Background

The Family Coordinated Entry System (FCES) uses a prioritization schema to identify and rank assessed households based on the CES Policies and Procedures. This process is designed to determine which families have the highest needs. Households will be prioritized for housing, shelter, and supportive services available through FCES by their longest length of homelessness. Households in the highest-priority group are offered these services first then FCES moves onto the next priority group until all available resources are allocated.

Prioritization

1st Priority: Households experiencing Chronic Homelessness

• Households with a chronic disability who are currently experiencing homelessness and who have been experiencing homelessness (a) for at least the last 12 months straight or (b) on at least 4 separate occasions in the last 3 years for a combined minimum of 12 months.

Chronic Homelessness Definition

2nd Priority: Households with a chronic disability

• Households who are experiencing homelessness, but who don’t meet the length of time requirements to be experiencing chronic homelessness but who have a disabling condition that is expected to be ongoing, substantially impedes their housing stability, and could be improved by more suitable housing.

Disability Definition

3rd Priority: Households without a disability

• Households experiencing literal homelessness who do not have a disabling condition.

Homeless Definition

4th Priority: Households at risk of homelessness

• Households at risk of homelessness are not eligible for many of the opportunities prioritized through CES, but if eligible will generally be the last priority group

At Risk Definition

Please note: Households are prioritized for housing using these priority groups and they are filtered for specific housing opportunities by additional project-level or funder-required eligibility criteria such as:

• Jurisdiction
• Household size and whether they have children
• Mental Health disability status
• MHSA certification by County Behavioral Health Services
• Age (Senior and TAY specific opportunities)
• Clients fleeing domestic or other forms of violence
• Veteran Status (Verified by the VA)