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Continuum of Care Coordinated Entry

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) homeless assistance program serves
as a source of funding for homeless services in Erie, Niagara, Genesee,
Orleans, and Wyoming Counties.

What is Coordinated Entry?

Coordinated Entry (CE) simplifies how communities assess and prioritize people experiencing homelessness. It provides a client-centered, equitable, and collaborative approach to help individuals access housing resources more efficiently while promoting fairness and inclusivity.

It is a dynamic, evolving process that helps the most vulnerable in our community find a home. By working together, we can reduce and ultimately end homelessness.

A key element of our Coordinated Entry system is the No Wrong Door approach, which ensures that individuals and families can access services regardless of where or how they seek help. Whether clients engage with shelters, outreach teams, or designated hubs, they will receive a standardized assessment, and their needs will be prioritized consistently. This approach helps ensure that no matter where someone enters the system, they will have the same opportunities for assistance.

HUD’s primary goals for Coordinated Entry are to ensure that assistance is allocated as effectively as possible and that services are easily accessible, regardless of how or where individuals seek help. In the CE process, clients receive a standardized assessment based on their household type at an access point. They are prioritized based on the length of time homeless and their vulnerability.

The Coordinated Entry leads in our Continuum of Care (CoC) by county are as follows:

Erie County: Homeless Alliance of WNY
Niagara County: Heart, Love and Soul
Genesee, Wyoming, and Orleans Counties: Independent Living of the Genesee Region

Please see below for the Coordinated Entry Policy and Procedures, training materials, resources for Coordinated Entry transfers, and the assessment tools used by providers in the CoC.

Coordinated Entry Resources

The Coordinated Entry Policy and Procedure document is a comprehensive review of local guidelines for the coordinated entry system.

The document provides a review of access points for both emergency shelters and coordinated entry. The document also reviews standards for assessment, triage, prioritization and the referral process within the coordinated entry system.

The appendix section provides helpful acronyms, pertinent forms and homelessness definitions and requirements.

Coordinated Entry Policies and Procedures

The Homeless Alliance of WNY has developed a comprehensive Coordinated Entry Training that has been offered to all community members across the CoC both in person and virtually. This training covers topics such as understanding homeless services, client eligibility for projects, the Coordinated Entry process, and Coordinated Entry prioritization, referral, & engagement. Please find the slides for this presentation below.

Coordinated Entry Training Presentation

The Coordinated Entry (CE) System aims to prevent and reduce instances of people returning to homelessness. To support this goal, the system allows for flexibility by enabling agencies to request transfers between program types when they determine that a program can no longer meet a household’s specific needs.

All transfer requests are submitted by the agency and reviewed by the CE Transfer Committee during a monthly meeting to ensure the transfer is appropriate and best serves the client’s needs. An updated Transfer Plan Policy and Procedure is linked below, along with the Request Form, which must be submitted via email to [email protected].

Transfer Plan Policy and Procedure
Transfer Policy Approved Addendum
Transfer Request Form

All CoC and ESG-funded partners utilize the Vulnerability Index-Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT), developed by OrgCode Consulting, to prioritize clients based on their vulnerability. This tool ensures chronically homeless individuals, those with an extended history of homelessness, domestic violence survivors, veterans, and families who score highest in vulnerability are given priority for available resources.

Most clients are assessed by shelter staff within seven days of entering the shelter. Clients may also visit designated locations (hubs) to complete the assessment. Additionally, Street Outreach teams conduct assessments directly in the field—at bus stations, public libraries, parks, and other locations—during nontraditional hours to ensure clients are assessed where they are.

All data, including vulnerability scores and assessments, is entered into the HMIS system. The Coordinated Entry lead uses HMIS-generated reports to prioritize clients and make appropriate referrals.

 

Households with children: VI-FSPDAT v.3.0

Households without children: VI-SPDAT v.3.0

Households with only children (Transition Age Youth 18-24): TAY-VI-SPDAT v.1.0

Homeless Time Verification Template: Homelessness 3rd Party Verification Template