The implementation of Coordinated Entry Systems (CES) has become a common feature across the country, particularly after the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) required the use of such systems for its largest grant program in 2013. These systems are intended to standardize processes across providers in a given jurisdiction so that unhoused clients can easily access a homeless services system, work with a provider to understand their needs, and get connected to housing and service resources according to their strengths and needs. While this systematic approach has aided many localities in their ability to quickly identify relevant resources for clients entering their system, it has often done little to disrupt patterns of inequitable distribution of resources across racial groups (Wilkey et al., 2019), with particular concerns around assessment tools, like VI-SPDAT, inequitably assessing client vulnerability (Cronley, 2020).

As these concerns, backed by emerging research, continue to mount some jurisdictions are looking to restructure and improve their Coordinate Entry processes with special attention to racially equitable outcomes. This symposium aims to share learnings from those research and system improvement efforts by discussing pressing issues and important questions facing CES. Which issues in Coordinate Entry processes are most problematic in equitably addressing homelessness? What processes have different jurisdictions used to create and execute community plans to improve their CES? What changes have successfully been made to CES in different locations? What process improvements are being discussed/considered for future changes? Are there any CES-related research gaps that could be filled to inform further improvements?

Panelists:

Cynthia Nagendra – Deputy Director of Planning, Performance, and Strategy, San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

Lahela Mattox – Chief Operations Officer, Regional Task Force on the Homeless

Eric Rice – Professor and Co-Director of the USC Center for AI in Society, USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work

Marina Genchev – Director of Systems & Planning, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority

Zia Martinis – Community Liaison, Talent Poole