Coastal Community Action Program launches coordinated entry, reports housing gains in Lewis County
Loading...
Summary
Coastal Community Action Program told the Lewis County commissioners it launched a coordinated entry service March 1 and reported FY25 outcomes including 111 residents who obtained or retained housing and roughly $544,000 in rent and utility assistance.
Daniel Hargrove, housing and community services director at Coastal Community Action Program, told the Lewis County Board of Commissioners on April 7 that the nonprofit began providing coordinated entry in the county on March 1 to screen people seeking housing and related services.
Hargrove said coordinated entry is an intake interview that can take 45 minutes to 90 minutes and uses a standardized scoring form to identify needs and match people to housing, behavioral health and other programs. "We're super excited to be providing this service here in Lewis County now starting March 1," he said.
Why it matters: Coordinated entry is intended to streamline referrals so people in crisis reach services instead of emergency rooms or law enforcement, county public health staff said during the meeting. Johan, director of public health and social services, described "braided funding" and stakeholder coordination as a way to reduce siloed responses and improve warm handoffs between agencies.
Hargrove presented outcome figures for fiscal year 2025 in Lewis County: 111 residents obtained or retained housing, of which 63 received homeless-prevention assistance and 48 were rapid-rehousing placements. He said 42 households exited the Housing and Essential Needs (HEN) program to a permanent rental without subsidy — about 82 percent of exits — and Coastal CAP provided about $544,000 in rent and utility assistance and distributed 1,064 HEN hygiene packs.
The presentation also highlighted other supports: 19 clients connected to employment, 57 to a primary care provider, 104 housing referrals, 71 behavioral-health referrals, 31 in‑home care clients and 30 clients receiving Ryan White services for people with HIV. Hargrove said the agency is expanding a reentry team and has begun coordination with the jail and Cascade Mental Health to help people transition from incarceration to community-based supports.
Commissioners and public-health outreach staff asked practical questions about meeting participation and service locations. Kirsty, public-health community outreach, said stakeholder meetings attract about 20 participants while provider-only internal meetings average about eight; commissioners asked to be invited to observe. Hargrove said hygiene packs and walk-in services are available at Coastal CAP's Centralia office (212 North Tower, business hours) and the agency runs a Morton site two days per week.
The presentation concluded with commissioners thanking Coastal CAP for the data and for expanding services. The presenters were excused before the board proceeded to the rest of its agenda.
Next steps: Coastal CAP said it will continue coordinated entry meetings and stakeholder engagement; commissioners discussed including quarterly outcome reports on board-of-health agendas to increase public visibility of program results.
