Local Trainings & Tools

including ...

Barriers to Housing Stability Assessment

Inter-agency Referral Form

Workforce Resource Guide

The Homeless in Evansville:  Current Jobs, Skills, Education and Training

National Alliance to End Homelessness

General Tools & Training

Audio & Video Resources

National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness

Barriers to Housing Stability Assessment (PDF)   Barriers to Housing Stability Assessment (Word)

HMIS/AWARDS portal

HMIS paper forms

Keys: Ending Family Homelessness (video) highlights how communities across the country are decreasing homelessness among families

First Avenues: Housing Solutions for Families (video) transforming the cultural of an organization toward "Housing First"

Michigan Campaign to End Homelessness (audio) - the statewide effort Michigan has made to create ten year plans to end homelessness

Designing a Local Housing Subsidy Program (audio)

Strategies for Ending Rural Homelessness (audio)

Hospital Discharge: How Partnership Can End Homelessness (audio) - Experts discussed how housing and services for homeless individuals benefit homeless individuals as well as the health care industry’s bottom-line.

Using HMIS for Planning (audio) - Experts discussed how to use data as an invaluable tool in efforts to end homelessness.

Nan Roman’s Keynote Address—National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness 2008
National Alliance to End Homelessness President Nan Roman's keynote address from the National Conference on Ending Family Homelessness 2008 on February 7, 2008.

Ending Family Homelessness: The Basics
This workshop provided an overview of the promising strategies that communities are using to end family homelessness. This introductory workshop covered Housing First approaches, explored how communities are targeting prevention resources, and recommended when to use more intensive service models such as transitional housing and permanent supportive housing.

Ending Family Homelessness in Rural America
Rural communities face a unique set of challenges and opportunities in responding to the problem of family homelessness. Workshop speakers examined how rural communities can use their existing service systems to respond to family homelessness. Workshop speakers discussed promising models and effective strategies.

Permanent Supportive Housing for Families
For families with significant barriers to maintaining housing, permanent supportive housing is an effective solution. This workshop offered examples of effective permanent supportive housing strategies. Workshop speakers provided examples of how permanent supportive housing is targeted to families with the greatest barriers to maintaining housing and how these efforts fit into their communities' overall homelessness strategies.

Working with Landlords to Find Housing
With the increasing focus on helping homeless people obtain permanent housing, providers have come up with creative ways to locate affordable housing and entice landlords to become partners. This workshop is for anyone involved in helping homeless families move into private market housing. Workshop speakers described the strategies they use when working with landlords and provide suggestions on how to find affordable housing in your community.

Rapid Re-housing
Helping families experiencing homelessness to quickly re-access permanent housing and offering them home-based case management services following a housing placement has contributed to declines in family homelessness. This workshop examined the key elements of rapid re-housing programs, including how they operate, how to fund them, and how to know if they are successful.

Faith in Housing: Moving from Social Justice to Housing Planning and Development
This workshop explored involvement of faith-based communities in delivering permanent housing to homeless families. In particular, the workshop highlighted case examples of faith-based organizations that have become housing developers or have assisted communities in converting buildings into affordable housing for homeless families. In addition, workshop speakers highlighted how smaller faith-based organizations can contribute to ending homelessness among families.

Predicting Homelessness and Targeting Dollars
Homelessness prevention is a challenging but potentially powerful tool for ending homelessness. Those interested or involved in planning, designing, or advocating for prevention strategies or resources will be interested in this discussion of the merits of different new approaches to targeting prevention. Instead of highlighting specific models, workshop speakers addressed questions on how much assistance should be provided, when, and to whom.

Emergency Assistance: Preventing Homelessness
This workshop examined promising emergency assistance strategies to prevent family homelessness as well as approaches that are responsive to the housing needs of families residing in precarious housing situations. Workshop speakers explored a range of interventions that both help families retain their current housing and re-house families living in doubled up situations or in motels who are at imminent risk of homelessness.

Shifting Resources, Maintaining Emergency Responses
Maintaining shelter capacity to meet the pressing needs of families while embracing and funding new strategies to end homelessness is challenging. This workshop, designed for systems level leaders, examined how communities are balancing existing shelter needs and investments in new permanent housing strategies. Workshop speakers also discussed strategies for targeting more intensive resources to higher need families.

Healthcare Matters: Providing Health Services to Diverse Populations
Homeless families with children suffer from high rates of mental and physical health problems, including HIV/AIDS, which are often exacerbated by living on the streets and in shelters. In addition, there are serious health disparities that also play a role in the health of homeless families. This workshop highlighted recent research in health disparities, best practices in public health, and what they mean for families experiencing homelessness.

Promoting Recovery: Substance Use Treatment Services
This workshop explored the merits and challenges of various substance use treatment models for assisting families struggling with substance use disorders. Workshop speakers from the treatment community focused on how to place clients in a treatment model that will work best for them.

Working Towards Employment
Families need a steady source of income in order to maintain or re-access housing. Increasing employment skills and opportunities also helps families achieve greater stability and family well-being. This workshop focused on employment promotion strategies and explored lessons culled from research on promoting employment among welfare recipients.

Improving Children's Outcomes
A healthy home environment and comprehensive early education are critical components of a child’s success later in life. Homeless children are at high risk for disruptions in development and education. Workshop speakers focused on strategies to link children with school (preschool through elementary school) and appropriate interventions that promote healthy physical and mental development. This workshop addressed the importance of engaging parents in meeting the child’s developmental needs both directly and through advocacy on the child’s behalf.

Youth Development and Youth as Parents
Adolescence is a stage in human development that includes important physical, psychosocial, and cognitive development. This workshop reviewed youth development concepts for providers who are serving adolescents, pregnant and parenting youth, and young adults. Workshop speakers focused on how to help youth and young parents prepare for a successful transition to adulthood.

Domestic Violence: Key Services and Outcomes
Survivors of domestic violence have both short and long-term housing needs that must be met so that they do not have to choose between staying with an abusive partner and residing in shelter or on the streets. These families face unique challenges that require unique solutions. Workshop speakers focused on increasing family safety and financial and housing security while helping families cope with and overcome the effects of trauma and violence.

Linking Families to Support Services
Families who experience homelessness are often eligible for important sources of public financial and social supports ranging from TANF cash assistance to Head Start services for children. Unfortunately, many families do not utilize these services and programs. This workshop examined how homeless programs can improve families’ access to critical supports by building relationships with the key public systems that serve low income families and children.

Supporting and Retaining Staff: Promoting Consistency in the Lives of Families
Experts in responding to high-need homeless families report that it is the families’ relationship with their caseworker that promotes stability and improved outcomes. This workshop examined the service strategies that benefit high-need families and how organizations can support and retain the frontline workers who offer a stable relationship and consistency in the lives of vulnerable families.

Online Communication and Engaging the Media as a Strategic Tool
Effective public education and communication can help an organization raise visibility within the community, increase funding, and improve awareness and knowledge of the solutions to homelessness. This beginner workshop taught how to effectively engage the print and broadcast media as well as utilize new online tools, like blogs and electronic newsletters, to disseminate a comprehensive, effective message.

Changing Homeless and Mainstream Service Systems:  Essential Approaches to Ending Homelessness

Housing Models

Homeless Families and Children

People Who Experience Long-Term Homelessness:  Characteristics and Interventions
Rural Homelessness

Incarceration and Homelessness

Employment and Income Supports for Homeless People

Consumer Integration and Self-Determination in Homelessness Research, Policy, Planning, and Services

Homeless Youth in the United States: Recent Research Findings and Intervention Approaches

Characteristics of Help-Seeking Street Youth and Non-Street Youth

Community-Wide Strategies for Preventing Homelessness: Recent Evidence

Journal of Primary Prevention

A Transition without Boundaries: Thoughts on Homeless Youth