Tri Cities steering committee hears homelessness service updates; CDP outlines statewide eviction-prevention and housing programs

Members of the Tri Cities steering committee met virtually to review progress on homelessness outreach, housing navigation and eviction-prevention efforts and to hear a presentation from CDP, a statewide homelessness-prevention organization.

Jessica (program staff) opened the meeting with a status report on the region’s homelessness systems, saying the group has resumed monthly HSC meetings and is advancing both single-adult and family-system priorities. She said the steering committee approved a work plan for a peer support specialist pilot for families and that an RFP is expected in January or early February. Jessica also reported that a contract with CSH was executed in October 2025 and that the lead family service-provider contract with CDP was executed in December 2025; she said weekly coordination meetings aim to stand up case conferencing and that the initiative is “31% completed” with “12% still in progress.”

Christina Garcia, chief program officer with CDP, gave a detailed overview of the nonprofit’s services across the state. She said CDP’s care center provides rapid intake (the wait time to speak to a person is “less than 1 minute”), offers chat and text in multiple languages and connects people to the most immediately available program. "We have distributed over $3,000,000 in assistance for eviction prevention, foreclosure prevention, and other homelessness prevention programs," Garcia said. She also described CDP’s eviction-diversion work in courts and said the organization administers more than 700 vouchers across the state and partners with local reentry and support organizations to help households maintain subsidies.

Garcia described several programs CDP manages or supports, including the Colorado Emergency Rental Assistance Program, the HRP program (previously known as ESG) targeted to households at or below 30% area median income, a Veterans Homelessness Prevention pilot coordinated with the VA, and the THOR transformational homelessness-response program for rapid rehousing and prevention. She said CDP pairs legal services with benefit enrollment and resource navigation teams to stabilize clients and that the organization elevates client stories to inform legislative advocacy.

The committee discussed hospital discharge pathways and data sharing after members raised concerns about connecting people discharged from emergency departments to community navigation services. A staff presenter identified in the meeting as Sean described a pilot that connects discharged patients to a regional navigation center; he reported the navigation center has recorded 87 provider visits since opening and said, “in essence, we've deterred 87 visits to the ER,” as an early indicator of avoided emergency use. Members noted that not all local hospitals are on the same systems and that referrals from Porter Hospital face technical barriers in Epic that prevent automated referrals to navigation teams, prompting ad hoc workarounds such as phone calls or emails.

Jason Johnson of the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative urged partners to use data-sharing tools where available. "Our homeless management information system is an integral part of the Colorado Social Health Information Exchange, or COSHI," he said, noting that HMIS–COSHI connections can allow hospitals and providers to see whether an individual has entered shelter or been housed and improve care coordination.

Doug Muir, a regional behavioral-health leader with CommonSpirit, described the use of care compacts and legal agreements in other regions and flagged the need for privacy approvals and IT work to enable referrals and record-sharing at scale. He offered to connect the Tri Cities team with regional examples offline.

Committee members thanked CDP for the presentation and asked for the slide deck to share with local councils; Garcia said she would circulate the slides and contact information for the care center. Members confirmed large turnout and staffing for the PIT/pick count and credited Arapahoe County and HAP Force for coordination. The group set a follow-up meeting for Feb. 24, and Jason Johnson requested 30 minutes on the March agenda for regional presentations on a strategic plan and proposed board restructuring.

The meeting ended with brief thanks and goodbyes.

Next steps: CDP will share slides and care-center contact details; steering-committee staff will follow up on hospital liaison asks and data-sharing next steps; the committee reconvenes Feb. 24.