Retooling Crisis Response Systems
In some communities, HUD's Continuum of Care funding is used as a linear model where people experiencing homelessness are expected to progress through levels of care and demonstrate "readiness" for permanent housing. However, over the last decade, many communities have begun to adopt an approach that focuses on preventing and ending homelessness and rapidly returning people who have become homeless to housing. Despite the documented success of this model over the traditional Continuum of Care model, implementation varies markedly in each community. To end homelessness in this country, communities must restructure their homeless service system into effective and rapid crisis response systems.
The following resources may be helpful to communities thinking about systems change in crisis response:
Coordinated Assessment Toolkit was developed by the National Alliance to End Homelessness’ Center for Capacity Building and includes papers, templates, sample tools, and many other resources.
Transforming Systems is a presentation given by HUD on how to transform local systems to be in accordance with new HEARTH regulations.
HPRP: Opportunities for Systems Transformation and Sustainability is a paper written by the National Alliance to End Homelessness on how communities can use programs like HPRP to transform their service delivery systems in the long term.
Centralized Intake for Helping People Experiencing Homelessness is a document intended for community planners on creating and implementing a centralized intake system to streamline services.
Homelessness Prevention: Creating Programs that Work is a guidebook by the National Alliance to End Homelessness focused on the critical decisions leaders can and should make when creating prevention and shelter diversion systems.
Rapid Re-Housing: Creating Programs that Work is a guidebook by the National Alliance to End Homelessness focused on the steps needed to create and implement a rapid re-housing program.
Rapid Re-Housing Online Training Series Parts 1 and 2 from the National Alliance to End Homelessness are audio and visual presentations that answers both basic and technical questions on implementing a rapid re-housing program.
Housing Search Assistance Toolkit is meant for case managers and advocates on how to obtain permanent housing for currently homeless clients in the private rental market.
What is Housing First? is a brief which overviews the basic methodology and priciples of Housing First as a solution to ending chronic homelessness.
Organizational Change: Adopting a Housing First Approach is a toolkit on how programs can make the shift from transitional housing and shelter programs to prevention and Housing First strategies, with step by step tips and tools to make it happen.
Crisis Indicator: Triage Tool for Identifying Homeless Adults in Crisis is a system-based tool for identifying the one-tenth of homeless persons with the highest public costs, and the acute ongoing crises that create those high costs, which should be accessed by gatekeeper institutions and case managers to identify those who incur these costs
100,000 Homes Playbook and Toolkit provides resources for communities to begin their 100,000 Homes campaign.
One Way In: The Advantages of Introducing System-Wide Coordinated Entry for Homeless Families is a paper from the National Alliance to End Homelessness that describes how communities can create a coordinated entry system with a focus on serving homeless families.
Closing the Front Door: Creating a Successful Diversion Program for Homeless Families is a paper from the National Alliance to End Homelessness that describes how communities can begin diverting families from entering their homeless assistance systems.
Prevention Targeting 101 is a how-to guide from the National Alliance to End Homelessness on how communities can begin or improve efforts to identify and effectively assist the households who are most likely to become homeless and serve them appropriately.
What is "sustainable" housing cost burden? Implications for HPRP is a fact sheet from the National Alliance to End Homelessness that examines the level of housing cost burden that poor families typically carry (and that the families assisted with these programs could therefore, presumably, carry).
Rapid Re-Housing Triage Tool is a tool from the National Alliance to End Homelessness that can help determine which services a rapid re-housing eligible household needs.
