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FAMILY AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

Meeting Date:	09/26/2022
Subject: Council on Homelessness 2022 Quarter 2 Report (April - June)
Submitted For:	Anna Roth, Health Services Director
Department:	Health Services
Referral No.:	5
Referral Name:	Homeless Continuum of Care / Health Care for the Homeless
Presenter:	Jaime Jenett, Health Services Community Engagement Specialist, Juno Hendrick, COH Chair, and Jo Bruno, COH Vice Chair	Contact:	Enid Mendoza, (925) 655-2051

Information

Referral History:

Health, Housing and Homeless Services Division staffs the Council on Homelessness, which functions as both an advisory board to the Board of Supervisors and the governing board of the Contra Costa County Homeless Continuum of Care. The Council provides advice and input to the Board of Supervisors on the operations of homeless services, program operations, and program development efforts in Contra Costa County.

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 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.

The Council sumbitted its last quarterly report to the Family and Human Services Committee on May 23, 2022, which was approved and forwarded to the Board of Supervisors at their June 7, 2022 meeting. The Board approved the 2022 Q1 Council on Homelessness Report as recommended.

Referral Update:

The Health Services Department Health, Housing and Homeless Services division and the Council on Homelessness have prepared the attached Homeless Continuum of Care 2022 Quarter 2 report and presentation. Please review the attachments for the quarter 2 updates.

Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):

ACCEPT the Homeless Continuum of Care 2022 Quarter 2 report from the Health Services Department, Health, Housing and Homeless Services division and the Council on Homelessness, and forward to the Board of Supervisors for their information.

Fiscal Impact (if any):

There is no fiscal impact for the acceptance of this report.

Attachments
Homeless Continuum of Care 2022 Q2 Report
Homeless Continuum of Care 2022 Q2 Presentation