The homeless Coordinated Entry System: the VI-SPDAT and other predictors of establishing eligibility for services for single homeless adults

ABSTRACT

Despite the spectrum of available resources, homelessness is a persistent societal and public health challenge throughout the United States and in San Diego County. Beginning in January 2014, San Diego began the integration of a Coordinated Entry System into its homeless system-of-care. This historical prospective study examined the predictors of establishing eligibility for permanent housing resources among 15,042 single homeless adults enrolled in the Coordinated Entry System Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to assess the relationship between client vulnerability as measured by the triage tool VI-SPDAT and establishing client eligibility for permanent housing. Overall, being of moderate or high vulnerability was associated with establishing eligibility for a permanent housing resource. Veterans established eligibility faster and more frequently than others, regardless of their vulnerability score. However, the demand for services far outweighed the ability of the system to respond to those with moderate to high vulnerability. More housing navigators and fewer client “hand-offs” between housing professionals are recommended to increase the efficiency of the process. Additional research examining the second and third steps is also needed to more fully understand the factors that promote permanent housing solutions for those seeking services.

KEYWORDS:

• Coordinated Entry System
• homelessness
• housing first
• VI-SPDAT
• eligibility

Acknowledgements

The authors of this paper recognize the contributions of Dr. Karen Ferran, Ms. Juune Esguerra and the members of the Data team at the Regional Task Force on the Homeless San Diego. In addition, the authors would like to acknowledge the hard-working outreach team members, and those that are experiencing homelessness for their cooperation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Declaration of interest statement

No authors were affiliated with the development of the VI-SPDAT. Tamera Kohler and Megan Hartrick were employees and Suzanne Lindsay had a consulting contract with the Regional Task Force on the Homeless San Diego at the time of this study. There was no financial gain for any of the authors involved, and no conflicts of interest to declare.