The Coordinated Entry System (CES) is a standardized framework mandated by HUD and designed to assess, score, prioritize, and refer individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness to available housing resources. This system ensures that the limited housing assistance is directed toward those with the highest vulnerability and greatest need. Additionally, CES facilitates timely connections to services for those in most critical situations, enhancing the effectiveness of homeless service providers.

Each CoC is tasked with selecting and designating a CES Lead organization, which is responsible for establishing, supporting, and managing CES in accordance with HUD’s standards. The specific responsibilities of the CES Lead are outlined in CPD-17-01, CPD-16-11, Coordinated Entry Policy Brief, 24 CFR 578.9(a)(8), and 24 CFR 576.400.

The CES process has four distinct elements.

1. Assessment: Refers to the use of one or more standardized assessment tool(s) or questionnaires to determine a household’s current housing situation, housing and service needs, risk of harm, risk of future or continued homelessness, and other adverse outcomes. HUD does not intend that the term be confused with assessments often used in clinical settings to determine psychological or physical health, or for other purposes not related to preventing and ending the homelessness of persons who present to coordinated entry for housing-related assistance. Assessment tools often contain a range of questions and can be used in phases to progressively engage a participant over time.

2. Scoring: Refers to the process of deriving an indicator of risk, vulnerability, or need based on responses to the assessment questions. The output of most assessment tools is often an “Assessment Score” for potential project participants, which provides a standardized analysis of risk and other objective assessment factors. While assessment scores generally reflect the factors included in the prioritization process, the assessment score alone does not necessarily determine the relative order of potential participants for resources. Additional consideration, including use of case conferencing, is often necessary to ensure that the outcomes of the assessment more closely align with the community’s prioritization process by accounting for unique population-based vulnerabilities and risk factors.

3. Prioritization: Refers to the coordinated entry-specific process by which all persons in need of assistance who use coordinated entry are ranked in order of priority. The coordinated entry prioritization policies are established by the local CoC with input from all community stakeholders and must ensure that clients will be served in accordance with the CoCs written standards. In addition, the coordinated entry process must, to the maximum extent feasible, ensure that people with more severe service needs and levels of vulnerability are prioritized for housing and homeless assistance before those with less severe service needs and lower levels of vulnerability.

4. Eligibility Determination: Coordinated entry processes incorporate mechanisms for determining whether potential participants meet project-specific requirements of the projects for which they are prioritized and to which they are referred. The process of collecting required information and documentation regarding eligibility may occur at any point in the coordinated entry process, (i.e., after or concurrently with the assessment, scoring, and prioritization processes), as long as that eligibility information is not being used as part of prioritization and ranking, e.g. using documentation of a specific diagnosis or disability to rank a person. Projects or units may be legally permitted to limit eligibility, e.g., to persons with disabilities, through a Federal statute which requires that assistance be utilized for a specific population.

Community members engage with the CES through an “Access Point”.

1. Access Points: places–either virtual or physical–where an individual or family in need of assistance accesses the coordinated entry process. These can include the following examples:

   • A central location or locations within a geographic area where individuals and families present to receive homeless housing and services;

   • A 211 or other hotline system that screens and directly connects callers to appropriate homeless housing and service providers in the area;

   • A “no wrong door” approach in which a homeless family or individual can present at any homeless housing and service provider in the geographic area but is assessed using the same tool and methodology so that referrals are consistently completed across the CoC;

   • A specialized team of case workers that provides assessment services at provider locations within the CoC; or

   • A regional approach in which “hubs” are created within smaller geographic areas.