Community-Wide Standards: A Unified Framework for Homelessness Solutions

In 2023, our community established standards for publicly funded programs addressing homelessness. These standards mark a significant achievement and guide our region towards greater consistency, equity, and quality in our prevention and assistance programs. In doing so, we are stepping towards making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring in our region. 

The development of these standards involved collaboration among Sacramento Steps Forward, Sacramento County, the City of Sacramento, the Sacramento Continuum of Care (CoC), the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, more than 30 community-based organizations, and individuals with lived expertise of homelessness. Drawing on national, state, and local evidence-based practices, the standards encompass various program types, including Homelessness Prevention, Street Outreach, Emergency Shelter, Transitional and Interim Housing, Rapid Rehousing, and Permanent Supportive Housing. With these standards, we aim to lay a robust foundation for long-term, systemic change. 

The standards drafting phase, from August to December 2023, included multiple reviews and a public comment period. Feedback from stakeholders, including housing service providers, community advocates, and local government representatives, was integral to refining the standards. Additional feedback from emergency shelter providers highlighted the importance of flexibility and the role of funding and capacity in meeting these standards. These comments have been meticulously reviewed and incorporated to ensure the standards are both comprehensive and practical. 

Recognizing that many programs lack the funding, training, or capacity to fully meet these standards, we will continue to collaborate with system partners and providers throughout 2024 to ensure that implementation is flexible and achievable. As part of this work, we will invite providers to demonstrate where non-conformance is due to these specific barriers. 

In 2025, we will begin training and technical assistance tailored to service providers’ needs as we continue to implement the standards in the larger homelessness response system. 

Throughout this work, we will actively support our community’s commitment to begin sharing quarterly progress updates on homelessness response programs’ performance to expand visibility and accountability. We expect that this data will become publicly available later this year.  

We appreciate the support and partnership of all involved in developing and implementing these standards to achieve high-quality, equitable homelessness response. 

With deep appreciation, 

Ayanna McGee, EdD