To those of you who make referrals to the Housing First and Rapid Rehousing programs, please read on for a message from Empower Simcoe:
EXCITING NEWS
New Referral Process
Empower Simcoe is pleased to announce we are now receiving all Housing First referrals.
Effective June 1, 2019, all referring agencies are required to send their referrals directly to Empower Simcoe through a secure shared drive. Between now and June 1, 2019 any agencies who have previously referred applicants to the Housing First program will be contacted and provided with login credentials to your direct folder on the secure drive.
It is our goal to make this process as secure and simple as possible for your agency to submit a HF referral by providing you a link, a password specific to your agency and the instructions. Supervisors, please distribute this information to employees you feel require it for referrals.
Change to Assessment Tool
Effective immediately, the common assessment tool to be used when submitting Housing First Programs shall be the VI-SPDAT. You can find links to the appropriate Family, Youth and Individual VI-SPDAT located on the Empower Simcoe website by going to the Regional Housing First Program page. https://empowersimcoe.ca/community-partner-resources/
Rapid Rehousing Referral Form
In addition, a separate referral form has been created for the Rapid Rehousing Program that can be found on the Empower Simcoe website going to the Regional Housing First Program. We ask that when making a referral to the Rapid Rehousing Program that you use this form moving forward. https://empowersimcoe.ca/community-partner-resources/
Although our goal is to have all referrals sent to our office via the secured drive, we understand this may not be an option for some referring agencies. In these circumstances, please contact Alisa Kneeshaw at 705-726-9082 ext 2337.
First Time Referring Agencies
Please contact Alisa Kneeshaw for details and instructions to access the secure shared drive for your agency.
Going forward additional information will be communicated through email or uploaded to your shared folder as needed to improve the program for everyone.
We are excited to offer our referring agencies a more direct service, if you have any issues accessing the link or logging in please do not hesitate to contact Alisa Kneeshaw at 705-726-9082 ext 2337 or by email at housingfirstreferral@empowersimcoe.ca.
