Coordinated Entry is meant to ensure that people experiencing homelessness have equitable access to housing resources, and housing navigation support to help them on their path. As we work to continuously improve this system, changes are being implemented to the Coordinated Entry System (CES) in alignment with best practices and guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD).
Join Us for a Community Conversation
Service providers should have received email notification of these improvements on April 13, 2023. To provide more information and answer questions about the process, KCRHA will be hosting a community conversation for service providers on May 16 at 3:30-4:30pm. Please RSVP here.
By Name Lists
One of the key changes is a shift towards implementing community-wide By-Name Lists (BNLs) for Single Adults, Young Adults, and Families. We are in the beginning stages of this shift, and the goal is to to increase the efficiency of the Coordinated Entry and reduce the time that any housing resource sits vacant.
This adjustment is also a response to explicit direction from HUD to our community, requiring that we cease the practice of filling housing units through any processes outside of Coordinated Entry, a practice locally known as “External Fills.”
The letter reads, “…it has come to our attention that some Continuum of Care (CoC) funded projects in the Seattle-King CoC are bypassing the CE System required by 24 CFR 578.7(a)(8) through a process known as “External Fill”. Use of the CoC’s CE System is required under 24 CFR 578.23(c)(9) for all CoC funded projects, and this process does not appear to meet this requirement. We urge you to ensure that all CoC projects comply with the CE requirements as soon as possible–other than for the exceptions provided for projects serving people fleeing Domestic Violence, all referrals are coming from the CE System.”
You can read the full letter from HUD here:
Shifting to a By-Name List process gives our community an opportunity to better monitor inflow, triage resources, and partner more deeply with service providers towards our shared goals of moving everyone inside.
As we move forward and continue to learn, adjust, and improve, we will keep our partners informed and host additional conversations like this for service providers, so that we may collaborate on implementation of this approach.
Learn More
Learn more about Coordinated Entry and the processes for housing placements on our Coordinated Entry page.
