Technical Assistance Update
Focus Strategies is working with CEPAT to provide technical assistance from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020. Later this summer, we expect Focus Strategies to make a recommendation on whether Minnesota should:
- Move forward with the existing assessment tool with some recommended improvements on implementation, or
- Replace this tool with an already existing assessment tool or the creation of a new assessment tool.
Focus Strategies is in the initial phase of their work plan and this includes an assessment of the current Coordinated Entry System and Tool. As part of that process, Focus Strategies has collected and reviewed each CoC’s CE policies and procedures, CE reports, and survey results from 2018.
The CE Work Group has helped Focus Strategies understand that there are similarities and differences between the ten CoCs and they include business processes, data collection requirements and workflows, and prioritized populations.
In order to better understand whether and how the VI-SPDAT works in the context of business processes and community goals, the TA team will be doing a deeper dive into the CE operations of each CoC. This will include talking with identified members of each CoC to develop a well-informed understanding about what CE design looks like in each of the ten CoCs and how each element of the CE system design (including the Vi-SPDAT) is meeting the objectives of each CE system in relation to local prioritization. Stay tuned for more information.