The Supported Referrals program is a resource provided through Coordinated Access to Homes, which supports individuals and families experiencing or at imminent risk of homelessness. Supported Referrals provides one-time or short-term financial assistance to remove barriers to homelessness and enable ongoing housing stability. It is administered by EHSJ in partnership with community-based agencies in St. John's, NL.
Please note that Supported Referrals is only available through community-based agencies. EHSJ is not able to complete Supported Referral requests for municipal, provincial, or federal government agencies, including regional health authorities.
Supported Referrals Process
Here are the steps you must take to submit a Supported Referrals request. Some of these steps may be completed at the same time.
- Submit a completed CAH Consent Form and CAH Intake Form for your client, if it hasn’t already been done, to ca@wecanendit.com. This will ensure that the client is added to the By-Name List and is assigned a CAH ID#. Please use this CAH ID# when referring to this client in future.
- Assess the client’s needs to access housing and/or maintain housing stability. Many of these needs are assessed through the CAH Intake Form.
- Exhaust other options prior to submitting a Supported Referrals request. For example, if the client is connected to Income Support, make sure you’ve explored options for a security deposit, moving expenses, redirect, etc. If the client has utilities arrears, make sure you’ve contacted NL Power and asked about a payment plan or an Equal Payment Plan. A Supported Referrals request will not be approved without having explored existing diversion techniques.
- Send your Supported Referrals request to ca@wecanendit.com. Please provide a sustainability plan for the client as required.
- The CAH Lead will reply to your request within 1 to 3 business days. You may be required to provide more information or documentation, especially in cases where there is no prior history of homelessness or when the amount requested is higher than average.
- The CAH Lead will provide written approval for the Supported Referral via email from the ca@wecanendit.com account. No verbal approvals are given unless followed by an email confirming details.
- Your agency will pay the Supported Referral amount to the payee (landlord, NL Power, etc.).
- Once the payment has been complete, submit the Supported Referrals Claim Form and proof of payment to asheppard@wecanendit.com for processing.
- Your agency will be reimbursed within 10 business days.
For full details on Supported Referrals, please refer to the Supported Referrals Guide
