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Health and Human Services Agency recommending the Board, in collaboration with the City of Placerville and City of South Lake Tahoe, receive and file a presentation regarding an overview and update on El Dorado Opportunity Knocks Continuum of Care and introduction to the upcoming development of a countywide strategic plan on homelessness
FUNDING: N/A for this presentation.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND:
On September 10, 2013, Hangtown Haven, Inc., and the Mayor of the City of Placerville provided a presentation on homelessness in the County of El Dorado to the Board of Supervisors (File ID 13-1132), following which the Chief Administrative Office directed an interagency task force (Opportunity Knocks) convene to examine the issue. The task force consisted of multiple entities in the community, seeking to develop and coordinate a consistent and regional presence and response to homelessness. Over time, Opportunity Knocks developed its understanding of available funding streams for proven solutions to impacting homelessness, and to better position the region to leverage these opportunities, a decision was made in early 2017 by the group to merge with the local El Dorado Continuum of Care (CoC).
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires local communities that seek to receive federal homeless assistance funds to maintain a CoC program that meets federal standards. CoCs that meet HUD requirements are local planning bodies that coordinate the community’s policies, strategies, and activities geared toward reducing homelessness.
The CoC process promotes a community-wide commitment to the goal of creating a system where residents who lose their homes would not be forced to remain homeless indefinitely, connecting them to housing and supportive services, where available. To achieve this, CoCs are tasked by the Federal and State governments to track and manage the homeless community in a local Coordinated Entry System. These sys...
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