TRANSPARENCY, IMPACT AND SCOPE OF ONE-ON-ONE COUNSELING

The types of community impacts we expect from Housing Help of San Diego (HHOSD) Housing Counseling Program Services are as follows:

• One-on-one counseling clients also receive group education services after receiving Housing Counseling Services.
• Households receive information on fair housing, fair lending and/or accessibility rights after receiving Housing Counseling Services.
• Households develop a sustainable household budget through the provision of financial management and/or budget services after receiving Housing Counseling Services.
• Households improve their financial capacity (e.g. increased discretionary income, decreased debt load, increased savings, increased credit score) and gain access to resources to help them improve their housing situation (e.g. down payment assistance, rental assistance, utility assistance, etc.) after receiving Housing Counseling Services.
• Households gain access to non-housing resources (e.g. social service programs, legal services, public benefits such as Social Security or Medicaid, etc) after receiving Housing Counseling Services.
• Homeless or potentially homeless households obtain temporary or permanent housing after receiving Housing Counseling Services.
• Households receive rental counseling avoid eviction after receiving Housing Counseling Services.
• Households that receive rental counseling and improve living conditions after receiving Housing Counseling Services.
• Households that receive prepurchase/homebuying counseling and purchased housing after receiving Housing Counseling Services.
• Households that receive reverse mortgage counseling and obtain a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM after receiving Housing Counseling Services.
• Households that receive non-delinquency post-purchase counseling were able to improve home conditions or home affordability after receiving Housing Counseling Services.

FORMATS FOR DELIVERY OF SERVICES

The counseling should take place in a location convenient for the client and in a format that best meets their needs. Face-to-face, phone, and secure internet (Zoom, virtual, and video) counseling are all appropriate alternatives, and the counselor will go with the setting and format that works best for the client.

ACCOMMODATION OF DISABILITIES

All disabilities are managed as needed. Housing Help of San Diego (HHOSD) has specific accommodations for the following needs and meets additional ones as the situation requires:

• • Sight and hearing impaired
  • Accessibility needs (e.g., phone, meet at their house, go and pick them up for meeting)
  • HHOSD will accommodate for any disability in the future

CLIENT FOLLOW-UP

Client files must not remain open indefinitely. Housing Help of San Diego (HHOSD) will document in the client’s file when housing counseling services are terminated.

Approximately 30 days after the initial counseling session, the counselor will make reasonable efforts to conduct a verbal (in-person or via phone) follow-up session. After several unsuccessful attempts to conduct a verbal follow-up session, the counselor will write a letter or send an email to the client stating that such efforts have been made and inform the client that there is a need for follow-up communication.

• If no contact is made within a 90-day period, the agency will not bill or count that client as an active file against any future billing periods unless client contact is reinitiated. The follow-up activities are documented in the file, and counseling for the client is terminated.
• If contact is made, the counselor will notate the progress of the client in resolving their housing problems and whether further counseling is needed or desired. The counselor will then either schedule a follow-up appointment or terminate counseling and document the file accordingly.

Housing Help of San Diego (HHOSD) makes reasonable efforts to have follow-up communication with the client, to ensure that clients are progressing toward their housing goal, to modify or terminate housing counseling, and to learn and

report outcomes. The client follow-up is conducted by a qualified housing counselor who makes reasonable efforts to conduct a verbal (in-person or via phone) follow-up session within the first 60 days of no client contact. If unsuccessful, after two attempts to conduct a verbal follow-up session, the counselor writes a letter or sends an email to the client stating that such efforts have been made and informs the client that there is a need for follow-up communication. The letter requests that the client contact the housing counseling agency no later than 30 days from the date of the letter, to help the agency assess if additional client services are necessary to assist them in achieving their housing goals or if services should be terminated.

FEE STRUCTURE

Housing Help of San Diego (HHOSD) does not charge any fee for any service.

LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY

Housing Help of San Diego’s plan serves non-English-speaking clients or clients with limited English proficiency. We provide access to program benefits and information to LEP individuals through language assistance services at no cost to the client. The agency has members and associates that speak Spanish and Slavic. Translators will be hired to accommodate other languages, which might be needed. All documents are printed in Spanish and English, and a translation of other languages can be provided as needed.

MARKETING AND OUTREACH

Housing Help of San Diego (HHOSD) has a conventional intake system where they are the first generation looking to maximize their mission. Their social media platform includes Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Plus, YouTube and Yelp.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY (AS OUTLINED TO THE PUBLIC)

We are dedicated to serve our community, clients, donors and visitors. As we improve and expand our services, we understand that we need to protect your confidentiality and privacy. To do so, we have implemented certain measures and practices. These preserve your confidentiality, privacy and nonpublic personal information.

Check out our privacy policy below.