	Best Practices A practical newsletter for people ending homelessness.

New IRS Tool: How to Receive Economic Impact Payments

A new IRS tool may help get upcoming Economic Impact Payments to people experiencing homelessness. People who have not previously filed taxes in 2018 or 2019 can now file for the payment if:

They did not file a 2018 or 2019 federal income tax return because their gross income was under $12,200 ($24,400 for married couples). This includes people who had no income. Or
They weren't required to file a 2018 or 2019 federal income tax return for other reason

Providers are encouraged to visit the IRS Economic Impact Payments web page and information center to learn more about this important potential resource for their clients.

COVID-19 Webinar Series from the Alliance

In an ongoing webinar series, Alliance staff and other experts will be discussing various tools, guidance, and strategies relating to how providers and homelessness system leaders can respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

View past webinars and materials here >>>

Please use #COVIDwebinar during the webinars if joining the conversation on Twitter. Register for upcoming webinars at the links below:

COVID-19 Webinar Series: Working with FEMA to Address Homelessness During the Pandemic
Tuesday, April 14th -- 3:00 pm ET

FEMA funds can be a critically important resource for states seeking to safely serve people experiencing homelessness during COVID-19.This webinar will focus on how to build a plan to effectively use FEMA funds. It will include a brief overview on the types of assistance and eligible activities FEMA funding typically supports, and share the experience of two states that are currently building their own strategies for using FEMA funds in their homelessness response efforts.

Moderator/Speaker:
Nan Roman, President and CEO, National Alliance to End Homelessness
Speakers:
Ann Oliva, Visiting Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Ali Sutton, Deputy Secretary, California Homeless Coordinating & Financing Council
Erika Ferguson, Directory, Healthy Opportunities, North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services

COVID-19 Webinar Series: Ensuring Racial Equity During the COVID-19 Homelessness Response
Thursday, April 16th -- 3:00 pm ET

Early data suggests the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting Black communities particularly hard in the U.S. The subject of this webinar will be on the homelessness system's response to the intersection of COVID-19 and racial disparities.

Topics to be covered in the webinar include: racial disparities and health inequity, centering racial equity as a response to COVID-19 in the homelessness system, organizational inequity, and systems change.

Moderator:
Pascale Leone, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at CSH

Speakers:
Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum, President and CEO of St. Joseph Center
Melissa Haley, Director of Supportive Services at Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana

COVID-19 Webinar Series: COVID-19 and Data Collection Resources for Your Community
Tuesday, April 21st -- 3:00 pm ET

It is advisable for homeless service providers to capture data on COVID-19 status within the population they serve. This information is useful for public health planning, public and private funding allocations that are based on area need, as well as research to inform best practices around this type of crisis.

This webinar will provide information related to HMIS data collection, privacy concerns, mobile data collection, as well as research and population sampling to determine the degree to which COVID-19 has impacted the homeless community. Experts in these areas will provide important information and share tools that will help your data collection efforts in the field.

Speakers:
Joy Moses, Director, Homelessness Research Institute, National Alliance to End Homelessness
Fran Ledger, US Department of Housing and Urban Development
Matt Simmonds, Simtech Solutions
Dr. Dan Treglia, University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice

COVID-19 Webinar Series: Federal Funding to Address Homelessness and COVID-19: Ask the Experts
Thursday, April 23rd -- 3:00 pm ET
The CARES Act provided important new financial resources for addressing homelessness, both through grants to communities' homelessness systems and through direct payments to most low-income individuals and families. This webinar will provide details about what new money is available and how to access it. It will also update listeners on the prospects for additional resources in upcoming legislation.

Speaker:
Steve Berg, Vice President for Programs and Policy, National Alliance to End Homelessness

Additional SSVF Resources Available During COVID-19

The VA SSVF Program Office is offering new flexibilities to help SSVF grantees provide support to veterans experiencing homelessness during COVID-19. The office anticipates distributing approximately $200 million in new funding for FY 2020 to all grantees with recurring awards, boosting renewable grants by just over half. The SSVF Program Office encourages grantees to use existing grant funds to expand capacity now.

The following limits have been waived:

The overall 50% budget cap on TFA is waived.
The 40% limit on prevention TFA is waived.
The $500 limit on emergency food assistance is waived.
In states where a federal disaster has been declared: The cap on the number of months rental and utility assistance have been waived.

To receive COVID-19-specific guidance regarding SSVF, including additional materials and frequently asked questions, visit the VA's SSVF page.

New Dashboard Helps CoCs Measure COVID-19 Impacts

A new dashboard designed by researchers at University of Pennsylvania, Boston University, and UCLA helps inform planning and response efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic among persons experiencing homelessness. The tool offers essential data on the national and Continuum of Care (CoC) levels, including:

Estimated size of the single adult homeless population, to provide a baseline understanding of scope of potential COVID-19 related impact and needs
Potential impact of COVID-19 on the single homeless population, including number of infections, number of hospitalizations, number of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions and number of fatalities
Capacity needed to provide emergency accommodation to the single adult homeless population

The dashboard is based on this report and was created by its authors: Dennis P. Culhane, Dan Treglia, & Ken Steif from the University of Pennsylvania, Tom Byrne from the Boston University School of Social Work and Randall Kuhn from UCLA.

View the dashboard >>>