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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 systems allow communities to target limited housing and services to those with the greatest vulnerabilities, often those with the most needs and that create the highest costs to local jurisdictions, healthcare providers, and service organizations.
CoCs are compliance-driven and technical in nature, therefore in FY 2018-19, El Dorado County partnered with Barton Hospital, Marshall Hospital, and the Cities of Placerville and South Lake Tahoe to contribute toward a contract with Homebase, a HUD CoC technical assistance expert. Since that time, Homebase has provided technical support to ensure that the CoC maintains federal compliance, while also supporting service providers in their efforts to improve housing program outcomes and leverage additional funding streams. Through Opportunity Knock’s evolution between 2017 and 2019, and through Homebase’s support, the development of the CoC has allowed for improved system efficiencies and successes, including but not limited to: increased program funding, access to grant opportunities, increased exits from homelessness, and improved county-wide data regarding the current homeless population.
In order to have access to available funding streams, the CoC Board of Directors was recently required to designate an administrative entity (AE) for submitting applications to the Federal and State government on behalf of the CoC. The Health and Human Services Agency was selected as the AE, and since then has sought several grants including Homeless Emergency Aid Program, California Emergency Solutions and Housing for 2018 and again for 2019, to fund ongoing activities that would build a robust foundation for the CoC and its continued successes. One requirement of receiving state funding was that county-regions would utilize a portion of the funds to develop a multi-year strategic plan to impact homelessness. These plans have increased successes in countless regions, often creating a ‘road-map’ for developing and achieving local goals, based upon available data/need.
To kick off the conversation of the development of an El Dorado County Regional Strategic Plan on Homelessness, a presentation is being provided at this joint Board of Supervisors and City Councils meeting. The purpose of the presentation is for HHSA staff and Homebase, the CoC technical assistance provider, to give a brief overview of the CoC program, its responsibilities and requirements, specific and recent accomplishments between 2017 and 2019, and a review of the 2019 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count survey conducted by the CoC.
PIT Counts are federally required bi-annually, and the data gathered in the process is used to measure the prevalence of homelessness in each community by collecting information on individuals and families residing in emergency shelters and transitional housing, as well as on people sleeping on the streets, in cars, abandoned properties, or other places not meant for human habitation. The PIT Count is the only source of nationwide data on sheltered and unsheltered homelessness, and is required by HUD of all jurisdictions receiving federal funding. The PIT Count data and analysis are submitted to HUD on a biannual basis.
Following this overview, the presentation will conclude with an introduction to the development of the multi-year homeless strategic plan, discussing a general timeline, what can be expected, and concluding with examples of successful, evidence-based housing programs that exist elsewhere.
ALTERNATIVES:
N/A
PRIOR BOARD ACTION:
1) 13-1132, September 10, 2013, presentation on homelessness in El Dorado County.
2) 17-0741, June 30, 2017, presentation on HUD CoC’s and return on investment of existing CoC’s in other counties.
3) 17-0741, August 15, 2017 presentation on Opportunity Knocks and the CoC.
4) 18-0152, January 23, 2018, California Emergency Solutions and Housing 2018 (CESH 2018)
5) 18-1762, May 15, 2018, Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) Application
6) 19-0181, February 12, 2019, Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) acceptance
7) 19-0553, April 23, 2019, California Emergency Solutions and Housing 2019 (CESH 2019)
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
N/A
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board receive and file this presentation.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
This Board item has no financial impact.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
Clerk of the Board to receive and file presentation.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT:
N/A
CONTACT
Donald Semon, Director