Family Services (FS) Program Housing Retention

CalWORKs Housing and employment retention promotes family stability. To facilitate these efforts, housing and employment retention follow-up is performed at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months following the date the family is housed and employed. While housing retention is performed via a workaround pseudo activity in CalSAWS, employment retention is performed with a CalSAWS data report. ECs will only need to enter Housing Retention entries in CalSAWS. 

WTW Pseudo Activity for Housing Retention

 The WTW pseudo activity used will be, “Activity Number: 43 CHSP Housing-Retention.” The following applies to pseudo activity in CalSAWS:

• Hours are not scheduled or entered
• Add Activity Number: 43 CHSP Housing -Retention. The Begin Date is the date the family was housed (Example: January 16, 2024). The expected End Date is 12 months from the begin date (Example: January 15, 2025). Select Active in the Status field and Attending in the Status Reason field.
•  At the 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up interval, add a Journal Entry with housing follow-up details.
• On the Customer Activity Detail page, in the Additional Comments field, enter housed and the date they were housed (Example: Housed 01/16/24).
• Add a new Status for the next follow-up date for 3-month and 6-month follow-up by selecting Active in the Status field, Processing in the Status Reason field, and entering the date of the next follow-up in the Begin Date field.
• The following activity statuses will be used as follows during the 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up intervals:
  • Add Active in the Status field and Attending in the Status Reason field when the client remains housed. Enter the follow-up date in the Begin Date field.    
  • Select Closed in the Status field and Drop Out in the Status Reason field when the family becomes homeless. Enter the follow-up date in the Begin Date field. No End Date is required in the End Date field. 
  • Select Completed in the Status field and Completed Satisfactorily in the Status Reason field on the 12-month follow-up date. Enter the follow-up date in the Begin Date field.  

Note: Refer the client to appropriate resources when a client becomes homeless.

Housing Retention Procedures

Below are the housing retention procedures.

A. Abode:

• Places family in housing and notifies FS Unit of housing placement.

B. The FS EC:

• Receives notification of housing placement.
•  From the Customer Activity page, add Activity Number: 43 CHSP Housing Retention activity with a Planned Start Date of when the client was housed and a Planned End Date of 12 months.
• From the Customer Activity Detail page, update the Status field with Active and the Status Reason field with Attending.
• In the Employment Detail page, add a new employment record and WTW Employment Activity if the client obtains employment.  Refer to the Employment Guide for guidance.

C. The Assigned EC:

•  Receives Business Objects housing listing.
• At the 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month intervals, performs housing retention follow-ups.
• Documents with a Journal Entry in the Journal Detail page, housing retention details in CalSAWS. 
• As necessary, updates the employment information on the Employment Detail page. Refer to the Employment Guide for guidance. 

1. Note: When follow-up reveals the client is homeless or no longer employed, refer the client to the appropriate resources.

2. Note: Participants with a Section 8 Voucher, or who have another source of unearned income may not require an employment placement. 

Example

The client is employed as of May 15, 2022, at Target prior to Abode placing the client in housing on January 11, 2023. Upon notification by Abode, the FS EC adds “Activity 43 CHSP Housing Retention” in CalSAWS with a Begin Date of January 11, 2023, an Expected End Date of January 10, 2024; and updates the activity Status field to Active and Attending in the Status Reason field effective January 11, 2023. The FS EC adds the 3-month follow-up status, with Active in the Status field, Processing in the Status Reason field, and 3-month follow-up date, April 11, 2023, in the Begin Date field. 
At the 3-month follow-up, the assigned EC receives Business Objects listing on April 7, 2023, which identifies April 11, 2023, as the first housing follow-up due date. The follow-up on April 11, 2023, reveals that the family is still housed, and the dad was laid off. The assigned EC updates the Status to Active in the Status field and Attending in the Status Reason field for the “Activity 43 CHSP Housing Retention” activity since the client remains housed. The assigned EC will then add a new status of Active in the Status field, Processing in the Status Reason field, and enter the date of the 6-month follow-up in the Begin Date field. Since the client is no longer employed, the assigned EC updates the Employment Detail page and enters the actual termination date in the Termination Date field, selects Laid Off in the Termination Reason drop-down field, enters the date of last pay in the Date of Last Pay field, and selects Verified in the Verified down-down field. In the existing Employment Activity, the EC adds a new Status of Closed and Laid Off in the Status Reason field and adds an End Date to close the Employment activity. Lastly, the assigned EC will document the housing follow-up details and employment details in the Journal Detail page with a Journal Entry. 
The next housing follow-ups will be (6-month interval) on July 11, 2023, and (12-month interval) January 10, 2024.