Alaska Balance of State Coordinated Entry
About
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Coordinated Entry is a collaborative community-led approach that aims to efficiently and equitably connect people to interventions that will rapidly end or prevent homelessness.
Coordinated Entry is required by HUD as the system that CoC and other federal homeless programs must utilize to make and receive referrals. A healthy CE System includes all local partners, because it has proven to be a secure, efficient, and holistic method for connecting people to resources.
There are 4 Main Pillars of an effective Coordinated Entry System:
Access. Access Points are the point of entry into the Coordinated Entry System and must be equitably accessible.
Assessment. People are assessed at Access Points to gather information about housing and service needs, housing preferences, and barriers to services.
Priority. Assessments are compiled into Prioritization List reports. The data is used at CE case conferencing meetings to prioritize participants from most-to-least vulnerable. Additional community-determined factors should be considered for dynamic prioritization.
Referral. Data is used to make referrals to housing and service providers. If a participant declines a referral or is ineligible, they must be referred back to CE for another resource referral.
What Coordinated Entry is NOT…
A CE Assessment is not a guarantee into housing.
A CE Assessment by itself is not a housing or resource referral.
CE is not a “housing wait-list”.
CE is not a first-come-first-served system.
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Seeks to equitably prioritize and distribute resources to anyone who needs them.
Serves Individuals (age 25+), Transition Aged Youth (age 18-24), and Households (families with more than one household member).
Values client choice and person-centered engagement.
Includes regularly scheduled case conferencing meetings that include in-person and/or virtual attendance options.
Includes all partner agencies within a community who have signed proper data sharing agreements, with a strong focus on case manager and direct service staff attendance.
Values high quality data to inform prioritization and referrals to resources.
Uses diversion and prevention methods to help people avoid homelessness altogether.
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Each community within the Alaska Balance of State CoC region must designate a List Manager(s) or local agency to operate the local implementation of CE. As of January 2024, CE is operational in the following communities: Bethel, Fairbanks, Juneau, Mat-Su Valley, and Nome.
Please Note: Communities within the Municipality of Anchorage Continuum of Care operate within the Anchorage CE System, which is separate from Alaska Balance of State. Reach out to Mac Lyons for information: mlyons@aceh.org
Data Collection
Coordinated Entry assessments can only be completed with participants at a designated CE Access Point within the Alaska Balance of State. If you are unsure about your community’s designated CE Access Points you must reach out to AKCH2.
The Consumer Notice must be easily accessible to participants, and intake staff are required to explain it to participants prior to any CE data collection. Staff are encouraged to use the Consumer Notice Job Aid to assist with explaining the document to program participants.
Policies & Procedures
Coordinated Entry Committee
The role of the Coordinated Entry Committee is to:
oversee policies and procedures for the Alaska BoS region’s Coordinated Entry System,
represent communities within the Alaska BoS region,
serve as the mechanism for local community coalitions to provide feedback and suggestions for how the AK BoS’s Coordinated Entry System functions, and
convene regularly to support ongoing maintenance of the AK BoS Coordinated Entry System.
Meetings are facilitated by Holly Blood, Coordinated Entry Manager, and take place monthly via Zoom.
Contact
For questions about Alaska Balance of State CES, interest in participating with or setting CES up in your community, email Holly Blood, Alaska Balance of State Coordinated Entry Manager at holly@alaskahousing-homeless.org