The Continuum of Care

How the Sacramento City and County Continuum of Care (CoC) supports a coordinated response to homelessness.

Homelessness is complex. Disconnected responses don’t work.

Sacramento’s homelessness crisis can’t be addressed by one organization alone. Without coordination, services can be duplicated, resources can be misaligned, and people can fall through the cracks.

The Sacramento City and County Continuum of Care (CoC) is here to ensure every resource counts, every decision is informed. We are bringing together partners from across our community to create a shared plan of action.

The Continuum of Care Makes a difference.

Resolving homelessness requires many voices, aligned efforts, and accountability. The Sacramento CoC is a federally designated, community-driven decision-making body that coordinates funding, programs, and strategies to address homelessness. It’s part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) nationwide CoC Program, which promotes community-wide commitment to resolving homelessness.

Sacramento Steps Forward leads the CoC, convening a board of nonprofit providers, advocates, partners with lived expertise, City and County representatives, and public and private sector partners. Together, we:

  • Administer the CoC Program Competition, bringing millions of dollars of funds into our community for service providers every round.
  • Oversee review and ranking of local projects, ensuring providers understand the process while aligning local efforts with state and national strategies.
  • Implement Sacramento’s Coordinated Access System to help our most vulnerable neighbors, ensuring funds have maximum impact for those in need.
  • Manage the Homeless Management Information System that collects key data for our system.
  • Submit required HUD data requirements that include housing inventory county, sheltered point-in-time count, unsheltered point-in-time count, longitudinal system analysis, and system performance measures.
  • Align local efforts to HUD’s regulatory framework, ensuring funding continues to come to our community so that housing programs and services stay open.
  • Drive shared community goals with increased transparency and accountability, coordinating our region’s homelessness action plan, plan to end youth homelessness, and a shared set of standards for homelessness services.

Since becoming the CoC lead agency in 2011, Sacramento Steps Forward has helped the region increase funding and housing opportunities each and every year.

What is a Continuum of Care?

Discover who drives the Sacramento CoC, where it fits in the community, and the impact it makes.

This is what the CoC makes possible:

Shared goals across providers and planners

The CoC fosters alignment across agencies so everyone is moving in the same direction.

Stronger funding and results

The CoC manages securing millions in funding for our community annually while working directly with community members to ensure that decisions and allocations reflect Sacramento’s specific needs and values.

Accountability and transparency

The CoC engages the community in public processes to develop and implement community-wide plans and standards to ensure trackable progress and quality care

Want to get involved?

1. Explore the Governance Charter

Start by learning how decisions are made and who’s at the table.

2. Connect with the CoC

Join public committee and board meetings to experience how our community works together to resolve homelessness. 

3. Explore Opportunities

Be sure to check in regularly for the latest updates regarding board and committee membership recruitment periods, funding opportunities, event invitations, and more.

Here are some additional resources.

Additional information on the role of the CoC Program from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

VISIT HUD

Our community’s unified action plan to prevent, respond to, and resolve homelessness.

LEARN MORE

The strategic plan to eliminate youth homelessness in Sacramento.

LEARN MORE

Participate in Monthly CoC Meetings

Find the location and schedule of upcoming CoC meetings.​

“The Sacramento Continuum of Care brings people together in a way that truly makes a difference. It is more than just a network or system; it is a community of partners who care deeply about making sure our neighbors have access to housing, support, and the chance to rebuild their lives. As someone who once experienced homelessness myself and now works in this field, I have seen the impact of this collaboration up close.

Through the CoC, we are able to coordinate resources, lift up lived experience, and build solutions that are grounded in dignity and respect. It is not always easy work, but it is meaningful, and it is changing lives every day.”
Joseph Smith
Director of Residential Services, Hope Cooperative
Chair, Sacramento Continuum of Care
“The shift in the CoC and the overall homeless response system has improved tremendously, with the adaptation, recommendations, from those with lived experience. It has led to a stronger human centered, trauma informed care approach by hearing those with lived experiences real life testimonies of what worked and what didn’t.”
Darrell Rogers
Partners with Lived Expertise Committee
Trainer, Housing Problem Solving
Vice Chair, Continuum of Care

We get these questions a lot. Here are our best answers:

What is the Sacramento CoC?

The Sacramento City and County Continuum of Care (CoC) is a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) mandated board of local stakeholders who coordinate planning, funding, and evaluation of homelessness response across Sacramento County.

Who serves on the CoC Board?

The CoC Board includes representatives from local government, housing agencies, health plans, service providers, and people with lived experience of homelessness.

How do I apply to receive funding through the CoC?

Every other year, the CoC Board facilitates a competitive grant process for local service providers, including review and ranking by a non-conflicted committee. Sacramento Steps Forward submits the region’s Consolidated Application to HUD with a prioritized project list. Learn more on our CoC Program Competition page.

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