City of Lawrence, Kansas

HOMELESS ISSUES ADVISORY COMMITTEE

October 8, 2013 Minutes (Lawrence City Commission Room)

Members present: Michael Brouwer (Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Re-Entry Program), Hubbard Collinsworth (at-large), Laurie Hooker (LDCHA), Becky Peters (Family Promise), Trent McKinley (LPD)

Members absent: Brad Cook (Bert Nash Homeless Outreach Team), Kadie Jorgensen (LMH), Lt. Matt McCluer (Salvation Army), Cary Strong (Lawrence Business Community)

Staff present: Danelle Dresslar, Rhonda Peterson

Public present: Pat Benabe, CJ Brune, Saunny Scott, Rosilyn Wells (HCHC)

The meeting was called to order at 8:33 a.m. by Committee Member Hooker in the absence of Chair Cook.

ITEM NO. 1 Introductions

The members of the HIAC, city staff and guests introduced themselves.

ITEM NO. 2 Approval of the Agenda and the September 10, 2013 Minutes.

Motion by Peters to approve the Agenda and the September 10, 2013 meeting minutes of the HIAC; seconded by Brouwer.

The motion passed unanimously.

ITEM NO. 3 Housing Vision Reports.

A. Non-Housing – Affordable Care Act – Rosilyn Wells, HCHC

Rosilyn Wells introduced herself. She is the healthcare navigator employed by Heartland Community Health Center (HCHC) who assists clients who need to access insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Wells said unfortunately the Affordable Care Act does not provide any assistance to homeless individuals and families. Without someone making at least $11,500 annually, more than likely they are not going to qualify for health insurance through the Act.

Wells added that HCHC and Healthcare Access can help, but there is still a roadblock to providing assistance to the homeless. Both agencies require proof of residency because they rely on grants for funding to help the uninsured. Without proof of residency, HCHC and Healthcare Access cannot help them either. If the person(s) requiring assistance stay at the shelter for at least 24 hours, the shelter can write a letter on their behalf stating they have residency there.

Wells brought informational brochures for anyone interested. She said there will be town hall forums at Lawrence Memorial Hospital for anyone wishing to attend. There are three this month and one in early November. It will be a Q & A format with trained navigators and certified application counselors on hand for anyone having questions or wanting to check their eligibility.

Wells said the www.healthcare.gov website is still down. She has not been able to help anyone enroll or check eligibility while it is not functioning.

Collinsworth asked if the entire state site is down.

Wells said it is a federal website, and the entire site is down.

Hooker said if a person is over the $9,000 mark, they are single, do not have healthcare and it may be hard for them to afford insurance, but they may have a pending disability case. She asked if that would qualify for one of the exemptions to avoid a fine.

Wells said it would qualify as an exemption. More than likely, someone with that income would qualify for the maximum amount of tax credits and would not have an out of pocket cost.

Hooker than asked with regard to the tax credit, do they pay out of pocket at tax time and then give it back.

Wells said it is the participant’s choice. They can choose to either apply that to monthly out of pocket costs such as their premiums and deductibles, or they can hold on to that and get it back as a tax credit at the end of the year.

Peters asked about coverage for children.

Wells said under the CHIP program, most kids would be covered. However, for a married couple who is working, they would have to at least have an income of $11,500. If their income is over $11,500, they would have to explore other options.

Hooker asked if the website is down because too many people are trying to log on at the same time.

Wells replied that is one of the problems. They did not anticipate the volume of people who would be trying to access the site. She said 7.5 million people tried to access the website on October 1^st when it went live.

Brouwer asked if Wells has the dates for the town hall meetings.

Wells said she does; they are included in the informational packets she brought along. The library’s website also has the information on it. Wells thanked the committee for having her present information on the Affordable Care Act.

B. Emergency Shelter/Temporary Housing – LCS

Dresslar said the Lawrence Community Shelter would have been given by either Loring Henderson or Chair Cook, who is absent.

C. Transitional Housing/Supportive Services – LDCHA (if needed)

Hooker said LDCHA is still rolling out the 2013 HOME Transitional housing Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) vouchers. Recipients must have rental education before they are eligible to receive assistance. She said the government shutdown is not affecting the voucher program.

D. Permanent Supportive Housing – HOPE Building

Dresslar said she received an email from the representative who will be at the November meeting.

E. Permanent Housing – LDCHA Section 8 Statistics

Hooker said she has no statistics on Section 8. Right now they are not issuing any new vouchers because of the sequestration and funding cuts. Most Section 8 vouchers can be ported out and moved to any place in the United States that accepts Section 8. Hooker added at this time, LDCHA is not taking any new transfers because it takes funds to watch over that voucher while they are in the jurisdiction.

Dresslar added the funding through HOME and CDBG are considered a grant already in process, so they were not affected by the shutdown.

Benabe asked if Hooker knows how many people are on the waiting list.

Hooker said there are several different lists, but she does not have the exact number on the list but she does have the time. Section 8 is about a 2 year wait at this time unless things change. Public housing is slightly better; Babcock recently had a waiting list of about 30 people. The public housing assistance is not as dependent on federal funding; Hooker said they are handling it with reserves. The HOME vouchers are going out right now. They are running very smoothly and there are about 20 on that list.

ITEM NO. 4 Public Comment

Brune said last month the committee talked about having someone from the workforce center or the DCF come talk about the impact of food stamp vouchers. She is interested in this topic and wants to know if that is still being pursued. She would like to know how many people in Douglas County are going to be affected.

Dresslar said that topic will be on the November agenda. Her initial contact did not pan out, but she was finally able to get a hold of someone who could assist with a presentation.

Benabe said in September she received a letter that food stamps would be increased. Last week she got a letter that the Recession Recovery Act had expired and food stamps would be dropping now.

Collinsworth asked when the committee is going to hear from Loring Henderson regarding emergency housing.

Dresslar said she would specifically invite him to the next meeting.

Collinsworth asked about the transportation issue and if Bob Nugent was going to be invited to speak at a meeting.

Dresslar replied the City Commission issued $8,000 additional in funding for bus passes for the LCS. She does not know if Nugent would have any new information to provide the committee, and she does not think the routes have changed nor is there anything pending to change.

Collinsworth said he would like him to come and speak to the committee.

Dresslar asked what topic specifically would Collinsworth like Nugent to address.

Collinsworth asked if there are any plans for changes to be made to the hours of operation for phone calls. Currently it is 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. He said he is unable to schedule a night line ride because the phones are not operational after 5:00.

Dresslar said she can schedule him to come in December, if the person from DCF comes in November.

Collinsworth said that would be fine.

ITEM NO. 5 Adjourn.

Motion by Brouwer to adjourn the October 8, 2013 meeting of the HIAC; seconded by Collinsworth.

The motion passed unanimously. Meeting was adjourned at 8:52 a.m.

Attendance Record

Members

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08/13

09/13

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Michael Brouwer

Hubbard Collinsworth

Brad Cook

Brent Hoffman

Matt McCluer

Trent McKinley

Cary Strong

Laurie Hooker

Becky Peters

Kadie Jorgensen

X - Meeting Cancelled Due to Inclement Weather

E - Excused Absence

U - Unexcused Absence

() – Last meeting in term.

* - First meeting in term.

^ - Last Meeting

# - Meeting not official – no quorum