Continuum of Care

The Continuum of Care (CoC) Program is designed to promote communitywide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, and State and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities by homelessness; promote access to and effect utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families; and optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

MDHA serves as the Collaborative Applicant for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development competitive CoC funding. The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County response to issues of homelessness are coordinated by the Office of Homeless Services.  This includes serving as the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) Lead entity, leading Coordinated Entry, and primary staffing for the Homelessness Planning Council. 

Located in the Community Development department of MDHA, CoC staff carries out:

• CoC monitoring of grant recipients
• Competition Planning and staffing relevant committees
• Staff CoC Committees & provide expertise on HUD policies
• Coordinates and maintains compliance with HUD

CoC Governing Documents

The Nashville-Davidson County Continuum of Care Charter provides the overarching framework for how the CoC and the Homelessness Planning Council (HPC – the CoC governing body) will work for the Davidson County community. This Charter – last revised and approved in September 2021 & found below – sets out the composition, roles, responsibilities, and committee structure of the CoC and HPC, whose jurisdiction is Nashville and Davidson County.

Values and Equity Statement

On January 13, 2021, the Homelessness Planning Council approved the CoC Equity & Diversity Committee’s Anti-Racism Pledge.  An abbreviated version – the CoC Values and Equity Statement – found below-  is now a part of all Planning Council, CoC General Membership and committee agendas and meetings.

We define racism as racial prejudice plus the misuse of power by systems and institutions (misuse can be intentional or unintentional). We are mindful of the racial inequities across housing, economic mobility, health care, criminal justice, and other systems. These all contribute to racial inequities in homelessness. I pledge to stay mindful of the power and privilege that I bring into every space that I enter and conversation that I have. I pledge to actively and intentionally practice antiracism when participating in CoC Homelessness Planning Council and CoC General Membership meetings, and all related committee meetings, representing the CoC in the community, and in talking about homelessness and housing issues in Nashville.

All CoC’s and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG)  recipients are required to develop written policies and procedures for sub-recipients to use in providing assistance for households experiencing homelessness.  These written standards can be accessed below, as can the CoC’s HMIS Policies & Procedures.

Homeless Management Information System

The Metro Homeless Impact Division (now Office of Homeless Services), a longtime partner of MDHA, leads several community efforts and administers the following tasks:

• Offer expertise and support to the work of the Nashville-Davidson County Continuum of Care Homelessness Planning Council
• Serve as the Continuum of Care’s (CoC) HMIS Lead
• Lead and co-lead local community efforts by serving as the backbone organization to further collaborative goals
• Provide expertise and training to implement a community-wide Coordinated Entry System as required by (HUD)
• Coordinate Metro departments in the city’s response to homelessness

A Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is a local information technology system used to collect client-level data and data on the provision of housing and services to homeless individuals and families and persons at risk of homelessness. Each Continuum of Care (CoC) is responsible for selecting an HMIS software solution that complies with HUD’s data collection, management, and reporting standards.

HMIS is used to:

• Report to funders. Program-level reporting via HMIS is required by several federal and state funders. 
• Assess community-wide responses to homelessness. Individual program data is aggregated to identify trends such as changes in characteristics of people experiencing homelessness, length of time people experience homelessness, or returns to homelessness after exiting a program.
• Facilitate service delivery. Coordinated Entry referrals are made using HMIS, and Coordinated Entry priority lists (By-Name Lists) are maintained using HMIS. 
• Support research and advocacy efforts. Aggregate HMIS data is used at the national level to assess the state of homelessness in the US and the country’s response to it.

Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP)

On August 29, 2019, HUD announced $75 million in funding to 23 communities to help end youth homelessness. The communities that submitted applications took an important step in preventing and ending youth homelessness. HUD congratulates the 23 selected communities, commends all communities who applied, and is committed to supporting them, regardless of whether they were selected.