Will County Continuum of Care
What We Do
CoC Services
CoC works to Convene, Understand, Improve and provide Coordinated Entry to lead individuals and families from homelessness to self-sufficiency.
Convene
The Continuum of Care brings together local leaders from government, non-profits, people with lived experience of homelessness and citizens to work together to end homelessness
The work of the Continuum of Care is led by the CoC Governance Board and its subcommittees and workgroups. The governance board is composed of local leaders and is elected by the CoC Membership
The Board and its sub-commitees work to understand the prevalence of homelessness, set priorities and policies for the programs that help people exit homelessness and monitor their performance and progress in ending homelessness
See here for calendar of meetings and information on how to attend.
Understand
HMIS
The CoC implements the local Homeless Management Information System, a shared database of homeless service providers and human service agencies. The local HMIS captures client and program level data that helps the Continuum understand who has become homeless and why, how people experiencing homelessness move through our system and how effectively the agencies help people exit homelessness.
Point in Time
The CoC plans and conducts an annual Point in Time Count of people experiencing homelessness in our communities. This data helps inform leaders of the ongoing need of homeless supports and characteristics of the homeless population. In addition, the data is used by HUD to inform it’s Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress.
Improve
Local Written Standards
The CoC works with local homeless programs, people with lived experience and other local leaders to set local standards for homeless programs. These standards incorporate best practices, set priorities for who will be served by what types of programs and set performance standards. Standards are living documents that continuously adapt to local priorities and national best practices
CoC Program Competition
The CoC puts on the local competition for Continuum of Care Program funding from HUD. During this period, the CoC works to identify local priorities and determine the best use of funding available from HUD to address homelessness. As part of this determination, the CoC considers local data on homelessness and the needs of the population and individual program performance in helping people exit homelessness. The CoC prioritizes programs that best meet the needs of the population and perform best in helping people exit homelessness.
Coordinated Entry
The Coordinated Entry System is an important step in the process for people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness where they can access the crisis response system through a universal assessment, have their strengths and needs assessed, and connect to appropriate housing and mainstream services within the region. Standardized assessment tools and practices take into account the needs of single adults, families with children, as well as youth.
