The National HCH Council has issued a statement addressing the current status of Health Center funding and the need for the HCH community to contact their representatives to explain why this funding is vital and must be extended. HCH programs depend on Health Center funding, but a large portion of this funding is still at risk because Congress has yet to reauthorize the Community Health Center Fund. Nearly 70 percent of Health Center funding will begin to decline on January 1, 2018. Learn more.

New Issue of Healing Hands: Preventive Care

The HCH Clinicians’ Network’s latest Healing Hands is a double-issue examining the importance of preventive care and strategies to expand access to these crucial health care services. It can be difficult for homeless health care clinicians to provide this care in the face of limited resources and the need to address patients’ urgent health concerns. Best practices to increase access to preventive care through key screenings and holistic strategies come into focus in the issue, and CME credits are available for reading the publication and successfully completing the post-test. Healing Hands is designed for and by homeless health care professionals, particularly clinicians and support staff, across the U.S.

Apply Now to Join the Council’s HCH Quality Measures and HIT Learning Collaborative

The Council invites HCH Health Centers to join us in a new HCH Quality Measures and Health IT (HIT) Learning Collaborative. Please take part in this three-year facilitated learning community to help identify, prioritize, and provide best practices for capturing Quality Performance Measures that are specific to the HCH community. We're co-leading this initiative with the Health Information Technology, Evaluation and Quality (HITEQ) Center, which will facilitate data capturing and information-sharing discussions through targeted trainings to the Collaborative on topics such as effective use of population health management tools, cleaning and validating data, and risk stratification. Your participation is key: learn more and apply by 5 p.m. ET on November 20, 2017.

Call for Applications Now Open: HCH Behavioral Health Integration Learning Collaborative

The National HCH Council is excited to invite clinicians at health centers and organizations serving people without homes to join us in a new HCH Behavioral Health Integration Learning Collaborative. People without homes often have multiple chronic health conditions and face numerous barriers to care, and integrating behavioral health and primary care can help improve health care delivery and access for this population. The Council is seeking clinicians who can commit to six one-hour monthly learning sessions from January-June 2018 to learn best practices and share experiences in implementing integration in an HCH context. Participation is free: learn more and apply by midnight CT on December 5, 2017.

Council Synopsis Summarizes Newly Released National Opioid Emergency Report

On October 26, President Trump declared a public health emergency in response to the opioid epidemic. Since then, the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis released its final report outlining 56 recommendations for addressing American opioid addiction—the Council has created a helpful synopsis of the report. The document outlines laudable measures, but it includes no new funding to support implementing or expanding these efforts. The Council commented on the Commission’s draft report, emphasizing the need for expanded treatment capacity, mandating prescriber education/training, incentivizing medication-assisted treatment, and aligning privacy laws. We also requested the final report address stable housing as a key element of recovery. The final report recommends HHS implement guidelines and reimbursement policies for several support services, with one recommendation focusing exclusively on recovery (“sober”) housing. On November 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also released a letter to state Medicaid directors outlining strategies to address the opioid epidemic using five-year 1115 demonstration waivers, but strict budget neutrality requirements and intense reporting mandates may hamper states’ ability to pursue these options.

Council Responds to Proposed HHS Strategic Plan

The Council has issued comments on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) draft plan for FY2018-2022 (a document since removed from the HHS website). The Council’s response emphasizes the need for health care to be affordable, comprehensive, and accessible as well as delivered by a trained workforce. Our response also noted concerns about the need to treat chronic and behavioral health conditions, the importance of treating all people equitably during disasters (regardless of their housing status), our concerns about the emphasis on “personal responsibility” in HHS policies, and the importance of addressing violence as a public health concern. Finally, we expressed our concerns about the contradiction between the strategic plan’s goals and the Trump administration’s policy positions on Medicaid, appropriations, and other recent actions.

Upcoming Webinar to Explore Diabetes Among Unstably Housed Patients

In honor of Diabetes Awareness Month, the Council will host a webinar on “Nutrition and Diabetes: Special Considerations for Clients who Are Unstably Housed” at 1-2 p.m. CT on November 16. Diabetes occurs at approximately the same rate in the homeless and general populations; however, diagnosis and management of diabetes in people without homes remains greatly challenging. Homelessness creates unique difficulties for clients trying to manage the condition within the constraints of living in a shelter or on the streets, and having access to healthy meals. Join us to learn how food security affects the ability to control diabetes in individuals without homes and discover resources that may help clients eat better to help control their blood sugar. Register now.

Member Opportunity: New Webinar Explores How to Train Your Staff to Succeed With Volunteers

Learn strategies and tactics to help your staff more effectively supervise and delegate to volunteers in a free webinar at 2 p.m. ET on November 14 from our partner Verified Volunteers. This program may be used to meet the requirements for renewing the Certified in Volunteer Administration (CVA) credential, and participants will receive one Professional Development Unit. Registration is open now. Additionally, Council Organizational Members are eligible to receive significant discounts on screening packages for prospective staff and volunteers through Verified Volunteers. Learn more about this and other member opportunities, or view our archived webinar on “Seven Important Things You Need to Know about Volunteer Background Checks.”

Save the Date: Honor Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day on December 21

It’s not too early to start planning for Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day (HPMD). The National HCH Council, our National Consumer Advisory Board, and the National Coalition for the Homeless urge everyone to organize or participate in HPMD events on or around December 21, the first day of winter and the longest night of the year. In these events, we remember those who have died, assert that no one should die for lack of housing, and strengthen our resolve to work for a world in which no life is lived or lost in homelessness. Get ready for HPMD with our Organizing Manual, archived webinar, and other materials. Register your event or contact us to receive help in organizing events.

HCH Careers: View Recent Listings on the Council’s Jobs Board

The National HCH Council hosts job postings from across the Health Care for the Homeless field on our Careers page. We invite Organizational Members to submit open positions for our page, which attracts nearly 6,500 views each year. Recent postings include calls for a Housing Subsidy Case Manager at Harbor Homes in Nashua, NH; a Health Center Director at Unity Health Care in Washington, D.C.; a Psychiatric - Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at St. Vincent de Paul Village Family Health Center in San Diego, CA; and a Psychiatrist at Health Care for the Homeless in Baltimore, MD. View further listings or submit your own on our Careers page, and contact us with any questions.