Continuum of Care
The Continuum of Care Program Promotes community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; provides funding for efforts to quickly re-house homeless individuals and families to minimize trauma and dislocation; promotes access to and effective utilization of mainstream programs; and optimizes self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
Nature of Program: The Continuum of Care Program competitively awards grants for new construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, leasing, rental assistance, supportive services, and operating costs for housing units; homeless management information systems, project administration costs; and Continuum of Care planning and Unified Funding Agency costs.
PiNELLAS Continuum of Care
Key Terms
In order to ensure that communication and planning efforts among the Homeless Leadership Alliance and its partners continue to be successful, frequently utilized terms and definitions, as defined by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, are summarized below.
What It Means to End Homelessness
An end to homelessness does not mean that no one will ever experience a housing crisis again. Changing economic realities, the unpredictability of life and unsafe or unwelcoming family environments may create situations where individuals, families, or youth could experience or be at-risk of homelessness.
An end to homelessness means that every community will have a systematic response in place that ensures homelessness is prevented whenever possible or is otherwise a rare, brief, and non-recurring experience.
Specifically, every community will have the capacity to:
Quickly identify and engage people at-risk of and experiencing homelessness.
Intervene to prevent the loss of housing and divert people from entering the homelessness services system.
Provide immediate access to shelter and crisis services, without barriers to entry, while permanent stable housing and appropriate supports are being secured.
When homelessness does occur, quickly connect people to housing assistance and services—tailored to their unique needs and strengths—to help them achieve and maintain stable housing.
Determining Youth Homelessness Status
Chronic Homelessness
Families Experiencing Homelessness
Pinellas County Continuum of Care Coordinated Entry Process
The housing system can feel like a maze for individuals experiencing homelessness. Trying to determine who to talk to, how to get there, and where to begin can be confusing and overwhelming. Coordinated Entry for Individuals and Families establishes a system where housing placement isn't a matter of talking to the right case manager, at the right agency, at the right time.
Instead, Coordinated Entry represents standardized access and assessment for all individuals and families, as well as a coordinated referral and housing placement process to ensure that people experiencing homelessness receive appropriate assistance with both immediate and long-term housing and service needs. The entire Coordinated Entry process uses a “client centered” approach, while doing so through a standardized process from initial engagement to successful housing placement.
In a data-driven and evidence-informed manner, providers across Pinellas County are establishing strategic partnerships to better serve our fellow community members experiencing homelessness.
