Coordinated Entry for All (CEA)
DESC Permanent Supportive Housing units are managed through Coordinated Entry for All (CEA) administered by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA).
This system uses an assessment tool called the “Housing Triage Tool”—VI-SPDAT—to prioritize and match homeless households to vacant units. Housing placements are allocated based on an individual’s VI-SPDAT score.
CEA is presently using COVID prioritization, which takes into consideration racial identity and risk of COVID-related health complications, for the Priority Pool. Those in the Priority Pool are nominated in a weekly meeting to fill vacant units. Here is King County’s FAQ.
Referrals that did not come from the CEA Priority Pool are considered “External Fills” (EF). If after two weeks of offering units to the households on the Priority Pool there are vacant units still available, they are open to EF. EF are open to all service providers in a different weekly meeting and nominations are prioritized by the DESC Vulnerability Assessment Tool (VAT).
These processes mean that a client needs to complete:
- Housing Triage Tool for the current CEA prioritization either through a Regional Access Point or by a service provider that is a trained assessor.
- VAT for the External Fill prioritization. The VAT requires the household to complete a VAT interview with a VAT assessor. Organizations with trained VAT assessors include, but are not limited to, DESC, REACH, LIHI, Catholic Community Services, and Lifelong.