Why Local Continuum of Care (CoC) Programs Work

I’ve been involved in homeless services for nearly my entire career—with a brief detour into the corporate world and a short time at a nonprofit serving domestic violence survivors. But I came back. After those experiences, I realized something fundamental:

I am deeply committed to ending homelessness.

When I first started this work, the community I lived in had one struggling drop-in center that provided meals and a cot to sleep on. They couldn’t secure enough funding to keep staff overnight.  It didn’t matter what position you had in the Organization, everyone pitched in to make things work – we stayed overnight, sorted clothing donations, cooked meals, served meals – whatever we had to do to make sure that the people who came had food, clothing and shelter.  The community’s largest church had a food pantry and their office was often responding to families in need.  A few organizations provided services —food pantries, thrift stores, a drop-in center to apply for food stamps and to complete job searches, and a domestic violence provider that didn’t yet see how their work was connected to homelessness.

It was a decent, well-meaning response—but we had no idea how many people were really in need in the community and certainly we were unable to provide services that people really needed to end their homelessness.  So despite our efforts, we were serving the symptom not solving the problem.   There was no coordination. A person might go to one agency for food, another for rent, and yet another for utilities—everyone pitching in for short-term needs. But no one knew what other services had been provided and no one did a full assessment to see what the client actually needed to succeed on their own next month.  Each organization operated in a vacuum, often with long lines and little time to really understand what each client needed.

When I look back at the history of Florida Coalition to End Homelessness, Homeless Continuums of Care (CoC) were being developed in Florida in the 2000’s.  The concept of the CoC originated from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development back in 1994, under the Bush administration.  Communities were called to better coordinate the delivery of housing and services, aiming for a more collaborative approach.  The model was formalized in 2009 under the Hearth Act.

Fast Forward 20+ Years: Why Florida’s CoCs Work

Two decades later, I can confidently say: Florida’s Continuums of Care have built something that works. While they may not have every resource needed to solve every issue, they have something far more valuable—coordination.  I wanted to take a moment to share what I’ve seen—before and after—and why this model makes such a difference.

What is a Homeless CoC?

A Continuum of Care (CoC) is a local or regional group of partners—domestic violence shelters, veteran service organizations, healthcare providers, mental health and substance use services, local government agencies, funders, churches, community foundations, and more—all working together with one shared goal: to end homelessness.

A robust CoC includes:

• Prevention services (to keep people housed),
• Diversion/Outreach services (to meet people where they are)
• Emergency shelter (for those in crisis),
• Rapid rehousing programs (to quickly move people off the streets), and
• Permanent supportive housing (for people with complex, long-term needs).

But a CoC is more than just a collection of services. It’s:

• Coordination across providers
• Client tracking to reduce duplication and improve outcomes
• Performance measurement to see what’s working,
• Resource alignment—investing in services based on actual community need
• Targeting housing and services for those with the greatest need

This is why the Continuum of Care Program works.  It’s not scattered nonprofits trying to piece things together. It’s a system—driven by data, compassion, and collaboration.

It means a local response to the need – and the community.  Of course, each community’s resources and housing opportunities are different.  The response must be tailored to the resources that are available.  And for people experiencing homelessness, its a more coordinated approach to services.  No, it’s not perfect – we don’t have every resource in every community to meet every need – no one does but I still envision a system where EVERYONE works together for one mission – to end homelessness.

If you are really interested in ending homelessness in your community, I welcome you to join your local Continuums of Care to help find better solutions.   If you question the commitment that members of this group have – I welcome you to join a meeting or come to our conference.  We are all committed to ending homelessness – to banding together –  Solutions grow stronger when we build them together.