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California State Auditor Logo COMMITMENT • INTEGRITY • LEADERSHIP

Homelessness in California
State Government and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Need to Strengthen Their Efforts to Address Homelessness

Report Number: 2017-112

Response to the Survey From —
Sacramento City and County CoC

 

HUD provides two lists of California Continuum of Care (CoC) key contacts: one for Northern California and one for Southern California.
You can find these lists at https://www.hud.gov/states/california/homeless/continuumcare.
  1. Enter the CoC number for which you are completing the survey.

    CA-503
  2. Enter the CoC name for which you are completing the survey.

    Sacramento City and County CoC


  3. Enter the organization within the CoC that you represent.

    Sacramento Steps Forward

  4. What type of organization do you represent?.







  5. How many staff (full-time equivalents) does your organization employ?

    26

  6. Does your organization provide homeless services directly for clients?


    Sacramento Steps Forward provides street outreach and operates a crisis line offering referrals to services. These programs are locally funded.

  7. Are you a direct recipient on your CoC's HUD application?
     
  8. Approximately what percentage of the funding your organization administers is from HUD for the CoC program?

    50

  9. If not your organization, is there another organization in your CoC that administers the majority of homeless services funding?




  10. Does your CoC conduct an unsheltered Point-in-Time (PIT) count annually? (Including those years not required by HUD)
     
  11. In which year did your CoC begin conducting an annual unsheltered PIT count?

  12. Why did your CoC decide to conduct an annual unsheltered PIT count?

  13. What funding sources do you use to conduct the annual unsheltered PIT count? (Check all that apply.)





  14. How did your CoC facilitate the annual unsheltered PIT count?
    (For example, did you increase the number of volunteers, or find additional funding?)

  15. Did your organization have any challenges in implementing an annual unsheltered PIT count?



  16. How has conducting an annual unsheltered PIT count affected your CoC's operations and/or outcomes? If you have any data or analyses, please share specific metrics.

  17. Why does your CoC not conduct an annual unsheltered PIT count? (Check * all that apply)







     

  18. Please elaborate on the reasons why your CoC does not conduct an annual unsheltered PIT count.

    The CoC only conducts the unsheltered PIT as mandated by HUD, i.e., on a biennial basis. SSF took over as Lead Agency from the County in 2011 and initially we did not have internal capacity or funding for an annual unsheltered PIT. As we've grown, we've considered moving to annual, however, we are currently focusing our data resources on more real-time collection and analysis.


  19. What would cause your CoC to conduct an unsheltered PIT count in the years not required by HUD?

    additional funding



  20. What sources does your organization use to fund the HUD-required PIT count of unsheltered homeless? (Check all that apply)






     

    Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency

  21. How much did your CoC's 2017 PIT count cost?

    $100,000
  22. How many people did your CoC require to conduct its 2017 PIT count? (Staff, volunteers, and others)

    450

  23. How many of those identified in Question 22 were volunteers?

    425

  24. Does your CoC recruit volunteers for its unsheltered PIT count from organizations outside the homeless services community?



    The CoC used an online volunteer recruitment service called Hands On Superior California. Thousands of community members use Hands On to connect with a variety of volunteer opportunities.

  25. Please share your perspective on the reasons your CoC's unsheltered homeless population in 2017 did or did not change from that in its previous unsheltered PIT count.

    - improved process for identification of areas within the County to count, in terms of (a) more experts providing information for mapping and (b) completing the mapping closer to count night (so more people were still in the places we'd mapped, compared to past years)
    - severe flooding along riverways where homeless people typically camp and are more hidden/not accessible for counting pushed these encampments up into more visible and accessible areas
    - sharp increase in rents/lack of rents that are affordable to people with extremely low income

  26. Has your CoC reallocated funding in the past?



    Over the last five cycles, the CoC has reallocated one or more projects each cycle. Projects have been reallocated for (a) poor performance and or (b) lack of alignment with HUD priorities.

  27. How often does your CoC reevaluate final priority rankings for the HUD CoC Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), based on HUD priorities?




  28. How often does your CoC perform the following gap analyses?

    Housing gap analysis—annually

    Funding gap analysis—

    Service gap analysis—

    Other (please specify)—

  29. In what year did your CoC perform each of the following for the first time, or leave the row blank if it is not applicable.

    Housing gap analysis
    2016

    Funding gap analysis


    Service gap analysis


    Other (as you identified in question 27)

  30. Does your CoC employ specific strategies for identifying alternative funding for programs that are reallocated or do not receive HUD funding?




  31. Does your CoC have a strategic plan that integrates other publicly-funded programs that provide services, housing, and income supports to poor persons whether they are homeless or not (mainstream benefits and services)?



  32. Please provide a web address to your CoC's most recent strategic plan or email it as an attachment to CoCSurvey@auditor.ca.gov.

    email

  33. When did your CoC complete its first strategic plan?

    2006, 2016

  34. How often does your CoC update its strategic plan?

    2006 10 Year Plan, followed by a 2016 Strategic Action Plan

  35. How has your strategic plan benefited your CoC?

    assists in identifying our priorities


  36. Why has your CoC not developed a strategic plan?

  37. What grant-seeking or fundraising activities does your CoC engage in?

    Sacramento Steps Forward seeks and receives grants from local government and philanthropic organizations. Fundraising is sought through banks and the business community.

  38. Are there any strategies or unique actions your agency takes that have strengthened your CoC?

    Collaboration

  39. Please provide any information about these strategies or actions.
    Feel free to provide web addresses to any reports or email them as attachments to CoCSurvey@auditor.ca.gov.


    Sacramento Steps Forward is committed to collaboration. We are currently working with local partners to build data sharing capacity. Our Strategic Action Plan was also developed through an extensive, collaborative community engagement process.

  40. If you have any additional perspective or concerns, please provide this information in the space below.
    For example, if you would like to share additional information regarding homelessness, services, or funding.


    Sacramento Steps Forward became a nonprofit organization in 2011 to assume responsibility from the County for the majority of the CoC Program funding and for the HMIS. We are also the CoC Lead Agency and the Collaborative Applicant. We are also the operator of the CoC's Coordinated Entry System.

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