What is a Continuum of Care (CoC)?
HUD developed the concept of the Continuum of Care in 1995 through its annual competition for homelessness assistance grants. The CoC was envisioned as a local network that plans and coordinates funding for services and housing to assist homeless individuals and families.
ARCH is the CoC for eight parishes of Louisiana: Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, and Vermilion.
What is a Point In Time Census?
CoCs are tasked by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to track data on the homeless community in their area. These annual Point in Time counts provide an overview of the state of homelessness in a CoC, and offer the information necessary to redirect services, funding, and resources as necessary.
ARCH completes its Annual Point in Time count of people experiencing homelessness during the last week of January. The information that is collected locally is compiled with other national PIT counts and is reported to Congress.
What is Coordinated Entry?
A coordinated entry system is defined as a centralized or coordinated process designed to coordinate program participant intake, assessment, and provision of referrals.
ARCH adopted Coordinated Entry policies and procedures to govern the operation of this process in the Acadiana region. The ARCH coordinated entry system covers all eight parishes of the Homeless CoC, is easily accessed by individuals and families seeking housing or services, is well advertised, and includes comprehensive and standardized assessment tools.
Why Coordinated Entry?
ARCH’s primary goals for the coordinated entry process is that assistance be allocated as effectively as possible and that it be easily accessible no matter where or how people present. Currently, Acadiana lacks the resources needed to meet all of the needs of people experiencing homelessness. This, combined with the lack of well-developed coordinated entry processes, can result in severe hardships for people experiencing homelessness. They often face long waiting times to receive assistance or are screened out of needed assistance. The ARCH coordinated entry process helps Acadiana prioritize assistance based on vulnerability and severity of service needs to ensure that people who need assistance the most can receive it in a timely manner. In addition, the coordinated entry process provides information about service needs and gaps to help ARCH plan future assistance and identify needed resources.
What is Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)?
Since December 2000, ARCH has utilized a homeless management information system (HMIS) to connect all of the homeless providers in the region so client information and referrals can be exchanged electronically.
ARCH belongs to the statewide Louisiana State Network Data Consortium, LSNDC. As part of this statewide network, ARCH follows the polices and directions set by the LSNDC. For more information about this statewide network, visit their website at http://www.lsndc.org.
ARCH's current HMIS Administrator is Catholic Charities of Acadiana. The HMIS team is tasked with administering and monitoring the ServicePoint implementation, training users and maintaining both data quality and adherence to Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) data standards.
PUBLIC NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICE (Agency: ARCH)
Louisiana Services Network Data Consortium’s Homeless Management Information System
We collect personal information directly from you for reasons that are discussed in our privacy statement. We may be required to collect some personal information by law or by organizations that give us money to operate this program. Your personal information that we collect is important to run our programs, to improve services for individuals that are homeless, and to better understand the needs of individuals that are homeless. We only collect information that we consider to be appropriate. The collection and use of all personal information is guided by strict standards of confidentiality. A copy of our Privacy Notice describing our privacy practice is available to all clients upon request.
Public Notice (Federal Register/Vol. 69, No. 146)/Effective August 30, 2004, LSNDC HMIS Public Notice of Privacy Policy (Revised 2/2010)
Emergency Solutions Grant Program (ESGP) Notice of Funding Availability
Acadiana Regional Coalition on Homelessness and Housing (ARCH), as the lead agency for the LA-500 Continuum of Care, will submit a regional application in response to the Emergency Solutions Grant Program (ESGP) NOFA released by the Louisiana Housing Corporation on May 30, 2025. Non-profit organizations that serve households experiencing homelessness (or at risk of homelessness) within Acadiana (Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, and/or Vermilion parishes) and are interested in developing a project proposal for possible inclusion in an ESGP funding application under consideration by ARCH must submit a letter of intent to apply. This letter is to be submitted to Nicole Phillips (nicole@archacadiana.org) by 12pm on Monday, June 16, 2025.
Letters of Intent should include information on the amount of funding requested (or an estimate requested); the type of project being proposed; and a brief description of the project being proposed, including the population that will be served by the project, an estimate of the number of people who will be served (or an estimate of units or beds), and the geographic area to be served by the project. The deadline for receipt and consideration of final project proposals is 12 pm, Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
Prior to applying, applicants must be familiar with and knowledgeable of the following regulations and program requirements: ESGP Regulations: 24 C.F.R., Part 576 and HEARTH Homeless Definition Final Rule: 24 C.F.R., Parts 91, 582 and 583. In addition, applicants must be an active participant within the ARCH CoC and be familiar with and knowledgeable of the Louisiana Housing Corporation ESGP Application Package.
No funding obligations shall be implied based on the information in this solicitation of ESGP project proposals. ARCH reserves the right to accept or reject any and all proposals on such basis as may be deemed to be in its best interest. Email questions to Nicole Phillips, (nicole@archacadiana.org).