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.