Background
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires communities to establish a local Continuum of Care (CoC) to oversee policies, programming and funding related to eradicating homelessness. The Coalition to End Homelessness (the “Coalition”) serves as Howard County’s Continuum of Care and is a collaborative community-based planning and advocacy body that seeks to ensure the needs of persons who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness within the County are being met.
The Purpose of the Coalition is to:
• Promote community-wide planning and strategic use of resources to the goal of ending homelessness;
• Promote access to and effective utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families;
• Improve data collection and performance measurement; and
• Optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
Responsibilities of the Coalition:
Operating the CoC
Designating and Operating an HMIS
CoC Planning
Participating in the Coalition:
The Coalition is broadly representative of the Howard County community. Any individual or organization with an interest in understanding and addressing the issues related to homelessness or with a desire to participate in Howard County’s response to prevent and end homelessness may become a member of the Coalition. Many stakeholders are invested in addressing homelessness in this community, and the Coalition believes that people with lived homeless experience are equally important. All persons with lived experience are invited to be members and afforded the same benefits of any other CoC members.
The Coalition invites new members to join at any time during the year.
Please send any questions on joining the Howard County Coalition to End Homelessness, its Governance Board or committees, to: CoC@howardcountymd.gov.
Coalition to End Homelessness Governance Charter
Mailing Address:
Mark Slater, CoC Manager
Coalition to End Homelessness - Continuum of Care Program
Division of Homeless Services
Howard County Department of Housing & Community Development
9820 Patuxent Woods Drive, Columbia, MD 21046
The Coalition to End Homelessness Board
The Path Home - 2022 Progress Report
The Path Home
The Office of Community Partnerships worked with the Howard County Coalition to End Homelessness to update and further the work of the 2010 Plan. The title of the new plan, The Path Home, refers to the Coalition’s goals to strengthen the Coordinated Entry System – the path – to allow clients to return to stable, sustainable housing. It is a five-year strategic plan to end homelessness in Howard County, and will be implemented by the Coalition through annual action plans to ensure that homelessness is rare, brief and nonrecurring. “The Path Home” has been developed in partnership with the Coalition to End Homelessness Board (CoC) with input from: the State of Maryland Department of Housing & Community Development, The National Alliance to End Homelessness, various Howard County Departments and Offices, and the community-wide Coalition to End Homelessness.
Update: The Path Home - 2022 Progress Report
If you have questions related to The Path Home, please contact: The Division of Homeless Services at CoC@howardcountymd.gov.
National Alliance to End Homelessness Assessment
The DCRS Office of Community Partnerships contracted the National Alliance to End Homelessness to conduct an assessment and analysis of our homeless response system and provide actionable recommendations for system improvements. The assessment was requested to address the lack of system flow in our current homeless response system. Recommendations from this assessment will be used to support the implementation of the county’s updated plan to end homelessness, The Path Home.