Continuum of Care

The continuum of care concept refers to the spectrum of services and infrastructure needed to address the different needs of individuals at different points within the cycle of homelessness including street outreach, temporary shelter, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing.

Central Oregon Continuum of Care

In addition, the federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) designates a group to function as the Continuum of Care for its region. In Central Oregon this group is the HLC governing board, which is designated OR 503 (CoC). In this role, the board provides oversight of HUD funding for homeless services and ensures member agencies are participating in community-wide planning and strategic use of resources to prevent and end homelessness. This model encourages a community impact approach to resolving homelessness.

CoC program responsibilities include:

• Promoting community-wide commitment to employ best practices to end homelessness in Central Oregon
• Securing funding for entities to prevent homelessness and quickly re-house homeless individuals and families in Central Oregon
• Promoting access to and effective utilization of mainstream programs by implementing and leveraging HMIS and coordinated entry tools and processes
• Conducting system planning, prioritization, a gaps analysis
• Conducting a Point in Time Count of people who are experiencing homelessness,
• Evaluating CoC performance using HUD’s System Performance Measures.

Learn more about the CoC program requirements and models here

Current Funded Projects:

Our CoC (OR-503) program brings over $775,000 into Central Oregon, supporting and leveraging funds for four housing programs and 40 units of housing. Funded projects include: