Coordinated Entry and Intake/Assessment Tools

This document highlights the following fundamental considerations when serving survivors through coordinated entry (CE):

• Ensure safe and confidential access
• Evaluate your CE system
• Broaden assessment tools and processes
• Reference practical considerations

Visit the Disease Risks and Homelessness page on the HUD Exchange for a full list of resources related to COVID-19 infectious disease prevention and response for homeless providers.

This paper summarizes findings from a community-based participatory research study conducted in collaboration with survivors from marginalized communities. The cycle of housing insecurity model presented in this paper draws attention to survivors’ barriers in getting and keeping housing. Many of these barriers remain unacknowledged and under-addressed by traditional housing and domestic violence/sexual violence/ human trafficking (DV/SV/HT) services. Recommendations are offered to counter these experiences through improved program services, policy implementation, and public awareness. 

This document provides guidance on coordinated entry (CE) model best practices. The guidance was developed based on feedback from practitioners in the victim services field who are currently participating in HUD Continuums of Care (CoCs) and are in compliance with the confidentiality-related legal requirements of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA). These insights aim to adhere to federal confidentiality requirements that were created to ensure safety by protecting the identities of victims of domestic violence, while simultaneously ensuring that those victims have access to the type of housing they need in their community of choice.

This Coordinated Entry Guidebook focuses on the four core elements of Access, Assessment, Prioritization, and Referral. It covers basic requirements and advanced considerations for each core element. This Guidebook is intended to be a comprehensive tool for CoCs that are designing and implementing coordinated entry. The Guidebook also is intended for CoCs that have already made significant progress in planning coordinated entry, as well as those that have already implemented it. CoCs should use the Guidebook as a reference to ensure their coordinated entry process complies with all of HUD’s requirements.

This FAQ tool has been developed in response to questions the Consortium has received from DV/SA advocates who are interested in learning more about the Homeless Continuum of Care coordinated entry (CE) requirements and process to promote CE access and safe housing options for survivors. The FAQ draws from regulations and other guidance from HUD and USICH and offers strategies and resources for DV/SA providers who want to contribute to the creation and implementation of the CE process in their communities.

The toolkit was constructed to provide a framework that counties in the state of Washington can use to construct coordinated entry systems that reflect best practices and respond to the unique needs of their communities. The Building Changes toolkit offers guidance on Planning, Implementing, Data Collection, and Evaluation.

On this webinar, representatives from Multnomah County, Oregon describe their process for developing and implementing a coordinated entry system that is responsive to the needs of domestic violence survivors. The password to access the webinar is "housing."

This webinar highlights two communities (Taos, NM and Scranton, PA) working to meet the housing needs of survivors in their rural areas. Presenters from NM will share information about their parallel domestic violence coordinated entry system, developed in the context of extremely high rates of poverty, child homelessness, and racial disparities. Presenters from PA will discuss the state of housing across PA, their parallel DV coordinated entry system, and programmatic modifications to better connect with survivors in a large geographic and sparsely populated area.

On this webinar, representatives from the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness describe their process for collaboratively developing and implementing a coordinated entry system that is responsive to the needs of domestic violence survivors. The password to access the webinar is "housing."

This webinar focuses on the importance of safety/safety planning considerations in Coordinated Entry Systems for domestic and sexual violence survivors. Designed specifically for CoCs, these webinar slides provide practical approaches for addressing safety issues facing survivors.

This policy brief summarizes selected literature on homeless families with children who are less than five years old, and incorporates findings from a project prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) on the challenges facing families with young children who are temporarily staying with others or in motels/hotels. The aim of this policy brief is to examine the following questions from the project: (1) What are families’ current living arrangements, and do they have alternative plans for shelter if they cannot stay at their current temporary location and are unable to receive the services of a shelter? (2) What conditions are homeless families and children exposed to when they cannot or do not access the services of a shelter? (3) To what extent are families knowledgeable about the federally sponsored early childhood support services available to them?

Coordinated entry is a process developed to ensure all people experiencing a housing crisis have fair and equal access to the community’s housing and homeless assistance resources. Coordinated entry processes also help communities prioritize assistance based on vulnerability and severity of service needs. Victim service providers play an integral part in their community’s housing and homeless response system. This document answers several frequently asked questions around the integration of victim service providers in their community’s coordinated entry process.

This presentation debunks some myths about the DV provider system, encourages collaboration between the homeless/housing system and DV systems, and suggests a path forward on the issue of data-sharing.

Summarizes a number of useful pieces in the HUD policy document that may be useful as DV coalitions and programs advocate for survivors in their local Continuums of Care.

In March of 2015, the Department of  Housing and Urban Development (HUD)  released a policy brief on the coordinated entry process. This newsletter highlights key aspects of  HUD’s policy brief that may be helpful  for advocates working with survivors on accessing housing.  

This paper briefly describes how early engagement can be used to move families from the street to housing, thus freeing shelter resources for those who have no other option.

As shelter and housing assistance providers help vulnerable children, youth and families exit homelessness and partner with these families as they work to obtain permanent housing, it's important to talk to families about their child’s development. If developmental concerns are caught early, providers can help ensure that children are linked to the appropriate services and receive the extra support they may need. Partnering with families and specialists to learn the signs and act early will assure that children have the best possible start to a bright future. This Developmental and Behavioral Screening Guide has been specifically designed for shelter and housing assistance providers. In this guide, you will find information on how to engage clients with children under age 5 in conversations regarding the developmental and behavioral health of their children, and how to facilitate referrals for further screening and evaluation when required.

Excerpted from NNEDV's Transitional Housing Toolkit, this paper outlines best practices for designing and implementing intake forms and practices when serving survivors in your housing program.

Presentation focusing on the Front Door Assessment, a 10 year plan that first assessed and subsequently addressed challenges faced by homeless people with navigating and engaging with existing systems. Participation was a requirement for local and CoC-funded programs.

This document is a checklist for Continuums of Care to use to make certain that they are considering and incorporating the needs of households fleeing domestic violence and other similar forms of assault and harassment into their coordinated assessment processes. Systems should also ensure they are including domestic violence providers in the discussion of how the assessment system is structured from the beginning.