Coordinated Entry System
The Coordinated Entry System (CES) is a process designed to quickly identify, assess, refer, and connect people in crisis to housing, shelter, and assistance, no matter where they show up to ask for help. An effective CES is an essential component of Indianapolis’ homelessness prevention and intervention system, and critical to ensuring that homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring.
CHIP - Coalition for Homelessness Intervention & Prevention is the CES lead for the Indianapolis Continuum of Care (CoC). CHIP provides management and oversight, training and technical assistance for CES.
CHIP - Coalition for Homelessness Intervention & Prevention is the CES lead for the Indianapolis Continuum of Care (CoC). CHIP provides management and oversight, training and technical assistance for CES.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Below is a list of questions commonly asked about Coordinated Entry System (CES). Click on the (+) for answers to each question. If you have additional questions, contact us via email at ces@chipindy.org. Agencies interested in becoming a CES access point with trained assessors can scroll to the bottom of this page for more information.
Coordinated Entry System FAQ
What is Coordinated Entry System (CES)?
Coordinated entry is a system used to connect people who are at-risk of or experiencing homelessness to services and housing resources. Through the coordinated entry system (CES), all households in need of homeless services can be connected to providers through a centralized assessment process.
Who works for coordinated entry?
Coalition for Homelessness Intervention & Prevention (CHIP) is the system-lead for the Indianapolis Continuum of Care (CoC) coordinated entry system and employs a team who is responsible for overall management. training, operation, and evaluation of the system. Coordinated entry assessors are trained community staff members who work on behalf of the coordinated entry system to directly assess and connect households experiencing homelessness to services and housing resources provided by the community. Assessors collect and enter data for resource eligibility and barriers into ClientTrack, the community’s database for tracking homelessness and client services.
What is the difference between the coordinated entry system and the coordinated entry assessment?
The coordinated entry assessment is a set of questions assessors use to collect eligibility information and assess vulnerability related to a household’s housing needs. The coordinated entry system is exactly that: an organized system of information used to enter people in programs that are a good fit for their needs.
Who can access coordinated entry? Who does coordinated entry serve?
Anyone at risk of or currently experiencing literal homelessness is encouraged to connect to the coordinated entry system. The coordinated entry system is designed to use resources as effectively as possible, so most resources are reserved for people currently living unsheltered or in a temporary homeless shelter. For additional information, view HUD’s Homeless Definition found here.
Is the coordinated entry system public housing?
No. While the coordinated entry system matches households to housing within the Continuum of Care (CoC), it does not create or administer housing. Rather, the role of coordinated entry is to ensure that people experiencing homelessness are connected to housing units and supports that are a good fit for their situation.
Who makes decisions about coordinated entry?
The Indianapolis community works in a collective impact model to make refinements to the coordinated entry system. Active workgroups with brief descriptions of their work may be found here.
How can I provide feedback regarding the coordinated entry system?
Feedback about coordinated entry is critical to creating a more fair, efficient, and effective system that quickly moves people into permanent housing. CES requests feedback each year through a survey but welcomes informal feedback throughout the year. To provide feedback or request to be included on the email list for the evaluation survey, please email ces@chipindy.org.
Coordinated Entry Assessment FAQ
What can someone expect during an assessment?
To complete a coordinated entry assessment, a person will speak with a trained assessor either in-person or over the phone. The assessment usually takes between 30-45 minutes and includes questions that help identify a person’s needs and refer them to services and housing programs that are a good fit for them. The information provided is used for eligibility purposes only and will not be used to get a person in trouble or disqualify them from services. At the end of the assessment, the assessor will talk about the services and programs a person may be eligible for. There is no guarantee that there will be an immediate program opening, but the assessor will work with them to create a plan for future program referrals.
What happens after an assessment?
There is some documentation needed before a person can be enrolled in a housing program, so after an assessment it is important for a person to start collecting these documents – assessors may help too. Documents include proof of homelessness (such as a letter from an outreach worker or shelter), proof of chronic homelessness and disability documentation (if applicable and only required for some programs), proof of military service (for veterans, if applicable – this includes a DD214, Service Dates letter, or VA ID). Some programs and/or landlords also require a birth certificate and social security card for all household members, identification (state or license for anyone 18 or older), or proof of income (paystubs, SSI/SS/SSDI Award Letters). It is also important for households to keep in touch with their assessors if possible, making them aware of any changes in living situation, location, or contact information.
If someone is undocumented, is it safe to complete an assessment?
Yes. Information collected during a coordinated entry assessment is never used to get a person in trouble; it is only used to ensure that a person is connected to the right resources for them. Within the ClientTrack system, it is impossible to distinguish between people that do not have social security numbers and those that simply refused to provide them, so there is no way to tell who is documented and who is not.
Accessing Resources Through CES
If someone is experiencing homelessness, what is the first step?
For immediate assistance and access to emergency shelter, call Indiana 2-1-1 by dialing 2-1-1 or (866)-211-9966. Indiana 2-1-1 is available 24/7 and can facilitate connections with a variety of social services a person may need. Indiana 2-1-1 can determine shelter availability and directly connect households to an emergency shelter provider. For other community resources, such as food and clothing assistance, check the Handbook of Help or Aunt Bertha’s findhelp.org. To complete a coordinated entry assessment and get on the coordinated entry list, complete an assessment at an access point. For information about access points, see the CES Housing Needs Assessment via Phone flyer found here.
What will coordinated entry do for a person at-risk of or experiencing homelessness?
Coordinated entry is designed to help people at-risk of or experiencing homelessness get quickly connected to the right resources. Completing a coordinated entry assessment will help assessors identify short-term solutions to meet peoples’ needs (including conflict resolution so a person can remain housed or connecting people to emergency shelter or outreach workers). This may also result in a person being placed in the housing pool, where they will be matched to housing resources as they become available and according to the person’s needs. The goal is for the coordinated entry system to fairly, efficiently, and effectively match people to services and housing.
Are there resources for youth and young adults?
Yes. The coordinated entry system serves unaccompanied youth and young adults age 16-24. There is a single access point for youth called YouthLink – youth and young adults should contact 317-699-1994 for a coordinated entry assessment. Click here for more information on the community plan to end youth and young adult homelessness.
Can people fleeing domestic violence be served through the coordinated entry system?
Yes. People fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence meet HUD’s definition of homelessness found here. If a household has safety concerns or is uncomfortable having personally identifying information in the ClientTrack database, an assessor can complete an anonymous coordinated entry assessment. This allows a household to enter the housing pool without revealing their identity to the coordinated entry system. If someone is seeking domestic violence-specific services, they should contact The Julian Center (317-920-9320) or Coburn Place Safe Haven (317-923-5750), which are both also coordinated entry access points.
Joining The Coordinated Entry System
What will coordinated entry do for my organization?
Coordinated entry streamlines intake assessments and referrals to homelessness services within the community, which eliminates the need for each organization to design their own assessment, manage their own waitlists, or know about every housing resource available in the community. For homeless service providers, coordinated entry intends to make quick and appropriate referrals – keeping service utilization high and ensuring that your program serves the people it is designed to serve. For shelter and outreach organizations, coordinated entry helps connect people who are already engaged in services to permanent housing. Coordinated entry may also help identify where additional services are needed and connect people to additional organizations within the CoC.
Can my agency become an access point?
The coordinated entry system is not currently looking to add new assessing agencies, but it is possible for your staff to facilitate warm hand-offs for phone assessments. These assessments would be provided by a trained assessor but completed over a phone provided by your location for your client’s convenience. To find access points, see the CES Housing Needs Assessment via Phone flyer here. Please email ces@chipindy.org for more information.
What is the best way for an agency who is not an access point to support the coordinated entry assessment process for households that are engaged with the system housing process?
Agencies that are not access points should assist in connecting households to an access point. The agencies should also work with assessors to ensure the assessment is accurate based on their case management knowledge with the household. After the assessment, they can help the households get social security cards, birth certificates, homelessness verification and updated contact information, which will help speed up the referral and lease-up process. For a checklist of next steps, view the CES Client Handout found here.
Housing and Coordinated Entry
What should someone do if they are waiting for housing through the coordinated entry system?
The need for housing is greater than what is available, so it is important to keep looking for other housing options even after completing a coordinated entry assessment. The best thing to do is to thoroughly explore alternative housing situations, like a roommate or waitlists for affordable housing units, and not to rely entirely on the coordinated entry system. If someone finds a new option while waiting in the coordinated entry housing pool, they should update an assessor and see if there are any additional resources available in their new housing situation.
Can you tell where someone is in the housing pool? Who will get housed first?
In general, people who have high vulnerabilities and have been homeless for a long time are prioritized for housing openings. The CoC has developed policies and procedures for different types of housing solutions (such as transitional housing, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing). For more information on prioritization, review the Indianapolis CES Policies and Procedures found here.
If people are still experiencing homelessness, does that mean that coordinated entry doesn’t work?
While coordinated entry hopes to prevent some households from ever experiencing homelessness, the focus of this system is to quickly connect people to housing solutions once a housing crisis has already occurred. However, the need for homelessness services are greater than what is available in the community and other organizations within the CoC continue to explore how to reduce risk-factors for homelessness to prevent people from experiencing housing instability in the first place.
How long will someone wait for housing through coordinated entry?
By 2023, the Indianapolis CoC’s goal is that no household experiences homelessness for more than 30 days. Right now, some households are waiting longer periods of time for housing units to become available through coordinated entry. While a person is in the housing pool, it is important to explore other potential housing solutions: senior living facilities, roommates, affordable housing units, living with family members, etc. If a household is able to secure housing outside of the coordinated entry system, that is the best solution, as there are currently not enough resources to serve everyone in need.
How are services and housing programs prioritized?
The Indianapolis CoC has developed written standards found here for providing housing and services to people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness across Indianapolis. The written standards establish community-wide expectations on operations of projects, establish a minimum set standard of expectations, and establish transparent prioritization for each housing and service project. The coordinated entry system prioritizes households in the housing pool in compliance with the written standards.