Welcome

The Anchor Community Initiative Resource Hub is a collection of resources, tools and case studies to help you use data to end youth and young adult homelessness in your community.

CROSS SYSTEM COORDINATION: BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

This page provides resources and guidance around By Name List Scorecard questions 2D and 3D:

2C) Does your homelessness system partner with, and have specific protocols for coordinating with other key systems to quickly and accurately identify young people within those systems who are experiencing homelessness including: Publicly paid inpatient behavioral health treatment—mental health and substance use disorder programs?

3C) Does your homelessness system partner with, and have specific protocols in place for coordinating with other key systems to ensure that young people in those systems experiencing homelessness are added to your by-name list, including: Publicly paid inpatient behavioral health treatment—mental health and substance use disorder programs?

Resources:


Example Protocols and MOUs:


Questions to Consider: 

  • When you’re talking about your local inpatient behavioral health system, what and who do you mean? Organizations, people, government agencies, community partners, etc. 

  • Are young people experiencing homelessness and/or housing instability in the inpatient behavioral health system (upon entry or exit) quickly identified as such? 

  • How would they be identified and by who? 

    • Once identified, what process does your inpatient behavioral health system follow to stabilize housing? 

    • How would the homelessness system be utilized? What would the impact on data collection on the YBNL be? 

  • What protocols or policies already exist between local partners in the inpatient behavioral health system and homelessness system? 

    • How could this partnership be formalized? What would need to happen and who would need to be involved? 

  • How does your inpatient behavioral health system define homelessness and does it align with the definition above? What is the impact on what is known/unknown in the homelessness system?

  • How does your inpatient behavioral health system collect information about young people experiencing homelessness and/or housing instability? What are the possibilities for data sharing and/or data collaboration?

  • Does your community have clear protocols in place to coordinate with your local inpatient behavioral health system to identify YYA who are experiencing homelessness and connect them to resources? 

  • Who has the most influence over this being a yes? 

  • What things are already happening to turn this into a yes?


Actions to Consider: 

  • Identify the inpatient behavioral health system providers who serve YYA in your county. Meet and discuss this question, action plan as needed. 

  • Meet with local case managers to discuss what programs and organizations they connect their YYA to for mental and behavioral health services, as well as substance use services. Set up information meetings with these resources to discuss this question and action plan as needed. 

  • Do a system mapping exercise of how a YYA in ____ inpatient behavioral health system/program experiencing housing instability would access services. Draw out all the pathways, identify barriers, and work with staff and YYA to complete. 

CROSS SYSTEM COORDINATION: CHILD WELFARE/FOSTER CARE

COORDINATING WITH LOCAL TRIBAL NATIONS