In collaboration with Sacramento County, the City of Sacramento, the Sacramento Continuum of Care (CoC), and the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA), Sacramento Steps Forward announced today that it is seeking feedback on a draft set of community-wide standards for all publicly funded programs serving people at risk of or experiencing homelessness in the Sacramento region. Public comments may be submitted digitally through a specially prepared form at this link. Comments will be accepted through November 16, 2023.Â
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About the Community Standards: These community standards lay out expectations and standards for homelessness prevention and homeless assistance programs receiving public funding in Sacramento County and that operate, together, to provide a Homelessness Response System. Specifically, it includes standards for the following program types:
- Homelessness Prevention (HP) and Diversion
- Street Outreach (SO)
- Emergency Shelter (ES)
- Transitional Housing (TH) and Interim Housing (IH)
- Rapid Rehousing (RRH) and Other Rehousing Assistance
- Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)
Process Background: These standards will become part of the Sacramento Local Homeless Action Plan (LHAP), which uses a cross-jurisdictional unified approach to preventing and ending homelessness across Sacramento County.
This three-year plan (July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025) was developed in partnership with Sacramento Steps Forward (SSF), Sacramento Continuum of Care (CoC), Sacramento County, the City of Sacramento, and the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA). As part of the LHAP, these parties formed the Standards Development Team (SDT) to develop community-wide performance and practice standards for homelessness prevention and assistance programs.
Beginning in February 2023, the SDT underwent a process of researching existing local standards and examples from other communities as well as facilitating listening sessions with local crisis response and housing stakeholders. This information has been synthesized into a draft Community Standards document that serves as a basis for ensuring all publicly funded programs for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness are offered with consistency and equity in service access, quality, and outcomes.Â
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Comments received will be reviewed, summarized with responses, and posted to the Sacramento Steps Forward website when completed. Â
After the public comment period, the SDT will update the final version of the standards and will present them to the CoC Board for adoption in December 2023. Following that, it is expected that final standards will be reviewed and adopted or otherwise incorporated into funding contracts for homelessness prevention and homeless assistance programs awarded by the City of Sacramento, County of Sacramento, the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency and Sacramento Steps Forward.
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Reference Links:
Community Standards:Â http://bit.ly/SacCoC-Standards
Public Comment Form:Â https://bit.ly/SacStandards-Comment