The Total Package: Housing and Serving Homeless Children
Homelessness can be particularly hard on children. This workshop will examine service strategies designed to minimize the detrimental effects of homelessness on children and promote child well-being. Strategies to enhance stability and consistency in the lives of children and a program to identify developmental delays in homeless children will be explored. This workshop examined how providers can ensure children are receiving appropriate supportive services through coordination with school liaisons, Head Start programs, and partnerships with other public systems.

Rural Homelessness Counts
Reliable data is critical to inform policy and program development and attract the federal and local resources necessary to end homelessness. In sparsely populated geographic areas with fewer homeless specific service providers, however, counting the number of people that are homeless poses significant challenges. This workshop highlighted how some rural communities have overcome the challenges to capturing reliable data and offer guidance to how rural areas can improve their point-in-time counts.

Follow the Dollar: Conducting your Own Case Studies
The effects homelessness has on a community can sometimes be quantified with a dollar amount. Cost analysis is a powerful tool for program administrators who make decisions on how to allocate scarce funding for housing and services and for advocates who are seeking to demonstrate a case for ending homelessness. This workshop explored how to perform a cost study with different levels of sophistication from back of the envelope estimates to rigorous research studies.

Whose Backyard Is It Anyway? Overcoming NIMBY
Fear and prejudice about affordable housing, particularly for people with special needs, can quickly erupt into strong community opposition and lead to major road blocks in developing housing for homeless people. This workshop presented successful programmatic and community-based strategies to overcome NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) and how to turn concerned neighbors into supportive partners.

Win, Win: Working with Your PHA
After a period of declining resources, many Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) have more resources to serve all populations of homeless people, including families, youth, veterans, and people with disabilities. This workshop was intended for homeless assistance providers, who learned not only how to acquire more housing resources for their clients, but also how they as providers can help PHAs be more effective, creating a mutually beneficial partnership.

Stable Source of Income: Benefits and Employment
Having a stable source of income is necessary to secure and maintain housing. The challenges are in connecting people who are able to work with employment or training that will help them to move into careers that sustain them in permanent housing, and connecting those who cannot work with the benefits that will support them. This workshop examined promising strategies for long-term income stability for those who are likely facing multiple obstacles.

Dedicated Revenue: State and Local Housing Trust Funds
Housing Trust Funds exist in all but a few states across the country and can be an important resource for developing affordable housing. Learn how Housing Trust Funds work, what they typically fund, who gets the money, how to tap the Trust Fund in your state, and how to ensure that the Trust Fund targets funds to the lowest income individuals and those that are currently homeless.

Who’s the Boss? Overseeing Plan Implementation
As communities are implementing their plans to end homelessness, one of the biggest lessons they are learning is that oversight of plan implementation is critical. Who should be in charge of making sure that strategies are implemented, funding is secured, and outcomes are measured? How many staff does it take? What qualifications should they hold? What authority should they have? Workshop speakers will address these questions and more.

Hot Off the Press: New Research on Homelessness
This workshop provided the opportunity to hear about research on homelessness that is paving the way towards policies and programs that are more effective. Workshop participants had the opportunity to interact with the leading researchers in the field and hear from policy experts about implications of research findings.

Maximizing Consumer Decision Making
Consumer choice is often a critical ingredient for success in achieving housing stability and treatment. This workshop was designed for caseworkers and program directors who serve people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and substance use disorders and who are trying to maximize consumer or tenant participation.

Obtaining and Leveraging Rural Resources
Rural homeless providers know that, with scarce funding for housing and services, they must leverage dollars and become adept collaborators. This session examined how creative local partnerships can help bring needed services and housing dollars to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in rural and small town America.

Generations: Stable Housing for Seniors
Communities across the country are seeing an increasing number of frail, elderly individuals in their homeless programs. This workshop featured new research on the aging chronic homeless population and highlight housing and service models that can help older people age with dignity, regardless of special medical, mental health, or social needs.

Creative Change: How One State Re-Shaped the Status Quo
Moving from meeting about ending homelessness to implementing an action plan is always difficult, but communities are overcoming obstacles and finding new ways to solve old problems. This workshop highlighted how Connecticut reshaped complex social systems, such as TANF, health, mental health, and local provider networks, to provide housing and services to clients.

Financing Affordable Housing: An Introduction
This workshop provided participants with a general overview of how to finance affordable housing. The course covered how to read real estate pro forma and general information regarding different financing sources for affordable housing, including CDBG, HOME funds, grants, low-income housing tax credits, and bond financing. Workshop participants will learn the basics of how to put together financing to house formerly homeless individuals—whether you are developing five units or 105.

Making Headlines: Getting Attention in the Media
The media plays a critical role in promoting your organization as well as its greater advocacy agenda. One well-placed newspaper article or op-ed can give a tremendous boost to your organization’s goals of ending homelessness. Learn how to craft a compelling message, create a news hook, and set the stage for groundbreaking coverage. Workshop speakers presented tips on how to write press releases, op-eds, and letters to the editor.

Cultural Competence
It is critical that homeless service providers—who must address a wide array of cultural differences—offer culturally competent services which value individual uniqueness and demonstrate the capacity to deliver services in line with the beliefs, values, and practices of those served. In this interactive workshop, participants learned about the importance of cultural competence and acquire the skills necessary to apply that understanding to their work.

Building Blocks: Youth Housing Models with Services
Housing is a key ingredient in the effort to end youth homelessness. There are a number of housing and service models that show promise in helping homeless youth attain and maintain stable housing. This interactive workshop explored housing models and supportive services, their design and scope, and funding options.

The Key to Ending Chronic Homelessness: Scattered Site Approaches
Put together a few tenant based vouchers, a consumer oriented service team, a Housing First philosophy, and what do you have? A powerful strategy for ending homelessness for people with serious mental illness and substance use disorders. Pioneered by the Pathways to Housing Program in New York, this Housing First strategy has been successfully replicated in dozens of cities. Workshop speakers described some of the challenges they encountered and how they implemented a successful Housing First program targeting chronically homeless individuals.

All Politics Is Local (and State)
States and municipalities have been successful in developing innovative ways to create affordable housing and fund local homeless assistance programs. In addition, they have raised homelessness on the local and state agendas. Workshop speakers shared how they implemented local and state strategies for ending homelessness and offer guidance on how to develop relationships with state and local policymakers.

Designing a Local Housing Subsidy Program
Almost all of the communities showing progress in ending homelessness have initiated some type of rental assistance program that subsidizes housing for people who are homeless. These programs vary in size and scope with some offering one-time cash infusion, some offering ongoing shallow support, and others offering deeper subsidies. This workshop examined key considerations in designing a local housing subsidy program and where to find the funding to make it a reality.

Responding to Domestic Violence
Like other families experiencing homelessness, victims of domestic violence require immediate shelter assistance and linkages to appropriate transitional or permanent housing and support. Within this context, providers must be attentive to safety issues and the effects of recent violence on the lives of women and children. This workshop examined how homeless shelter and Housing First providers are improving their services to families fleeing domestic violence.

Second Chances: Housing and Services for Those Reentering from Prison
Far too many individuals who leave prison become homeless, either immediately after discharge or after intermediate, temporary housing placements. This workshop discussed housing models and services that are effective in preventing homelessness and reducing recidivism among individuals leaving prisons. It also addressed the Second Chance Act, a bill that would provide states with additional reentry resources.

Taking Stock: Managing the Supply of Shelter and Transitional Housing
One ongoing challenge in the movement to end homelessness is managing the supply of shelters and transitional housing during a shift to a Housing First system. This workshop highlighte how to plan ahead to efficiently increase or decrease the supply of shelter to reflect fluctuating demand, and how to assure that transitional housing is being put to the most effective use.

One Stop Homeless Centers: Avoiding Pitfalls
Some cities are developing centralized intake and service centers for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Some of these sites provide controversial services and the sheer number of homeless people frequenting these sites can lead to NIMBYism. What are the benefits and risks of developing such facilities, and if a community is going to build a “one stop” center, what elements need to be in place to make it a successful strategy for ending homelessness?

Navigating Service Systems for Your Clients
Policy trends at the state and federal levels affect how homeless providers link and partner with local social service agencies such as local welfare, child welfare, food stamps, health or other public agencies. Workshop speakers, representing these government and social service agencies, explained highlight what providers around the country are doing and innovative policy changes at the local, state, or federal level that can help end homelessness.

Delivering for Families and Children: Community-Wide Housing First
A handful of communities are adopting community-wide Housing First approaches. In these communities, all families seeking shelter are assessed for Housing First services. The adoption of a community-wide Housing First strategy allows for system-wide reductions in shelter demand and targeting transitional and permanent supportive housing resources more efficiently. This workshop featured jurisdictions that have pioneered community-wide Housing First programs.

Becoming a Landlord Part I: Housing Development
In many cities, affordable rental housing is scarce and, as thousands of affordable housing units go offline each year, the stock continues to dwindle. Out of necessity, homeless providers are getting into the housing development business. This interactive workshop explored innovative ways to acquire or develop a stable housing stock and give tips to programs looking to own rental properties.

Design for Results: Developing a Ten Year Plan
This workshop covered the development of a plan to end homelessness from start to finish presented by communities that have done it. Planning steps include enlisting the right stakeholders, developing a work plan and structuring committees, researching needs and best practices, refining strategies, and maintaining momentum. Workshop speakers also discussed how to ensure that the plan moves from paper to action and how the process itself changed their community.

Keeping Families and Children Housed: Emergency Prevention
Designing effective homeless prevention programs for families is challenging. This workshop weaved together research and promising practices that can inform program design and planning. The workshop also examined strategies communities have implemented to achieve more effective targeting.

What Gets Measured, Gets Done: Performance Measurement
It is more critical than ever for programs to measure and articulate their effectiveness. Both for funding purposes and for effective planning, communities must be able to assess whether their systems of care are successfully meeting the needs of people who are homeless and be able to track that success over time. This workshop provided introductory-level guidance on creating a performance measurement system.

Rural Homelessness: The RHISCO Project
This half-day institute offered an inside look at how to create a rural plan, strategies that work in rural areas, and how to cultivate partnerships in rural areas. The workshop highlighted the achievements in the first year of the National Alliance to End Homelessness’ Rural Homeless Initiative of Southeast and Central Ohio (RHISCO). This innovative venture brought together 17 rural and Appalachian counties of Ohio to collaborate on regional strategies and develop Ten Year Plans to End Homelessness. With a focus on rural themes and regional cooperation, institute speakers highlighted lessons learned during 2006 and provide insight into promoting and improving planning to end homelessness in rural communities.

Exploring Racism's Impact on Youth Homelessness in America
Research reveals troubling over-representation of African Americans and American Indians among homeless youth. Providers are interested in finding ways to appropriately serve youth of color, from a cultural and youth development perspective, and are increasingly aware of the overrepresentation of American Indian and African American youth in programs. This meeting included a broad discussion on race and youth homelessness to review current data and research and explore the link between child welfare systems and juvenile justice systems and youth homelessness.

Enumeration Station: Conducting Better Point-in-Time Counts
Getting accurate counts of homeless people is a difficult but important process. The value of the counts goes beyond fulfilling a HUD requirement. Communities can use homeless counts to increase public awareness, attract resources that lead to the eradication of the problem, and help program administrators and policymakers to understand the needs of people who experience homelessness. This workshop highlighted effective count strategies for different types of communities.

Nan Roman’s Keynote Address—Annual Conference 2007
National Alliance to End Homelessness President Nan Roman's keynote address from the Annual Conference July 2007 on July 9, 2007.

Annual Conference July 2007 Brochure
The Alliance is hosting "Ending Homelessness: The Time is Now!" on July 9-11, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. Please join the Alliance and a thousand other leaders from around the country to meet, share, and learn about the best people doing the best work, from effective day-to-day practices to overall system design, to policy initiatives and priorities.

Planning and Oversight: Conference Track
Recommended workshops for conference participants who are developing or implementing a plan to end homelessness.

Ending Chronic Homelessness: Conference Track
Homelessness providers, planners, and researchers have developed and refined strategies for serving chronically homeless people. The Alliance’s annual conference will feature several workshops describing these developments. Topics include employment for people in recovery, low-demand housing, maximizing consumer decision making, moving on from permanent supportive housing, scattered site approaches, effective partnerships, engaging people living on the streets, cognitive impairments, and new research on homelessness.

Ending Family Homelessness: Conference Track
Recommended workshops for conference participants focused on ending family homelessness. The recommended workshops focus on the five strategies that promising communities have adopted to respond to family homelessness. The five strategies are highlighted in Promising Strategies to End Family Homelessness. The final workshop will focus on the policy shifts that are required to facilitate broader progress.

Ending Rural Homelessness: Conference Track
Rural homelessness providers and community planners have been developing and refining strategies for effectively serving homeless people and preventing homelessness among those at risk, despite the challenges they face with regard to resources, geography, awareness and capacity. This year at the Alliance's annual conference, we will feature several workshops describing these efforts aimed to educate and promote increase discussion and networking among rural providers.

Ending Youth Homelessness: Conference Track
As we approach our second year in offering a homeless youth track, the workshops have become more specific and focused on issues that help us to understand youth homelessness and find answers to the challenges of serving this population.

Housing Development: Conference Track
Recommended workshops for conference participants who are developing or interested in developing affordable or permanent supportive housing.

Annual Conference July 2007 Registration Form
Mail your registration form with payment to:
National Alliance to End Homelessness
Attention: 2006 Conference
1518 K Street, NW, Suite 410
Washington, DC 20005

Scholarship Application
The National Alliance to End Homelessness has established a Scholarship Program, with two components, to assist homeless and formerly homeless people, as well as individuals who work for organizations that cannot afford to cover the full cost of conference fees or travel and hotel.