Home For Good Launches Transformative Housing Entry Project in Skid Row

LOS ANGELES, June 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A transformative pilot project led by Home For Good that prioritizes housing for the most vulnerable people in Skid Row has demonstrated impressive results in its first 100 days.  The new Coordinated Entry System (CES), which was designed by on-the-ground service staff and is supported by government and philanthropic leaders, is already radically changing the way local agencies collaborate to house the most vulnerable individuals in Skid Row. The net result is faster placement and a more optimal matching of homeless individuals with permanent supportive housing services.

"This is just the beginning of a project whose early results are incredibly promising. This innovative, sustainable system will gradually be expanded to the entire county, enabling the region to house people, quickly, efficiently and fairly, thereby saving us all money in the process," says attorney Jerry Neuman of Sheppard Mullin, Co-Chair of the L.A. Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness. "It's the crucial next step in our journey to end homelessness in Greater L.A. by 2016."

Historically, the most vulnerable people have struggled to navigate successfully the area's complex homeless services system. The Coordinated Entry System enables service providers to share a single waiting list that prioritizes individuals based on their needs and helps them quickly move into housing.

"I used to come in to work and walk by people and worry that we wouldn't be able to help them all. And now, for the first time, I look at them and I know I can get them into housing," says Monica Guthrie Davis, Director of Programs & Services at the Weingart Center in Skid Row.

The CES was developed in partnership with the Rapid Results Institute, which helps large systems innovate new ways to make meaningful change in 100 days. Their approach has been used throughout the world to tackle issues such as AIDS prevention in Eritrea and capacity building of waste picker cooperatives in Brazil.  Together with the 100K Homes campaign, they have brought this innovative model to the effort to end homelessness in the U.S.

The Home for Good campaign, now in its 3^rd year of implementation, is the blueprint developed by the Los Angeles Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness to end chronic and veteran homelessness in the L.A. region in 5 years.  The Task Force is a joint initiative of the Greater Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and United Way L.A.

SOURCE Home For Good