1. FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CT
COORDINATED ACCESS
P R I O R I T I Z I N G H O U S I N G R E S O U R C E S U S I N G T H E V I S P D A T

2. COORDINATED ACCESS:
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
A Broken System
Opening Doors
Retooling the Crisis Response System
Coordinated Access

3. THE BRIDGEPORT HOUSING FIRST
(BHF) COLLABORATIVE
• Alpha Community Services – YMCA (ACS)
• Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport (HACB)
• Operation Hope (OH)
• New Reach(NR)
• Supportive Housing WORKS (SHW)

4. BHF: AN AGENT OF CHANGE
• Evidence-based program
design
• Inter-agency collaboration
and leveraging services
• Cross sector collaborations
• Partnership with Housing
Authority
• VI 2012  Change in PHA’s
administrative plan
• Support from HUD

5. EVIDENCE THAT IT WORKS
• New funding streams and sources of subsidies
• 123 chronically homeless individuals and families
housed within the last 2.5 years
• 95% remain stably housed
• 65% housed 6 months or longer
• 38% housed 12 months or longer
• 2.5% Club
• Support from HUD  More providers participating
• 50% decrease in chronic homelessness over the
course of 2 years
• Regional efforts – ODFC

6. WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO PRIORITIZE
HOUSING IN YOUR COMMUNITY?
• Common assessment tool
• Good data
• Leveraging existing resources
• More efficiently and effectively targeting housing
resources
• Re-informing policy
• Coordinated Access System

7. COMMON ASSESSMENT TOOL
• VI SPDAT
• Vulnerability Index
• Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool
• Community Customization
• Why the VI SPDAT?
• Brief
• Grounded in research
• Widespread utilization
• Triage capabilities

8. WHAT DOES IT ACCOMPLISH?
• Allows us to targeting the appropriate level of
resources to those who need it
• Does away with a first-come, first-served waitlist
system
• Delivers specific and concrete information about
what our community needs
• Common assessment tool among all providers
• Data sharing

10. HOW CAN YOU IMPLEMENT THE
VI SPDAT IN YOUR COMMUNITIES?
• Conduct a community-wide Registry Week
• Week-long street and shelter outreach campaign
• Humanizes the issues by putting a name, face, and story to
homelessness
• Engages volunteers and increases awareness
• Increases community participation and collaboration

11. STRIVE FOR SUSTAINABILITY
• Incorporate the tool into the intake process to
ensure it is all-inclusive and comprehensive
• Update surveys and client’s information on a routine
basis
• Coordinated Assessment

12. • Physical Registry
REAL TIME DATA:
The Physical Registry

13. CHANGE WHAT IT MEANS
TO HAVE DATA

14. SYSTEMS LEVEL IMPLICATIONS
• Line up housing resources
• Targeting resources more effectively
• Re-informing policy

15. VI SPDAT AND COORDINATED ACCESS
VI-SPDAT
HMIS
Community
Waitlist
Housing First
Initiatives
Rapid
Rehousing
Social Services
for Veteran
Families
CT Integrated
Healthcare &
Housing
Neighborhoods
Community Care
Team
Coordinated
Access
Housing
First
Integrating
Healthcare

16. INCREASED SYSTEM EFFECTIVENESS
• The BHFC model is now being replicated throughout
Fairfield County
• The CT Rapid Rehousing Program is also prioritizing
using this tool
• Enhanced CA System

17. KEYS TO OUR SUCCESS
Knowing our homeless neighbors by face and
name and truly understanding their needs
Targeting housing to the most in need
Increasing collaboration and open communication
Leveraging mainstream resources
Aligning the needed resources
Having a very specific common goal and a shared
vision
Having an effective social service infrastructure and
ensuring the use of best practices
Thinking innovatively to use existing resources in
more efficient ways

18. LESSONS LEARNED
• Getting it done is better than getting it perfect
• Take risks
• Do not wait for funding
• Collaboration is hard
• Barriers that our clients face (no IDs, criminal convictions,
addiction and mental health issues – get people
document ready ASAP)
• Preparing clients in crisis for the fact that the process
takes times (housing is not immediate)
• Build in flexibility so other information is considered
• Housing Placement Team meetings
• Data is critical
• There will be gaps in services, but collecting this data in a
meaningful way allows communities to advocate for resources

19. OUR INFORMATION
• Lisa Bahadosingh
• Lisa@supportivehousingworks.org
• 203-579-3180 x 13
• Lauren Zimmermann
• Lauren@supportivehousingworks.org
• 203-767-4035