for your community's work to reach Functional Zero.

• 3. Turn Each NO to YES on Scorecard

  Each YES means we are one step closer to quality, real-time data, a critical component of ending homelessness. View the Scorecard (Metro Denver By-Name List) to see your community's progress toward a Quality By-Name-List (BNL).

• 4. Achieve Quality Data & By-Name List

  We are 100% sure we know everyone experiencing homelessness in your subregion by name, in real-time.

• 5. Set Aim for Functional Zero

  When does your community project it will end Veteran homelessness now that it has a Quality By-Name List?

• 6. Report on Progress Toward Aim

  Homeless Coordination Teams in each subregion focus on improving processes and securing resources to reach Functional Zero.

• 7. Functional Zero for Veterans

  A milestone, which must be sustained, where Veteran homelessness becomes rare, brief, and non-recurring.

• 8. Next Subpopulation

  Now that we’ve proven this methodology for veterans, we must address families, youth, and single adults.

Progress to Date

Our regional approach is working. Veteran homelessness has decreased by 31% since 2020 due to regional coordination on the issue. As of September 2022, we have operationalized the Active Veteran By Name List reports, which share identifying information about each Veteran experiencing homelessness along with their contact information. Subregional Leads receive this data weekly. The data includes all Veterans enrolled in the Veteran By Name List project in HMIS, as well as those specific to their subregion. Reports are sent via encrypted email to maintain client confidentiality. These reports support care coordination across the region so that unhoused veterans can be connected to housing and services more quickly as we move toward functional zero.

Boulder County is the first of Metro Denver’s nine sub-regions to achieve Quality Data for all singles, a necessary milestone for reaching a functional end to Veteran homelessness (and eventually all homelessness). Quality Data means we can account for every single adult experiencing homelessness by name, in real time. This Quality By-Name List (BNL) helps us understand the scope of homelessness in Boulder County, describes the inflow and outflow on an ongoing basis, gives us accurate information to reduce homelessness, and helps us measure our progress toward ending it. With quality data, Boulder can now track changes in the composition and dynamics of those experiencing homelessness needed to identify gaps, test changes, and prioritize resources. It means Boulder can start working towards Functional Zero for Veterans before moving on to all single adults.

Support from Elected Officials

We asked our state and local elected officials to sign this pledge and maximize our region’s progress toward ending homelessness. 36 out of 38 Mayors in the metro area agreed to:

• Build on our success from year one of Built for Zero, which reduced veteran homelessness by 15% despite rising rates of homelessness nationwide

• Use the shared Homeless Management Information System or “HMIS” database that enables us to better serve our neighbors experiencing homelessness regardless of their location in the region

• Tailor our interventions and methods to reflect peer-reviewed best practices

• Collaborate regionally to maximize our investments in housing, treatment, and other critical resources

Thank you to all of our partners who continue to support local and regional efforts to end homelessness in Metro Denver for all.

Special Unsheltered NOFO Application and Priority Listing Posted

Thanks to all of you who provided input to our region's Collaborative Application to HUD as well as our region’s Unsheltered Plan! We appreciate you helping strengthen our application to HUD.
As part of this important process, MDHI is posting the final version of this critical application as well as the Project Priority Listing:

Collaborative Application

Priority Listing

Full Annual Homelessness Count Released

2022 Data Show Increase in Overall Homelessness; Significant Decrease in Veteran Homelessness

DENVER, COLORADO – October 3, 2022 – The Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) released the full data for the 2022 annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count data. The count captures homelessness nationally on a single night in January and showed an overall increase of 784 individuals regionally from pre-pandemic levels in 2020, the last time the region completed a comprehensive count. 

The Point-in-Time, commonly referred to as the PIT, is an annual count on one night in January of those experiencing homelessness. The PIT is held across the United States during the last week in January and aims to capture both the overall size and demographics of the homeless population. “While we did see overall increases in homelessness, the region’s emphasis on reducing Veteran homelessness is yielding results,” said Dr. Jamie Rife, MDHI’s Executive Director. "The number of Veterans experiencing homelessness decreased by 31% from 2020 to 2022,” she explained.

Included in PIT is a breakdown by race. “The overrepresentation of people of color, specifically black and Native Americans, among those experiencing homelessness is critical to the response,” stated Rife. “Homelessness is an issue of race and must be approached through this lens,” she added.

The count occurred on Monday, January 24, 2022, and included both those staying in shelters and outdoors. Due to COVID-19 safety concerns, the region did not conduct a count of individuals staying outdoors in 2021. In January 2020, approximately six weeks before the beginning of the pandemic and the last time a comprehensive PIT was conducted, there were 6,104 people counted experiencing homelessness. This year, 6,884 people were counted, or a 12.8% increase. For those staying in shelters, the number remained fairly consistent between 2020 and 2022 with 4,534 and 4,806 respectively. Unsheltered homelessness increased regionally, with pre-pandemic levels in 2020 at 1,561 and this year’s count locating 2,078 individuals staying outdoors.

“The Point-in-Time is a snapshot of homelessness on a single night with numerous variables such as weather, count participation, volunteer engagement, and a variety of other factors,” shared Rife. “While this count can help us understand homelessness on a single night, getting to a place where we have comprehensive, real-time data regionally is the ultimate goal,” she added. 

The region has made significant strides in decreasing its reliance on the one-night count. Instead, providers, municipalities, and others are working together to improve participation with the region’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) to make data accessible each day on those experiencing homelessness. Boulder recently became the first community in the region to reach Quality Data for all singles, joining a select number of communities across the country to reach this milestone.  

“While the region was able to locate and count 6,884 individuals on a single night experiencing homelessness, the HMIS allows us to see this number is closer to 31,000 throughout the course of the year,” said Rife. “This data highlights the dynamic nature of homelessness and the importance of real-time data to allow the region to coordinate effectively and allocate resources efficiently.” MDHI releases annually the State of Homelessness report with these numbers. 

Infographic reports by county and an interactive dashboard are located on the MDHI website.

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MDHI is the Metro Denver Continuum of Care, the regional system that coordinates services and housing for people experiencing homelessness. This includes prevention/diversion, street outreach, emergency shelter, transitional housing, rapid rehousing, and permanent supportive housing. MDHI works closely with each county in its continuum (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson) to build a homeless crisis response system that gets people back into housing as quickly as possible. 

If you would like more information on this topic, please email jamie.rife@mdhi.org.

Self-Paced HMIS Training for End Users Now Available

We’ve spent the last few months building a self-paced training tailored to meet the needs of our end users while maintaining our high standards for data collection and privacy. Quality, real-time data is a key component of our region’s strategy to end homelessness, and that data lives in HMIS. We hope this new process will make HMIS more accessible to agencies across the region so that we can make more data-driven decisions, together.  

About the Training

The new HMIS training is self-paced rather than instructor-led. This allows us to increase the number of end users we train AND provides the end user with the flexibility to complete the training on their own terms. The content is spread over a minimum of 3 days to promote retention. End users do not have to complete the training on consecutive days and can take more than three days overall. 

There are graded content reviews, interactive activities, and a final practical exam. All exams are graded as Pass/Fail. Users who pass all content reviews and the final practical exam receive an HMIS license for one year. End Users must take refresher training in the fall of each year to keep their license active.  

Signing Up for Training 

The new training will be rolled out in a phased approach beginning October 1, 2022. All staff will not have access immediately.  

• If you were previously enrolled, we will be evaluating your situation on an individual basis. Communications will be sent to each agency’s DPAL detailing the next steps for staff members. 

• If you were not previously enrolled, the DPAL (Data Partner Agency Liaison) at your agency is responsible for signing you up. A DPAL is the HMIS Team's contact at each agency. 

Office Hours 

Office Hours will replace the instructor-led portion of the training. This is a space to answer questions about training content. Check the calendar in the LMS (Learning Management Software) for updated meeting information.   

Refresher Training 

Every end user with an HMIS license is required to complete annual refresher training in the fall. The purpose of this training is to review changes to the mandatory HUD data reporting requirements.  

End users who do not complete annual refresher training will be deactivated. These users must complete refresher training to re-activate their license, or else they must repeat the training course. 

Note: We had to pause refresher training in 2022 so we could launch the new self-paced HMIS training. Refresher training for 2022 will take place in October. Our HMIS Team will reach out to your agency’s DPAL directly to get everyone scheduled. We thank you for your patience.

Partnering with HMIS

New to COHMIS or interested in using COHMIS at your organization? Learn more with our COHMIS New Agency Welcome Packet.

Why We Need Safe Outdoor Spaces

Our unhoused neighbors need to live somewhere while they work to secure permanent housing. Safe Outdoor Spaces (SOS) meet our unhoused community’s needs in a way that many emergency shelters cannot.

• Would you want to be separated from your partner or pet during one of the most traumatic and stressful times in your life?

• Could you work on improving your mental health while trying to secure housing if you had nowhere to store your belongings during the day?

• Would you be able to interview for jobs or apartments if you had nowhere to shower or do laundry?

These are the challenges people experiencing homelessness face. SOS sites offer the stability, security, and supportive services people need to take care of their mental and physical health so they can work on long-term housing solutions.

Why do we need Safe Outdoor Spaces?

Safe Outdoor Spaces (SOS) exist to protect the most vulnerable in our community. There are many reasons people experiencing homelessness don't seek Emergency Shelter:

• Separation from partner or pets

• Fear of violence or theft

• Conflict with hours of operation

• Lack of privacy and autonomy

• Bedbugs/other health concerns

• Doesn't meet their needs

What are Safe Outdoor Spaces?

Safe Outdoor Spaces were created to remove the barriers of traditional Emergency Shelters by providing an alternative that meets people's needs. They allow for:

• Couples to remain together

• Pets/emotional support animals

• Non-congregate living

• Stability and safety

• 24-hour staff support

• Case management services

• Daily wellness screenings

• Culturally inclusive care

SOS sites support the basic needs of our unhoused neighbors by providing:

• Bathrooms, hand sinks, showers

• Regular meals

• Drinking water

• Laundry facilities

• Security

• Sense of community

• Electricity

• Internet

Access to these services is not only humane but improves the public health of our entire community.

Culturally Inclusive Care

Culturally inclusive care is necessary for the success of Black, Indigenous, People of Color who are disproportionately impacted by homelessness. This means:

• Access to traditional ceremonies

• Culturally competent programs

• Healthy food & holistic medicines

We know this model is not only more humane, but it also gets people housed. 1 in 4 people was connected to housing through the Native-inclusive SOS site.

Be Part of the Change

SOS sites need your support. Constantly moving a tent is traumatic and disorienting. It makes it exceptionally difficult for outreach workers to connect people to permanent housing, and it keeps people unhoused longer.

Educate others on the importance of creating culturally appropriate spaces in your community that meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors. Say "YES" when a nonprofit or government agency makes plans to establish an SOS in your community. Share this article with others in your network who may be skeptical of this person-centered and proven solution for people experiencing homelessness.