DESC occupies the indigenous land of Coast Salish peoples. We ask you to join us in acknowledging their community, their elders both past and present, as well as future generations. DESC also acknowledges that many indigenous peoples from near and far were dislocated from their lands and cultural practices, resulting in many hardships including homelessness. We honor all Coast Salish and other indigenous peoples and commit to learning and identifying DESC’s role in undoing harm.
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Housing placement
Coordinated Entry process overview
DESC Permanent Supportive Housing units are managed through Coordinated Entry (CE) administered by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA).
Individuals seeking DESC Permanent Supportive Housing must first be enrolled in Coordinated Entry and complete a series of intake paperwork. Enrollment into Coordinated Entry can be completed at Regional Access Points throughout King County. There are DESC staff members who are trained to be Coordinated Entry assessors which is another point of access for individuals already connected with DESC services.
Anyone who has completed enrollment into Coordinated Entry can then be nominated to any housing resource within Coordinated Entry, including DESC Permanent Supportive Housing. Nominations for available housing resources happen daily within the Coordinated Entry Case Conferencing space. This space is managed by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and attended by partner service providers working with individuals experiencing homelessness. The CE Case Conferencing nomination process requires each individual experiencing homelessness to have a service connection with a service provider, usually a case manager, to provide housing navigation and to nominate the individual to available units. While the service providers do not need to attend the daily CE Case Conferencing – there is an electronic form providers can fill out – there is a strict time window to submit the nomination to Coordinated Entry. More information on this process is available here.
Since there are more households in Coordinated Entry seeking housing than there are available housing resources, Coordinated Entry uses COVID V2 Prioritization, which takes into consideration racial identity, age, gender identity, pregnancy status, and health risk, for final determination of which household receives a referral to the available housing unit.
These processes mean that a client needs to complete a Coordinated Entry enrollment prioritization either through a Regional Access Point or by a service provider that is a trained assessor. Enrollment consists of gathering household information, including demographic information, completing the Housing Triage Tool, and completing the Housing Needs Form.
Lessons learned from our work to accelerate production of PSH
In the urgent need to bring thousands of people inside from the dangerous chaos of the streets, DESC and other providers are trying new and innovative ways of building safe permanent housing faster and for less money. We have some lessons to share about our recent experiences trying to achieve this goal.
Continue reading “Lessons learned from our work to accelerate production of PSH “A new address for donations!
Do you prefer mailing a check when you donate to DESC? If so, we have changed that particular mailing address. Send a check (payable to DESC) to:
DESC Fund Development
PO Box 4607
Seattle, WA 98194
And thank you for helping us in our mission to end homelessness! Find more ways to give here.