Board of Directors

Areas of focus:

• ACEH Organizational Health and Support
• ACEH Financial Reviews
• ACEH Strategic Planning
• Homeless Response System Advocacy and Fundraising for the system

Seats comprised of: 

• Funders, Business Leaders, Local and State Government entities
• One Designated Seat (non-voting): Advisory Council Chair / Vice-Chair
• Governed by ACEH Bylaws

Homeless Prevention & Response System HPRS Advisory Council

Seats comprise of:

• • Service providers
  • Victim services
  • Faith-based
  • State and local governments
  • School districts
  • Hospitals
  • Universities
  • Law enforcement
  • Veterans
  • Persons currently experiencing homelessness, or with lived experience

Governance Charter:

• • Details the functions of the CoC Committee structure and roles, resource roles, and the process for amending the charter (similar to ACEH Bylaws)
  • Outlines the code of conduct and recusal process for the council, its chair(s), and any person acting on the council’s behalf.

The HPRS Advisory Council is guided by the work of Four committees:

1. 1. Community Prioritization
      • • The HPRS Community Prioritization Committee supports the annual Anchorage Gap Analysis and Anchorage Community Prioritization process, including the implementation of Anchored Home and other community initiatives, to engage individuals with lived homelessness experience and front-line staff in the process.
   2. Compliance
      • • The Compliance Committee oversees the Oversight of community policy and procedures, HUD compliance oversight, and overall compliance with local, state, or federal funding streams. The Committee also monitors and facilitates an annual review of Continuum of Care (CoC) community standards and policies related to the Homeless Prevention & Response System.
   3. Data
      • • The Data Committee directs the strategy and monitoring of related community initiatives. The Committee tracks trends in data and shares analysis with the Advisory Council, focusing on the HUD System Performance Measures and Built for Zero data.
   4. Coordinated Entry
      • • Oversight of the Coordinated Entry revamp.

Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness (ACEH)

Our Goal

The goal of ACEH is to achieve a milestone known as functional zero — a point when a community’s homeless services system is able to prevent homelessness whenever possible and ensure that when homelessness does occur, it is rare, brief, and one-time. Learn more

Our Work

ACEH is a small team of highly trained professionals passionate about the mission. Here is just some of what we do:

• Manage the Homeless Management Information System
• Manage Coordinated Entry
• Partner with Local Public Housing Authorities
• Partner with Local Service Providers
• Oversee Anchorage’s Notice of Funding Opportunity

Ending Homelessness

The solution to homelessness is simple – housing. Unfortunately, there is currently a lack of affordable housing units and assisted living facilities in Anchorage. When we compare the number of individuals and families experiencing homelessness with the actual housing units available, we see that finding new ways to house individuals is the key to ending homelessness. Learn more

Coordinated Entry (CE)

How Coordinated Entry Works

The Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness (ACEH), the HUD Continuum of Care (CoC) Program interim rule, must establish and operate a Coordinated Entry (CE) system. CE is a tool designed to ensure that individuals experiencing homelessness are matched with the correct resources, interventions, and potential housing programs. CE standardizes the access and assessment process for all clients.

Once a client completes or updates an assessment with an appropriate access point, the client is placed within the Alaska Homeless Management Information System (AKHMIS) prioritization list. All client referrals to participating housing programs are conducted through the prioritization list. All CE participating providers must fill housing program openings using the CE referral process. To facilitate prompt referrals and to increase utilization rates, participating providers must notify ACEH of any known or anticipated vacancies/openings as soon as possible. ACEH then works to identify the next household to fill the housing program vacancy from the prioritization list. ACEH shall take all services being provided by the partner into consideration and will work to navigate the most vulnerable household that is eligible for the program into the open housing referral.

First, the housing provider informs the CE Programs Manager, or their designee, and the ACEH Transition Coordinator (TC) that they have an opening in their housing program and explains what type of household would be eligible to fill the vacancy (Single adult, Transitionally Aged Youth, or Family with minors). ACEH Transition Coordinators then use the CE Prioritization policy to provide the referral. The current CE prioritization policy is based on a client’s length of time homeless. The length of time homeless is determined by the first time the client has had a recorded contact in AKHMIS. If there is a tie between two or more eligible clients for the length of time in homelessness, the next factor in determining who is referred is if the individual or a member of the family has a disability, medical issue, or is an elder (55 years and up). Clients with medical issues threatening life and limb may be elevated to the ‘top of the prioritization list.’ Medical elevation occurs at case conferencing and is at the discretion of the CE program manager or their designee. Medical elevation first occurs at case conferencing and in special circumstances may occur through email correspondence between case manager and CE Manager. These factors help identify which clients will best fit the housing program vacancy, thus the most vulnerable participants can be served with the most appropriate intervention and not with a “first come, first served approach.”

Homeless Prevention & Response System (HPRS)

Prevention & Diversion

Eviction prevention: serves lowing and people who have received an eviction notice.

Homeless prevention: serves extremely vulnerable people who are about to lose their housing.

Diversion: serves people who have lost housing and are facing imminent entry into shelter or sleeping outside.

– “Homelessness Prevention, Diversion, and Rapid Exit” USICH, July 2019

Outreach & Navigation

Effective street outreach reaches people who might not otherwise seek assistance or come to the attention of the homelessness service system and ensures that people’s basic needs are met while supporting them along pathways toward housing stability.

– “Core Elements of Effective Street Outreach to People Experiencing Homelessness” USICH, June 2019

Emergency Shelters

Emergency shelters play a critical role in ending homelessness. Effective shelters should embrace a Housing First approach, offer immediate and low-barrier access to anyone facing a housing crisis, and measure shelter performance in order to improve results.

– “Emergency Shelter Learning Series” NAEH, April 25, 2017

On-going Supports

Ongoing supports include providing necessary services to families and individuals who have experienced homelessness to ensure that they can remain successfully housed.

– “Supportive Services Only (SSO)” HUD Exchange

Transitional Housing

Providing interim stability and support to successfully move to and maintain permanent housing.

Rapid Rehousing

Designed to help people quickly exit homelessness & return to housing.

Permanent Supportive Housing

Combines housing assistance with support services to address the needs of chronically homeless people.

Point-Time (PIT) Count

The PIT count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. HUD requires that Continuums of Care conduct an annual count of people experiencing homelessness who are sheltered in emergency shelters, transitional housing, and Safe Havens on a single night. Continuums of Care also must conduct a count of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness every other year (odd-numbered years). Each count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally. The Housing Inventory Count (HIC) is a point-in-time inventory of provider programs within a Continuum of Care that provides beds and units dedicated to serving people experiencing homelessness (and, for permanent housing projects, were homeless at entry, per the HUD homeless definition), categorized by five Program Types: Emergency Shelter; Transitional Housing; Rapid Re-housing; Safe Haven; and Permanent Supportive Housing.

Data for the PIT count and HIC are submitted to HUD via the online data submission Homelessness Data Exchange (HDX). New users of the HDX should view the HUD HDX Training Modules, a series of six user-friendly HDX training modules to help communities use the HDX and gain the most out of their data.

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) & Special Notice of Opportunity (SNOFO)

The Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness (ACEH) is the HUD-designated Continuum of Care (CoC) for the Municipality of Anchorage. Each year ACEH coordinates the submission of project and collaborative applications to fund organizational and partner programs through a competitive grant process. These grants fund the permanent and temporary housing programs in Anchorage and the coordination work done by ACEH to promote a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; support existing projects through renewal applications; and provide an opportunity for non-profits to request funding for new projects.

This year, HUD has released two funding opportunities – the Continuum of Care (CoC) competition Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and the Special Notice of Funding Opportunity to address Unsheltered Homelessness (SNOFO).

GAP Analysis & Community Education

Resources and materials.

Anchored Home, Anchorage Strategic Plan to End Homelessness: 2018 to 2021

Homeless Prevention & Response System Gap Analysis and 2021 Community Priorities – FULL REPORT

Homeless Prevention & Response System Gap Analysis and 2021 Community Priorities – SUMMARY

Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)

The Alaska Homeless Management Information System (AKHMIS) is the central database for homeless services in Alaska. AKHMIS collects client, program, and system-level data. Aggregated, anonymous data from AKHMIS generates reports for federal, state, and local funders. Client-level data is used to help connect individuals experiencing homelessness to the best resources to meet their needs. The effective implementation of AKHMIS benefits homeless and near-homeless persons, homeless service providers, agency heads, public policymakers, and the community as a whole as data can be used for individual and system-wide process improvement.