Co-ordinated Access System details

Co-ordinated Access Systems (CAS) help cities or towns design, streamline and bring consistency to the way people experiencing homelessness access housing and services. A strong CAS uses a Housing First approach along with a standardised and co-ordinated process for access, assessment, prioritisation and referral for housing and other services across all the agencies and organisations providing these in a local area. A CAS also allows cities or communities to establish partnerships between funders, service providers and the private sector to provide co-ordinated services that produce more positive results for homeless people.

Developing an effective system requires engagement with stakeholders in your area. In the most successful cities, stakeholders design the local system together to achieve a shared goal. While this process may be challenging and time-intensive, no CAS can help sustain reductions in homelessness without strong buy-in from local stakeholders.

The table below uses four common issues to illustrate some of the ways a strong CAS can shift a community’s approach to ending homelessness.

1. Access in an Unco-ordinated System	Access in a Co-ordinated System
No co-ordinated outreach or access points	Fully co-ordinated outreach and access points
2. Assessment in an Unco-ordinated System	Assessment in a Co-ordinated System
Each programme or service provider has own assessment	One city-wide initial assessment
Each programme or service provider keeps own data on clients	One city-wide By Name List with data on each client as they move throughout the system
3. Prioritisation in an Unco-ordinated System	Prioritisation in a Co-ordinated System
No way of prioritising clients, or priority given on a ‘first-come, first served’ basis	Community-wide prioritisation protocol based on highest level of need, best fit and the community’s other priorities
Some programmes use a Housing First approach	The entire system uses a Housing First approach
4. Referral in an Unco-ordinated System	Referral in a Co-ordinated System
Every permanent housing programme has its own application	One community-wide application for housing (and rapid rehousing)
Funding conditions reinforce working in silos and competition amongst providers	Funding reinforces a co-ordinated system and collaboration or integration amongst providers
Programme-centric view of addressing homelessness	Client & system-centred view of ending homelessness
My clients/my resources	Our clients/our resources

Useful Links:

In-Depth Technical Information

By Name Lists (BNLs) – By Name Lists (BNLs) are real-time lists of all people experiencing homelessness in your city or area and allow you to understand inflow into and outflow from homelessness.
Housing First Europe Guide – Housing First is a set of principles and practices designed for people experiencing homelessness who have significant barriers to obtaining and retaining permanent housing. It sees permanent housing as the first step in working with individuals.

European Campaign examples

In a well-co-ordinated system, all providers agree to use a single common assessment. Here is the common assessment tool used by all providers in Croydon.
Example ‘Releases of Information’ (Data Consent Form) – A Co-ordinated Access System requires providers to be able to share individual-level information to better serve people experiencing homelessness. Multiple providers should develop a shared data consent form to ensure it follows local laws and meets each agency’s needs. Confidentiality and data protection laws vary significantly by country, and you should seek out expert advice before implementing your shared data consent form.