Sonoma County Homeless Data Library

  The Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) is pleased to announce the availability of Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Program Round 2 grant funding. HHAP Round 2 is a $300 million block grant authorized by AB 83 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 15, Statutes of 2020), which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on June 29, 2020. HHAP Round 2 was designed to build on the regional coordination developed through previous rounds of HCFC Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP), HHAP, and COVID19 funding to reduce homelessness. HHAP Round 2 funds should be used to continue to build regional collaboration and ultimately to develop a unified regional response to homelessness. These funds are intended to reduce the number of individuals experiencing homelessness in a given region through investing in long-term solutions, such as permanent housing, and through partnership with the State. HCFC expects applicants to strategically pair these funds with other lo...

 Greetings! When the first large Homeless Emergency Aid Program funding arrived in California's counties, homeless service providers developed ways to spend $14 million between March of 2019 and June of 2021.  Applications were submitted to the Home Sonoma Leadership Council's Administrative Entity (the County's Community Development Department), reviewed by its Performance and Evaluation Committee, and approved by the full Governing Board.  In that process, the staff prepared three-ring binders for the nine members of the Governing Board containing not only the applications but the staff's evaluation of the applications.  Here are those Application Evaluations of the services proposed. Before HEAP arrived, Catholic Charities operation of the Sam Jones Homeless Shelter, Family Services Center, HOST, and the Drop-In Center were funded by Santa Rosa.  Each quarter, their contract scope of work required them to submit reports of those served, sheltered, and housed....

 Unlike the clarity of having a Public Health official whose word is believed on the virus, confusion still exists in the Sonoma County concerning what is being planned for homeless housing.  It isn't made clearer when the Gazette repeats for the third time a boast by the Board of Supervisors in receiving Homekey funding that "Sonoma County is one of only a handful of counties to receive funding for two housing projects."  Seventeen of the 35 counties awarded Homekey grants received two or more awards.  A list of all Homekey awards that I created from the Governor's press releases (awaiting his last release), and have posted on the Sonoma County Homeless Data Library Google Blog, contains detailed information which refutes the boast.  Reversing the boast even more is the that fact that our awards appear to top the list of most expensive and among the last awarded. It's an example of the myopic and privileged view held by our officials around Sonoma's openness,...

Greetings! While I am participating in a group effort to forward to the CoC Governing Board some suggested Charter changes, I wanted to also pass along some insights  that don’t really have a place in the Charter.  In fact, they probably conflict with some of what the Charter describes.  But I want to offer them anyway, as they come from many years of serving on boards like yours. The most effective boards in existence are those which are designed to receive well-researched and presented information and recommendations, and which prepare board members to ask challenging questions.      How do you get well-researched and presented information and recommendations?  The best of the staff who support our country’s decision-makers are those who excel in establishing solicitation and vetting processes which produce the exact amount of information necessary to make clear and comprehensive decisions. The information, while essential for design and initiation, ...

HEAP Annual Reports: Cities Long Beach :  The City is also contracting with a local church to facilitate a Safe Parking program on their church lot which will provide 15 parking slots for people (families and singles) living in their vehicles. The goal of the safe parking program is to move individuals who are residing in their cars, off of the street and into safe parking spaces, while simultaneously connecting them to basic essential services and making the connection to social service programs to transition them into permanent housing. The City is working with the faith-based partner to provide site improvements including lighting, proper fencing, striping and collocation of porta potties with washing stations in preparation for utilization of this site. HEAP funds will provide for the operational costs of the program. Oakland: RV Safe Parking Site Development-Capital $121.196.00, Operations - $209,464.00 City HEAP funds have primarily contributed to the goal of reducing unshel...