Overview
A Continuum of Care (CoC) refers to a local agency or organization that manages the coordination plan of social services for homeless members of a community. It is formally defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as
“the group organized to carry out the responsibilities prescribed in the CoC Program Interim Rule for a defined geographic area. A CoC should be composed of representatives of organizations including: nonprofit homeless providers, victim service providers, faith-based organizations, governments, businesses, advocates, public housing agencies, school districts, social service providers, mental health agencies, hospitals, universities, affordable housing developers, law enforcement, organizations that serve homeless and formerly homeless veterans, and homeless and formerly homeless persons.” 1
History and Etymology
HUD introduced the CoC model in 1994 in response to fragmentation in the requests for funding from local organizations. A community might have many organizations apply for funding without coordination, leading to duplicate services or a lack of services depending on the overlap in their functions. Individuals might need assistance from multiple organizations at once but end up with the burden of overseeing the transfer of their data between them, which would be a hard task even if they weren’t struggling with homelessness. 2
In 2009, the United States Congress codified and consolidated the CoC process into federal statutes through the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. Healthcare professionals also began to adopt the term in reference to an integrated system that could track patients over time through preventative care, emergency services, rehabilitation, and long-term management for chronic health conditions.3