Policies and Procedures
The CoC Program must maintain and follow written intake procedures to ensure compliance with the chronically homeless definition.
- The procedures must require documentation of the evidence relied upon to establish and verify chronically homeless status at intake.
- The procedures must establish the order of priority for obtaining evidence as:
1st- Third-party documentation
2nd- Intake worker observations
3rd- Certification from the person seeking assistance
First Order of Priority- 3rd Party Documentation of Homelessness
The following documentation can be used as Third Party Documentation that an individual or an adult head of household (or if there is no adult in the family, a minor head of household) is currently homeless, their length of homelessness and previous episodes of homelessness.
- An HMIS record
- A written observation by an outreach worker of the conditions where the individual was living
- A written referral from another housing or service provider
- A written statement from a community member
Second Order of Priority- Intake Worker Observation
The following documentation can be used to document that an individual or an adult head of household (or if there is no adult in the family, a minor head of household) is currently homeless, their length of homelessness and previous episodes of homelessness.
- Intake worker observation
Third Order of Priority- Self-Certifications
The following documentation can be used to document that an individual or an adult head of household (or if there is no adult in the family, a minor head of household) is currently homeless, their length of homelessness and previous episodes of homelessness only if evidence from the first two orders of priority cannot be obtained.
- A certification by the individual seeking assistance (this must be accompanied by the intake worker's observation of the living situation of the individual or family seeking assistance and the steps taken to obtain other forms of documentation.)