Community of Practice Session 1: Creating Housing Opportunities for People with Complex Health Needs Leaving the Justice System

From The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center and the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)

The CSG Justice Center and CSH are hosting a three-session virtual Community of Practice (CoP) focused on strategies that local justice and housing system leaders can use to collaboratively increase housing options for people with complex behavioral health needs leaving incarceration and/or diverted from the justice system. Leaders from each of these sectors will apply as a single community team to participate in the CoP, with up to three additional team members representing funding agencies, elected officials, people with lived experience in the justice system or who have experienced homelessness, or other key partners.

This CoP will focus on expanding housing supply, the last of the CSG Justice Center’s Four Steps toward Effective Housing Partnerships and Investments for People in the Justice System with Behavioral Health Needs, which also includes building cross-system Collaboration, Assessing Housing needs, and Connecting people with housing and supportive services in the community. Sessions will focus on the fundamentals of housing and supportive service approaches for people with justice involvement; how to identify and secure housing capital, operating, and service funding; and best practices for working with partner agencies to develop new housing inventory. The CoP will be facilitated by housing and justice experts from the CSG Justice Center and CSH and will also feature presentations from jurisdictions that have successfully implemented similar strategies.

In tandem with these sessions, CoP participants will receive individualized technical assistance focused on developing a Community Housing Plan. Each community team will identify the greatest housing needs faced by people with complex needs leaving the justice system, and technical assistance will focus on developing specific, locally driven strategies that will lead to increased housing opportunities. The CoP will be limited to a small number of communities overall, which will allow for ample collaboration and dialogue as these Community Housing Plans are developed.

Upon completion, each community team will have a fully developed plan to build the collaboration and secure the resources necessary to increase housing opportunities for people with complex behavioral health conditions leaving the justice system. The ultimate goal of the CoP is to prevent incarceration and reduce returns to prison and jail, as well as reduce the cost of corrections and other public systems while promoting overall well-being, health, and stability in the community.

The three CoP sessions are funded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Dates:

1. Thursday, July 29, 2021, 2:00–3:30 p.m. ET
2. Thursday, August 12, 2021, 2:00–3:30 p.m. ET
3. Thursday, September 16, 2021, 2:00–3:30 p.m. ET

Apply here by Wednesday, July 14, 2021.

If you have any questions, contact Charles Francis at cfrancis@csg.org.