1. Coordinated Entry

2.  Helping people move through the system faster  Sends households to intervention best fit from the start  Reduce new entries into homelessness by looking for prevention and diversion opportunities  Improves data collection and quality  Provides accurate information about what services consumers need Purpose of Coordinated Entry

3. Models

4.  A single location for walk-in clients  Works well in small or easily navigated cities  Staff do intake and assessment  Connect clients to housing or shelter resources, make referrals to other resources, and/or other resources as determined by the community  One center may not be equally accessible to everyone/Fewer sites are necessary and no time is needed to coordinate multiple providers Geographically Centralized

5.  Single phone number and hotline staff  Could be used in any community, especially helpful in large or spread out communities  Staff do intake and basic assessment  Make referrals to other resources, and/or other resources as determined by the community  Need for additional or in-person assistance can slow down process/ Easier to handle a larger number of clients Centralized Telephone

6.  Multiple coordinated locations throughout the city  Works well for physically spread out or large community  Staff do intake and assessment  Connect clients to housing or shelter resources, make referrals to other resources, and/or other resources as determined by the community  Less control over consistency and potentially more costly/More locations are available to clients Decentralized

7.  Centralized data entry and/or single procedure  Trained intake staff  Open HMIS  Data sharing agreement between all providers  Real-time information on bed availability (preferably through HMIS) Tools Needed by All Three

8. Assessment

9.  Gather just enough information to identify the best intervention and program for the household  Include:  Where the household slept last night  Reasons for coming for assessment  Last time/place household had permanent housing  Household income  Additional factors identified by looking at other communities’ forms, HMIS, funder’s data requirements Assessment

10.  Prevention/diversion should be considered first  Services may include financial assistance, case management, conflict resolution  Shelter entry occurs only when prev/div are not an option Referrals

11.  Goal is to rehouse households or enroll in a more appropriate program as quickly as possible  Shelters should create a permanent housing plan and connect households to community resources  Assessment for Rapid Rehousing should happen the first week in shelter Referrals

12.  A small percentage of the population are not well served by the prior services  More intensive housing and service interventions include:  Substance abuse treatment  Transitional housing  Permanent supportive housing Intensive Interventions

13. Making the Transition

14.  Individual providers must release some or all control over the intake process, for the following benefits:  Individual agency’s staff no longer bear the burden of assessment  Providers know that households coming to their programs have already been determined to be eligible  Coordinated Entry can be a component of incorporating the systems focused approach encouraged by HEARTH System Considerations

15.  Staff should be prepared for the changes in intake procedure  ‘Side doors’ should be eliminated Program Considerations

16.  Ongoing evaluation looks at:  Increase in Prevention and Diversion  Length of stay  New entries into homelessness  Repeat episodes of homelessness  Program capacities – which programs have waiting lists and which have openings  Consumer survey responses  Feedback from staff  Other indicators chosen by the community  A feedback loop should be established to review this information regularly and make system changes in response Evaluation