Homelessness in Chester County
Homelessness does not discriminate against age, gender, race, religion, or socio-economic status. No one expects to become homeless, but everyone deserves a supportive pathway back to stable housing. These data sets help us better understand homelessness in our community, show the need for additional funding, affordable housing and wrap-around services, and ultimately, support our efforts to prevent and end homelessness in Chester County.
In One Year: Chester County’s Continuum of Care System Performance Data
Coordinated entry supports fair, equitable, and rapid access to housing assistance and stability services. All services in the coordinated entry system are tracked through the Chester County Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) to help generate data that informs system improvement. Each year, we report our system performance data to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and evaluate this data looking for markers of success and areas for improvement. According to HUD, an effective coordinated entry system ensures that assistance is allocated as effectively as possible and accessible no matter where or how people present.
How do we measure success?
To measure the efficacy of our system overall, HUD requires we look for:
an overall decrease in the number of people experiencing homelessness,
a decrease in the number of people experiencing homelessness for the first time, and
a decrease in the length of stay in emergency shelters and transitional housing.
decrease in the rate of returns to homelessness,
successful employment or income growth, and
successful placement/retention from permanent housing.