Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution

1. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution • Wally Lugo • HMIS Administrator, Palm Beach County • Lyndsey Morrell • Data & Evaluation Manager, Adopt-A-Family of the Palm Beaches, Inc. • Gloriene Claudio-King • Navigation Supervisor, Adopt-A-Family of the Palm Beaches, Inc.

2. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL • Talking Points: • Real Experience with Coordinated Entry • Palm Beach County’s history with Coordinated Entry • Initial plan to implement CE • Processes attempted and changes made along the way • Tools adopted and adapted to meet our needs • Obstacles faced and overcoming them • Data driven system changes • Where we are going from here

3. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL • Coordinated Entry – Homeless Resource Center Senator Philip D. Lewis Center • Palm Beach County opened the Senator Philip D. Lewis Center, the first Homeless Resource Center, on July 2, 2012 afteryears of planning and negotiations. • It is a collaboration between Palm Beach County, Gulfstream Goodwill Industries, Adopt-A-Family of the Palm Beaches, The Lord’s Place and various other organizations throughout the CoC • The facility serves as the core of Palm Beach County’s Coordinate Entry System as well as providing 60 Emergency Shelter beds • As part of the interlocal agreement with the City of West Palm Beach for use of the facility there are not to be any walk ups to the facility from the street

4. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL Coordinated Entry Timeline

5. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL Client Entry Process – Initial Navigations conducted from HRC

6. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL • Client Entry Process – 2012 • TLP Screenings

7. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL • Client Entry Process – 2013 • Navigations conducted from HRC

9. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL Coordinated Entry Timeline

10. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL • Finding Solutions • Clients are not able to walk up to the Homeless Resource Center • Solution: HRC to navigate over the phone an set appointments for clients to come in • Obstacle: Navigators were not giving uniform information, subjectivity • Current navigation in need of support • Solution: TLP opened a screening center to alleviate unnecessary calls to HRC • Obstacle: Staff training and frequent double work, missing information • Screening Center closed • Solution: Reinstate phone navigations with new methodology • Obstacle: Subjectivity and lack of uniformity between Navigators • Subjectivity and lack of uniformity • Solution: Navigation scripts and flow charts were created • Obstacle: Subjectivity still an issue, unable to prioritize clients for limited services • Side doors and duplication of services • Solution: Referral Log tracking household assessments and referrals, providers could call HRC to verify client status • Obstacle: Not visible through CoC, unable to prioritize based on assessment information

11. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL • Navigation Script Creation • We are all on the same page and saying the same thing • It was clear that if we were going to be doing navigations over the phone that all the Navigators needed to be on the same page and saying the same thing. • The first step of this process was to determine what needed to be said, at what point and what decisions needed to be made during navigation. • Additionally, Navigators needed to know where to refer clients if they were not eligible for homeless services through the Lewis Center. • Various flow charts and script drafts were written and tested before including them in our Coordinate Entry Policies and Procedures. • Time was spent training Navigators on services available through the CoC and how to speak to clients in a way which would yield the most accurate version of their story

12. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL • Navigation Script Creation • We are all on the same page and saying the same thing • By the middle of 2014, Palm Beach County had started using the (F-)VI-SPDAT and SPDAT tools to prioritize clients for services. • To add these tools to navigation the scripts went through more fine tuning. Their inclusion allowed navigation to become increasingly uniform and vastly more objective in its approach to service eligibility. • OrgCode observed our Coordinated Entry System and noted that though the (F-)VI-SPDAT was not intended to be conducted over the phone, the way the tool was incorporated did not affect the validity and showed that it could be adapted to meet the unique community needs. • Over time the script has changed as the needs and available services in our community change but the focus is always housing and remaining housed.

14. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL Coordinated Entry Timeline

15. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL • Prioritization • Prioritizing Objectively • Prioritizing started with just those scheduled for assessments • Shelter and RRH were prioritized subjectively • Shelter began to be prioritized based on Length of Homelessness • In 2017 we began to research how to prioritize RRH • In 2018 new standards were written and we now use an Acuity Score to prioritize for both Shelter and RRH • These standards are broken down into sub-populations: • Singles, Families, Youth (18-24)

16. Prioritization Prioritizing Objectively Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL

17. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL Prioritization Prioritizing Objectively

18. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL • Reporting on Coordinated Entry • How much information is too much • Reporting started with just the basics • Those receiving reports asked clarifying questions • Report went from ~10 data points to over 80

21. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL • Reporting on Coordinated Entry • Our Future • Our CoC is moving to a Public Report in a Dashboard format • All data will come straight from HMIS • The report will feature fewer data points in order to focus in on key points that can direct us towards our goal of reaching functional zero.

22. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution

23. Remote Coordinated Entry: Using Tools and Partnerships to Create an Innovative Solution Palm Beach County, FL Contact Information Wally Lugo WLugo@pbcgov.org Lyndsey Morrell LMorrell@aafpbc.org Gloriene Claudio-King GClaudio-King@aafpbc.org