Continuum of Care
SPOTLIGHT:
SUBMISSION TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD)
As required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Cape & Islands Regional Network on Homelessness is publicly posting the following documents prior to submission to HUD:
Racial Equity in the Cape and Islands Homeless Services System
In August of 2021, the MA-503 Cape Cod and Islands Continuum of Care conducted an analysis of local homeless data to determine if racial equity exists in the representation of marginalized groups in the homeless population, the manner in which such groups access and utilize homeless services in the region, and the outcomes of interactions between such groups and the system of homeless services.
Analysis of four discrete datasets covering the period of 7/1/2020 through 6/30/2021 revealed that Black/African American individuals and families were over-represented in the homeless population and that they accessed homeless services at a rate four times higher than the percentage of Black/African American persons in the regional population. When compared to the total number of persons included in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) analyses, Black/African American participants were somewhat less likely to enter stable housing situations but more likely to achieve Positive Program Outcomes than their White counterparts.
Analysis further illustrated a troubling fact regarding homelessness and domestic violence. In the Cape and Islands region, the number of Black/African American females (particularly heads of household) who were currently homeless due to fleeing domestic violence was staggeringly high.
Program Components
The CoC Program is designed to assist individuals (including unaccompanied youth) and families experiencing homelessness and provide the services needed to help them move into transitional and permanent housing with the goal of long-term stability. More broadly, the CoC Program is designed to promote community-wide planning and strategic use of resources to address homelessness; improve coordination and integration with mainstream resources and other programs targeted to people experiencing homelessness; improve data collection and performance measurement; and allow each community to tailor its programs to the particular strengths and challenges in assisting homeless individuals and families within that community.
Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is defined as community-based housing without a designated length of stay in which formerly homeless individuals and families live as independently as possible.
Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is an information management system used to collect data on client needs and the provision of housing and services. Barnstable County is responsible for maintaining the Cape and Islands CoC HMIS system. For more information, read MA-503 Cape Cod and Islands CONTINUUM OF CARE
Point in Time (PIT) Count is an annual count of the number of people experiencing homelessness in emergency shelters, transitional housing, on the street, in cars, abandoned buildings, and in other places not meant for human habitation. The PIT is conducted annually across the nation during a 24-hour period in the month of January.
Coordinated Entry System (CES) is a system developed at the local level to ensure that all people experiencing a housing crisis are quickly identified, assessed, and connected to housing and assistance based on their needs. The Cape & Islands Regional Network on Homelessness/Continuum of Care uses a Coordinated Entry System that links the most vulnerable homeless individuals and families to available resources. Coordinated Entry is an approach to ending homelessness that requires comprehensive coordination of all housing and service resources in a community to better match people experiencing homelessness to appropriate permanent housing placement (see CES Policies and Procedures). On the Cape and Islands, CES operates through community access points across the region. For more information contact martha.taylor@capecod.gov
Watch the Cape Cod and Islands CoC Virtual CES Data Entry Training here:
Servicepoint CES Training 1 13 2022 – YouTube
Housing First is an approach in which housing is offered to people experiencing homelessness without preconditions (such as sobriety, mental health treatment, or a minimum income threshold) or service participation requirements. HUD encourages all recipients of CoC Program-funded PSH to follow a Housing First approach.
Point in Time Count
The annual Point in Time Count of the Cape and Islands homeless is required by the Continuum of Care (CoC) Grant Program and is conducted by The Cape and Islands Regional Network on Homelessness.
For results of the annual Point in time Counts from this year and previous years, click here.
Housing Inventory Count
The Housing Inventory Count (HIC) is a yearly point-in-time inventory of housing programs within a Continuum of Care (CoC) that provide beds and units dedicated to serve people who are experiencing homelessness or were homeless at the time of program entry, categorized by five Program Types:
• Emergency Shelter
• Transitional Housing
• Rapid Re-housing
• Safe Haven
• Permanent Supportive Housing
The Cape Cod and Islands CoC region does not contain any Safe Haven projects, and so the HIC does not list any beds devoted to this program type.
The inventory includes all US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-funded residential programs, as well as non-HUD funded programs, even if those programs do not actively participate in the CoC planning process.
The HIC identifies numbers and types of residential units dedicated to homeless and formerly homeless individuals and families that are available in the Cape and Islands CoC region. Utilization rates are calculated based upon each program’s census on the night of the Point in Time (PIT) Count, which was held on January 26, 2021.
• The HIC is a mandated annual CoC activity which provides the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) a “snapshot” of the numbers and types of units in the CoC’s dedicated homeless inventory;
• The HIC offers vital information regarding the region’s capacity to house our target homeless population to collaborative partners, to social services and health care agencies, to local governmental units, to policy-making organizations, and to potential funding sources; and
• The HIC is a critical part of the annual competitive Continuum of Care application process.
Results of the 2021 Housing Inventory Count may be found here.
Funding
In March of 2023, approximately $2.6 billion was awarded to fund CoC renewal projects across the United States. The Cape and Islands CoC, which is governed by the Cape and Islands Regional Network on Homelessness Policy Board, received $2,293,161 to support nine projects providing permanent supportive housing (PSH) for 117 chronically homeless individuals on the Cape and Islands and covers administrative and operational costs. As the Regional Network’s convening entity and Cape and Islands CoC collaborative applicant, Barnstable County Department of Human Services provides monitoring, infrastructure, and administrative support.
Nationally, HUD announced over $2.76B in funding to thousands of local homelessness housing and service programs across the United States. The awards, announced by HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge, will provide funding to communities to help individuals and families experiencing homelessness move into permanent housing with access to supportive services, with the overarching goal of long-term stability.
Grantees
Publications and Data
Barnstable County Department of Human Services provides critical documents, resources, and related links relating to substance use.
Calendar
Visit Department of Human Services’ Calendar for meetings and their related documents.
Contact
For more information on the Continuum of Care Grant Program, contact Dan Gray, Continuum of Care Program Manager at Barnstable County Department of Human Services at 774-224-0051 or daniel.gray@capecod.gov
For more information on the Coordinated Entry System (CES) or the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), contact Martha Taylor, HMIS Program Manager at Barnstable County Department of Human Services at (508) 375-6625 or martha.taylor@capecod.gov
