Need and support-intensity planning

Housing First means people get housing without preconditions of sobriety, treatment, or “readiness.” Supports wrap around the tenancy. This rubric is an original case-planning aid for intensive housing-based case managers. It is not the SPDAT, VI-SPDAT, F-SPDAT, or Y-SPDAT (OrgCode). Those instruments are licensed, trained, and often required by coordinated access. Use them when your system requires them. Do not treat this page as a substitute score.

Rate each domain from 0 (no current concern in this domain) to 4 (pervasive, high-intensity need). Ratings are professional judgement, not a validated scale.

Housing history & homelessness (0–4)

Prompts: length and number of episodes; unsheltered time; evictions; whether housing was lost because of a Code ground or lack of accommodation.

Wellness & health (0–4)

Prompts: physical health, mental health, substance use as the person defines it, medication access, hospital / crisis use. Harm reduction, not abstinence as a housing condition.

Safety & risk (0–4)

Prompts: violence, trafficking, self-harm risk (refer; do not manage alone), exploitation, unsafe rooming arrangements, shared-accommodation vulnerability.

Social & community (0–4)

Prompts: isolation, natural supports, discrimination, language, immigration, Indigenous community connection if the person wants it.

Daily living & tenancy skills (0–4)

Prompts: income administration, food, documents, landlord communication. Gaps here are reasons for support — not reasons to delay housing.

Planning note will appear here

Suggested intensity bands on this rubric: 0–7 light-touch / prevention; 8–13 rapid re-housing / time-limited ICM; 14–20 intensive Housing First / higher support. Your community’s coordinated-access policy governs actual offers.

Housing First practice commitments

Housing first, then supports — not the reverse.
Choice and self-determination in unit type and neighbourhood where the stock allows.
Harm reduction and recovery orientation without requiring either.
Separation of tenancy from treatment: losing a program spot should not automatically mean losing the keys, and vice versa, except as law requires.
Intensive case management ratios that match acuity (often 1:10 to 1:20 for ICM; lower for ACT-like teams).
Code accommodation is not optional because a program is “Housing First.”