Butte Permanent Supportive Housing Project

Action, Inc. is the Community Action Program serving Butte-Silver Bow County, providing a wide range of anti-poverty programs, including housing, energy, and case management. This project will support network development, enhance the supportive services package, and develop units devoted to permanent supportive housing. The network will focus on serving people identified in the region's frequent user system engagement (FUSE) list, which generally includes people who are homeless with complex medical needs and who require frequent hospital and emergency services. Funds will support staff time in the network and provide a sustainable services package. Partners include the Public Housing Authority of Butte, St. James/Intermountain Hospital, Butte-Silver Bow County, Southwest Montana Community Health Center, Southwest Montana Continuum of Care Coalition, and the Strategic Alliance for Behavioral Health.

Quality Improvements in Supportive Housing

HRDC IX is a nonprofit Community Action Agency serving Gallatin, Park, and Meagher counties. It provides an array of programming to support people and families in need, including housing, energy, food, community transportation, early childhood education, and services for older adults. This project will support partnership development to improve the identification of people who will benefit most from permanent supportive housing. Identification requires matching data from hospital emergency departments, corrections, and homelessness information systems. Data matching will improve resident selection processes for existing supportive housing units and provide better data regarding cost savings and resident outcomes to support funding and policy decisions. Funds will support staff time to collect data, evaluate systems for improvement, build partnerships, and explore the implementation of Medicaid billable services. Partners include the Gallatin Detention Center, Bozeman Health, and Community Health Partners.

Baatz Block Apartments

NeighborWorks Great Falls (NWGF) is a nonprofit housing and services provider serving Cascade County. This grant will support planning efforts for the redevelopment of the Baatz Block Apartments in downtown Great Falls into 25 units of permanent supportive housing for people with complex medical conditions who are homeless and require frequent emergency medical services and corrections interventions. Funds will support Beaux-Simone Consulting in working with NWGF and service providers to coordinate roles, responsibilities, budgets, services, gaps, and tenant identification before lease-up. The consultant will train all front-line service staff and develop operations documents, including an operation manual, tenant handbook, and community standards. Community partners include Opportunities, Inc., Great Falls Housing Authority, YWCA, Alluvion, and Many Rivers.

FUSE Partnership Program

Opportunities, Inc. is the Community Action Program serving Cascade County and provides a wide array of anti-poverty programs, including housing, energy, Head Start, and behavioral health services. This project will support the enhancement of the Great Falls’ work in the Housing is Health Care Initiative, including refining the procedure for identifying people who should be included on the frequent user system engagement (FUSE) list, partnership expansion, and development of a sustainable supportive services package to provide services to people in permanent supportive housing. These issues are more pressing with the anticipated 2024 completion of the Baatz Block Apartments, the community's first single-site permanent supportive housing project. Opportunities, Inc. is the service lead for the new facility. Grant funds will support the staff responsible for convening partners to update the FUSE list parameters, generate the new FUSE list, and create sustainable services for Baatz and FUSE customers within the community. Current partners include NeighborWorks, local justice systems, Many Rivers Whole Health, Indian Family Health Clinic, and Alluvion.

Sustaining and Expanding the FUSE Initiative in Missoula

Partnership Health Center (PHC) is a federally qualified health center serving Missoula County. With this project, PHC will continue with the development of a sustainable services package for people with complex medical conditions who are homeless and require frequent emergency medical services and corrections interventions. Funds will support a portion of the program manager's salary. The program manager oversees community health workers and community care teams who care for these individuals and will be responsible for the coordination of partners in the development of the service package. PHC will coordinate necessary medical, dental, and behavioral health services, enroll and engage clients in appropriate programs, and help coordinate placement in permanent supportive housing for individuals who will benefit. Partners include the Missoula County Detention Center, the City of Missoula, the Poverello Center, All Nations Health Center, two local hospitals, the Missoula Housing Authority, and Homeword.

Helena FUSE: CSH Contract

St. Peter’s Health Foundation will continue to serve as Helena’s lead organization in implementing the frequent user's systems engagement (FUSE) model, which seeks to reduce adverse health impacts among community members experiencing homelessness who are also high utilizers of emergency departments and correction services. St. Peter's has built strong community partnerships with the Helena Housing Authority, PureView Health, housing and shelter providers, and the City of Helena in implementing their FUSE work. St. Peter's has committed two community health workers to coordinate care for customers identified through FUSE data matches to fill gaps identified in the community. Grant funds will secure technical assistance from the Corporation for Supportive Housing to develop a more sustainable services package and conduct a Housing is Health Care summit for landlords, city and county officials, and other community stakeholders.

Yellowstone County CoC Site Visit to Boise

United Way of Yellowstone County serves as the lead convener for the Billings area Continuum of Care, which is considering options for creating permanent supportive housing in Billings. This grant will support a site visit to a high-performing permanent supportive housing program in Boise, Idaho. The Boise visit, planned in partnership with our technical assistance provider, Corporation for Supportive Housing and staff from the City of Boise, includes visits to permanent supportive housing projects and panel discussions regarding service packages with local organizations. Representatives will attend from Billings Clinic, the City of Billings, Yellowstone County, Community Crisis Center, Downtown Billings Alliance, HomeFront (the local housing authority), the Billings Continuum of Care, Riverstone Health, Gratitude in Action, St. Vincent’s, and United Way. The site visit will support this group in developing a feasible plan to create and staff permanent supportive housing for the Billings community.

West Yellowstone Housing Coalition

The West Yellowstone Housing Coalition will address the pressing housing challenges community members face, particularly emergency responders, health care workers, educators, and public works personnel. The project will commence with a comprehensive housing needs assessment, followed by developing and implementing a housing strategy plan tailored to this rural, tourism-based community. To achieve the project goals, the West Yellowstone Community Foundation will collaborate closely with the Town of West Yellowstone and HRDC IX, engaging a wide range of community members through facilitated community meetings. Grant funds will be primarily utilized to complete the housing needs assessment and hire a part-time housing manager responsible for implementing the identified housing solutions.

Supportive Housing Units for FUSE or like populations

Community Action Partners of Northwestern Montana (CAPNM) will lead efforts to develop permanent supporting housing in Kalispell, joining several larger Montana communities in the development phase of the Montana Healthcare Foundation's our Housing is Healthcare initiative. CAPNM has purchased 18 rental units and is working to obtain 17 additional units, which will be used to provide housing and supportive services for homeless people who frequently require emergency department care and hospitalization. This project will allow CAPNM to support the building and delivery of supportive services in these units. CAPNM will provide pre-tenancy support, tenancy support, and case management for participants. CAPMN will work with local partners to develop a service delivery plan for residents of the new units and work with CSH to develop a quality delivery model and sustainability framework. Funds will be used for consultation with Corporation for Supportive Housing and project management expenses. Current core partners include the community health center and city commissioners.

Community Engagement Specialist, Ravalli County

The District XI Human Resource Council (HRC) will develop a detailed housing and service coordination plan for implementing supportive housing in Ravalli County. HRC will contract with a community engagement specialist to convene local government and health, housing, and social service providers. This group will develop a community action plan that identifies the need for housing and supportive services and the resources available in the community. Funding will support the project coordinator, provide administrative and technical assistance resources, and cover convening expenses. The Steering Committee of the Bitterroot Affordable Housing Coalition (BAHC) is a partner for this project; its membership includes leaders from human service programs, housing providers, and local government agencies. The project will result in commitments from local organizations and agencies to provide coordinated services.

Northeast Montana Supportive Housing Planning Grant

The Great Northern Development Company (GNDC) will implement a supportive housing learning collaborative that engages stakeholders across a six-county region of northeast Montana and the Fort Peck Reservation. Located in Wolf Point, GNDC provides housing education, first-time home buyer assistance, home rehabilitation, and affordable housing finance services in northeast Montana. The project will create a registry of tenancy support services and care management providers that serve the housing insecure and homeless population and an action plan to increase housing access and coordinate service providers with clients engaged in housing programs. GNDC intends to engage city councils, county commissions, and chambers of commerce in the region to identify key partners. GNDC will contract with the Corporation for Supportive Housing to facilitate stakeholder engagement, community education, and the development of best practices to share with the community. Funding will support the contract with the Corporation for Supportive Housing, project management, and stakeholder convenings.

Montana CES and Local/Tribal Continuum Capacity-Building and Engagement Project

The Montana Continuum of Care (CoC) will engage communities and reservations in rural Montana to identify practical, community-based solutions to homelessness. The project will perform an audit to assess whether and how the current system of care (called the Coordinated Entry System) for families experiencing homelessness is meeting the needs of local communities. Based on this information, the CoC will develop a strategy and an action plan. This plan will also engage tribal communities and develop strategies to promote newly eligible tribal housing projects. Funding will support a consultant who will provide technical assistance and help CoC develop detailed strategic and outreach plans. Partners include the Montana Youth Action Board, Native Homeownership, and the Pathways Community Network Institute.

Baatz Block Apartments Technical Assistance

NeighborWorks Great Falls has partnered with Homeword Development to rehabilitate the historic, abandoned Baatz building in downtown Great Falls into 24 permanent supportive housing units. Permanent supportive housing combines affordable housing with support services to improve health and social outcomes for people experiencing chronic homelessness in addition to complex, chronic physical and behavioral conditions. The services are designed to build independent living and tenancy skills and connect people with community-based health care, treatment, case management, employment assistance, and other services. The project is the community’s first purpose-built permanent supportive housing. The team has secured $10 million in tax credits and other funding from state and local sources to construct the project. This grant was used to fund technical assistance and support provided by BeauxSimone Consulting (BSC), including engagement of a design team and community partners, coordination of regular service planning meetings, conducting focus groups that included both experts and those with lived experiences, and the development of MOUs between service providers and property owners. While the project has experienced delays due to construction market conditions, its strong financial standing will most likely result in a successfully completed supportive housing building by the summer of 2025. The project expects to sustain the Baatz Block Apartments through partnerships and grants.

Richland County Rural Housing Planning Grant

The Richland County Housing Authority (RCHA) will develop a community action plan focusing on Richland County’s homeless and housing insecure populations and coordinating housing and supportive services for this population. RCHA will contract with the Corporation for Supportive Housing to identify housing insecure individuals who frequently use community systems. It will also build partnerships with community service providers that can provide tenancy support and care coordination. The Richland County Health Department has identified housing as a critical health issue. It has partnered with the RCHA to convene stakeholders and develop a community plan to address housing access and service support for vulnerable populations. Funds will support the technical assistance contractor, project management, and convening. Partners engaged in preliminary steering committee discussions include the Richland County Health Department, Sidney Community Health Center, Eastern Montana Community Mental Health Center, law enforcement, and Prairie Hills Recovery center.

Helena Coordinated Entry System Data Coordination

St. Peters Hospital (SPH) will expand its data system to include the Coordinated Entry System, which identifies the most appropriate housing resources for homeless individuals. Currently, SPH’s system tracks data points of frequent users of jails, shelters, hospitals, and crisis public services (known as “Frequent User System Engagement” or “FUSE” clients). By enhancing its current data dashboard and expanding it to partner with the Coordinated Entry System, SPH will improve the community's capacity to monitor outcomes and keep clients housed. The new system will also help SPH and partners track and coordinate the supportive services needed to keep clients housed. Grant funds will support staffing costs for building and managing the upgraded data system. Our partners include the Helena Housing Authority, United Way, PureView Health Center, God’s Love, Good Samaritan Ministries, Lewis and Clark County Jail, and other organizations within the Coordinated Entry System.

The Economic Impact of a Montana Law Income Housing Tax Credit Program

Butte Housing is Health Care Data Coordination Project

Action, Inc. is the nonprofit community action agency for the six-county region around Butte and works to develop pathways out of poverty for area residents. This grant will support Action, Inc. to create a database that allows the Butte Housing is Health Care Initiative partners to track and coordinate housing units and supportive services. It will begin by working with partners – including the Butte Housing Authority, St. James Healthcare, and Southwest Montana Community Health Center – to assess the data systems they currently use to track homeless individuals and their interactions with health, justice, and social service systems. Then, the team will agree to a set of data elements that will allow partners to track and more effectively manage outcomes for these individuals and build them into the new data tracking platform. Funding will support project coordination staffing, consultation, and data system access. The new shared data system will enable the partners to align housing units with supportive services, creating a more effective permanent supportive housing program for the region.

All Nations Housing Feasibility Study

All Nations Health Center is an urban Indian health center located in Missoula; it serves over 4,000 Native American people. This project will help the center conduct a feasibility study for a new facility incorporating housing and an integrated care clinic. Homeward, a local affordable-housing developer, will conduct the study, including housing development costs and available funding resources for financing. MASS Architecture Design will finish a preliminary architecture report detailing the logistics of an integrated care clinic. The Native American Development Corporation will support organizing finance options for the new building. Funding will support the contractors to complete the feasibility study, housing development costs, building design, and finance options.

HRDC Rural Housing Planning Grant: Home Rehabilitation

The Human Resource Development Council of District IX (HRDC), which serves southwest Montana with community assistance programs, used this grant to build pathways for low-income homeowners to remain stably housed in a healthy, safe environment. This project focused on developing home rehabilitation programming, planning for new housing needs, and partnership building in HRDC’s rural service area, including Park County, Meagher County, and the town of West Yellowstone. In Meagher County, HRDC presented the results of its 2021 Meagher County Housing Needs Assessment to the county commission and community partners. This new resource will guide potential partners as they explore the development of quality, affordable housing. In West Yellowstone, HRDC staff and the school board are transferring property and development plans previously owned by HRDC to the local school district to provide quality rental housing for teachers in the community. In Park County, HRDC worked to expand community engagement around the Park County Housing Action Plan and to grow the Park County Housing Coalition (PCHC), including developing a community investment fund, working with local employers to house the local workforce, and providing continued community education. HRDC staff prepared and will submit a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Rural Rehabilitation application in partnership with Park County to get state funding to complete safety upgrades for households unable to afford such improvements.

Tracking and Evaluation of Outcomes for Residents Housed Through Coordinated Entry

The Human Resource Development Council of District IX, Inc. (HRDC) leads the Bozeman community’s coordinated entry, homeless shelter, and Housing First Village, in addition to providing many essential services to families with low incomes. To better understand how the system is currently used and identify housing and service gaps in the community for the housing insecure population, HRDC will develop a database to track housing vouchers and service utilization. Creating a database and information system will allow HRDC to gather data from housing and service providers. It will also help providers coordinate care and resources for recently housed individuals to ensure they remain stably housed. Funding will support technical assistance to develop the data platform, staff project coordination, and database maintenance. Partners for this project include agencies in Bozeman that currently serve the homeless population, including Community Health Partners, Bozeman Health, faith-based organizations, and other community service providers.

Libby Rural Housing Planning Grant

The Northwest Community Health Center (NWCHC) is a federally qualified health center serving Lincoln County, with sites in Libby and Troy. With this project, NWCHC will assess Lincoln County’s homeless and housing vulnerable populations and develop an action plan for how the community can better address their needs. NWCHC will contract with the Corporation for Supportive Housing to identify individuals who are housing insecure and frequently using community systems. They will also build partnerships with community service providers that can provide tenancy support and care coordination. Funds will support the technical assistance contractor, project management, and convening. Partners include the City of Libby, Lincoln County Health Department, Cabinet Peaks Medical Center, and Community Action Partners.

Cut Bank Rural Housing Planning Grant

Opportunities, Inc. is located in Great Falls and serves six counties in North Central Montana by building innovative community-based programs. This project will engage local service and housing partners to plan for permanent supportive housing development in Cut Bank. Permanent supportive housing provides affordable housing and supportive services to homeless individuals and who frequently interact with health and other social services. Opportunities, Inc., with support from the Corporation for Supportive Housing, will facilitate meetings with a diverse group of community stakeholders to develop a strategic plan to increase Cut Bank's low-income housing stock. Funding will support a facilitator who will engage partners and formalize the ideas that will contribute to the strategic plan. One of the primary goals of this project is to bring together key stakeholders to participate in the strategic planning process. Glacier County is a committed partner, and the Cut Bank community is committed to addressing its housing issue and reached out to Opportunities, Inc. to lead the project.

Staff Training and Ongoing Technical Assistance and Support

Morning Star Apartments is the Flathead Reservation’s first permanent supportive housing project. A collaboration between the Salish and Kootenai Housing Authority (SKHA), the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and the Tribal Defenders Office, the 14-unit Morning Star Apartments provides stable housing and support services to people who were discharged from jail and would have otherwise been homeless. This grant allowed SKHA to contract with BeauxSimone Consulting to provide training and technical assistance to staff members who are managing the apartments. The consultants traveled from Denver to Missoula to conduct the weeklong onsite training on trauma-informed care, conflict resolution, and developing and maintaining a sustainable and supportive housing site. The consultants assessed the apartment building, identified security issues, and helped develop a plan to address them. They also worked with Morning Star staff on problem-solving, addressing tenant behaviors, and purchasing materials and supplies for residents. Through the training, the manager developed an operations manual. The project was a success in helping Morning Star Apartments improve services for its residents.

Flathead Indian Reservation Housing Needs Assessment and Homelessness Study

The Salish and Kootenai Housing Authority (SKHA), which works to provide high-quality affordable housing to the people of the Flathead Reservation, used this grant to facilitate a survey to assess the housing needs in the community, which will then be used to help SKHA plan, finance, and develop housing resources to meet those needs. The project was guided by a newly formed Flathead Housing Coalition (FHC) made up of all the municipalities of the Flathead Reservation. The assessment gathered quantitative and qualitative data using a mixed-method approach involving a household survey, focus groups, community meetings, and interviews with knowledgeable sources. FHC hired a household survey manager; developed branding materials to bring awareness to the project; and contracted with Big Water Consulting to conduct on-site training for the manager and survey field staff. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) also conducted a reservation-specific homeless survey in parallel with the larger needs assessment, which found significant overcrowding, lack of access to affordable housing, and housing rehabilitation needs. This data will be used as a baseline for planning and improvement efforts. The report has been completed and shared with key stakeholders, and it will now be used to guide the actions of the FHC and help it determine action steps. It will also be used to coordinate state and local efforts to secure funds for increasing affordable and safe housing.

Helena Regional Housing is Health Care Initiative Implementation

The Helena Regional Housing is Health Care development project will provide access to permanent supportive housing for people in the Helena area who are homeless and have complex medical issues requiring frequent hospital care. To do this, the project will 1) provide high-quality training on permanent supportive housing to improve existing programs and improve housing and service system integration overall; 2) explore onsite health care and other support services at key housing sites; 3) develop community-level data sharing agreements to identify the most vulnerable persons who are homeless or unstably housed; 4) improve referral systems to better serve vulnerable populations (persons with disabilities, elderly, and families and children in child welfare systems; 5) develop additional services where needed to address unmet needs that drive high costs; 6) review housing policies to better serve high need persons in coordination with health care and other services; and 7) explore the development of additional permanent supportive housing resources, vouchers, and new facilities in conjunction with Helena Housing Authority’s redevelopment efforts. Key partners include Helena Housing Authority, Pureview Health Center, Saint Peter's Health, United Way, Center for Mental Health, and AWARE. Grant funds will support a new dedicated Community-Based Services Manager to lead program implementation.

Billings Permanent Supportive Housing Implementation

United Way of Yellowstone County will build on their previous Housing is Health Care initiative planning grant to develop permanent supportive housing units for people in Billings who are homeless and have complex medical and behavioral health conditions. A strong partnership among local health, housing, and city/county agencies was built through the MHCF planning grant. The project will create a coordinated system for service delivery and financing and a process for identifying, connecting with, and serving the people in Yellowstone County who have the highest medical need and are experiencing homelessness. This grant will support the creation of systems for service delivery and data matching using the Corporation for Supportive Housing's frequent user system engagement (FUSE) model. Funding will be used for project coordination, technical assistance from the Corporation for Supportive Housing, and developing data systems to track progress and allow for shared data and outcome measures across partner agencies.

Great Falls Housing is Healthcare Data Project

YWCA Great Falls provides services to meet critical needs, promote self-sufficiency, reduce violence, and achieve equal opportunities for all people. To better identify the housing and service gaps in the community, YWCA will enhance Great Fall’s Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) database to track housing vouchers and service utilization for those identified as homeless or at high risk of homelessness. This new database will allow YWCA to work across agencies and systems to gather data that tracks the housing and health services used by Coordinated Entry and Frequently User Systems Engagement (FUSE) clients. The capacity to collect quality data will help YWCA coordinate care and resources for the homeless population and help ensure they stay housed. Funding will support staffing for project coordination and data access and input. Opportunities, Inc. is the HMIS lead for Great Falls and is the primary partner for this project.

Partnerships for Permanently Supportive Housing Phase II

With this grant, the Human Resources Development Council of District IX (HRDC) and its community partners joined the Housing is Health Care Initiative. The goal was to develop permanent supportive housing units for homeless people in Bozeman who have complex medical and behavioral health conditions in order to improve health outcomes for individuals and reduce costs for the community. HRDC and its partners, including the Gallatin County Detention Center, Bozeman Health, Community Health Partners, the City of Bozeman, and mental health providers, completed the first phase of the first single-site supportive housing development. The project hired several staff members to provide tenancy support services, trauma-informed property management, health resources navigation, case management, and additional services. This included a supportive housing coordinator, a recovery specialist, a case manager, and a part-time health navigator. The project has successfully housed 13 residents who were identified through the frequent user system engagement (FUSE) data match process. In the first six months, residents achieved a 100% rate of maintaining housing. Preliminary data shows a significant reduction in costs for Gallatin County Detention as well. The project has catalyzed funding totaling $1,033,000 from several sources to support and sustain the project, including SAMSHA; Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Addictive and Mental Disorders Division; Yellowstone Club Community Foundation; and Fannie Mae.

Interdepartmental Housing Integration Project

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Service (DPHHS) will establish an Interdepartmental Housing Integration Project. The project will align strategies and action plans across disparate state departments, agencies, and local stakeholders to use existing resources more effectively to address homelessness, housing insecurity, and health service integration priorities. The project will create a platform that integrate three separate housing and health care data systems to share information on homeless high-utilizers, which will enable the coordination of services to improve outcomes for those individuals. The state will also evaluate and, if feasible, finalize appropriate Medicaid changes to support health-related tenancy support services. Initial partners include DPHHS; the Department of Commerce, Montana Housing Division and the Community Development Division; the Montana Continuum of Care Coalition; and the Montana Healthcare Foundation's Frequent Users System Engagement grantee communities. Grant funds will cover a full-time staff person dedicated to grant management activities, costs associated with stakeholder planning and meetings, data analytics coordination, and contracted assistance.

Affordable Housing Study

The University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER), in partnership with the Helena Housing Authority, Homeword, NeighborWorks Montana, the Montana Housing Coalition, and others, completed a policy analysis to identify potential solutions to Montana’s affordable housing shortage. The goal was to acquire a more comprehensive understanding of the impacts of the affordable housing shortage and create a repository of actionable information for how to approach the issue. The project achieved three outcomes: (1) conducting a survey and cataloging federal and state public finance programs for housing affordability in Montana and comparable states, (2) creating a detailed database of affordable housing units in the state, with information such as type of property, unit attributes, targeted population, geolocation, programs utilized, and age and condition of the structure, and (3) developing an analysis of the demand for and impact of low-income housing in the primary population centers of Helena, Great Falls, Kalispell/Flathead County, Missoula, Billings, Bozeman, and Butte. This analysis supports the Montana Healthcare Foundation’s Housing is Health Care initiative by helping organizations working to create permanent supportive housing in Montana track and identify available housing units. http://www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/econ/AffordableHousing2020.pdf