Adult & Child Health’s Homeless Resource Team (HRT) is celebrating the recent achievement of outstanding Continuum of Care (CoC) scores.
The Indianapolis scoring metrics are aligned with those developed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and are meant to evaluate project performance and rank projects based on CoC priorities.
Homeless resource and housing projects are evaluated on areas such as data quality, length of time individuals are in the program, cost effectiveness, returns to homelessness, mainstream benefits (i.e. whether clients have been connected to food/food stamps, phone, and other resources), insurance access, and client source of income.
A&C’s projects ranked first and third in Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) and second in Rapid Rehousing (RRH), with zero exits to homelessness.
Two areas in which A&C’s projects scored especially well were data quality and severity of barriers, which are testaments to HRT staff’s efforts to accurately and thoroughly track their data and to connect their clients with the resources they need to remain housed.
“People not returning to homelessness is important; that’s why we retitled ‘Case Manager’ to ‘Housing Stability and Engagement Coordinator,’ said Brian Paul, Team Leader. This shift in language helps emphasize the team culture of striving to connect clients to services and ensuring that they’re able to meet their basic needs.
“Ten years ago, we were not where we are now,” Brian said, explaining that the team utilized the CoC metrics to target and focus on challenges they could solve and areas where they could improve.
The team’s hard work, attention to detail, and focus on client outcomes continues to pay off as they rank at the top of homeless resource projects in the Indianapolis area.
Below: HRT Street Outreach Professionals Chad Hunter and Kristi Petrey purchase outreach supplies with an Aldi gift card donation.
Click here to support HRT’s mission by helping to provide resources for Central Indiana’s unhoused neighbors. You can also support A&C’s 2024 National Health Center Week Drive here.
