Current Strategies and Work Groups

CoC Implementation Work Groups & Work Plans

Implementation work groups serve as the primary mechanism for engagement of most stakeholders (providers and individuals with lived experience) in action-oriented decision-making, moving the system from theoretical discussions to practical experimentation and coalescence of practice. Work groups are typically ad hoc and convened with a clear set of assignments and timeline, meet frequently to achieve that purpose, and then reconvene only when new assignments are made. Activities include the creation, testing, and implementation of policies and often distribute these activities across several work groups for a single policy effort. This ensures targeted engagement of different levels of stakeholders.

To implement our System Vision, we have assigned a dedicated management team to activate and lead work groups as needed.

Current Work Groups

CES Leadership Work Group:

This work group meets monthly and is comprised of people in leadership positions in the Coordinated Entry System (CES). This group has been granted decision-making authority from the Blueprint Council to approve CES Policies and Procedures for pilot. Additional responsibilities include leading the annual CES evaluation, overseeing CES refinement goals and policies, and championing implementation throughout their own organizations and the overall system.

For more information, contact Matt Holland.

CES Measuring Service Needs for Youth & Young Adults:
This is the first sub-workgroup for Phase 2 of CES Assessment and Prioritization Project, which aims to answer "How can we measure services needs as outlined in the Vulnerability Definition without the VI-SPDAT? How will our community collect this data?" Deliverables include a list of assessment questions for youth and young adults. All work will align with the CES Enrollment Visions of flexibility, equitability, incorporating client choice and assessor input, being lean, and being barrier nuanced, and the CoC Definition of Vulnerability.

For more information, contact CES.

HMIS User Group:
What: This meeting is open to all HMIS users in the Continuum of Care and is specifically for communicating HMIS changes and updates. This group has a standing agenda, which includes reviewing the system performance dashboard, reviewing the data quality report, and any system updates. The HMIS team will be available for live troubleshooting as well.

Who: This work group is targeted at anyone who frequently does data entry or reporting in HMIS.

When: The group meets at 11 AM on the second Wednesday of every month.
Note: A new email invite will be sent to all HMIS Users in November 2022 for the new monthly time. Previously this meeting was only held on the even months.

For more information, contact Elliot Zans.

Quarterly HMIS Advisory Workgroup:
What: The HMIS Advisory Workgroup will meet quarterly to review, advise, and pass approval on HMIS matters that require community input and feedback. Examples of work to be reviewed include community benchmarks, Policies and Procedures, Fee Structures and other related issues. There will be opportunities from the Advisory Workgroup to break out into special project groups as appropriate for developing community plans and strategies.

Who: This work group is targeted at people with lived expertise regarding houselessness, agency site administrators, super users, and any HMIS user in the Indianapolis Continuum of Care who wants to actively participate in our community HMIS implementation.

When: Quarterly, starting in January 2023

How: We are recruiting! If you are interested in participating, please complete the HMIS Advisory Committee Workgroup Form

For more information, contact Elliot Zans.

CoC NOFO Non-Conflicted Work Group:
This work group meets regularly and is comprised of members who do not have affiliations with any organization that receives HUD homelessness funding. This group is responsible for developing a HUD compliant and transparent CoC Program funding competition. Throughout the year, this group amends and updates CoC policies and documents. During the annual NOFO competition, this work group evaluates new project applications and recommends application for funding, reviews the final scoring and recommends funding for renewal projects, completes and recommends the ranking and tiering for CoC projects, and recommends a list of projects to be fully or partially reallocated, reallocation amounts and implements a process of reallocation appeals, if needed.

For more information, contact Natalie Roberts.

CoC NOFO Service Provider Work Group:
This work group is comprised of representatives from organizations who utilize CoC, ESG, and other funding. This group is responsible for providing feedback to the CoC NOFO Non-Conflicted Work Group in the areas of the scoring tool development, policies and procedures, and other decisions relevant to the CoC NOFO Competition. The CoC NOFO Non-Conflicted Work Group will incorporate service provider feedback at their discretion and make recommendations to the Blueprint Council for approval.

For more information, contact Natalie Roberts.