Counties making push for comprehensive homelessness plan

Counties have labored arduous for years to companion with cities, the state and neighborhood organizations to struggle homelessness. We’ve developed assets and improvements to increase housing and companies for unsheltered residents struggling on our streets.

And but, making actual progress has been troublesome to realize as a result of California doesn’t outline clear state, county or metropolis roles and duties in addressing homelessness — which leaves us with the present patchwork of options that aren’t yielding the outcomes we want after we want them most.

Till we reply some primary questions — Which entity is liable for what? Are these duties correctly aligned with authority, flexibility and sustainable funding? How can we design and apply accountability to make sure one of the best outcomes? — California will proceed to reside with the disgrace of main the nation with practically 200,000 unsheltered kids and adults throughout our state.

We should change course. We are able to’t proceed to do the identical issues, in the identical method, with little inter-governmental coordination or true collaboration.

We want a transparent and complete system that aligns assets and duties with agency accountability in any respect ranges of presidency.

As members of the California State Affiliation of Counties (CSAC) Govt Committee, we’re proud to have helped develop AT HOME, a framework to handle all parts of homelessness in California.

The AT HOME plan (https://www.counties.org/home-plan) units forth accountability measures and a framework for clear roles and duties on the metropolis, county, state, and federal ranges of presidency.

AT HOME elevates homelessness as a shared high California precedence.

We’ve got statewide plans to supervise different shared priorities, together with our youngsters’s training and upkeep of streets and roads. These priorities are addressed via complete programs with clearly outlined duties at every stage of presidency and sustained funding.

Making a statewide framework to handle homelessness with clearly outlined duties and ongoing funding also needs to be a shared state precedence and would make sure that all of us, at each stage of presidency, has possession of this problem.

The pillars of AT HOME are accountability, transparency, housing, outreach, mitigation and financial alternative.

AT HOME prioritizes housing but in addition focuses on prevention and offering important wrap-around companies and financial alternatives to previously homeless people to make sure their ongoing success.

AT HOME was developed by counties over the past 12 months and relies on an intensive examination of the sophisticated and but typically ineffective internet of packages and funding streams out there as we speak.

AT HOME is equitable and designed to fulfill the scope of the problem in any neighborhood. It invitations collaboration and progress and discourages finger-pointing, short-term fixes and cash grabs.

Our strategy to homelessness have to be based mostly on accountability for each stakeholder and authorities entity — metropolis, state and counties. That’s why accountability is the muse for all the AT HOME framework.

Accountability means transparency and measurable outcomes. It means trying on the information and making the choice to proceed supporting our profitable efforts and redirecting funds away from those who haven’t produced efficient outcomes.

We’re ready to work in partnership with our metropolis colleagues, state leaders and all stakeholders to create a complete, efficient and accountable system to handle homelessness. This may contain discomfort and dealing with harsh realities, however solely by working collectively can we considerably scale back homelessness in California.

That work should begin now.

There will likely be a historic summit in Sacramento in April between county and metropolis leaders to interact in creating and implementing a complete statewide plan to handle homelessness. We imagine AT HOME is the trail ahead.

Keith Carson is an Alameda County supervisor. Susan Ellenberg is a Santa Clara County supervisor. John Gioia is a Contra Costa County supervisor.