3.02 Assessing Shelter Capacity National alliance to end homeless conference: San diego, ca 2/21/19 By Elaine de Coligny

Who is EveryOne Home? EveryOne Home is leading the collective effort to end homelessness in Alameda County. We’re building momentum, using data to improve our efforts and aligning resources for long- term solutions. EveryOne Home was originally established to lead implementation of the 2007 EveryOne Home Plan, which was adopted by the Board of Supervisors, all 14 cities, and more than 75 nonprofit agencies We are also the Continuum of Care Lead, administering the process that brings into the county about $35 million in funding dedicated to homelessness. We execute the biennial point in time census of homelessness and are the go-to organization in Alameda County for data and analysis on the issue of homelessness. We represent Alameda County on the national stage as members of the Leadership Council of the National Alliance to End Homelessness

Alameda County, CA 2013 base line 2013 Unsheltered PIT 2,337 Sheltered PIT 1,927 Shelter Capacity 728 yr rnd + 169 seasonal beds Utilization Rate 93% Shelter Length of Stay 62% < 60 days Shelter Entries from Literal Homelessness 57% Shelter Exits to Permanent Housing 36% Our CoC assessed our shelter capacity and performance in 2014 using 2013 PIT, HIC and APR data. Our PIT Count had been stable for six years with slight growth in the unsheltered numbers. As you can see, we were also close to some of the goals Katharine mentioned—nearly 95% occupancy and 40% exits to PH. We did have a fairly high portion of people entering from housing 29%, mostly friends and family and our average median lengths of stay were over 60 days.

What We Did in 2015 and 2016 Shelter up 284 beds or 32% PSH and RRH up 830 beds or 33% Increased permanent housing beds and emergency shelter beds in equal proportions: lower barriers w/ more entries directly from the streets (in TH and ES) shorter stays Focused on serving more people by reducing barriers & getting transitional housing to function more like emergency shelter: We tried many of the things recommended by Kay and Katharine.

What the System Looked Like by 2017 Utilization Rate 87%--6% drop Shelter Lengths of Stay are longer 53% < 60 days Shelter Entries from Literal Homelessness 66%--up 9% Shelter Exits to Permanent Housing 30%--down 6% Not the results we hoped for. What happened?

What Happened? The housing market in our county exploded—rents went way up and availability way down Two people became homeless for every one person leaving for permanent housing The proportion of our increases in PH was not enough to ensure system flow. Sometimes there are forces acting on your system that are out of your control. Rents increased 50% between 2012 and 2017 in Oakland. Also the scale of our response was not adequate to the need. We were overwhelmed, even though we were doing many things rights

What We Learned and Current Strategies Be clear eyed and honest about the scale of intervention needed to change the trajectory in your community Alameda County does need more shelter but most importantly, we need more permanent housing to support system flow The CoC supports the following strategies for expanding shelter Increase low barrier programs Continue having TH work like shelters, more entries from the streets and shorter stays Converting winter shelters to year round Focus on reducing the number of people becoming homeless House more people directly from the streets whenever possible We need to be sustaining 9k people in permanent housing versus the 3k we are doing now. If our system gets to that scale we believe we will have eliminated unsheltered homelessness and will have a flow that ensures homeless is rare brief and non-recurring.

Questions The EveryOne Home Plan to End Homelessness: 2018 Strategic Update is available to download on our website: http://everyonehome.org/about/the-plan/ Contact Elaine de Coligny at edecoligny@everyonehome.org