What is Coordinated Assessment?
Coordinated assessment, also known as coordinated entry, coordinated
access, and coordinated intake, creates more effective homeless assistance
systems by:
 Helping people access homeless assistance services faster (through
well-advertised, easy to access assessment points that can determine
which services the person may need);
 Helping people move out of homelessness faster (by reducing the
amount of time people spend moving from program to program
before finding the right match);
 Reducing the burden on the person experiencing homelessness (by
reducing the number of unnecessary questions they are asked and
taking the guesswork out of where to go to get assistance);
 Reducing new entries into homelessness (by consistently offering
prevention and diversion resources upfront, thereby reducing the
number of people entering shelters or other programs
unnecessarily); and
 Providing accurate information on what kind of assistance people
experiencing homelessness need (through improved data collection).
Systems may use a number of different models to implement coordinated
assessment. For example, different communities may use a hotline (e.g. a
2-1-1), a single physical point of assessment (e.g., through an emergency
shelter), or multiple assessment points all employing the same process.
Each access point in a coordinated assessment system handles assessment
of consumer need, data entry, and referrals/admissions to other needed
resources. For coordinated assessment to work effectively, homeless
assistance providers must work cooperatively with each other and
assessment staff and make a commitment to building a system that can
serve all of those that seek assistance with the ‘lightest touch’ intervention
necessary to solve their housing crisis.
For more information about coordinated assessment, see the Coordinated
Assessment Toolkit at
www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/coordinated-assessment-toolkit.
Charlotte Coordinated Assessment Project Timeline
PHASE 1: PROJECT KICK-OFF AND GOAL SETTING (AUGUST – OCTOBER 2013)
 Provide training on coordinated assessment
 Create a work plan
 Develop vision, goal, and objectives for coordinated assessment process
 Identify Coordinated Assessment Leadership Committee
 Identify Coordinated Assessment Oversight Committee
 Map current system
PHASE 2: PLANNING AND DESIGN (SEPTEMBER 2013 – MARCH 2014)
 Research, develop, and finalize a model for coordinated assessment
 Identify data needs
 Create an application process to identify lead agency for coordinated
assessment
 Select lead agency for coordinated assessment
 Recommend changes to improve governance structure
 Inventory available funding sources
 Meet with funders
 Create communications plan
 Draft assessment tools, get community feedback on them, and finalize tools
 Develop policies and procedures for coordinated assessment process
 Pilot new tools and procedures
PHASE 3: IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION (APRIL – JUNE 2014)
 Present new coordinated assessment process to the community
 May 1, 2014 – Estimated “switch on” date for new process
 Create evaluation process
 Develop performance scorecard