Agenda

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FAMILY AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

Meeting Date:	05/24/2021
Subject: Quarterly Status on Continuum of Care Plan for the Homeless
Submitted For:	Monica Nino, County Administrator
Department:	County Administrator
Referral No.:	FHS #5
Referral Name:	Continuum of Care Plan/Healthcare for the Homeless
Presenter:	Jaime Jenett, Continuum of Care Planning and Policy Manager	Contact:	Jaime Jenett (925) 608-6716

Information

Referral History:

The Family and Human Services Committee received a report on the homeless continuum of care in November 2020. The Committee requested quarterly updates on the status of efforts. This is the first of those quarterly reports.

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;
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 Homeless Program of the Health, Housing and Homeless Services Division partners with the Homeless Advisory Board and Continuum of Care 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, the Homeless Program 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.

At the previous report to FHS one year ago, Jaime Jenett, HSD Continuum of Care Planning and Policy Manager, presented a data summary of the 2018 Point In Time Count of the homeless population and described the Built for Zero Campaign and the recent addition of warming centers, which targeted veterans and the chronically homeless. Supervisor Gioia asked for a status of the Richmond housing site and expressed frustration over the lack of progress. He requested of staff that future statistical reports detail the number of people who actually received permanent housing. Supervisor Andersen praised the work of staff and suggested the 211 resource as a way to connect the homeless to needed services. She also suggested having the Youth Action Council work on engaging more youth.

Referral Update:

Please see the attached Homeless Continuum of Care Quarterly Report for Q1 2021.

Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):

ACCEPT this report from the Health Services Department

Attachments
2021 Q1 Report for Homeless Continuum of Care