CE Background and Process

Coordinated Entry: Background

Coordinated Entry (CE) is the Seattle/King County Continuum of Care’s approach to coordinated entry. Coordinated entry is a HUD mandated process for ensuring that the highest need, most vulnerable households experiencing homelessness are prioritized and placed in housing and that supportive services are used as efficiently and effectively as possible. Locally, CE is also committed to ensuring that disparities and inequities in the experience of homelessness are eliminated. CE does not fund, create, or provide housing units to homeless households. Instead it works with providers throughout the community by facilitating referrals and connections to housing services, convening workgroups to improve Seattle/King County’s Coordinated Entry process as a foundation to the homeless response system, and providing trainings and guidance.

The CE Process

Per HUD guidelines, a coordinated entry system consists of four core elements:

Access - refers to how those who are experiencing a housing crisis learn that coordinated entry exists and access crisis response services.
Assessment - Includes requesting HUD required information, including disability, homelessness history, and income or non-cash benefits.
Prioritization - takes that information and determines who will be prioritized.
Referral - is the process of offering appropriate housing and supportive services to those people who have been prioritized for housing

CE makes use of a ‘no-wrong-door’ coordinated entry model, in which assessors are spread throughout the community. Diversion services, as well as assessments, are offered by community-based providers and staff at official Regional Access Points (RAPs). These entry points are resource centers where households experiencing homelessness can get help finding housing and other resources.

In 2021, Seattle/King County used a housing triage assessment tool that is based on the Vulnerability Index - Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT). After October 2020, the VI-SPDAT score is no longer used as a prioritization factor. For more information about the VI-SPDAT and the history of the prioritization process in Seattle/King County, please see Appendix.

When a household completes an assessment, they become eligible to be prioritized. If the household is prioritized, they are eligible for a referral to housing programs via CE. A group of the highest priority households, known as the 'Priority Pool', are identified based on the current prioritization method. Beginning in the fall of 2020, this was the COVID Prioritization method, which identifies COVID-19 risk factors as identified in HMIS, Washington State Medicaid claims, and Healthcare for the Homeless Network Seattle King County Public Health data. These households are added to the Priority Pool the size of which is based on the number of housing resources and the capacity to navigate households to these resources.

There are three different Priority Pools, based on household type:

Single Adults
Young Adults
Families with Children

Prioritized households are connected to housing navigators or are represented by case management staff with whom they have an existing relationship, who advocate for their housing needs and preferences at weekly case conferencing sessions. In these case conferencing sessions, available housing resources – for example a unit in a permanent supportive housing project or a spot in a rapid rehousing program – are communicated to the gathered group of providers, who then attempt to match the prioritized households to the resources based on three fundamental components - program eligibility, client choice, and appropriate service match. Once a household has been nominated for a resource in case conferencing, CE referral specialists communicate the referral to the housing provider, who then works with the household to enroll them in their program.

Should a housing provider be unable to connect with the household, or the household be denied or decline a resource, the household will remain in the Priority Pool to be matched with an appropriate housing resource. There is no time limit a household can remain prioritized nor a limit on their refusal of housing options that do not meet their needs. If the housing resource is not successfully matched to a household after two instances of case conferencing, the housing resource then becomes available to the provider to fill through a process called 'external fill'. Through the external fills process, the housing provider decides who to select for the resource and coordinates their enrollment, move-in, and placement in housing outside of the CE case conferencing process and prioritization.

Continuation of COVID Prioritization

Per COVID-19 guidance issued by HUD and Washington State Department of Commerce , CE policies have the potential to protect those most vulnerable to the virus’ severe effects by speeding up connections and providing flexibility to lower barriers to permanent housing for people at high risk of COVID-19 complications. In 2020, CE staff worked collaboratively with experts from Public Health - Seattle & King County to identify the characteristics of individuals and households most disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. With these factors, CE identifies and prioritizes housing people experiencing homelessness who are at high risk for developing serious and life-threatening health complications from COVID-19. These factors include:

Age
Race and ethnicity
Certain health conditions
Pregnancy status

Data for these factors are collected from HMIS, Washington State Medicaid Claims Data, and Public Health - Seattle & King County’s Healthcare for the Homeless Network. A more detailed breakdown of these risk factors can be found in the Appendix. This method of ‘COVID Prioritization’ was approved by the CE Policy Advisory Committee on September 24, 2020 and implemented by staff on October 9, 2020. COVID Prioritization continues to be the methodology CE applies for prioritizing households in 2021. Further discussion of the development and impacts of COVID Prioritization can be found the 'Supopulation Trends' and 'Efficiency of the CE Process' sections of this web-based report.

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