Today the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors took important action to advance the County’s overall effort to address the critical issue of homelessness. Specifically, the Board approved additional project recommendations for Phase One of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in the Housing and Homelessness Strategic Investment Area in the amount of $5,856,900, as well as funding necessary for staff to support and administer the projects for the Department of Human Assistance (DHA).
The new money funds four additional projects and administration:
- Water Delivery for Encampments: $150,000
- Distribution of drinking water to our unhoused community members in encampments began in the summer of 2021 with the use of one-time COVID-related Public Health funds. The need has continued as the pandemic and its impacts to the homeless community have been ongoing.
- Mather Community Campus Master Plan: $249,900
- Mather Community Campus (MCC) supports a variety of critical program and services supporting those experiencing homelessness throughout the County. The MCC Master Plan will provide the Board with recommendations on future capital and programming investments at MCC.
- American River Parkway Sheltering Supports: $2,457,000
- Funding for 60 beds at the Salvation Army Center for Hope that are earmarked exclusively for persons currently camping on the American River Parkway. Funding supports the beds through 2024.
- Coordinated Access System Enhancement: $3,000,000
- Streamlining the entry system for homeless response through:
- Coordinated access to initial crisis response, prevention and homeless assistance (“front-door” access) with a focus on immediate housing problem-solving and diversion to avoid homelessness or otherwise facilitate coordinated access to available shelter and other homeless assistance.
- Coordinated access to rehousing assistance (“back door” access) with a focus coordinated and standardized rehousing assessment and access to rehousing assistance, including one-time housing search/move-in assistance, Rapid Rehousing and Permanent Supportive Housing.
- Streamlining the entry system for homeless response through:
- Department of Human Assistance Project Administration: $2,315,697
- DHA is requesting to use ARPA funds in the amount of $2,315,697 to administer the projects over the life of the projects, including adding five new fulltime positions and redirecting two existing staff part time.
Read more about the new projects in the Project Description Attachment.
Previously approved projects utilizing ARPA funding include
- Landlord Engagement and Re-Housing Supports: $10 million
- This program will improve re-housing outcomes for people experiencing homelessness with an array of supportive services, landlord engagement strategies and incentives, and flexible rental subsidies.
- Sacramento County Social Health Connect: $5 million
- A Social Health Information Exchange (SHIE) is a countywide data infrastructure that links medical, behavioral health, social service and housing data from multiple sources. An additional $5 million was committed out of the Health Service ARPA allocation.
- Community Nursing Encampment Unit Pilot: $700,000
- This public health nursing team will provide outreach, client advocacy and professional case management to individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness, in collaboration with the County Encampment Services Teams
- Community Nursing Children and Families Unit: $1.5 million
- This Public Health Nursing team will provide nursing assessments and interventions, care coordination, linkages to health resources and health education to pregnant and parenting families experiencing, or who are at risk of, homelessness.
- Encampment Management Information Database: $160,000
- This project will allow for the development of a web-based Encampment Management Information Tracking (EMIT) database to help County staff and contractors track and manage response to homeless encampments.
- River District Outreach Navigation: $160,000
- The County will dedicate two contracted outreach/housing navigators to specifically work in the River District as a one-year pilot program.
- Mirasol Village Affordable Housing Project: $5,000,000
- Mirasol Village will be a new construction, mixed-income housing development. This added funding by the County is expanding the project by a total of five residential buildings that include 116 rental housing units that range from one to four bedrooms in size.
- Food Insecurity Pilot Revenue Replacement: $4,109,993
- Includes increased funding to the food bank, providing food delivery services and working with local non-profit partners to ensure the services are reaching those that need them most.
The Board will be receiving information from staff later this month on other significant actions being developed to address homelessness in the County.
For more information on ARPA funding allocations and projects, visit the County ARPA Allocation website.
