History

The lack of a common coordinated entry system with a standardized assessment created inefficiency and frustration for households experiencing and at-risk of homelessness and for providers of homeless services.

Prior to CARES, families navigated an obstacle course of different phone numbers, agency vacancy protocols, and intake criteria in order to get assistance. Locating resources could be random for the family and did not always lead to the best fit for their needs. It was a stressful process for vulnerable families and especially for families with higher needs (who probably do not fare as well). In the previous system, a homeless family or individual could find shelter in a few days, or it could take weeks or months, depending on who they called, how often they called, and so on.

In addition, system-wide, very little was known about families and individuals that were being turned away or who did not seek services. It was not possible to target resources to program areas based on unduplicated need or demand for services.

More than five years of research and development at multiple sites has culminated in the creation of CARES.

CARES works to:

• Help simplify and speed the process for people to accurately locate and access needed services;

• Help improve the equality and accessibility of services;

• Help to ensure that people get the right services;

• Save people precious time in looking for and traveling to various service sites or filling out multiple service applications;

• Allow staff to focus more on serving clients and less on gathering information and filling out forms;

• Support interagency collaboration and coordination around a single process; AND

• Improve cost efficiency by replacing duplicative intake and assessment functions with a single approach and data sharing.

Guiding Principles

1. Reorient service provision, creating a more client-focused environment.

2. Identify which strategies are best for each household based on knowledge of and access to a full array of available services.

3. Link households to the most appropriate intervention that will assist the household to resolve their housing crisis.

4. Provide timely access and appropriate referrals to housing programs and support services.

5. Shorten the number of days between onset or threat of homelessness and access to prevention or re-housing services.

6. Provide immediate access to information regarding housing and support services.

7. Create an advanced system designed to provide the best client outcomes.

8. Collaborate when possible with adjoining Continua of Care and tribal entities.

9. Provide for ongoing participation by consumers and stakeholders in the development and evaluation process of coordinated assessment.

10. Tribal Sovereignty is acknowledged and honored.

Guiding Principles

• A clearly identified process for families and individuals to know where and how to access services.

• A standardized and centralized access points to request services. Without additional resources within the system, families may not access services more quickly; however they will not need to continuously navigate the obstacle course of making numerous calls without knowing if or where they will find assistance.

• Standardized assessment - the ability to match families into appropriate housing and services tailored to their needs. Through one process, families will have access to a variety of programs that would be suitable for them based on their housing and service needs.

• Coordinated referrals at a system-wide level that matches families with the most appropriate services and providers based on the standardized assessment of the family and the program eligibility.

• Unduplicated data on the number of homeless families and the needs/barriers of these families that can influence system modifications and enhancements. For example, information on how many families are seeking services, what are their service level needs, what is the wait time for families receiving services (system gaps), etc.

• The result is a system for preventing and ending family homelessness that is less fragmented and is more efficient and effective for families.

Governance