SPDAT
Community Training
Analysis of Screening Tools
• Decrease in funding
• Increased Volume for Services
• Cut in Staffing
• Inconsistent assessment by agencies to determine
service eligibility
• Required by federal regulation -HEARTH Act
requires a coordinated assessment process to
effectively assess and meet the needs of individuals
& families.
What is the SPDAT?
SPDAT Acronym for - Service Prioritization Decision
Assistance Tool
•Evidence based assessment that links people with the
housing and supports that best meet their needs.
•Provides an objective manner to triage and prioritize
resources for those most vulnerable
•Eliminates the “first come first serve” process.
•Improves the intake process so existing resources are best
aligned to meet the most appropriate housing need.
•Standardizes intake s0 no matter where a client enters the
system, there is a common process and access to resources.
3
April 9, 2015
SPDAT HISTORY
 More than a decade in the making, the first version was
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released in 2010.
Content and language was developed by service users,
front-line staff, team leaders, professionals, academics, and
published literature.
Considerable testing has gone into each version.
Tested against other tools.
Feedback received by service users, frontline staff, team
leaders, and communities; shadowing to see tool in
practice
Version 2 released in 2011 and Version 3 in 2013.
F-SPDAT Version 1 released in 2012
Purpose of the SPDAT Tool
SPDAT uses the best available evidence to examine the
components of a person or family’s life that are most
likely to result in housing instability. SPDAT helps:
 Understand the depth of these issues
 Identifies which household is most likely to benefit
from which type of housing
 Identifies which household should be prioritized upon
their acuity
 Identifies what the case manager should spend time
working on that are most likely going to affect
maintaining housing stability.
What will the SPDAT do?
Help prioritize who gets served next and why.
Helps agencies allocate their time.
Measure changes in acuity over time.
Helps provide a structured framework for case
management delivery.
SPDAT
Not
homogeneous
Funnel of
homeless
services
Acuity determined
through assessment
PSH/
Housing First Rapid Re-Housing
General Housing Help
Organizing in Domains
Wellness
Risks
Socialization
& Daily
Functions
History of
Housing
Wellness
Mental
Health &
Wellness and
Cognitive
Functioning
Physical
Health &
Wellness
Medication
Substance
Use
Experience
of Abuse/
Trauma
Risks
Involvement
in High
Risk/
Exploitive
Situations
Harm to Self
or Others
Legal
Issues
Interactions
with
Emergency
Services
Managing
Tenancy
Socialization & Daily Functions
Social
Relations
and
Networks
Meaningful
Daily
Activities
Personal
Administration
& Money
Management
Self-Care &
Daily Living
Skills
History of Housing
History of
Housing &
Homelessness
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Iain De Jong
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