More About | Office of Homeless Services

As the lead agency for the Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Continuum of Care (CoC), the Office of Homeless Services (OHS) aligns local efforts to reduce and end homelessness. The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing - HEARTH Act and the  U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness’ strategic plan inform and guide much of OHS’ work.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with other federal partners are focused on assuring that homelessness is:

• Rare
• Brief
• Non-reoccurring

The HEARTH Act requires CoCs to develop a systemic response to homelessness which includes:

• Establishing a Coordinated Entry System.
• Providing immediate shelter if needed
• Encouraging low barrier shelter and program requirements
• promoting a “housing first,” rapid exit response to homelessness
• Prioritizing the highest need individuals and families for the costlier interventions/resources

In addition, OHS leads the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) for the CoC. The HMIS database tracks demographic and outcome information for every person assisted with federal homeless assistance grant funds. HUD defines the data elements and reporting formats.