A program of Pathfinders for Hope
Who Operation Iron Gate is for
Operation Iron Gate is built for organizations that send or receive handoffs in homeless services — nonprofits, NGOs, Continuum of Care lead agencies, county and city human services departments, state agencies, and large national providers. If a person leaves your organization for another one, this is for you. The pilot is not open yet, but we are: GATEHOUSE, our community platform, where Pathfinders for Hope does your intake, barrier review and the calls to agencies, is live now. Register on GATEHOUSE →
If you need services yourself, this page is not for you. Get help in Vallejo, or register on GATEHOUSE, our community platform, which is open now.
Direct service nonprofits
Continuum of Care lead agencies
County and city human services
Large and national nonprofits
NGOs and state agencies
What it does
Who Operation Iron Gate Is For: So No One Gets Lost.
Operation Iron Gate tracks every person to the resource they need. A handoff counts when someone confirms the person arrived, not when the referral is sent.
Who Operation Iron Gate Is For is clear: nonprofit providers, Continuum of Care participants, and public agencies that send or receive homeless-services handoffs.
Who Operation Iron Gate Is For also includes organizations working across a local referral path. For context on the role of Continuums of Care, see the HUD Continuum of Care Program.
In practice, who Operation Iron Gate is for comes down to a shared responsibility: the organizations that cannot stop at sending a person elsewhere and the organizations that can confirm a real next step.
Who Operation Iron Gate Is For is not a label for one agency. It is a shared commitment to a confirmed next step.
How a handoff stays in view
01
Sent
A sending organization hands the person to a service.
Record open
02
In motion
The handoff is on its way. Nobody treats it as finished yet.
Record open
03
Followed up
If nothing comes back, someone checks instead of assuming it worked.
Record open
04
Confirmed
The receiving organization confirms the arrival, and the record closes. That is a closed-loop referral.
Record closed
Today the record usually ends at 01. Everything after it is where people get lost.
Where you fit
Five kinds of organization, one gap.
Direct service nonprofits
You run shelter, outreach, housing navigation, or case management. Your staff send people to other organizations every day and rarely find out what happened.
What changes
You learn whether the person arrived, and you get a number for it that you can use in your own reporting.
Continuum of Care lead agencies
You coordinate a system you do not directly operate. Your visibility ends where each provider’s records begin.
What changes
Handoffs between your providers become visible as they happen, without displacing the HMIS your CoC selected or altering anyone’s reporting obligations.
County and city human services
You fund providers and answer for outcomes across the whole system. “Referrals sent” is what gets reported to you, and it is not an outcome.
What changes
Confirmed arrivals become the unit of measurement, while transmitted referrals remain an activity count.
Across sites and jurisdictions
When the handoff crosses a boundary.
Large and national nonprofits
You operate across multiple sites or regions with inconsistent handoff practice between them.
What changes
One standard for what a completed handoff means, applied the same way at every site.
NGOs and state agencies
You work across jurisdictions where no single system holds the whole picture and no one owns the handoff between them.
What changes
The handoff itself gets an owner and a confirmation, independent of which system sits on either side.
Before and after
What changes, by organization type
Organization type
Where visibility breaks today
What changes
Direct service nonprofits
Staff send people out daily and rarely find out what happened
You learn whether the person arrived, and you get a number for it
Continuum of Care lead agencies
Visibility ends where each provider’s records begin
Handoffs between providers become visible as they happen
County and city human services
“Referrals sent” is what gets reported to you
Confirmed arrivals become the outcome unit; transmitted referrals remain an activity count.
Large and national nonprofits
Inconsistent handoff practice between sites and regions
One standard for a completed handoff at every site
NGOs and state agencies
No single system holds the whole picture across jurisdictions
The handoff itself gets an owner and a confirmation
Every row above describes the same handoff. What changes is whether the record ends at sent — or at confirmed.
What stays yours
The people you serve stay yours.
You keep everything. Nothing routes through us.
01
Your clients
You bring your organization and the people you already serve; they stay yours.
Stays yours
02
Your systems
Your current systems stay in place. Nothing is decommissioned to join the pilot.
Stays yours
03
Your data
You can export your data and leave at any time.
Stays yours
04
Your funding
Joining does not route your funding through us and does not put your contracts in our name.
Stays yours
05
Your obligations
Joining does not change your CoC relationship, your HMIS contract, or your reporting obligations.
Stays yours
Five things stay inside. One confirmation leaves — that the person arrived.
Read moreWho this is not for
Where this lands
Who this is not for
People seeking services. Nothing on this page asks a person in crisis for their details. Get help here, or register on GATEHOUSE, our community platform, which is open now.
Organizations looking for a new HMIS. Operation Iron Gate is a referral-accountability model. Your HMIS remains the system of record. Read how the roles work together. For Solano County, see Clarity HMIS and confirmed referral handoffs.
Anyone wanting proof it worked before joining. There is none. The pilot has not launched. The North Bay Pilot is the group that finds out. What you can do now: GATEHOUSE, our community platform, where Pathfinders for Hope does your intake, barrier review and the calls to agencies, is open. Register on GATEHOUSE to watch it being built and say what you think.
Naming the edge is part of the work. Past this line, this is not the answer.
Read moreCommon questions
Before you apply
Common questions
Do we have to be in Vallejo or Solano County?
The first cohort runs the North Bay Pilot, so proximity matters for the North Bay Pilot. Organizations outside the area can request a briefing and be considered for what follows.
How small is too small?
There is no minimum. If your organization sends or receives handoffs, the question is whether the handoff is where your visibility breaks — not how many staff you have.
Can two organizations join and refer to each other?
Yes. That is the point. A confirmed handoff requires both ends, so cohort pairs that already refer to each other are the strongest configuration.
Who do we talk to?
Every call gets answered timely.
Next step
Bring your whole organization in.
Read moreHOW ORGANIZATIONS DECIDE WHETHER THE MODEL FITS
HOW ORGANIZATIONS DECIDE WHETHER THE MODEL FITS
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality provides federal background on care coordination and referral practices. HUD’s Continuum of Care information provides federal context for local homelessness-response planning. These references help frame a discussion, but local organizations retain control of their services, data, decisions, and participation.
A fit conversation should end with clear boundaries, named decision-makers, a fictional workflow test, unresolved questions, and an authorized next action. No organization is a participant until its leadership confirms that status.