Suburban Metro Area Continuum of Care

Regional Role

Anoka County Continuum of Care (CoC) is part of a regional planning group of CoC committees, called the Suburban Metro Area Continuum of Care (SMAC). The SMAC is composed of five counties of four former Continuum of Care regions (Anoka, Dakota, Scott/Carver and Washington) that had previously served as independent Continuum of Care regions.

The Mission of SMAC is to coordinate the response of the suburban metropolitan counties to homelessness and maximize access to funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development McKinney-Vento Continuum of Care competition.

The Suburban Metro Area Continuum of Care is the entity that provides leadership and strategic planning to address the needs and resources of the homeless population within the Suburban Metro Area Continuum of Care region. It assists in the development of the regional Continuum of Care plan and works collaboratively with Local Homeless Planning Committees.

Responsibilities

SMAC is responsible to lead the following efforts and report the results to HUD on an annual basis:

1. The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)

2. Point-In-Time (PIT) Count

3. Housing Inventory Chart (HIC)

4. Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR)

5. Coordinated Entry (CE)

Importance of the Continuum of Care (CoC)

  1. It can assess capacity and identify gaps. CoC planning provides communities with an opportunity to step back, critically assess capacity, and develop solutions to move homeless people toward permanent housing and self-sufficiency.
  2. It is proactive rather than reactive. CoC planning helps communities look comprehensively at needs, to anticipate policy or demographic changes, and develop the capacity to respond to these changes.
  3. It creates common goals for which to advocate. CoC planning helps communities develop a common vision and a set of common goals.
  4. The CoC creates coordination and linkages with others. Continuum of Care planning helps providers identify ways of coordinating and linking resources to avoid duplication and facilitate movement towards permanent housing and self-sufficiency.