In November 2014, the Board approved “Forging Ahead Towards Preventing and Ending Homelessness: An Update to Contra Costa’s 2004 Strategic Plan”, that renewed the County's 2004 plan with the latest data, best practices, and community feedback and reaffirmed the County's commitment to the Housing First approach. As such, “Forging Ahead” establishes this guiding principle:
“Homelessness is first a housing issue, and necessary supports and services are critical to help people remain housed. Our system must be nimble and flexible enough to respond through shared responsibility, accountability, and transparency of the community.”
The Strategic Plan Update identifies two goals:
1) Decrease the length of time people experience homelessness by focusing on providing Permanent Housing and Services; and
2) Decrease the percentage of people who become homeless by providing Prevention activities.
To achieve these goals, three strategies emerged:
- Implement a coordinated entry/assessment system to streamline access to housing and services while addressing barriers, getting the right resources to the right people at the right time; and
- Use best, promising , and most effective practices to give the consumer the best possible experience through the strategic use of resources; and
- Develop the most effective platforms to provide access, support advocacy, and connect to the community about homelessness and available resources.
The Contra Costa Council on Homelessness (COH), a Board of Supervisors appointed body, provides advice and input on the operations of homeless services, program operations, and program development efforts in the County. The COH establishes the local process for applying, reviewing and prioritizing project applications for funding in the HUD Homeless Assistance Grant Competitions, including the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program and the Emergency Solutions Grant Program.
The County Health, Housing and Homeless Services Division (H3) of the Health Services Department partners with the COH to develop and carry out an annual action plan that identifies the objectives and benchmarks related to each of the goals and strategies of Forging Ahead. Further, H3 incorporates the strategic plan goals into its own delivery system of comprehensive services, interim housing and permanent supportive housing as well as contracting with community agencies to provide additional homeless services and housing with the goal of ending homelessness in our community.
The Council submitted its last quarterly report (Q3) to the Family and Human Services Committee on November 28, 2022, which was later approved and accepted by the Board of Supervisors at their December 13, 2022 meeting. At the November FHS meeting, members requested updates on the Homeless Housing, Assistance Prevenetion (HHAP) Grant when available, as well as considerations for the inclusion of the landlord voice in the reports or advisory body membership. |