The City of Fort Wayne is one of four pilot communities chosen to try out a new tool that may help connect homeless individuals with the services they need.
The announcement was made Tuesday.
The initiative will support “coordinated assessments,” which is the idea of examining all aspects of someone’s history and needs. The tool will also help identify the most vulnerable individuals and families and prioritize them for care.
That’s crucial since the city’s homeless system is over capacity, and openings are first come first serve. That’s according to Tiffany Bailey, director of United Way’s 211 services. She says the new program aims to improve efficiency, but it won’t fix systemic problems.
“The unfortunate thing of trying to implement coordinated assessment is at this time," says Bailey, "the monetary to funding to help support it, and support the capacity for it is not coming with the mandate.”
What the coordinated assessment tool will actually be has not yet been determined; neither have metrics for success of the program.
The first phase of the pilot will focus on chronically homeless individuals, and those in need of mental health and addictions treatment. It rolls out in April.