Crisis Indicator: Triage Tool for Identifying Homeless Adults in Crisis
August 2011
The triage tool, or crisis indicator, was developed for use in jails, hospitals and clinics where homeless individuals with high levels of need and high public costs are most likely to be found. The triage tool 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. The tool equips gatekeeper institutions to identify accurately individuals experiencing homelessness whose acute needs create the greatest public costs, and to make credible requests to housing providers that these individuals be given first priority for the scarce supply of affordable housing with supportive services (permanent supportive housing).
