In 2000, HUD contracted with the Urban Institute and its subcontractor, ICF Consulting, Inc. to conduct an assessment of the Continuum of Care approach. This study examined 25 Continuums of Care in all regions of the country. At the outset of the study, the Department was unsure whether the Continuum of Care concept had achieved detectable results in fostering a coordinated response to homelessness. For this reason, the study intentionally identified communities to study that appeared to have been successful in implementing a Continuum of Care. Because they had been able to convey a sense of progress in meeting their goals, these communities also happened to receive more than a typical share of funding under HUD's competitive allocation process. Among these high performers, the study sought to ensure that the study communities were broadly representative geographically, but the sites cannot be taken as representative of all of the communities that are operating HUD-assisted homeless programs. The completed study provides a rich array of information on the activities of high-performing Continuums of Care and documents the extent of progress of the studied communities along many dimensions of a comprehensive approach to homelessness prevention and remediation. On balance, the report concludes that for the high-performing communities studied, HUD's implementation of the Continuum of Care funding process stimulated increased communication within local communities in their response to homelessness. As a result, respondents generally agreed that respondents generally agreed that more people have received more services and participate in more and better coordinated programs than before as a consequence of the Continuum of Care approach. (Authors)