COA - Council On Accreditation

Street Outreach Services/Mobile Outreach Services are offered to individuals and families not served or are underserved by existing community service delivery systems.

Drop-In Centers provide daytime shelter that is safe, secure, comfortable, and non-stigmatizing.

Note: Outreach programs that provide case management will also complete COA's Case Management standards (CM). Programs that provide mental health or substance use services will also complete COA's standards for Outpatient Mental Health Services (MH) or Services for Substance Use Conditions (SA).

Note: Please see Self-Paced_Training: Outreach Services (OS) in the Tools Index for additional assistance with this standard.

Research Note: Outreach services often progress in phases, with individuals moving from accepting food, to establishing trust, to discussing a goal, to accepting services.


	PURPOSE: Outreach Services engage homeless individuals and families as a first step to accepting care for immediate health and safety needs, using services and resources, including housing resources, and taking steps to become integrated into the community.

RELATED FILES

NA Request.doc
OS Private Template.doc
OS Reference List.pdf


	OUTREACH Contact initiated by a provider to identify persons in need of services, to provide information to them about services and benefits, and to encourage the use of appropriate services.


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION