Continuum of Care
SPOTLIGHT:
SUBMISSION TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD)
FY2024 MA-503 CoC Priority Listing
FY2024 MA-503 CoC Collaborative Application
Continuum of Care
The Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to assist individuals (including unaccompanied youth) and families experiencing homelessness and provide the services needed to help them move into transitional and permanent housing with the goal of long-term stability. The CoC Program is designed to promote community-wide planning and strategic use of resources to address homelessness; to improve coordination and integration with mainstream resources and other programs targeted to people experiencing homelessness; to improve data collection and performance measurement; and to allow each community to tailor its programs to the particular strengths and challenges in assisting homeless individuals and families within that community.
Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is community-based housing with no designated length of stay in which formerly homeless individuals and families live as independently as possible.
Housing First is an approach in which housing is offered to people experiencing homelessness without preconditions (such as sobriety, mental health treatment, or a minimum income threshold) or service participation requirements. HUD encourages all recipients of CoC Program-funded PSH to follow a Housing First approach.
Program Components
The Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is an information management system used to collect data on client needs and the provision of housing and services. Barnstable County is responsible for maintaining the Cape and Islands CoC’s HMIS and serves as the CoC’s HMIS Lead Entity. For more information, click here.
The Coordinated Entry System (CES) is a system developed at the local level to ensure that all people experiencing a housing crisis are quickly identified, assessed, and connected to housing and assistance based on their needs. Through CES, homeless and at-risk individuals and families are assessed using a standardized, objective tool that measures vulnerability by employing a number of different metrics. Barnstable County serves as Lead Entity for the CoC’s Coordinated Entry System. For more information, click here.
The Point in Time (PIT) Count is an annual count of the number of people experiencing homelessness in emergency shelters, in transitional housing, or in places not meant for human habitation. The PIT is required by the CoC Grant Program and is conducted across the nation during a single 24-hour period in the month of January. The Cape Cod and Islands CoC PIT Count is conducted by The Cape & Islands Regional Network on Homelessness. For results of the annual Point in time Counts from this year and previous years, click here.
The Housing Inventory Count (HIC) is an annual inventory of housing programs within a CoC that identifies beds and units dedicated to people who are experiencing homelessness or were homeless at the time of program entry. The HIC is conducted in conjunction with the Point in Time Count, and utilization rates are calculated based upon each program’s census on the night of the PIT Count. There are five categories of housing on the HIC: Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, Rapid Re-housing, and Safe Haven. The inventory includes all US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-funded residential programs, as well as non-HUD funded programs, even if those programs do not actively participate in the CoC planning process. The HIC offers vital information regarding the region’s capacity to house our target homeless population and is a critical part of the annual competitive Continuum of Care application process. Results from the 2023 HIC may be found here.
The Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through its Continuum of Care programs. YHDP is designed to reduce the number of Youth and Young Adults (YYA) experiencing homelessness.
The goal of the YHDP is to support selected communities in the development and implementation of a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness. Securing funding for this Demonstration Program was highly competitive. Cape Cod and the Islands was one of 17 communities across the country selected in 2022 and was awarded $1,357,000.
As a recipient of YHDP funding, the Cape and Islands developed a Coordinated Community Plan (CCP) which serves as our blueprint for preventing and ending youth homelessness. The CCP is the result of a comprehensive planning process that brought together diverse stakeholders from the Cape and Islands region.
Funds awarded through YHDP will support four projects prioritized by YYA with lived experience of housing instability:
Homeless Prevention Council will provide flexible, mobile supportive services for YYA across geography of CoC focused on addressing immediate needs, connection and referral to resources, and general support until YYA have a longer-term intervention in place and a pathway to obtain and maintain permanent housing.
- Proposed Budget: $600,000 for 2-year demonstration period
- Contract timeframe: 2 years
- Approximate Number of YYA served annually: 60 (1:30 case management ratio)
Homeless Prevention Council will operate a host home project that aims to match young people in need of safe, temporary housing with adult community members who are willing to open their homes for a medium-term stay while case management supports the young person to search for a longer-term housing solution.
- Proposed Budget: $450,000 for 2-year demonstration period
- Contract timeframe: 2 years
- Approximate Number of YYA served annually: between 5 and 15 (5 actively in host homes, remainder being supported with housing stability case management after transitioning out of homelessness and exiting the host home into longer-term housing solution)
- Case management ratio: Up to 1:15
The County will utilize a coordinated entry grant in order to build out and improve coordinated entry for youth and young adults in Cape Cod and the Islands.
- Proposed Budget: $250,000
- Contract timeframe: 2 years
- Approximate Number of YYA served annually: 30 YYA
The County will utilize a planning grant in order to ensure that YAB members are paid for their time and expertise while supporting CoC-wide youth work and the implementation of projects and the Cape & Islands CCP.
- Proposed Budget: $57,556
- Contract timeframe: 2 Years
- Approximate Number of YYA served annually: n/a
Funding
In February of 2024, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge announced that approximately $3.16 billion has been awarded to fund Continuum of Care new and renewal projects across the United States in the FY2023 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Competition. These awards provide financial backing to communities to help individuals and families experiencing homelessness move into permanent housing with access to supportive services, with the overarching goal of long-term stability.
In the FY2023 NOFO, the 12 CoCs in Massachusetts received a total of $124,913,344. The Cape Cod and Islands CoC, which is governed by the Cape & Islands Regional Network on Homelessness Policy Board, received $2,445,777. These funds will support nine projects which provide Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) for 119 chronically homeless individuals on the Cape and Islands, as well as covering administrative and operational costs. As the Regional Network’s convening entity and the Cape Cod and Islands CoC collaborative applicant, Barnstable County Department of Human Services provides monitoring, infrastructure, and administrative support.
Grantees
Publications and Data
Barnstable County Department of Human Services provides critical documents, resources, and related links on homelessness and housing instability.
Calendar
Visit Department of Human Services’ Calendar for meetings and their related documents.
Contact
For more information on the Continuum of Care Grant Program, contact Dan Gray, Continuum of Care Program Manager at Barnstable County Department of Human Services at 774-224-0051 or daniel.gray@capecod.gov
For more information on the Coordinated Entry System (CES) or the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), contact Charise Madison, HMIS Program Manager at Barnstable County Department of Human Services at 508-375-6625 or charise.madison@capecod.gov
