Coordinated Entry Prioritization Plan

Prioritization is necessary because there are not enough housing resources available to serve everyone experiencing homelessness or everyone who completes a Coordinated Entry (CE) assessment.

1. HUD requires a prioritization plan based on vulnerability & level of service need, with the specific criteria that’s publicly available.
   • The goal is to house those who are highly vulnerable and have a high service need.
   • CES currently assesses 10x more households than are housed.
2. On Oct. 22, 2024, the Coordinated Entry Leadership Team approved a new Coordinated Entry Policy and a new Coordinated Entry Prioritization Plan.
   • Prioritization Plan = How the CE List is ordered. This is how the CES determines who gets matched to housing.
   • CE Policy = Everything else about how the CES operates

New CE Prioritization Plan

Development

• Created by Prioritization Workgroup, including people with lived experience, service providers, and city representatives
• Met for over 2 years; reviewed HUD requirements & HMIS data
• Gathered extensive community feedback, including from people with lived experience
• No consensus about prioritization, but there were some recurring themes
• Concern that current process (COVID Prioritization) does not provide people with information on when or if they will be prioritized for housing

Goals

1. Transparency – improve ability of HRS to tell a person whether they are likely to be prioritized or not at time of assessment
   • Assessment must be scored, scoring should be simple
   • Over time, use of score should allow us to predict who will be prioritized, and who will not
2. Local Needs – based on specific needs and feedback of people experiencing homelessness & system partners in Chicago
3. Nuanced – considers various definitions of vulnerability
4. Comprehensive – can be used for all populations

Scoring

• The Scoring may change per the Coordinated Entry Leadership Team (CELT), although the prioritization factors should not.
  • HRS will be notified if there are any changes made to the scoring
• Participants who complete a Coordinated Entry assessment will receive a prioritization score, based on their responses to assessment questions. Participants with the highest scores will be prioritized for housing and service referrals.

New CE Policy

• The CE Policy outlines how CES operates
• Vision: Increased transparency & flexibility
• Targets limited system resources on people most likely to receive a housing referral
• Includes updated expectations for housing providers, crisis response providers, and Housing Resource Specialists

Priority List

• Short-list of households at or near top of CE List (based on Prioritization Plan)
• Equals approx. the # of housing vacancies expected in next 2-4 months
• Representative of people eligible for all program models (e.g. Youth Transitional Housing)
• Inclusive of households waiting for a transfer
• Goal is that people stay on Priority List until housed
• CE team will notify service providers, including HRS, of participants' placement on the Priority List

Priority List Engagement Tasks for HRS