Leading with Lived Experience
Introduction & Overview
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) Division of Housing (DOH) Office of Homeless Initiatives (OHI) is honored and excited to share the work of the inaugural Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG).
The LEAG consists of ten (10) individuals who have personally experienced housing insecurity and homelessness in communities across Colorado and want to help improve homelessness response efforts/systems. Members were recruited in 2021 via email referrals, electronic surveys, and word of mouth. Each member of the LEAG has direct experience within Colorado’s emergency shelter system and/or have previously participated outreach or other housing programs.
The LEAG is an essential component of DOH’s efforts to prioritize the ongoing and meaningful inclusion of people with lived experience of homelessness. These efforts are essential in designing and creating a future where everyone in Colorado has a safe, stable, and affordable place to live and thrive.
This report is a summary of the LEAG’s recommendations on opportunities for system improvements through the Homeless Resolution Program (HRP) program.
LEAG Design: Excellence in HRP
For their inaugural year, the LEAG reviewed the activities of DOH’s HRP program. DOH’s HRP program provides grants for street outreach, emergency shelter, homelessness prevention, rapid re-housing, and data collection to non-profits and local governments. Participants were paid for their involvement in the LEAG and offered input via meetings, written surveys, literature review responses, and sharing direct experiences.
The LEAG received eight hours of initial onboarding to the State’s homelessness response system, HRP, evidence- based best practices, and current data on homelessness in Colorado. Monthly meetings were held virtually to ensure
statewide input could be included. Each meeting focused on specific components of the HRP program. Input, ideas, and solutions for each component were solicited through conversations and activities with DOH staff. The recommendation of the LEAG are broken out into the following HRP component areas:
“Having been lucky enough to escape the trap of homelessness, I feel it is my duty to advocate for those who are currently stuck in it.”
“What we are talking about is safe communities and our humanity. [We are talking about the fact] that we keep people safe in the process and we are taking care of others.”
“COVID has taught us many things. I feel that we have to be more creative in our thinking and offer outreach in different ways. Partnering and collaboration between agencies is a must.”
Homeless Resolution Program (HRP)
The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 (HEARTH Act) amended the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, revising the Emergency Shelter Grants Program in significant ways and renaming it the Homeless Resolution Program (HRP) program. The HRP Interim Rule took effect on January 4, 2012. The change in the program’s name, from Emergency Shelter Grants to Emergency Solutions Grants, reflects the change in the program’s focus from addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness in emergency or transitional shelters to assisting people to quickly regain stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness.
Expanding Scale of HRP in Colorado
DOH’s HRP program has grown from a $2 million annual program in 2017 to its current allocation of $39 million in statewide homelessness response funding. Most of this additional funding came through the one-time allocation from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, but subsequent funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will allow OHI to continue funding Colorado’s homelessness response system at similar levels through 2026. Therefore, the LEAG started with lessons learned from HRP in order to ensure ongoing investments are targeted, strategic, transformational, and most importantly, responsive to the real needs of those we are serving.
HRP is considered an initial starting point for implementing best practices across Colorado through strategic funding centered on lived expertise. The LEAG’s input regarding HRP will impact upcoming HRP awards, as well as other existing OHI program awards. Specifically, HRP staff will work with grantees to begin to align programs with the LEAG’s recommendations through program monitoring, data collection and reporting, and the provision of technical assistance. DOH appreciates the ongoing and impactful partnerships it supports throughout the state with HRP and looks forward to working together to learn from and implement change based on what was heard from the LEAG.
Three Key Lessons from the LEAG
1) Invest in Lived Experience and Human Resources
Every community in Colorado that is addressing homelessness has people with lived experiences of housing insecurity
and homelessness. These individuals should be the leaders of that homelessness response. Additionally, staff positions
within in homelessness response systems should not be considered entry-level positions. Staff should be trained as
professionals with targeted, mandatory, and evidence-based skills.
2) Act with Urgency. Start with Equity
Homelessness is traumatic. It is a matter of life and death. We must start improving inequitable parts of Colorado’s
homelessness response system now and measure that work through creating equitable and immediate access for anyone
experiencing homelessness.
3) The “3 E’s” Framework: Empower, Engage, & Evaluate
For DOH’s HRP program specifically, funded programs should structure the immediate focus on creating equity by
building the three E’s of Empowerment, Engagement, and Evaluation in HRP program design.