Coordinated Access is a system incorporating the Housing First principle to rapidly house people experiencing homelessness into long-term stable housing with wraparound supports. This involves simplified and efficient services delivery from homelessness servicing organizations, the sharing information and resources and generating person-specific data about homelessness in the area.
The Coordinated Access system allows people across a community to contact trained workers who, through a process of triage, help them access a range of services to meet their needs. A more in-depth assessment is provided as needed. When people provide consent to participate in Coordinated Access workers are then able to use a centralized database to retrieve real-time data on available housing and supports to best match the client’s depth of need. Throughout the process, people are helped to navigate next steps, sometimes through targeted case conferencing.
Organizations participating in Coordinated Access organize and deliver a range of services to address homelessness by providing access to their collective pool of resources regardless of which organization the person went to for services.
As the Community Entity we are responsible for managing funding and driving the implementation of Coordinated Access in Prince George and have established an advisory body, the Homelessness Response Leadership Table, made up of community stakeholders including service providers, municipal and provincial government, Indigenous organizations, the Community Advisory Board (CAB) and the Urban Aboriginal Working Group (UAWG). This table is a localized committee that approves community plans, collaborates on the Community Homelessness Report and the use of HIFIS, assesses projects, and sets local priorities ensuring the system remains person-centred and respectful.
The PGNAETA Reaching Home Division are honoured to work, live and play on the unceded traditional and ancestral territory of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation.
