How does BFZ define a “homeless response system” or “providers?”

BFZ defines a “homeless response system” as the organizations and entities serving individuals and households experiencing literal homelessness within a designated geographical area. The term “provider” or “homeless service provider” refers to those organizations and entities. 

More specifically, when BFZ says “provider,” we refer to organizations and entities that operate a program and/or offer services that primarily serve individuals and households experiencing homelessness. This can include nonprofit organizations, local and federal government agencies, faith-based organizations, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, and other homeless coalitions. The provider participation scorecard questions further break these providers into the following categories, which may or may not be inclusive of all provider types in your community: 

• Providers that serve people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, including but not limited to street outreach services, hotlines, and other access points 
• Emergency shelters, safe havens, season overflow beds, hotels paid for by homeless providers, or Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) beds
• Transitional housing, including VA-funded Transitional Housing
• Victim Service Providers

Depending on how coordinated entry is set up in your community, the organization that runs coordinated entry may also be included on your provider list. 

What about organizations that don’t fit the definition of a homeless service provider?

You may need to include organizations or entities outside the “homeless response system” to get to “yes” on the provider contribution scorecard questions. These could include organizations that serve people experiencing homelessness but also serve a larger population. For example, hospitals, food banks, general assistance programs, justice systems like jails and prisons, psychiatric facilities, substance use treatment centers, and more. It can also include organizations that refer individuals experiencing homelessness to services, but do not provide direct services such as libraries, general services hotlines, and others. In some cases, communities may need to include and engage these types of organizations to get to the 90% threshold set in the scorecard, especially if fewer services or resources exist that are specifically for people experiencing homelessness. 

As with much of this work, context matters, and communities are encouraged to apply these concepts in a way that makes sense to them while centering the overarching goal of the provider participation scorecard questions — including at least 90% of single adults experiencing homelessness on the by-name dataset in any given month.

Why does provider participation matter?

Gaining a shared understanding and connecting providers

A prerequisite for answering “yes” on the provider participation scorecard questions is analyzing and documenting the existing provider landscape in a given community. Coming to this shared understanding can help partners and stakeholders get clearer about who encompasses their homeless response system. Not only can this information help providers better coordinate and communicate, but it can surface gaps that may not have been evident. This gives community teams the information needed to improve their data and connect providers across the system. 

Improving equitable access to resources and services 

By increasing provider participation, a community can decrease the likelihood that someone does not access resources solely because of where they present as experiencing homelessness. By completing a full analysis of the provider landscape, a community can identify gaps and work towards connecting all possible locations where individuals may present as experiencing homelessness to the by-name dataset. This can help ensure the homeless response system can quickly identify individuals for resources and services. Existing triaging and prioritization processes can then link individuals and households to the services or optimal combination of supports that best fit their needs.