Activity One YHSI Youth and Young Adult Coordinated Entry - The first activity is to assist in the review of the current coordinated entry processes across the Continuums of Care in Massachusetts with particular attention to youth and young adults (YYA) age 18-24 experiencing homelessness. This assessment will evaluate access points, assessment parameters, and outreach approaches which will then be used to develop a model for better YYA engagement across the Commonwealth. YYA who work in partnership with EOHLC will be included in the development and implementation of this project and will receive appropriate compensation for their time. The successful bidder will be able to help EOHLC accomplish these tasks and provide guidance to the 11 CoCs in MA as well as 10 Homeless Youth Services projects across the Commonwealth that will enable them to ensure fair access to housing and services for this population. Activity Two MA BoS CoC CE - The second activity is for the MA Balance of State Continuum of Care to undertake a review and revision of our CE Assessment Tool, which is what EOHLC uses to prioritize households for referrals to housing vacancies. This will include reviewing the CE Quick Screen form and the CE Assessment form, the two forms that assign points based on a household’s answers. EOHLC wants to discuss how effective our current tool is at prioritizing the most vulnerable households for referral. EOHLC would like to assess what is and what is not currently covered in the tool and determine what changes we want to make. Additionally, EOHLC would like to clarify/simplify questions to make the process as straightforward as possible. EOHLC wants to create guidelines and instructions for Assessors to ensure it’s being administered uniformly and equitably. EOHLC would like the consultant to help facilitate a group of various stakeholders that will provide input on all of the above. Ultimately, this project will result in TA helping us create the revised CE Assessment tool, which will be based on all of the above information and feedback we receive.
