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HomeMy WebLinkAbouthome-together-2026-year-1-update-report-050923-finalHOME TOGETHER 2026 COMMUNITY PLAN YEAR 1 PROGRESS UPDATE July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022 ii Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update Contents Building an Effective Response 1 FY21–22 Key Takeaways 2 Takeway 1: System Capacity has Expanded 2 Takeway 2: New Homelessness Outpaces Housing Placement Rates 3 Takeway 3: Racial Disparities Persist 4 Takeway 4: Lack of Funding is Stalling Key Activities 5 Takeway 5: Sustainable Resources are Needed 6 Progress Towards Home Together Goals 7 Goal 1: Prevent Homelessness 7 Goal 2: Connect People to Shelter and Needed Resources 8 Goal 3: Increase Housing Solutions 9 Goal 4: Build Coordination, Communication and Capacity 10 Conclusion 11 Appendices 12 Appendix A: Background and Data Sources 12 Appendix B: FY21–22 Funding and Investments 14 Appendix C: FY21–22 System Inventory 21 Appendix D: FY21–22 Strategies and Activities 25 Appendix E: FY21–22 Key Service and Outcome Measures 28 Without addressing the impact of racism in our society, homelessness will continue to disproportionately impact African Americans and other people of color. Creating a mix of housing and services in order to reduce these enormous racial disparities is a major focus of the Home Together Plan. All of the photographs of people and of housing featured in this Plan were generously provided by photographer Steven Texeira or by providers in our community. Every person and building featured is from Alameda County and individuals pictured provided their permission for the photograph to be used. 1 Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update HOME TOGETHER YEAR 1 PROGRESS UPDATE Building an Effective Response The Home Together 2026 Community Plan (“the Plan”) relies on an extensive needs analysis (system modeling1) to predict changes in homelessness over time, and calls for significant increases in housing, shelter and direct services over five years to meet the needs of people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Alameda County. Building from the Centering Racial Equity in Homeless System Design report (released in 2021), the Plan calls for promoting racial equity through focused work to reduce the racial disparities that shape homelessness in Alameda County, including adding housing resources that more equitably address the conditions leading to higher rates of homelessness among Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC). Within the Plan is a commitment to report back to the community annually on progress. For each year of the Plan, data will be collected in the following areas to analyze progress towards the Home Together goals and to inform strategic planning for Alameda County’s homelessness response system: • Funding and investments • System inventory • Home Together strategies and activities • Key service and outcome measures Overall, progress during the first year of the Plan2 was nearly on track with what was projected as needed in terms of investments and inventory growth. Growth was particularly strong in interim programs such as shelter, which grew at 121% of the targeted inventory. Permanent housing inventory came close to the projected number needed (95%), and new housing programs typically take more time to develop. However, the simultaneous growth in new homelessness, and a lack of sustainable resources (rather than one-time funding) makes the prospect of continued progress uncertain and leaves several key strategies awaiting funding to launch or expand to the level needed. The affordable housing crisis will not be resolved overnight, but these data suggest that with stable and sufficient resources, the homelessness response system can convert investments into tangible outcomes. 1 System modeling is a structured, data-informed process used to estimate the investments needed to build a system that can provide resources to meet the current and future needs of those experiencing homelessness in Alameda County. For the Home Together 2026 Community Plan, system modeling was used to generate projections of the amount and different types of housing opportunities (or inventory) necessary to meet current and future need. 2 Progress reported in Year 1 of the Plan includes data from County Fiscal Year 2021–2022 or “FY21–22” (July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022). In May 2022 the Home Together 2026 Community Plan for Alameda County was released. This five- year plan was adopted by the Board of Supervisors, the Oakland, Berkeley/ Alameda County Continuum of Care and mayors and city councils throughout the county. 2 Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update HOME TOGETHER YEAR 1 PROGRESS UPDATE TAKEAWAY #1 System Capacity has Expanded In the first year of the Plan, Alameda County’s homelessness response system expanded capacity to serve people experiencing homelessness. Over $576 million was allocated towards system inventory and operations, more than 1,900 permanent housing opportunities were deployed along with more than 1,500 crisis response units and other resources to help resolve people’s homelessness. Many activities related to each of the Home Together goals were launched in FY21–22. The homelessness response system was able to serve 25% more people during FY21–22 compared to FY20–21. The growing population served by the homelessness response system in FY21–22 includes people newly experiencing homelessness, people served in housing programs, and people already homeless who were not previously connected to the services system. Persons Served by Alameda County’s Homelessness Response System, FY21–22 FY21–22 Key Takeaways * Interim Housing and Services include Coordinated Entry, Emergency Shelter, Homeless Prevention, Safe Haven, Services Only, Street Outreach, and Transitional Housing. Interim Housing and Services* 71% Permanent Housing Programs 29% Permanent Supportive Housing 10% Rapid Re-Housing 9% Other Permanent Housing Programs 10% 3 Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update HOME TOGETHER YEAR 1 PROGRESS UPDATE TAKEAWAY #2 New Homelessness Outpaces Housing Placement Rates While homelessness response providers are working tirelessly to help people experiencing homelessness exit to housing of their own, the rate at which people in Alameda County are newly becoming homeless outpaces the rate at which people are moving to housing. In FY21–22, 3,010 people exited to housing but more than 4,000 people entered the system.3 Homelessness is typically a “lagging indicator” of broader economic distress, so it is possible that the full impact of the pandemic and resulting recession on the number of people who will become homeless may not be evident for another year or two. The only way to reduce homelessness in the community is to simultaneously slow the rate of inflow into homelessness through prevention while accelerating the housing rate. This will take an ongoing, comprehensive, well-coordinated, well- funded strategy across the entire community. 3 The reference to more than 4,000 persons includes 3,623 persons experiencing homelessness for the first time as well as 420 persons who returned to homelessness. 4 Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update 3.2%2.6% 1.6% 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 HOME TOGETHER YEAR 1 PROGRESS UPDATE TAKEAWAY #3 Racial Disparities Persist As highlighted in the Home Together Plan, homelessness disproportionately impacts people of color in Alameda County, especially Black/ African Americans. While Black/African American people comprise just 10% of Alameda County’s general population,4 they make up over 54% of the people served in Alameda County’s homelessness response system, and 43% of the homeless population counted in the 2022 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count.5 Black/ African Americans continue to be vastly overrepresented among the population becoming homeless each year, highlighting the ongoing need for targeted homelessness prevention resources. 4 U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). American Community Survey 2020 5-Year Estimates. 5 HMIS FY21-22. 2022 Alameda County Homeless Count and Survey Report, Applied Survey Research. Homeless Program Participants by Race and Ethnicity, FY20-21 and FY21-22 (HMIS) A lack of funding for new program models identified as priorities in the Home Together Plan — specifically to expand targeted prevention programs, dedicated affordable housing and shallow subsidies — jeopardizes our ability to effectively address racial inequities in the community. County partners will continue to work towards serving populations of all races and ethnicities with housing resources at a rate that will eliminate any overrepresentation in homelessness. Race Ethnicity White Non-Hispanic/Latinx Black/African American Asian Hispanic/Latinx American Indian/Alaskan Native Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Multiracial Doesn’t know/Refused/DNC Doesn’t know/Refused/DNC FY20–21 FY21–22 Et h n i c i t y Et h n i c i t y Ra c e Ra c e 27.9% 25.7% 80.0% 79.1% 54.1% 54.5% 17.1% 16.8% 6.9% 6.6% 3.5%2.4% 1.6% 5.8% 2.9% 3.7% 4.1% 5 Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update HOME TOGETHER YEAR 1 PROGRESS UPDATE TAKEAWAY #4 Lack of Funding is Stalling Key Activities An impressive number of activities to support Home Together goals were launched throughout Alameda County during the first year of the Plan. However, lack of funding has stalled several activities that are critical to addressing racial inequities in the community, including adding subsidies for people with fixed or limited incomes, expanding dedicated affordable housing subsidies for people who do not need intensive services, and increasing capacity- building support for service providers. The addition of homeless units in deeply affordable housing is particularly critical to ending homelessness for Black/African American and Native American adults, who continue to be vastly over-represented among those who experience homelessness, encounter the greatest barriers to housing, and disproportionately return to homelessness once housed. FY21–22 Home Together Funding: Total Investments by Program Type Total Investments: $576.3M Diversion/Rapid Resolution — $3.4M Crisis Response — $80.7M Rapid Re-Housing — $20.1M Supportive Housing (PSH) — $121M Dedicated Affordable Housing — $24.9M Shallow Subsidy — $3.1M Crisis Response — $14.4M Supportive Housing (PSH) — $230.4M Dedicated Affordable Housing — $9.5M Eviction Prevention/ Emergency RA — $7.9M Street Outreach — $14.6M Admin/Sys Infrastructure — $27.3M TBD — $18.9M Housing and Shelter Programs $253.3M Capital Investments $254.3M Other Programs $68.8M 6 Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update HOME TOGETHER YEAR 1 PROGRESS UPDATE TAKEAWAY #5 Sustainable Resources are Needed While some data from the first year of the Plan suggest that investments are beginning to slow the rate of increase in homelessness, results can only be maintained and accelerated with adequate funding. As the funding analysis for this progress update revealed, more than half of system funding is nonrecurring, meaning it is either one-time or short-term with no guarantee of continuation or renewal. Ongoing funding is needed to both maintain existing housing and services inventory (much of which is used to assist people housed in prior years), and to significantly grow the inventory over time to meet current and future need. This can only be achieved with year-over- year increases of recurring investments. Recurring vs. Nonrecurring Funds for Key System Programs, FY21–22 FY21–22 Funding, by Source The state of homelessness funding also impacts the community’s ability to plan and execute effective programs. The community is currently patching together more than 50 separate federal, state, local, and private funding sources — all of which have different rules, requirements, and timelines. Because over half of the homelessness response system’s funding resources are nonrecurring, service providers face a difficult cycle of scaling programs up and down, hiring and downsizing, repurposing and transitioning. Increasing the community’s programmatic inventory at the rate needed in future years cannot be done in one-year cycles. State $368.6M 64.0% Local $86.2M 14.9%Other $3.0M 0.5%Federal $118.6M 20.6% Unknown/TBD 95%5%$18.6M Street Outreach 81%19%$14.6M Rapid Re-Housing 74%26%$20M Admin & System Infrastructure 66%34%$27.1M Shallow Subsidies 52%48%$3.1M Permanent Supportive Housing 48%52%$121M Eviction Prevention/ Emergency Rental Assistance 40%60%$7.9M Crisis Response Beds 33%67%$80.7M Housing Problem Solving/ Rapid Resolution 99%$3.4M Dedicated Affordable Housing 100%$24.9M Recurring Funds Nonrecurring Funds Y1 Investments TOTAL FUNDING 47%53%$321M 7 Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update YEAR 1 PROGRESS TOWARDS GOAL 1 Prevent Homelessness Progress: Although the number of people losing their housing may have been higher without the pandemic-related eviction moratoriums6, the number of people estimated to have become homeless in FY21–22 (4,033 people) still outpaced the rate at which people moved from homelessness to housing (3,010). Reduce racial disparities in new and repeated homelessness: Black/African American, American Indian and Native Hawaiian people are all disproportionately represented among people becoming newly homelessness. Lack of new funding to expand program models identified as most likely to reduce disparities — such as targeted homelessness prevention, additional shallow subsidies and dedicated affordable housing—has impacted efforts to address racial inequities in the community. 6 Eviction moratoriums were adopted by the State of CA, County of Alameda and many cities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic disruptions. Some of these moratoriums have expired, and others will be lifted at a future date. GOAL 1 Ongoing/Launched Activities, FY21–22 • County initiatives: Opportunity Accelerator initiative to pilot homelessness prevention services for Black/African American households in reentry; new Housing Problem Solving resources and training. • Implementation of CalAIM housing navigation and tenancy sustaining services, serving more than 1,800 people in 2022. • City-specific eviction prevention and rental assistance programs in Berkeley, Oakland, Fremont, Livermore, San Leandro, Dublin, Alameda and Pleasanton. • Cities of Berkeley, Oakland and Hayward have launched shallow subsidy programs. • City of Alameda launching a Guaranteed Income Pilot program focused on low- income residents. Activities Pending Funding, FY21–22 • Flexible funds are needed to support subsidies for people with fixed or limited income with housing insecurity to relieve rent burden and reduce the risk of becoming homeless. • Eviction prevention services and funding to fill in needs as eviction moratoriums end. • Capacity building for service providers so that programs and services are well supported. Progress Towards Home Together Goals 8 Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update YEAR 1 PROGRESS TOWARDS GOAL 2 Connect People to Shelter and Needed Resources Progress: Alameda County’s homelessness response system served 25% more people during FY21–22 compared to FY20–21. People served annually include those new to homelessness, those returning to homelessness and those still awaiting a housing resource, as well as people served in housing projects. Countywide, more than 1,500 crisis response units were added in FY21–22.7 CalAIM: In January of 2022, Alameda County launched its new Housing Community Supports programs in collaboration with managed care plans. Throughout the year, the Health Care Services Agency added housing navigation or tenancy sustaining services for more than 1,800 people, acting as an administrator over 14 direct service providers. Coordinated Entry: Access Point and Housing Resource Center services were expanded significantly in FY21–22, adding several sites to serve people in target neighborhoods with the most significant racial disparities, and creating a new access point for Transition Aged Youth (18–24 years). 7 Crisis response programs provide temporary places for people to stay (whether it is a cabin, RV, safe parking site, emergency shelter bed, etc.) while they access other services and seek housing solutions. GOAL 2 Ongoing/Launched Activities, FY21–22 • Adding Coordinated Entry Access Points for Survivors of Domestic Violence and Youth. • Newly launched services in Santa Rita Jail, developing a care coordination re- entry team. • Connecting former foster youth to dedicated rapid and supportive housing. • Expanding access to shelter and needed resources throughout the county through HRC’s, new tiny homes, drop-in centers and Street Outreach. Activities Pending Funding, FY21–22 • Additional (and more flexible) resources and capacity to expand housing navigation and Access Points (for Veterans, Reentry, and additional access in encampments and priority neighborhoods). • Increase behavioral and support services to help people in permanent housing to maintain their housing. • Crisis response and support that is accessible for unsheltered people, and mental health and harm reduction services available for homeless people in shelters and other programs. 9 Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update YEAR 1 PROGRESS TOWARDS GOAL 3 Increase Housing Solutions Progress: During the first year of the Plan, partners in Alameda County added close to 1,900 housing opportunities. Inventory added during FY21–22 includes 1,558 crisis response units, 577 slots of Rapid Re-Housing, and 813 new permanent housing units or subsidies, 495 slots of dedicated affordable housing8 and 57 shallow subsidies. This increase represents 89% of the total inventory goal set for the first year of the Home Together Plan. An additional 1,800+ housing units are anticipated to become available in the next two years of the Plan. Some innovative housing solutions recommended in the Home Together Plan, such as subsidies for people with fixed or limited incomes and accelerated expansion of dedicated affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness who do not need intensive services, could not be fully launched without an influx of flexible funding. 8 Includes 488 Emergency Housing Vouchers (awarded to local Public Housing Authorities) which are not able to be reissued or transferred once out of use by the original recipient. GOAL 3 Ongoing/Launched Activities, FY21–22 • Developed new housing subsidies for homeless housing units. • Housed more than 1,700 people from Project Roomkey into permanent housing. • Opened new PSH and Homekey projects throughout the county. • Made more than 800 referrals for Emergency Housing Vouchers. • Cities of Berkeley, Oakland, Livermore, Newark and Fremont dedicated funding towards PSH, including units targeted for frail/ older adults. • New PSH for medically frail and elderly awarded in Hayward. Cities of Pleasanton and Fremont are funding Rapid Re-Housing programs. Activities Pending Funding, FY21–22 • Expand the supply of PSH subsidies and units to scale. • Create dedicated affordable housing for people who do not need intensive services to scale. • Add new slots of Rapid Re-Housing for those who can pay full rent over time. 10 Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update YEAR 1 PROGRESS TOWARDS GOAL 4 Build Coordination, Communication and Capacity Progress: In the first year of the Plan, Alameda County’s homelessness response system expanded capacity to serve those experiencing homelessness, added resources to help resolve people’s homelessness, and launched numerous activities related to each of the Home Together goals, though the impacts of many of these efforts will likely be seen in FY22–23 and future years. People with lived experience: During the first year of the Plan, two cohorts of the Emerging Leaders Program helped to bring people with lived experience into key roles in our Continuum of Care (CoC), helping shape our governance structure and participate on the CoC Board and related committees. The program provides in- depth skill-building and leadership development tailored to the issue of ending and preventing homelessness in Alameda County. Program participants are also building a robust network of alumni, peers and mentors who share their commitment to ending homelessness. DATA: The development of this reporting process marks the community’s opportunity to implement new tools and processes to collect, track and analyze system data to measure progress towards the Home Together goals. As such, a number of strategies have emerged, including: efforts to improve data collection; deeper or revised outcome analysis; timelines GOAL 4 Ongoing/Launched Activities, FY21–22 • Two cohorts of Emerging Leaders bringing people with lived experience to CoC governance and beyond. • Improving Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) functionality and regularly reviewing system and program outcome data disaggregated by race. • Using Social Health Information Exchange to support smaller providers with billing Medi-Cal through OHCC. • Improved data collection to track data for youth and young adults and by race and ethnicity. • Capacity building for service provider organizations serving the homeless population. Activities Pending Funding, FY21–22 • Funding needed to improve HMIS coverage and confidence in HMIS to be the primary method for future data tracking, particularly for special populations highlighted in the Home Together Plan. • Additional career and financial support for people with lived experience of homelessness. • Support to providers in recruiting and retaining staff. and procedures to better align with reporting needs; and tackling constraints facing partner agencies. These efforts will help to ensure that the most timely and accurate understanding of priorities, needs, gaps and trends in Alameda County’s homelessness response system can inform strategic decision making among elected leaders and community stakeholders. 11 Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update A year of action on the Home Together 2026 Community Plan has resulted in significant expansion of programs and resources, but for a growing population. Community partners have made extraordinary efforts to expand the homelessness response system using every available resource, but the rate of growth in homelessness, the challenges associated with piecing together funding and the lack of reliability of those sources continues to pose major roadblocks to achieving the vision of Home Together. Priorities for the coming years of implementation of the Home Together 2026 Community Plan will continue to focus on programs and activities that reduce racial inequities, decrease both first time homelessness and returns to homelessness, accelerate the process of people resolving homelessness and gaining housing, expand housing availability, improve the quality of data about people being served by the homelessness response system, and expand crisis response inventory to reduce unsheltered homelessness. Conclusion 34 Home Together 2026 — Year 1 Progress Update © 2023 Alameda County. All rights reserved. (05-23)