Policies and Procedures
The RICoC has established policies and procedures that guide the CoC’s work.
Opening Doors Statewide Plan to End Homelessness
Through its Housing Resources Commission and Interagency Council on Homelessness, the State of Rhode Island adopted Opening Doors Rhode Island (ODRI), a strategic plan to end homelessness in 2012. This plan is fully aligned with the federal Opening Doors Plan to End Homelessness that was issued in 2010 and serves as a guiding document for the RICoC. ODRI’s goals, strategies, and objectives include:
- Eliminate homelessness among Veterans in five (5) years (2017);
- Eliminate chronic homelessness in five (5) years (2017);
- Significantly reduce homelessness among families, children and youth in ten (10) years (2022); and
- Set a path to reducing all homelessness.
RICoC Policies and Procedures
The RICoC Board has adopted the policies to ensure compliance with HUD regulations and to support efforts to assist homeless and at-risk residents in Rhode Island in obtaining housing, economic stability, and an enhanced quality of life. The Policies and Procedures also serve as written standards that include the core requirements and community standards for developing housing and services for people experiencing homelessness in Rhode Island.
HMIS Policies and Procedures
The HMIS Policies and Procedures guide the operation of the RICoC Statewide Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). The RI HMIS is a web-based database used by homeless service organizations across the RICoC to collect and report client-level data on households experiencing or at risk of becoming homeless. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that all CoC’s grantees use HMIS. In Rhode Island, the current HMIS Lead Agency is the RI Coalition to End Homelessness.
Coordinated Entry Policies and Procedures
The RICoC’s Coordinated Entry System (CES) is a mechanism for assessing, prioritizing, and referring households experiencing homelessness as quickly as possible to the intervention that will most efficiently and effectively end their homelessness. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that all CoCs implement and administer a Coordinated Entry System. In Rhode Island, the current CES Lead Agency is the RI Coalition to End Homelessness.