Coordinated Entry (CES)

Coordinated Entry

Coordinated Entry (CE) is an activity which the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires of all Continuums of Care (CoC). CE is a system whereby homeless and at-risk individuals and families are assessed using a standardized, objective tool that measures vulnerability by employing a number of different metrics. Persons who have been assessed are then placed on a by-name wait list for referral to various types of services and housing options and prioritized based on their level of vulnerability and length of time on the wait list. CoC funded projects may only accept referrals from CE, and in the MA-503 Cape Cod and Islands CoC region, CE referrals are made to CoC-funded Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) and Joint Transitional/Rapid-Rehousing (TH/RRH) projects. The MA-503 Coordinated Entry Policies and Procedures may be found here.

Access Points

Access Points are housing and service provider agencies where an individual or family in need of assistance can access the CE process. MA-503 follows the No Wrong Door approach, which means that people can go to any Access Point in the geographic area, and they will be assessed using the same tools and methodology, so that referrals are consistently completed across the CoC. While certain Access Points work with specific populations in the programs they offer, an individual may request a Coordinated Entry assessment at any one of the 14 Access Points in the Cape Cod and Islands CoC region.

Live links to Access Points may be found here.

Assessment Tools

In 2023, MA-503 Cape Cod and Islands CoC developed and implemented two objective CE Assessment Tools, one for adults aged 25 and older and one for young adults aged 18 to 24. These assessment tools include information categories required by HUD as well as customization to accommodate local priority preferences and may be found here: adult assessment tool and youth assessment tool.

Training videos for administering adult and youth CE assessments may be found here and here.

The training video for entering CE data into the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) may be found here. Coordinated Entry data entered into HMIS are used to generate referrals and to produce the Coordinated Entry Annual Performance Report (APR).

Coordinated Entry Accomplishments

In CY2023, the Cape Cod and Islands Coordinated Entry System served 110 unduplicated individuals, conducted 116 assessments, and made 61 referrals to housing (8 successful, 45 unsuccessful, 8 still pending as of 12/31/2023).

For more information, please contact Charise Madison, HMIS Program Manager at Barnstable County Department of Human Services – (508)-375-6625  or charise.madison@capecod.gov.