TTI and CCCL Information Exchange: Promoting Equity through Housing Justice

*This Information Exchange is interpreted with ASL.
Paige Thomas is the Housing and Technical Assistance (TA) Associate here at NASMHPD. She provides direct support to NASMHPD's Housing Division, formerly known as the Housing Task Force, which has been comprised of State Mental Health Authorities (SMHA) Housing Directors from across the country who are dedicated to addressing supportive housing, homelessness, and housing funding challenges.
While managing the Housing Division, Paige researches, collaborates, and builds partnerships with outside agencies and groups that are working on housing and homelessness issues. In addition to pinpointing possibilities for collaboration, she identifies valuable funding sources, unique best practices, and model programs to share with the housing division members to support them in addressing the issues that are most important.
The Housing Division has hosted meetings with guest speakers to discuss pertinent housing-related issues, identify the demographics that are most represented in these issues, and determine which challenges call for the creative funding solutions. They held two sessions in August and September to discuss innovative methods of landlord mitigation and a Mitigation Fund Pilot for Ohio counties that serve a population involved in the criminal justice system. At their most recent meeting with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in December, they discussed the Foster Youth to Independence Initiative (FYI), how to acquire FYI funding to address and keep young people in our communities from becoming homeless, and how to work with Public Child Welfare Agencies to figure out the best ways to support foster youth in housing. The Housing Division facilitates sharing, learning, and program implementation to support the “Safe Housing” pillar of recovery, as laid out by SAMHSA. This presentation will highlight different ways that BHAs can pursue equity for marginalized populations through housing justice and supporting this crucial aspect of recovery and mental wellbeing.