Homeless is defined as:

1.  A household who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning:

1. A household with a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including; a car, a park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or camping ground; or

2. A household living in a supervised publically or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, State, or local government programs for low-income individuals); or

3. An individual who is exiting an institution where he or she resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution; or

2.  Any household who:

1. Is fleeing, or is attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions that relate to violence against the individual or a family member, including a child, that has either taken place within the individual’s or family’s primary nighttime residence or has made the individual or family afraid to return to their primary nighttime residence;

2. Has no other residence; and

3. Lacks the resources or support networks, e.g. family, friends, and faith-based or other social networks, to obtain other permanent housing.

This section replaces the following:

• Program Requirements: Participation in the Family Coordinated Entry and Assessment System (CEA)
• Participation in the County-wide Family Homelessness Initiative
• Participation in Homeless YYA Initiative and Coordinated Engagement Program Requirements for Young Adult transitional and permanent housing programs
• Participation in County-wide Coordinated Engagement (CE): Youth Housing Connection
• Participation in Homeless YYA Initiative and Coordinated Engagement Program Requirements for YYA drop in centers and meal programs, and Young Adult shelters

• Using the coordinated entry and prioritization process for King County, known as Coordinated Entry for All (CEA), is required.

  CEA was previously recognized as Family Housing Connections (FHC) and Youth Housing Connections (YHC), which included families and youth & young adults. Currently, CEA serves families, single adults, youth and young adults, and Veterans.

  1. The Contractor shall commit to utilizing CEA to fill all vacancies in the program receiving funding under this Exhibit, unless an exception for participation is granted in accordance with CEA Policies and Operations any exceptions for participation that are granted will be in writing and all relevant funders will be notified.
  2. The Contractor shall work with the CEA Coordinating Entity and follow the policies and procedures in the CEA Operations Manual, including, but not limited to, posting open units, processing received referrals, and requesting External Fill approval.
  3. The Contractor will work with the CEA Coordinating Entity to complete a detailed program description for any new, or current, program receiving funding under this Exhibit, as well as obtaining relevant funder approval for any changes made to the detailed program description.
  4. Acknowledging the paramount need for domestic violence shelters to offer confidential services to protect the safety of survivors of domestic violence, said programs shall be exempt from filling vacancies through CEA. The survivors of domestic violence are still eligible for CEA and their identifying information will not be entered into HMIS. The refused consent instructions are outlined in the CEA Housing Assessor manual.
  5. To ensure community collaboration and continuous improvement, the Contractor agrees to participate in meetings, forums, and case conferencing as designated by CEA.

The CEA website is currently www.kingcounty.gov/cea

1. Homeless housing programs newly funded by DCHS coming on line after January 1, 2016, will be required to align to the program eligibility standards for the appropriate type of housing intervention.  For projects already funded, DCHS will be adjusting to these standards throughout to year, with the expectations that all programs will be accountable by the end of 2016.
2. The homeless housing program eligibility requirements by housing type are:

   Emergency Shelter (to include motel vouchers)

   • Category 1 – No screening criteria
   • Category 2 – Screen out persons with certain convictions for: sex offense, meth production, and arson

     Rapid Re-housing

   • Category 1 – No screening criteria (additional criteria largely driven by private housing market)

     Transitional Housing

   • Category 1 – No screening criteria
   • Category 2 – Screen out persons with certain convictions for: sex offense, meth production, and arson

     Permanent Housing for Homeless Households  

   • Category 1 – No screening criteria
   • Category 2 – Screen out persons with certain convictions for: sex offense, meth production, and arson
   • Category 3 – Screen out persons with certain convictions for: sex offense, meth production, and arson, and persons with convictions of Class A Felonies (within past 12 months)

     Permanent Supportive Housing

   • Category 1 – No screening criteria
   • Category 2 – Screen out persons with certain convictions for: sex offense, meth production, and arson

3.         Homeless housing programs are not permitted to have additional screening for program eligibility unless the criteria are contractually required by a program funder. This includes eviction history, credit history, private landlord debt, etc.

1. The Contractor shall actively participate in HMIS to be eligible for fund reimbursement during the Exhibit period.
2. Active participation will be evidenced by the program entering a complete data set for all clients served during the Exhibit period. This complete data set will be entered within the timeframe established in the Standard Operating Procedures available on the HMIS website.  A complete data set includes universal, program specific and local continuum data elements for required report completion as outlined in the HMIS Data Collection Requirements available on the HMIS website. Universal and program specific data elements are defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the HMIS Data Standards. Programs approved for Easy Entry/Exit shall submit the approved sub-set of the data elements.
3. The Contractor shall obtain client consent before submitting personally identifying information according to procedures outlined in the partner agreement and in compliance with state law. The Informed Consent and Release of Information Form is currently available on the HMIS website. The Contractor must enter all required data according to the client’s consent status, and as outlined in the Standard Operating Procedures and the Informed Consent FAQs available on the HMIS website.
4. Clients may not be refused services based solely on their refusal to provide personally identifying information for the HMIS. This is not meant to prevent agencies from collecting information required for eligibility screening or other internal Contractor requirements.
5. Acknowledging the paramount need for confidential domestic violence programs to protect the safety of survivors of domestic violence, personally identifying information should not be entered into HMIS by said programs. Contractors are required to enter all other data elements as stated in the Informed Consent FAQs available on the HMIS website.
6. As a community we strive to have 95 percent of the data elements in HMIS and correct. Contractor data quality will continue to be a consideration for future funding and periodic data quality monitoring as outlined in the Bitfocus Partner Agreement will take place.

The HMIS website is currently http://kingcounty.hmis.cc/.

1. The Continuum of Care performance measures and targets will help our community improve services to people experiencing homelessness by providing accurate information on the extent and nature of homelessness in our community and by accounting for our success in helping people move out of homelessness. Improved System Performance is critical to meeting the homeless crisis and to the Seattle/King County Continuum of Care’s success.
   
   
2. The Seattle/King County Continuum of Care system-wide performance measures specific to project type are outlined in the table below. Exceeding designated minimums and demonstrating progress towards targets is a requirement, and specific measures are outlined below which correlate to the project type and target population served. The table below lists the performance targets for the project type and target population.
   
   

   CoC System Wide Targets
   Project Type	Core Outcomes			Entries from Homelessness	Utilization Rate
   	Exit Rate to PH	Length of Stay	Return Rate to Homelessness
   Emergency Shelter	50% (S & YYA) 80% (F)	30 days (S & F) 20 days (YYA)	8% (S & F) 5% (YYA)	90%	95%
   Transitional Housing	85%	90 days (S &F) 180 (YYA)	8% (S & F) 5% (YYA)	90%	95%
   Rapid Rehousing	85%	120 days	3% (S & F) 5% (YYA)	90%	NA
   PSH	85%	8N/A	3% (S & F) 5% (YYA)	90%	95%

3. The Seattle/King County Continuum of Care has identified system-wide minimum performance standards specific to project type and population. Projects must meet at least one of the minimum standards in 2017 to receive ongoing funding.
   

   CoC System Wide Minimum Standards
   Project Type	Core Outcomes			Entries from Homelessness	Utilization Rate
   	Exit Rate to PH	Length of Stay (days)	Return Rate to Homelessness
   Emergency Shelter	40%(S) 65%(F) 35% (YYA)	90 (S/F) 30 (YYA)	10% (S/F) 20% (YYA)	90%	85% (S/F) 90% (YYA)
   Transitional Housing	80%	150 (S/F) 270 (YYA)	10% (S/F) 20% (YYA)	90%	85%
   Rapid Rehousing	80%	180	5% (S/F) 20% (YYA)	90%	NA
   PSH	90%	* NA	5% (S/F) 20% (YYA)	90%	85%

4. Where meeting minimums is an issue and/or progress towards targets is not demonstrated, the Contractor may be required to participate in technical assistance.

Attachment: Community Development Block Grant and Emergency Solutions Grant General Requirements (PDF File)

Attachment: Foundational Community Supports (FCS) Frequently Asked Questions (PDF File)

Additional Information: FCS - Amerigroup Informational Page for Providers (Link) 

Attachment: King County Consolidated Homeless Grant (CHG) Guidelines (PDF File) updated April 29, 2022 

Attachment: King County CHG Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) & What’s New (PDF File)  updated April 29, 2022

Attachments: King County CHG Required Forms - by program type:

• Prevention Programs: King County CHG required forms (Zipped Files)    updated April 29, 2022
  
• Rapid Rehousing Programs: King County CHG required forms (Zipped Files)    updated April 29, 2022
  
• Emergency Shelter Programs: King County CHG required forms (Zipped Files)    updated April 29, 2022
  
• Transitional and PSH Programs: King County CHG required forms (Zipped Files)    updated April 29, 2022
  

Attachment: Seattle-King County Rapid Re-Housing Model Guidelines (PDF File) updated 02/25/2020

Attachment: What's New: Seattle-King County Rapid Re-Housing Model Guidelines (PDF File) updated 02/25/2020

1. The Contractor shall participate, to the extent that staff resources are available, in workgroups and forums sponsored by All Home in King County. In addition, the Contractor shall identify staff to participate in opportunities for professional development training and learning circles sponsored by All Home to further build capacity and expertise in serving families and individuals experiencing homelessness.
2. The Contractor shall commit to participating in the implementation of the All Home Strategic Plan and subpopulation Strategic Plans.