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Smart Path Spring 2019 Newsletter

Welcome to our first Smart Path Newsletter! We will send this to our partners quarterly to keep everyone informed on all things Coordinated Entry related. If you have a suggestion for a topic you'd like covered in a future newsletter, email Smart.Path@SantaCruzCounty.us.

HMIS Corner

Community Queue Issue - Assessors may have noticed that starting in February, the "Refer to Community Queue" button was removed from the assessment entry process. The Smart Path team consulted with CTA about this issue and a fix is scheduled to be released by the end of April 2019. Until then, keep entering assessments and have no fear that we are still able to pick up your participants for referrals via a temporary (yet tedious) work around. More info. to come!

Move-in Date - All HMIS users were trained on how to enter required data fields in their New User licensing training. CTA has identified that the Move-in Date field in Program Enrollment is not consistently being entered by agencies. This information is very important for data purposes. It's the only way we can see if our Smart Path referrals result in housed participants. Please review CTA reference documents Clarity HMIS Select Workflow (#7) and page 30 of the New User Clarity-Manual for step-by-step instructions on how to enter this information.

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” - Kahlil Gibran

Housing Work Group (HWG)

Just a note to remind everyone that the March 28th meeting has been cancelled and we are back to our regular monthly schedule (1st Tuesday of the month, 9-11am). Our next meeting will take place on April 2nd at St. John's Episcopal Church. We'll have guest speaker Ellen Murtha join us from the Housing Authority to discuss vouchers. Hope to see you there!

Smart Path Launches New E-Book

We've created a new electronic hub for Smart Path partners to access assessment training and referral related reference documents. We encourage all partners to review our E-Book if and when Smart Path/Coordinated Entry questions surface. Access information is as follows:

Website: Smart Path E-Book Password: smartpathinfo

Gateway Encampment Outreach

The Smart Path team has joined forces with Human Services Department benefits staff to provide weekly outreach at the Gateway (Ross) Encampment. We do Smart Path assessments while Benefit Representatives answer and/or take applications for General Assistance and CalFresh. Let us know if you're interested in joining us and we will keep you informed of our schedule (which changes weekly due to the rainy weather).

Smart Path Trainings - Your Feedback is Needed!

First, we would like to welcome a new class of Assessment Specialists!! We held our first Smart Path Assessor training of the year on February 20th. Representatives from Youth Homeless Demonstration Projects, the Veterans Resource Center, Wings Homeless Advocacy, and the Mental Health Client Action Network attended and are now ready to start doing assessments. We plan to do another new assessor training sometime in the Summer-2019, so stay tuned!

We're currently planning refresher trainings for our seasoned assessors and have our first one tentatively scheduled for April 26th. We need your feedback! Please email us at Smart.Path@SantaCruzCounty.us with training topic suggestions. What do you think experienced assessors need training on? Your input is greatly appreciated as it will help us shape your trainings!

The Location Saga Continues...

The inability to locate referred participants is still a significant barrier to coordinated entry services. Assessors are reminded to collect all the location related data possible. If a participant doesn't want to divulge where they mostly stay, ask them what community services they frequent and when.

Those entering in HMIS are asked to ensure that all recorded data on paper assessments is captured in the system. Please document information on case managers working with participants as a separate Location Tab "Address" in HMIS. Also, make sure to include the assessor's name and contact information when entering all assessments.

Dance 4 Youth Benefit Show Fundraiser

Dance 4 Youth is a fundraiser taking place on April 5, 2019, that includes different dancers and artists from all over the area to perform their art and raise awareness about unaccompanied and homeless youth in our community. Organized by Community Action Board's intern Anissa Banuelos, all funds will benefit the CAB Youth Homeless Response Team to provide youth with immediate assistance such as bus passes, shoes, books, interview clothes, etc. Visit the following sites for more information:

Event Brite

Facebook

GoFundMe

  • Mar. 21, 2019: Smart Path Steering Committee Meeting (at United Way office in Capitola)
  • Apr. 1, 2019: Cesar Chavez Day - Human Services Department (Smart Path office) closed
  • Apr. 2, 2019: Next HWG Meeting (St. John's)
  • Apr. 5, 2019: Dance 4 Youth Fundraiser Event
  • Apr. 26, 2019: Smart Path Assessor Refresher Training (tentative date - subject to change)
  • May 1, 2019: Monica Lippi starts maternity leave! Habiba Rotter will re-join Smart Path and fill-in while Monica is on leave!
  • June 19, 2019: Project Homeless Connect - Santa Cruz Portuguese Hall

Contact Us!

Referral Requests/SP Questions: Monica Lippi 831.454.4108 Monica.Lippi@SantaCruzCounty.us

Other team members:

Jessica Scheiner - 831.454.4088 Jessica.Scheiner@SantaCruzCounty.us

Leslie Goodfriend - 831.454.7543 Leslie.Goodfriend@SantaCruzCounty.us

Website: https://smartpathscc.org/

General Inquiries: Smart.Path@SantaCruzCounty.us

Credits:

Created with images by Andreea Popa - "Home is Where the Fun Is. The Irony" • PhotoMIX-Company - "homework the student tablet" • PublicDomainPictures - "michelangelo abstract boy" • Ev - "invisible" • Matt Collamer - "Human Kindness" • The Climate Reality Project - "Woman Pen Notebook" • Taras Zaluzhnyi - "untitled image" • Aditya Ali - "Dance the Night Away" • DarkWorkX - "calendar book 2018" • Jon Tyson - "Hola sign"

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