This month, in the CES Scoop
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Coordinated Entry Health of the System Report
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Update on assessment revamp work
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University of Minnesota Capstone Project: Planning for the Point-in-Time (PIT) Count of unsheltered homelessness
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Meet the CES Team
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Coordinated entry leadership meeting recap
The CES team has started to pull together data regarding the overall health of the CE system. The following link is to data collected through March 23, 2020 (when the VI-SPDAT was removed and the HUD data standards change took place). We plan to continue to share data with you from last year, while working on updating our data systems to collect and report current data in 2021 and beyond.
Coordinated Entry Health of the System Report
The Health of the System reports will be posted on www.hennepin.us/coordianted-entry under the Data and Dashboards tab.
Hennepin CoC CES is working with C4 innovations to help redesign parts of the coordinated entry process to ensure it is fair, equitable, and client centered.
We are focusing on the “Client Choice” series part of the assessment. In order to gain feedback, C4 recently facilitated listening sessions with Street Voice of Change, families at People Serving People shelter, and youth to identify risks indicators for BIPOC related to housing stability and homelessness. We are currently creating a stakeholder group who will assist with creating new questions to be used in the client choice series of the assessment. Stay tuned for future updates!
Topic: Strategies to Improve Point-in-Time (PIT) Counts of Unsheltered Homelessness
Date/Time: May 11th, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Description:
Students from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs conducted a study aimed to improve Hennepin County's Point-in-Time (PIT) count of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness. As part of their research, students explored how other states and communities estimate their unsheltered counts and completed interviews with key stakeholders and experts in the field. Please join us to learn more about their findings and recommendations for reforming the unsheltered PIT count in Hennepin County.
Meeting information:
Join on your computer or mobile app
Click here to join the meeting
Or call in (audio only)
+1 612-263-6117,,595070475# United States, Minneapolis
Phone Conference ID: 595 070 475#
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Meet the Hennepin CES Team
We wanted to introduce the Hennepin CES Team to the Scoop readers. This might be a reintroduction for many of you, but either way, we hope you learn a little more about the team behind the referrals.
What does the CES Team do?. The CES Team is focused on the management of the coordinated entry system. Some examples of this includes:
- Using client data provided by assessors, and vacancy data provided by housing providers, to match eligible clients to housing vacancies.
- Identifying bottlenecks and opportunities to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the process and realize those opportunities
- Ensures that Coordinated Entry is in compliance with guidelines provided by Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- Communicating with stakeholders and the community on what CES is, what CES does, and how stakeholders can be partners in the process. This includes providing information to help assessors, housing providers, funders and other actors within the homeless response system
See the bios for each of the four team members below. At the very least, we hope this helps put a face to a name and you learn a bit more about the person on the other side of the email.
Amy Donohue: I have worked in housing and homelessness my entire career (almost 25 years). I worked in shelters serving homeless families, singles, and youth in New York and Florida before moving to Minnesota where I held several roles in non-profits including: “Rapid Exit” Advocate, Screener/Assessor, Rental Assistance Case Manager, and Contract Manager. I have been with Hennepin County 6 years, with about 1.5 years in my current role as CES Principal Planning Analyst. My commitment to helping people experiencing homelessness grew out of being doubled up with my family for about 2 years as an adolescent. The experience of living in poverty and the stigma attached will always shape and center my work in the community.
In my free time, I spend time with my wife, our five children, and two dogs. I love to read, quilt (like an 80-year-old), play board games with my children, and visit with friends (pre-Covid).
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Katie DeSantis: I have been with the county for 6 years with 3 of those years being with the Coordinated Entry. Before coming to the county, I worked with HeadStart in their Project Secure Program for children in Hennepin County’s family shelters as a parent/child and health advocate. My passion for working in the homeless response system stems from being a homeless child and young adult myself. Having lived experience of homelessness gives me a different view of how we serve and walk alongside our clients. I pride myself on having empathy, compassion, and a commitment to a just and equitable response to those around me.
In my free time I enjoy reading and being outside in the sun as much as possible
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Reneea Stewart: I started with Ramsey County as a financial working helping clients that receive SNAP benefits, medical assistance, MFIP, and emergency assistance in 2012. From there I worked up to a financial worker III taking on more responsibility and doing more within the county as well as training and overseeing more emergency assistance applications. I later moved on to Hennepin County accepting a position with the shelter team in 2016 where I assisted with placing families into shelters, doing their intake, and working with them re-voucher. I also took on the role as running the employment fairs where I attended and assisted families with instant interviews and making sure they attended and worked to obtain employment to increase income. I helped with light training as well as phones and email inquire on the afterhours team for shelter. I later accepted a position with Coordinated Entry in 2018 where I now oversee the singles priority list and send out referrals for single adults and youth to get placed housing. I also assist with many other roles surrounding CES like the veterans, chronic homeless adults, as well as helping with keeping the system run smoothly by making sure all data is up to date and so much more. I absolutely love my position and what I do as I have always since a little girl enjoyed helping others.
On my free time I enjoy spending it with my two kids my soon to be fifteen year old who plays basketball year around so we travel a lot for that and my now five year who is taking on the ballet/tap and gymnastics world.
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Tracy Schumacher: My education and early career began by working with immigrants and refugees. I found a passion for working with people who have been marginalized while learning and working in Nairobi Kenya providing cultural orientation trainings at the US Refugee Admissions Center for refugees who were departing for the US. After moving back to MN, I continued to work with refugees by helping them resettle in Minnesota through work at Catholic Charities. Following that, I worked as a Family CAHS assessor (Ramsey CoC’s Coordinated Entry System) for almost three years. I have been with Hennepin County’s CES for 5 years, starting out as the Priority List Manager for the Singles system and then moving into my current role as Principal Planning Analyst for Coordinated Entry. The most rewarding part of this position is helping make high, system level changes that directly impact and improve the experience of those that we serve through Coordinated Entry.
In my free time I sleep because I have three tiny children. As a family, we spend our time kayaking, tenting in the backyard, and ice skating during the long winter months.
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Youth and Single Adult Leadership Committee
Family Leadership Committee
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