COORDINATED ENTRY SYSTEM (CES)

As the administrator of the Individual Coordinated Entry System for the County, our CES team facilitates housing match meetings, trainings, regional partner meetings, and holds office hours for individuals experiencing homelessness. Friendship Shelter also serves as an access point for homeless individuals through our shelter and street outreach programs; and as a housing provider accepting enrollments of homeless individuals matched to our housing opportunities through CES. We attend CES meetings to advocate for eligible clients to be matched to appropriate housing services and resources, and share housing opportunities available within our own programs. 

Friendship Shelter's current system-wide leadership began in February 2021, when the organization began contracting with County of Orange to administer the countywide Individual Coordinated Entry System (ICES) for unaccompanied adults. Under the leadership of Friendship Shelter's program manager, ICES has made significant improvements in efficiency, transparency, and performance.

Friendship Shelter has provided leadership since the earliest iteration of Orange County’s CES, including advocating among fellow service providers for the adoption of the strategy. Our Executive Director Dawn Price was a member of the small working group that was convened prior to the County's adoption of CES to assess available models and identify Orange County's preferred system. Friendship Shelter was among the first housing organizations to place tenants in units and was one of the first shelter providers to assess and document client eligibility for housing using CES.