To better integrate services for people experiencing homelessness, health care and homeless services organizations must work together. In California, county stakeholders are pursuing cross-sector partnerships to improve coordination of services and better meet the health and social needs of people who are unhoused. These cross-sector partnerships are facilitated in large part by CalAIM, California’s Medicaid transformation initiative.
This webinar explored how Illumination Foundation (a homeless services organization), CalOptima (a local managed care plan), and the Orange County Health Care Agency are partnering to smoothly transition people experiencing homelessness from medical respite care into permanent housing. The session highlighted their partnership approach, challenges encountered and how they navigated them, and program impact to date. A speaker from the National Institute for Medical Respite Care offered reflections based on their experience supporting medical respite programs nationally.
This webinar is the first in a two-part series, Cross-Sector Partnerships to Support People Experiencing Homelessness, made possible by the California Health Care Foundation that is highlighting innovative partnerships in California to improve services for unhoused populations.
Agenda
I. Welcome and Introductions
Speaker: Meryl Schulman, MPH, Senior Program Officer, Center for Health Care Strategies
M. Schulman welcomed participants and provided an overview of the Partnerships for Action: California Health Care & Homelessness Learning Collaborative, which is supporting cross-sector teams of health care and homeless services organizations to improve care delivery and health and housing outcomes for Californians experiencing homelessness.
II. Collaborating Across Sectors to Transition People from Recuperative Care into Permanent Housing
Speakers: Jordan Hoiberg, Interim Director of Housing Services, Illumination Foundation; Danielle Cameron, MPH, Director of Program Development, CalAIM, CalOptima; and Brian Greene, PhD, Administrative Manager I, Orange County Health Care Agency
J. Hoiberg, D. Cameron, and B. Greene discussed how their organizations are partnering to ensure smooth transitions from medical respite care into permanent housing for CalOptima beneficiaries who are experiencing homelessness.
III. Perspectives on Collaboration
Speaker: Julia Dobbins, MSW, Director of Programs & Services, National Institute for Medical Respite Care of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council
J. Dobbins offered reflections based on her work nationally to support medical respite programs and community partners in collaborating to improve care transitions and health and housing outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.
IV. Moderated Q&A
Moderator: M. Schulman
