Increasing Permanent Exits from the Homeless Services System

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Stella, developed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), serves as an analytical and strategic tool for Continuums of Care (CoCs) to examine the dynamics of their homeless services system performance. The Stella Performance Module (Stella P) visualizes a homeless system’s performance using the CoC’s Longitudinal System Analysis (LSA) data. Stella P empowers communities to develop and monitor strategies to improve system performance. This blog is the second installment in a series of blogs examining Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s latest LSA data utilizing the Stella P Module.

This blog provides an overview of system exits, local performance on this metric, and highlights opportunities for performance improvement within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg homeless services system.

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Leveraging Stella P to Enhance Homeless Services Systems: An Introduction to Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s LSA Data Analysis

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Stella is an analysis and strategy tool developed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support Continuums of Care (CoCs) in understanding the performance of their homeless services system. The Stella Performance Module (Stella P) visualizes homeless system performance using a CoC’s Longitudinal System Analysis (LSA) data so that the community can develop and monitor system performance improvement strategies. This blog is the first in a series of blogs that will examine Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s most recent LSA data using the Stella P Module.
This blog provides an overview of the LSA and Stella P, highlights the System Performance Map, and explains how this tool can be used to develop system performance improvement strategy in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

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Research and News Roundup: March 2024

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The Research and News Roundup is a monthly blog series that features a curated list of recent news and research related to housing instability, homelessness, and affordable housing. Together, these topics provide insights about the full housing continuum and provide community stakeholders with information about emergent research, promising practices, and innovative solutions related to housing and homelessness.
This month’s Research and News Roundup features the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s assessment of rental housing availability both locally and nationally, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies 2024 America Rental Housing report which provides analysis and insights into the state of the rental housing market in the United States, and findings from the Los Angeles County Women’s Needs Assessment.

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One Number Update: February 2024

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Almost five years ago, Mecklenburg County Community Support Services introduced the “One Number”. Since its inception in 2019, the “One Number” has served as the primary benchmark for the number of people experiencing homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. In July 2023, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Continuum of Care implemented a new Homeless Management Information System (HMIS): Clarity Human Services: Bitfocus. This system transition was undertaken to facilitate system improvement by strengthening and enhancing the local homeless services data system. The transition was necessary in order to support the community’s shared goal of delivering efficient and effective, impactful, data-informed homeless services. However, due to the transition, One Number metric data updates on the dashboard were delayed as we worked to develop the needed reports to provide these metrics to the community. We are excited to share that with the support of Community Solutions, Built for Zero, the needed reports have been finalized and we are able to resume our monthly reporting of the One Number.

This week’s blog post provides an overview of the One Number update, what’s changed, the latest trends and analyses; and what this means for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

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HUD’s Equal Access Assessment Tool and Why it’s Important

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On March 8th, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the updated, web-based, Equal Access Assessment Tool (EAAT). The EAAT can play a crucial role in promoting accountability, identifying areas for improvement, and supporting organizations in their efforts to provide inclusive and equitable services to individuals accessing shelter and services in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

This blog provides an overview of the tool, what it assesses, and why it’s important.

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HUD System Performance Measures: Successful Placement in or Retention of Permanent Housing

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The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act mandates that Continuums of Care (CoCs) evaluate their efforts to address homelessness. To meet this requirement, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has established seven System Performance Measures. CoCs are required to report on these measures annually to demonstrate their effectiveness in addressing homelessness. These metrics serve as vital tools for monitoring local efforts and provide insights to inform system improvement. HUD uses the data provided by CoCs to evaluate their performance and determine the allocation of funding.
This blog is the final installment in a series delving into Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s performance on these measures and their significance for the local community. In this blog post, we offer an overview and present data on System Performance Measure Seven: Successful Placement in or Retention of Permanent Housing .

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Research and News Roundup: February 2024

The Research and News Roundup is a monthly blog series that features a curated list of recent news and research related to housing instability, homelessness, and affordable housing. Together, these topics provide insights about the full housing continuum and provide community stakeholders with information about emergent research, promising practices, and innovative solutions related to housing and homelessness.

This month’s Research and News Roundup features recent research on the impact of cost-driven moves on children’s access to safety net services; an analysis of homeless rates in major cities; and the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve housing affordability.

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HUD SYSTEM PERFORMANCE MEASURES: NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO BECAME HOMELESS FOR THE FIRST TIME

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2023 State of Housing Instability and Homelessness Report Deep Dive: Stable Housing

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In December 2023, Mecklenburg County Community Support Services  released the 2023 State of Housing Instability & Homelessness (SoHIH) Report, a comprehensive analysis of current data on housing instability and homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. This report is a crucial tool for ensuring well-informed policy decisions, optimizing resource distribution, and enhancing systems of care. The report delves into three pivotal aspects of the housing continuum—housing instability, homelessness, and stable housing. This is the final blog in a series that has taken a deeper dive into these three aspects of the housing continuum.

This final blog post examines the findings from the third housing continuum component: stable housing. It spotlights key findings related to stable housing and shares information about North Carolina’s forthcoming participation in the Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator  and the promising practice of establishing community land trusts to increase access and availability of stable housing.

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2023 State of Housing Instability and Homelessness Report Deep Dive: Homelessness

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In December 2023, Mecklenburg County Community Support Services  released the 2023 State of Housing Instability & Homelessness (SoHIH) Report which offers a comprehensive overview of the latest data on housing instability and homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. This report serves as a valuable resource for making informed policy and practice decisions, facilitating optimized resource allocation, and improving systems of care. The report explores three key components of the housing continuum: housing instability, homelessness, and stable housing. This blog is the second in a series of three blogs that take a deeper dive into each of these components.

This blog post takes a deeper dive into the findings from the second component: homelessness. It also shares examples of practices that could be implemented locally and nationally to address homelessness. 

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