COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING
AND WORKFORCE
SOLUTIONS AND
CONTINUUM OF CARE
HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
HWS
ENGAGE. ENCOURAGE. EQUIP .
HOUSING AND
WORKFORCE
SOLUTIONS
Prepared by
January 2022
Attachment 2
2 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
Acknowledgments 3
Executive Summary 4
Letter From the Housing and Workforce Solutions Director 5 Letter From the CoC and Board of Goverance Chairs and Vice Chairs 5 Introduction 6
Guiding Principles 7
System Level 7
Uplifting Lived Experience 7
Equity Centered 7
Housing First 7
Housing as a Human Right 8
Person-Centered 8
Outcomes Focused 8
Moving Towards Functional Zero 8
Homelessness in County of Riverside 8
Findings from Gaps Analysis 10
System Strengths 10
System Challenges 10
Alignment with Existing Frameworks and Plans 11
Overview of Action Areas, Strategies, and Goals 12
Action Areas and Strategies 12
Five Year Regional Goals 13
Future State 13
Action Area 1: Strengthen System to Better Prevent and End Homelessness 14 Current Response 14
Proposed Strategies 14
Strategy 1: Strategy 1: Strengthen Leadership and Departmental Capacity 14 Strategy 2: Strategy 2: Improve County’s Ability to Track, Leverage, and Manage Data 15 Strategy 3:Strategy 3: Implement Prioritization Framework to Address System Flow 15 Strategy 4:Strategy 4: Utilize Funding Principles Informed by the Prioritization Framework, Provider, City, and Regional Government Performance, and Regional Deficiencies and Needs 16
Strategy 5:Strategy 5: Strengthen Coordinated Access 16 Strategy 6:Strategy 6: Enhance Provider, City and Regional Government’s Capacity and System Infrastructure 16
Strategy 7: Strategy 7: Support Regional, Cross-Sector Alignment and Partnership 17 Strategy 8: Strategy 8: Refine Communications Efforts Around Homelessness in Riverside County 18
Strategy 9:Strategy 9: Expand Accountability to Clients 18 Strategy 10:Strategy 10: Develop Lived Experience Knowledge, Leadership, and Decision-Making 19
Strategy 11:Strategy 11: Center Race Equity in Homeless Response 19 Performance Metrics 20
Five Year Goals 21
Funding Principles 22
Action Area 2: Equitably Address the Health, Safety, and Services Needs of People Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness 22
Current Response 22
Proposed Strategies 23
Strategy 12: Strategy 12: Increase Regional Capacity of Homeless Street Outreach 23 Strategy 13:Strategy 13: Support the Health of People Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness through Cross-Departmental/Cross-Sector Supports 23 Strategy 14:Strategy 14: Improve Access for People Experiencing Homelessness 24 Strategy 15: Strategy 15: Develop Countywide Encampment Management Protocols 24 Strategy 16:Strategy 16: Support the Decriminalization of Homelessness 25 Strategy 17:Strategy 17: Develop Training for First Responders 25 Strategy 18: Strategy 18: Establish Key Resources for Special Populations Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness 25
Performance Metrics 26
Five Year Goals 27
Funding Principles 27
Action Area 3: Expand Communities Capacity to Provide Safe and Effective Shelter and Interim Housing 27
Current Response 27
Proposed Strategies 27
Strategy 19: Strategy 19: Increase the Number of Crisis Housing Beds Regionally 27 Strategy 20: Strategy 20: Refine Crisis Housing Policies and Procedures 28 Performance Metrics 29
Five Year Goals 30
Funding Principles 30
Action Area 4: Expand and Ensure Equitable Access to Permanent Housing in Our Communities 30
Current Response 30
Proposed Strategies 31
Strategy 21:Strategy 21: Advocate for the Increased Production of Affordable Housing 31 Strategy 22:Strategy 22: Increase Permanent Supportive Housing Units and Capacity 31 Strategy 23:Strategy 23: Increase Rapid Rehousing Housing Units and Capacity 32 Strategy 24:Strategy 24: Develop Centralized Landlord Outreach, Engagement, and Retention Strategies 32
Strategy 25:Strategy 25: Innovate Approaches to Expand Existing Housing Stock 33 Strategy 26:Strategy 26: Increase Flexible Housing Funds 33 Strategy 27: Strategy 27: Address Housing Needs of Unique Subpopulations 33 Strategy 28: Strategy 28: Develop Strategies to Reduce Barriers for People Experiencing Homelessness in Obtaining Housing and to Increase the Speed of Lease-Up Process 33
Strategy 29:Strategy 29: Expand Housing Access to High Opportunity Neighborhoods, With a Focus on Those with High Social Determinants Of Health (SDOH) 34 Strategy 30: Strategy 30: Strengthen Approaches to Case Management 34 Strategy 31:Strategy 31: Leverage Housing Authority Division Resources for People Experiencing Homelessness 34
Strategy 32:Strategy 32: Continue to Advocate for Legislation Protecting Against Housing Discrimination in Housing Search 34
Performance Metrics 35
Five Year Goals 36
Funding Principles 37
Action Area 5: Prevent People from Experiencing the Crisis of Homelessness 37 Current Response 37
Proposed Strategies 38
Strategy 33: Strategy 33: Increase Homelessness Prevention, Diversion, and Mediation Services 38
Strategy 34: Strategy 34: Address Inflows of Homelessness Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, Discharge Planning, and Early Identification 38 Strategy 35:Strategy 35: Expand Opportunities to Achieve Financial Stability/Economic Mobility Through Employment, Educational, Income Supports, and Wealth Generation Programs and Services. 40
Strategy 36: Strategy 36: Reduce Reentries into Homeless Response System 40 Strategy 37: Strategy 37: Preserve Vulnerable Housing and Prevent Community Displacement 40 Strategy 38: Strategy 38: Expand Protections for Renter/Tenants 40 Strategy 39: Strategy 39: Advocate for the Expansion of a Social Safety Net 41 Performance Metrics 41
Five Year Goals 42
Funding Principles 43
Funding Sources 44
Collaborating Agencies/Departments 51
Partner Cities in County of Riverside Continuum of Care 52 Glossary 53
Exhibit A: Tabulated Riverside County Homeless Action Plan 54 Exhibit B: Transitional Aged Youth (TAY) Homeless Action Summary 73 Exhibit C: Family Homeless Action Summary 73
Exhibit D: Encampment Homeless Action Summary 74
Exhibit E: Veteran Homeless Action Summary 74
Exhibit F: Domestic Violence Homeless Action Summary 74 Exhibit G: Racial Equity Homeless Action Summary 74
Exhibit H: LGBTQIA+ Homeless Action Summary 75
Exhibit I: Older Adults/Seniors Homeless Action Summary 75 Exhibit J: Other Special Populations Homeless Action Summary 76
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This Homeless Action Plan represents
the road map for the County of
Riverside, our partner cities, and
provider agencies to use as we move
to address the crisis of homelessness
in Riverside County. The development
of this plan, like the work being done
and that will be done to address
homelessness, has been an effort by
people and organizations across the
county. This plan could not have been
developed without the wholehearted
commitment of the those who
provided information for this plan, who
met with our consulting team, and who
provided the support for the plan.
We would like to take this opportunity
to thank all the people and
organizations that have helped to
create this Action plan. First and
foremost, I would like to thank the
leadership of the County of Riverside,
the leadership of the Continuum of
Care and the Board of Governance,
the incredible non-profit partners,
and the dedicated hardworking staff
of Housing Workforce Solutions
Department.
County of Riverside Board of
Supervisors:
Kevin Jeffries, District 1
Karen Spiegel, District 2
Chuck Washington, District 3
V. Manuel Perez, District 4
Jeff Hewitt, District 5
County of Riverside:
Jeffrey Van Wagenen, CEO
County of Riverside Continuum of
Care (CoC):
Greg Rodriguez, Chair
Karen Roper, Vice Chair
County of Riverside CoC Board of
Governance:
Tammy Marine, Chair
Leticia De Lara, Vice Chair
Department of Housing and
Workforce Solutions:
Heidi Marshall, Director
Carrie Harmon, Assistant Director
Michael Walsh, Deputy Director
Tanya Torno, Deputy Director
All Staff Members of the Department
of Housing and Workforce Solutions
All Cities and Local Governments in
the County of Riverside
All County of Riverside Continuum of
Care Members and Partners
Woven throughout this Homeless
Action Plan is the concept that ending
homelessness – a mission that can
only be carried out when all levels of
government, businesses, non-profit
organizations, faith-based community,
and the community at large in every
part of the County join together behind
a common vision. We hope that as we
read this Action Plan, we will all be
inspired to renew our commitment to
help in this important effort.
4 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
The County of Riverside Continuum
of Care (CoC) has, over the past
few years, worked very hard to
recognize, quantify, and address
system needs and gaps. This work
is best highlighted by the creation
of the Housing and Workforce
Solutions Department (HWS). This
new department was formed with
the recognition that addressing
homelessness requires a systems
level approach, one that addresses
the myriad of factors that contribute
to homelessness.
The department continued its work
to recognize, quantify, and address
system needs and gaps by engaging
LeSar Development Consultants
(LDC) to add to the work they
had done in helping the Board of
Governance to develop a strategic
plan. As the first stage in the new
engagement, LDC produced a
Performance Assessment and Gaps
Analysis. That document looked at
the performance of the CoC through
both a qualitative and a quantitative
lens. The Performance Assessment
identified a number of system
challenges and strengths.
The second phase of the work for
LDC in the new engagement was to
produce a Homeless Action Plan that
enumerates actionable steps that
the CoC, the County, and its partners
can take to end homelessness
in Riverside County. The Plan is
based on the following five action
areas that are the basis for the
California Homeless Coordinating
and Financing Council’s Action
Plan for Preventing and Ending
Homelessness in California.
1. Strengthen System to
Better Prevent and End
Homelessness
2. Equitably Address the
Health, Safety, and
Service Needs of People
Experiencing Unsheltered
Homelessness
3. Expand Communities
Capacity to Provide Safe
and Effective Shelter and
Interim Housing
4. Expand and Ensure
Equitable Access to
Permanent Housing in Our
Communities
5. Prevent People from
Experiencing the Crisis of
Homelessness
Each action area has strategies
that, when implemented, will help
to achieve the goal of the action
area. In turn, each of the strategies
has goals and performance metrics
against which progress will be
measured. Taken together, the
plan has the pieces needed to help
shape, over the next five years,
the homelessness and supportive
housing response system in
Riverside County to make it possible
to end homelessness, by reaching
functional zero in Riverside County.
The plan is an ambitious one. It is
deliberately designed to address
one of the main themes that came
up in the performance assessment
– that the system reflects degrees
of disunity in the approach to
ending homelessness across the
region. This was characterized by
differing approaches to addressing
homelessness and disconnected
services, most notably in the
differing responses to outreach and
engagement. As the performance
assessment notes, this results in
a system that could be difficult to
navigate for people experiencing
homelessness and that may not be
as effective as it could be.
In order to impact this system
fragmentation, the CoC and
Riverside County will need
to address each action area
simultaneously. Changes in one
part of the system, like addressing
the availability of services in under
resourced areas, will require
changes in another part of the
system, such as the approach to
funding. Although the CoC could
decide to implement the plan in a
linear fashion, efforts will be much
more effective if they are done in
parallel across the five action areas.
LDC staff has had the opportunity
over the past two years to work
closely with the BoG, the leadership
of the CoC, and the staff of the newly
formed Department Housing and
Workforce Solutions. In that time,
we have seen the capacity of the
system grow enormously. Although
the Action Plan is ambitious, it is the
opinion of LDC that the Riverside
County Continuum of Care and its’
partners have the ability, the will, and
the capacity to implement it.
5 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
LETTER FROM THE HOUSING AND
WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS DIRECTOR
Homelessness is one of the most
challenging and complex social issues
that we face today. To meet this
challenge, we must move forward
collectively, with a strong private-public
partnership committed to a shared
mission and vision. We must also
move forward with clear strategies and
goals that deliver the result we are all
looking for – an end to homelessness
within Riverside County.
As the Director of the Housing and
Workforce Solutions Department of
the County of Riverside, I am pleased
to share our most recent Homeless
Action Plan which will guide our work
onward. This plan is the culmination
of two years of comprehensive
planning led by LeSar Development
Consultants, the Board of Governance
and the Continuum of Care.
In this Homeless Action Plan, we
commit our energies to five action
areas which will define our focus
and programming. We believe that
these action areas will enhance the
homeless system of care, increase
shelter capacity and permanent
supportive housing units and will
significantly improve outcomes. I look
forward to working with all of you to
achieve these goals and to provide a
home for all of our homeless residents
in Riverside County.
Heidi Marshall
Director
Housing and Workforce Solutions
LETTER FROM THE CONTINUUM OF CARE &
BOARD OF GOVERNANCE CHAIRS & VICE CHAIRS
We are very pleased to be able to
present this Homeless Action Plan
to you. This Plan represents the
culmination of two years of work
with our dedicated homeless service
providers, county agencies, cities,
and regional governments. The
work to develop this plan has helped
the Board of Governance and the
Continuum of Care to continue their
evolution to become more guided by
data and focused on best practices
and outcomes.
We too would like to thank everyone
who has helped to create this Action
Plan, with a special acknowledgment
to the County of Riverside Board
of Supervisors for their support in
creating overarching systems to
address the crisis of homelessness
in the county. Additionally, this plan
would not have been possible without
the work of our incredible Housing and
Workforce Solutions management and
staff as well as the team from LeSar
Development Consultants.
Writing the Action Plan is just the
beginning. The real work comes with
the implementation of the goals and
strategies in the plan. This is a living
document, and we will only accomplish
the goals and objectives within this
plan through a collaborative approach
amongst public, private, and non-profit
organizations.
We are excited to start this work and
hope that you will join us in our efforts
to make this Action Plan a reality as,
without your help, we would never
be able to solve the homeless and
housing crisis we face. Together we
will make a difference and meaningful
impact on people’s lives in Riverside
County.
Greg Rodriguez
Chair
Continuum of Care
Karen Roper
Vice Chair
Continuum of Care
Tammy Marine
Chair
Board of Governance
Leticia De Lara
Vice Chair
Board of Governance
6 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
The Riverside County CoC Homeless Action Plan
is designed to provide an actionable strategy
to preventing and ending homelessness within
Riverside County. This plan lays out the guiding
principles, action areas, performance metrics,
goals, funding sources, and collaborating
agencies necessary to achieving this goal. This
plan promotes evidence-based, person-centered
approaches to tailor and right-size the homeless
response to address the inflow, service delivery, and
outflow relevant to ending homelessness. The plan’s
regional approach will require ongoing partnership
with service providers, cities, regional governments,
and Riverside County.
7 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The County of Riverside’s homeless responses system is
driven by the following guiding principles. These guiding principles inform our understanding of, and guide our
response to, all aspects of our work. They are the foundation of our efforts to preventing and ending homelessness.
SYSTEM LEVEL
Ending homelessness in the County requires coordinated
efforts from multiple systems and sectors. We recognize that an effective homeless response prioritizes multi-
system, cross-sector regional collaboration to address
the inflows, service delivery, and outflows relevant to ending homelessness. Doing this requires key community
leaders to develop capacity and infrastructure around
county-level governance, strategic planning, and systems change to support the work toward the articulated goals.
UPLIFTING LIVED EXPERIENCE
The experiences of clients and people with lived
experience are legitimate and important primary data
sources, and their voices need to be included in the
planning and system design. We strive to move away
from a paternalistic system that assumes we know what
is best for individuals, families, and communities but
instead opens the dialogue for regular feedback and
partnership in planning and decision-making. Through
the development of systematized feedback mechanisms
that integrate the daily lived experiences of clients and their perspectives, we will begin to shift the normative culture to one that prioritizes clients’ perspectives as key data points on which to measure the quality and success of systems. By designing with the end-user in mind,
centering client experiences as important primary data
sources, including those most overrepresented in the
system, and increasing client agency in decisions, we can build a more effective, person-centered response. We, as a system, must be accountable for this input because it is a key to our success.
EQUITY CENTERED
Centering a homeless response system on the needs of
those most vulnerable and overrepresented within the
homeless population builds the capacity of the system to better respond to the needs of all people experiencing
homelessness. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
(BIPOC) are significantly overrepresented in the homeless population, a legacy of historical and contemporary
structural racism. We will continue to center race
equity in our homeless response, disaggregate data
to better develop solutions, and look upstream at the
inflows and structural roots of homelessness. Alongside these strategies, we will apply a targeted universalism approach, which will set universal goals pursued by
targeted processes for specific groups to achieve those goals. Through these strategies, we will rebuild our
homeless response system to be anti-racist, ensuring
that our outcomes begin to dismantle these historical and contemporary legacies.
HOUSING FIRST
Housing ends homelessness. The Housing First Model
is an evidenced-based practice that prioritizes rapid
placement and stabilization in permanent housing without service participation requirements or preconditions for entry (such as sobriety, minimum income requirements,
criminal record, completion of treatment, participation in services or other conditions that create barriers to entry). Supportive services are offered to maximize
housing stability and prevent returns to homelessness.
Participation in these services is voluntary and based on the needs and desires of each person. We adhere to and
promote the Housing First philosophy in our work to end homelessness. We believe that housing should never be
preconditioned, and that, ultimately, a person is no longer homeless when they have a home.
8 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
HOUSING AS A HUMAN RIGHT
We will continue to push for the goal that every person has a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.
Our approach to housing is one that merges with a
human-rights based approach, which strives for equal
opportunity of all residents to adequate housing and
to healthy and sustainable communities. We support
proposals that move toward a rights-based approach
to housing, such as housing as an entitlement, and the
expansion of universal housing vouchers, both of which
could significantly move the needle towards addressing
housing instability and homelessness.
PERSON-CENTERED
We believe that all people deserve to be treated with
respect regardless of their housed status. Throughout
this document, we refer to “people experiencing
homelessness” and “clients” interchangeably. Demeaning
language like “the homeless” or “homeless people”,
attaches an individual, family, or community to their
situational housed status without acknowledging
their ability to change. We hope to position people
experiencing homelessness as individuals with agency,
decision-making, and dignity within a system that
provides services to them. We believe in the strengths
of people experiencing homelessness and will adopt
person-centered approaches that account for past
trauma, personal strengths, client confidentiality, and individual choice.
OUTCOMES FOCUSED
We embrace the value of creatively looking for solutions that expand on current best practices and person-
centered approaches. We will measure our success not
on our intentions, but on our outcomes to preventing and ending homelessness and creating healthy and equitable
communities for all.
MOVING TOWARDS FUNCTIONAL ZERO
Functional Zero recognizes that as long as there is
poverty, there will always be people who experience
homelessness or who are at risk of experiencing
homelessness. The functional zero approach describes
the situation in a community where homelessness
has become manageable — where the availability of
services and resources match or exceed the demand
for them from the target population. In a system that
has achieved functional zero, the inflow, the number of persons experiencing homelessness for the first time,
does not exceed the outflow, the number of persons
who gain access to permanent housing. When this
balance is achieved, the rate of persons experiencing
homelessness will be effectively or functionally zero.
HOMELESSNESS IN
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE
According to the 2020 Point-in-Time (PIT) count, there
were 2,884 individuals experiencing homelessness
in Riverside County, a 3% increase from 2019 and
16.8% increase from 2015. About 75% of the individuals
counted in 2020 were unsheltered — sleeping in cars,
outdoors, or in other places not intended for human
habitation. From 2019 to 2020, there was a 5% increase
in unsheltered homelessness and a 5% decrease
in sheltered homelessness. There was also a 19.4%
decrease in chronic homelessness. Within the chronically homeless population, there was a 29% decrease
in the unsheltered population and a 68% increase
in the sheltered population. The overall increase in
homelessness from 2019 to 2020 may be due to the 13%
increase in the number of volunteers for the PIT count, in addition to increased engagement from leadership in
Riverside County.
Some residents of Riverside County are precariously
housed, doubled-up or living with friends or family, and are therefore vulnerable to falling into homelessness.
Although estimating the number of persons who are
precariously housed is difficult given current data, some signals are available. In Riverside County, 3.9% of the households are made up of non-relatives, and 12.1% are
made up of non-spouse, non-child family members. In
addition, 8.3% of occupied housing units in Riverside
County are occupied by more than one person. These
are indicators of households that are doubled up and are potentially precariously housed.
9 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
The Riverside-San Bernardino-
Ontario metropolitan area has one
of the most severe shortages of
affordable homes in the country,
with only 18 affordable and
available homes per 100 renter
households. 58.6% of Riverside
County renters are considered
rent burdened by HUD, paying
more than 30% of household
income on rent.
The population of persons experiencing homelessness
in Riverside County includes families with children
and school-aged children, some of whom are going
unsheltered. 22,002 total public-school students, or
5.1% of the public-school system’s student population,
experienced homelessness in 2020. School districts
count children as experiencing homelessness when
they doubled up. There were 256 youth experiencing
unsheltered homelessness, a 41% increase from 2019.
This shift was accompanied by a 65% decrease in the
count of sheltered youth experiencing homelessness.
The population of persons experiencing homelessness
in Riverside County is disproportionately male, Hispanic, Black, and Native American. Males are overrepresented
in the population of persons experiencing homelessness
at 63%. 55% of the population of persons experiencing
homelessness in the PIT Count was classified as
Hispanic, compared to 48.9% in 2019 Riverside
County’s overall population. 18% were classified as
Black, compared to 7.8% in Riverside County’s overall
population. 2.5% of the homeless population was
classified as Native American, compared to 1.8% of
Riverside County’s overall population. 58% of the
homeless population were classified as White, compared
to 59.9% in Riverside County’s overall population.
Homelessness in Riverside County must be understood
in context of Riverside County’s overall lack of
affordable housing. The Riverside-San Bernardino-
Ontario metropolitan area has one of the most severe
shortages of affordable homes in the country, with
only 18 affordable and available homes per 100 renter
households. 58.6% of Riverside County renters are
considered rent burdened by HUD, paying more than
30% of household income on rent. This is higher than
state and national averages as, in the same year, 49.6% of American renters and 54.8% of Californian renters
were considered rent burdened.
Riverside County’s housing stock is mostly composed
of single family detached homes, which make up 68.3%
of the housing stock. Only 17.4% of the county’s housing stock is in a complex with 2 or more units, compared
to 31.4% at the state level and 26.3% at the national
level. Riverside County also has a rental vacancy rate of
4.8% and a homeowner vacancy rate of 1.9% compared
to state vacancy rates of 3.6% for rentals and 1.1% for homeowners.
Homelessness in Riverside County should also be viewed
in relation to poverty, economic inequality, and overall social vulnerability. The median household income in
Riverside County was $67,005, lower than the state-
level median household income of $75,235. 13.7% of all
people in Riverside County had an income below the
federal poverty level. This percentage had been steadily decreasing for at least the past five years, falling from 2015’s 16.8%. Despite decreases in poverty, Riverside
County also had a 7.5% unemployment rate, higher than
the national’s 5.3% and the state’s 6.1%. In addition, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ranks
Riverside County as an area of high social vulnerability.
Calculating based off risk factors such as poverty,
income, minority status, language, age, and crowding,
the agency concluded Riverside County had a social
vulnerability index (SVI) score of .7939, with a score of 1 representing the highest possible social vulnerability.
The Southern California Association of Governments
allocated 167,351 total units to Riverside County in the 6th cycle Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA).
Of these units, 41,995 were for very low-income, 26,473 were for low income, 29,167 were for moderate income,
and 69,716 were for above moderate income.
10 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
FINDINGS FROM GAPS ANALYSIS
In preparation for the Homeless Plan, LDC conducted a Needs Assessment and Gaps Analysis of the County of Riverside (see appendix). The findings reflected below informed the County of Riverside’s Homeless Action Plan.
SYSTEM STRENGTHS
• Creation of the Housing and Workforce Solutions
Department
• A Prevention Program that targets the right
populations and has strong positive outcomes
• Implementation of a new Homeless Management
Information System (HMIS)
• Starting the integration of the Coordinated Entry
System (CES) with the new HMIS
• Strong response to the COVID-19 pandemic
SYSTEM CHALLENGES
• A regionalized and fragmented system with
underdeveloped services and infrastructure in
various parts of the county
• Differing approaches to providing services to
persons experiencing homelessness that make the
system difficult to access
• Insufficient housing affordable to the extremely low- income population
• Insufficient Permanent Supportive and Rapid
Rehousing opportunities
• A need to provide more services to key sub-
populations, like Chronically Homeless, Individuals
with Mental Illness, Individuals with Substance Use
Disorders, Older Adults/Seniors, and Transitional
Aged Y outh (TAY)
• Significant barriers to entry for people experiencing homelessness to obtain housing in the private
rental market
• Fragmented approach to landlord outreach,
engagement, and retention
• The lack of flex funds and funding for move-in
assistance
• Ineffective cross-sector integration and alignment
to address the inflows into homelessness
• System flow where entries into the system outpace
successful exits, leading to a net gain of persons in
the homeless response system
11 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ALIGNMENT
WITH EXISTING
FRAMEWORKS
AND PLANS
In developing the Homeless Action
Plan, the Riverside County CoC
ensured alignment with existing
frameworks and plans at the
national, state, and regional level.
The Riverside County CoC Homeless
Action plan builds upon and expands
on these strategies and efforts.
The national framework set forth by
the United States Interagency Council
on Homelessness (USICH)- Home
Together: The Federal Strategic Plan
to Prevent and End Homelessness
is focused on strategies that will
support communities to make
homelessness a rare, brief, and
one-time experience. The Home
Together plan outlines key objectives,
like strengthening system capacity,
improving access to low barrier
shelter, streamlining coordinated
entry, rapidly moving people into
permanent housing, and preventing
returns to homelessness through
homelessness prevention and
targeting systems.
To achieve success, the Home
Together plan outlines that every
community must be able to:
• Quickly identify and engage
people at risk of and
experiencing homelessness
• Intervene to prevent people
from losing their housing and
divert people from entering the
homelessness services system
• Provide people with immediate
access to shelter and crisis
services without barriers to entry
if homelessness does occur
• Quickly connect people
experiencing homelessness to
housing assistance and services
tailored to their unique needs and
strengths to help them achieve
and maintain stable housing
In the development of the Riverside
County CoC Homeless Action
Plan, we have ensured that core
strategies and objectives outlined
in the Home Together plan were
included in our plan.
At the state level, the California
Homeless Coordinating and
Financing Council’s Action
Plan for Preventing and Ending
Homelessness in California
guides the State’s response to
homelessness to ensure it is rare,
brief, and one-time. The Action
Plan outlines key principles and
practices that include race equity,
lived experience, Housing First,
and balancing crisis response and
permanent housing solutions.
The Action Plan is divided into five
key action areas.
1. Strengthening Our System
to Better Prevent and End
Homelessness in California The
Action Plan focuses on racial
equity, including people with
lived experience, strengthening
interjurisdictional coordination,
and leveraging cross-sector
partnerships.
2. Equitably Addressing the Health,
Safety, and Services Needs
of Californians Experiencing
Unsheltered Homelessness To
address the needs of people
experiencing unsheltered
homelessness, the Action Plan
focuses on addressing health
and safety needs and increasing
access to State supported
services and supports.
3. Expanding Communities’
Capacity to Provide Safe and
Effective Shelter and Interim
Housing The Action Plan looks
to expand the availability of
housing-placement focused
shelter and interim housing.
4. Expanding and Ensuring
Equitable Access to Permanent
Housing in Our Communities
Using Housing First approaches,
development strategies, and
rental assistance programs, the
State will expand permanent
housing opportunities.
5. Preventing Californians from
Experiencing the Crisis of
Homelessness The Action Plan
will focus on reducing entries into
homelessness through institutional
alignment and providing targeted
homelessness prevention and
diversion services.
In developing the Riverside County
Homeless Action Plan, we oriented
the structure to directly align with the
California Homeless Coordinating
and Financing Council to ensure
that, as new initiatives come down
from the state, the County of
Riverside is well-positioned and
aligned in focus and strategies. Many
of the sub-strategies outlined in the
State’s Action Plan are expanded on
and made more relevant to the local
context within Riverside County.
To ensure effective alignment
regionally, the Riverside County
CoC has also incorporated existing
frameworks and plans from the
Riverside County CoC Board of
Governance (BoG) Strategic Plan,
plans from neighboring Counties
(San Diego and Los Angeles), and
local city plans.
The goals outlined in the Board of
Governance Strategic Plan have
been merged and incorporated
into the strategies of the Riverside
County Homeless Action Plan. The
BoG strategic goals include:
• Increase CoC participation
• Improve regional coordination and
collaborative efforts
• Streamline CoC structure and
committees
• Create a CoC Action Plan
• Create a Core Leadership Working
Body focused on Action Orientation
• Plan for the future
• Build capacity among providers,
cities, and regional governments
• Launch PR efforts around
homelessness, housing, and the CoC
• Use data more effectively
• Evaluate performance consistently
Many of these strategic goals are
directly included in Action Area 1:
Strengthen System to Better Prevent
and End Homelessness.
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OVERVIEW OF ACTION
AREAS, STRATEGIES,
AND GOALS
The vision of homelessness of the Riverside County CoC
Homeless Action Plan is to build toward a functional
zero system where homelessness is rare, brief, and non- recurring.
Rare: Homelessness will be rare
when individuals, families, and
communities have protections,
services, and supports in place to
prevent homelessness.
Brief: Homelessness will be brief
when individuals, families, and
communities have access to shelter,
services, supports, and housing
available to help people experiencing
homelessness quickly return to
permanent housing.
Non-Recurring: Homelessness will
be non-recurring when individuals,
families, and communities have the
protections, services, and supports
they need to successfully maintain
their housing.
ACTION AREAS AND STRATEGIES
As described above, the Riverside County Homeless
Action Plan is aligned with the framework of the California Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council’s Action
Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. The Homeless
Action Plan also incorporates the strategies of the County of Riverside CoC Board of Governance Strategic Plan
adopted in March 2020. The five action areas below
comprise the actions necessary to prevent and end
homelessness in Riverside County and move towards a
functional zero system.
1. Strengthen System to Better Prevent and End
Homelessness
• Strategy 1: Strengthen Leadership and
Departmental Capacity
• Strategy 2: Improve County’s Ability to Track,
Leverage, and Manage Data
• Strategy 3: Implement Prioritization Framework to
Address System Flow
• Strategy 4: Utilize Funding Principles Informed by
the Prioritization Framework, Provider, City, and
Regional Government Performance, and Regional
Deficiencies and Needs
• Strategy 5: Strengthen Coordinated Access
• Strategy 6: Enhance Provider, City, and Regional
Government’s Capacity and System Infrastructure
• Strategy 7: Support Regional, Cross-Sector
Alignment and Partnership
• Strategy 8: Refine Communications Efforts Around
Homelessness in Riverside County
• Strategy 9: Expand Accountability to Clients
• Strategy 10: Develop Lived Experience Knowledge,
Leadership, and Decision-Making
• Strategy 11: Center Race Equity in Homeless
Response
2. Equitably Address the Health, Safety, and Service
Needs of People Experiencing Unsheltered
Homelessness
• Strategy 12: Increase Regional Capacity of
Homeless Street Outreach
• Strategy 13: Support the Health of People
Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness through
Cross-Departmental/Cross-Sector Supports
• Strategy 14: Improve Access for People
Experiencing Homelessness
• Strategy 15: Develop Countywide Encampment
Management Protocols
• Strategy 16: Support the Decriminalization of
Homelessness
• Strategy 17: Develop Training for First Responders
• Strategy 18: Establish Key Resources for
Special Populations Experiencing Unsheltered
Homelessness
3. Expand Communities Capacity to Provide Safe and
Effective Shelter and Interim Housing
• Strategy 19: Increase the Number of Crisis Housing
Beds Regionally
• Strategy 20: Refine Crisis Housing Policies and
Procedures
13 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
4. Expand and Ensure Equitable Access to Permanent
Housing in Our Communities
• Strategy 21: Advocate for the Increased Production
of Affordable Housing
• Strategy 22: Increase Permanent Supportive
Housing Units and Capacity
• Strategy 23: Increase Rapid Rehousing Housing
Units and Capacity
• Strategy 24: Develop Centralized Landlord
Outreach, Engagement, and Retention Strategies
• Strategy 25: Innovate Approaches to Expand
Existing Housing Stock
• Strategy 26: Increase Flexible Housing Funds
• Strategy 27: Address Housing Needs of Unique
Subpopulations
• Strategy 28: Develop Strategies to Reduce
Barriers for People Experiencing Homelessness in
Obtaining Housing and to Increase the Speed of
Lease-Up Process
• Strategy 29: Expand Housing Access to High
Opportunity Neighborhoods, With a Focus on
Those with High Social Determinants Of Health
• Strategy 30: Strengthen Approaches to Case
Management
• Strategy 31: Leverage Housing Authority Division
Resources for People Experiencing Homelessness
• Strategy 32: Continue to Advocate for Legislation
Protecting Against Housing Discrimination in
Housing Search
5. Prevent People from Experiencing the Crisis of
Homelessness
• Strategy 33: Increase Homelessness Prevention,
Diversion, and Mediation Services
• Strategy 34: Address Inflows of Homelessness
Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, Discharge
Planning, and Early Identification
• Strategy 35: Expand Opportunities to Achieve
Financial Stability/Economic Mobility Through
Employment, Education, Income Supports, and
Wealth Generation Programs and Services.
• Strategy 36: Reduce Reentries into Homeless
Response System
• Strategy 37: Preserve Vulnerable Housing and
Prevent Community Displacement
• Strategy 38: Expand Protections for Renter/Tenants
• Strategy 39: Advocate for the Expansion of a
Social Safety Net
FIVE YEAR REGIONAL GOALS
The following goals are some of the key goals
highlighted throughout the remainder of the plan.
ACTION AREA
1 Total number of people
successfully exiting to housing
each month/year exceeds the
people entering homelessness
each month/year.
ACTION AREA
1 & 2
50% reduction in the length of
stay for people experiencing
homelessness on the streets
and in shelters, such as Street
Outreach (SO), Emergency
Shelter (ES), Safe Haven (SH), and
Transitional Housing (TH).
ACTION AREA
2, 3, & 5
75% reduction in the number of
people experiencing unsheltered
and sheltered homelessness
discharged from institutions or
re-entering from the homeless
response system.
ACTION AREA
3 25% increase in the number of
crisis housing beds (ES, SH, TH)
in the system, geographically
distributed.
ACTION AREA
4 Increase the number (unit count)
of Permanent Housing Units by
75% from baseline year (including
Permanent Supportive Housing
[PSH] and Rapid Rehousing
[RRH]).
ACTION AREA
5 75% reduction in the number
of people experiencing
homelessness for first time.
FUTURE STATE
As the Riverside County CoC continues to move toward
the goals outlined in this plan, it aims to right-size the homeless response system to ensure that homelessness
in Riverside County truly is rare, brief, and nonrecurring.
By consolidating leadership, supporting coordination,
and addressing regional gaps in services and
infrastructure, it will strengthen the system as a whole and build the capacity to better serve the population.
Services, resources, and infrastructure will be uniformly administered and distributed equitably across the region so that each subregion has the capacity to address
homelessness within their community to help meet larger regional goals.
A robust system of cross-sector alignment will open
new opportunities for collaboration and integration that will significantly increase the impact of the homeless
response system. Cross-sector initiatives will curb the inflows into homelessness, with targeted measures for
14 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
early identification, effective discharge planning, and rapid supports when someone faces housing instability.
With advances in data integration and management, a
new cross-sector data system, anchored around a unique
identifier, could unlock new opportunities for equity
analysis, client choice, service utilization, automated connections, and preventative supports.
With new funding frameworks, Riverside County CoC
will right-size the homeless response to address the
system flow gap by decreasing inflows and increasing
successful outflows. By focusing on these strategies in tandem, it will also serve to strengthen the capacity of the system to respond to the housing and shelter needs
of the people experiencing homelessness. Increases
in prevention strategies, like preservation of vulnerable housing, tenant protections, economic stability supports, and the expansion of social safety net programs, will
effectively reduce the number of individuals, families, and communities from falling into homelessness.
By strengthening system capacity, it will significantly reduce the number of people experiencing unsheltered
homelessness. As crisis housing options become
radically accessible, it will eventually reduce some of the needs for homeless street outreach. Outreach services,
when necessary, will be focused on person-centered
engagement strategies focused on rapidly ending a
person’s housing crisis. If an individual does experience homelessness, there will be effective housing supports
in rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and
other housing interventions to ensure that they can
quickly move into safe, decent, and affordable housing
in neighborhoods of their choosing. Through leadership, targeted strategies, and vital advocacy, the system can develop enough affordable units to both prevent and end homelessness.
ACTION AREA 1:
STRENGTHEN SYSTEM TO
BETTER PREVENT AND
END HOMELESSNESS
CURRENT RESPONSE
During the analysis of the system structure, stakeholders highlighted challenges in the regionalized and
fragmented nature of the system. This was characterized by contradicting approaches to homelessness,
geographic challenges, and the inconsistent
administration of direct services across each sub-region.
This fragmented approach produces challenges for
navigating people experiencing homelessness to access
consistent services and supports across the county.
Feedback from stakeholders often characterized access
to resources as being geographically siloed, with certain regions having critically underdeveloped resources in
outreach, shelter, and housing supports.
The inequitable development of services and
infrastructure across the system can be attributed in part to certain localities not funding homeless services or
housing solutions in their cities. Paired with the increases in people experiencing homelessness, this has led to
underdeveloped provider networks and system capacity,
placing an inequitable burden on those cities who had
invested in such programs or provider networks. The
plan’s regional approach will require ongoing partnership with service providers, cities, regional governments, and the County of Riverside.
Stakeholders highlighted that data integration and
management is underdeveloped and inconsistently
applied across the County of Riverside, creating system challenges for administrators to leverage data and
difficulties for clients navigating the system.
The creation of the Housing and Workforce Solutions
Department (HWS) has started the process to provide
the necessary leadership and structure to coalesce these fragmented approaches into a more unified framework
and to develop and uphold community-wide standards.
The consolidated department is now better positioned
to address other system challenges, like cross-sector
alignment, data integration and management, service
provider, city, regional government capacity, and regional advocacy.
PROPOSED STRATEGIES
Strategy 1: Strengthen Leadership and Departmental
Capacity
Leadership by the Housing and Workforce Solutions
Department (HWS) around the five focus areas, and
corresponding strategies will be important in achieving many of the goals outlined in this plan. To respond to the massive influxes of new funding from state and federal
programs, the CoC will continue to develop service
provider, city, and regional government capacity. HWS
will further develop its own administrative capacity
to support initiatives of the CoC. As leaders of the
system, HWS will be responsible for addressing system
capacity, evaluation, accountability, and advocacy. A key component of this leadership lies within the alignment of the goals and strategies of the CoC and BoG.
• Instill shared values into CoC culture and work to
increase CoC participation
• Gain deeper insight into CoC performance and adopt
a continuous improvement framework through the use
of data
• Develop system for monitoring progress of Homeless
Action Plan and other actions of the CoC
15 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
• Continue to streamline the CoC structure &
committees in alignment with goals outlined in this
Homeless Action Plan
• Leverage political will of regional stakeholders over the adoption of priorities and goals outlined in this
Homeless Action Plan
• Develop internal operational capacity to support the
influx of new spending related activities like RFP
responses, HUD technical assistance, etc.
• Lead cross-sector initiatives around data-sharing and discharge planning
• Lead system mapping and regional coordination
• Spearhead the initiative to transform the county’s data capacity
• Lead in the development of new funding opportunities
with private, philanthropic, and public sources,
including cross-sector braiding of funding with
housing/homeless system resources
• Develop Riverside County CoC Policy Agenda
to address items like tenant protections,
decriminalization, etc.
• Refine and develop program specific guidance,
policies, procedures, and trainings to develop capacity regionally
• Support the enhancement/development of sub-
regional infrastructure, specifically in subregions
without developed infrastructure, to implement
Homeless Action Plan strategies
• Engage cities and tribal lands to implement goals
outlined in the Homeless Action Plan
Strategy 2: Improve County’s Ability to Track, Leverage, and Manage Data
Building a complete picture of a client’s movement within the homeless response system will require eliminating
data silos. This necessitates greater usage of HMIS/CES across the region and cross-department data sharing with the HWS division. Riverside County CoC will continue to establish processes that allow the CoC to govern and
improve data collection practices and evaluation system wide. Data-driven decision-making and strategic use of
resources will be essential for transforming our homeless services system.
• Increase the use of HMIS data for evaluating and
reporting on program and system outcomes
• Expand system and program level reporting to inform
funding and policy decisions
• Ensure that all contracts that fund services to address homelessness require participation in HMIS protocol,
trainings, monitoring, and procedures
• Expand services and programs in HMIS so that HMIS
is the main repository for all programs addressing
homelessness
• Create public-facing dashboards based on the goals
outlined in the Homeless Action Plan and System
Performance Measures
• Use data to assess the intersectionality of race,
ethnicity, disability, gender, and age within the
homeless response system across program types to
ensure equitable access and delivery of services for
overrepresented groups
• Refine mechanisms for improving HMIS data entry and
data quality, especially for front-line staff at shelters, day centers, and access centers where client turnover
creates challenges for data quality
• Develop mechanisms to track real-time availability of shelter and housing units within the system
• Develop reporting structure to report on key data
indicators at sub-regional and city specific level
Strategy 3: Implement Prioritization Framework to
Address System Flow
Implementing the strategies of the Homeless Action Plan will involve developing and adopting funding principles and a countywide prioritization framework that are rooted in the five action areas of the plan. Future funded projects will look to be aligned with a best practice model, such as the All Home California’s 1-2-4 Framework1. In order to address system flow, the homeless response system
needs to place an emphasis on reducing the inflows into homelessness and increasing the outflows, or exits, from homelessness. Currently, the County of Riverside has a
net gain, as inflows are outpacing outflows.
To correct for this system flow gap, the County of
Riverside and its partners will reorient the system’s
resources and investments to prioritize interventions
focused on reducing inflows through prevention activities and increasing outflows to permanent housing, with less prioritization on interventions intended to support interim solutions like emergency shelter. This prioritization
framework centers the need to invest in multiple
strategies simultaneously while recognizing that there will be regional variation in applying this framework. Some
cities or sub-regions that currently have underdeveloped capacity might need to frontload investments in interim solutions, like purchasing motels, while others will
orientate their investments in reducing inflows and
increasing outflows.
This document does not present specific percentages,
proportions, or funding allocations to be assigned to
each category, as they are not intended to be fixed, but instead, this framework represents a strategic shift in orientation and investments for all resources that address homelessness and its root causes that prioritize reducing inflows and outflows to end homelessness. The goal of
this prioritization framework is to right-size the system flow by decreasing the rate at which people become
homeless while reaching equilibrium of interim and
permanent housing resources.
1 www.allhomeca.org/regionalactionplan
16 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
• Reducing Inflow: Root Causes and Homelessness
Prevention
- Curtailing the inflows into the homeless response
system will require addressing the root causes of
homelessness and preventing new individuals,
families, or communities from falling into
homelessness.
- Upstreaming solutions by developing equity-
centered, regional, and cross-sector collaboration
that focuses on preventing people from becoming
homeless through homelessness prevention
programs, preservation of vulnerable housing
and communities, tenant protections, and the
production of affordable housing, all of which will
begin to address the system flow.
• Increasing Outflow: Housing Solutions and Supportive
Services
- Housing solutions with corresponding supportive
services rooted in Housing First, like supportive
housing, rapid rehousing, and other flexible
housing subsidies and supports are necessary
tools to end homelessness.
• Supporting Interim Solutions: Interim and Emergency
Options
- Supporting the needs of unsheltered people
experiencing homelessness will be a critical
component to humanely addressing homelessness.
Strategy 4: Utilize Funding Principles Informed by the
Prioritization Framework, Provider, City, and Regional
Government Performance, and Regional Deficiencies
and Needs
When allocating new awards, the Riverside County
CoC’s Funding Principles will consider the prioritization framework, provider’s performance, and the gaps in
regional deficiencies. The Funding Principles, adopted by the CoC, are attached to each Action Area.
Aligning Funding
Additionally, the Riverside County CoC will work to align funding and strategies across all public sector entities.
The system will ensure that public funding aligns with
goals and strategies of this plan, will leverage the
commitments of private and philanthropic funders, and
will align investments to fill gaps and create greater
impact. The Riverside County CoC will develop the
infrastructure for public and private sectors to come
together regularly to discuss funding needs, strategies, and partnerships.
• Map out the number of units/interventions needed for
each component of prioritization
• Establish how to quantify and evaluate provider
performance
• Identify gaps in regional deficiencies across the system • Provide technical assistance and training opportunities and adapt program guidelines and guidance
• Expand partnerships with corporations, philanthropic
institutions, and individual donors to secure private
funding to reduce and prevent homelessness
Strategy 5: Strengthen Coordinated Access
The Riverside County CoC will need to continue to
strengthen the Coordinated Entry System (CES) across
Riverside County to ensure the system is equipped to
correctly identify and prioritize clients for housing and service interventions through a progressive engagement
approach.
• Evaluate and refine current system functionality,
including access, assessment, prioritization, and
matching/referrals to ensure that the system is
connecting the highest need, most vulnerable persons
in the community to available housing and supportive
services equitably
• Conduct an analysis of the VI-SPDAT, highlighting
areas of concern around equity, such as racial identity, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc., and identify whether it is the correct assessment tool for Riverside County CoC
• Evaluate, refine, and implement standardized
Riverside County CoC CES Policies and Procedures
• Increase housing and program resources connected to
CES by targeting and bringing onboard programs and
services currently operating outside of CES and HMIS
• Systematize CES reporting, accountability, and
evaluation, and align with the Homeless Management
Information System (HMIS)
• Integrate cross-departmental referrals into intake
processes, like standardized employment readiness
assessments that leads to appropriate linkages with
employment services or departments
• Integrate case conferencing component within CES
Strategy 6: Enhance Provider, City and Regional
Government’s Capacity and System Infrastructure
To address gaps in service provider, city, and regional government’s capacity and system infrastructure, the
Riverside County CoC will invest in increasing service
provider, city, and regional government’s capacity and
system infrastructure in under-resourced regions of the county, addressing the current regionalized response.
The County of Riverside will support homeless services
providers, cities, and regional governments in building capacity through training, technical assistance, and
learning collaboratives. The Riverside County CoC
will support cities and regional governments that are
investing in the CoC infrastructure by incentivizing city matching funds and city in-kind donations, thereby
maximizing Continuum of Care grant investments.
Providing this type of support and incentive to cities and regional governments will not only reward those entities 17 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
who are investing in addressing homelessness, but it will also encourage other cities to take steps to address the homeless issue.
Improving the service delivery of the region will also
require investments in the staff, working to improve the client experience and the health of the system. Staff
need to be appropriately compensated, work reasonable
hours, and receive regular training. The strains on
frontline service provider staff are compounded by the
fact that organizations tend to be resource constrained, which limits their ability to hire multidisciplinary teams that could meet the dynamic needs of clients with targeted
services. Given these factors, staff turnover is incredibly high, which has a significant impact on the system to
deliver services. System and resource knowledge is
difficult to develop without consistent staffing, which results in organizations that struggle to maintain
consistent procedures, practices, and partnerships, and which do not have the capacity to innovate and improve.
An investment in frontline staff, especially staff who
have lived experience, is simultaneously an investment
in client experience and system performance. Lastly,
there needs to be an increase in opportunities to hire
individuals with lived experience to bolster relationships and improve service offerings. Career pathways will be
developed to provide individuals with lived experience
the ability to join the workforce on a provider and
administrative level. Recognizing the essential role that frontline staff have in clients’ lives, Riverside County must develop mechanisms to staff up, train, and evaluate to
support the needs of clients.
- Explicit emphasis on racial equity and cultural
humility
- Workshops to identify common errors and mistakes
on CoC Grant Applications
- Workshops to identify common errors and mistakes
in performance reports and payment requests
- Presentations before City Councils on best
practices, good neighbor strategies, and leveraging
city resources with CoC resources
- Developing provider, city, and regional government
partnerships to fill gaps, enhance services, and
collaborate on grant opportunities
• Increase the capacity of providers to implement
tailored services, utilizing progressive engagement
and Housing First practices that are flexible and
responsive to the needs and priorities of individuals.
Ensure support for culture shift for providers
• Strengthen provider tables/forums and create learning collaboratives for more frequent capacity building
opportunities
• Promote hiring and retention practices to further
diversify system staff at all levels to better reflect
populations served. Track results of hiring practices
to ensure diversity and inclusion are expanded.
Encourage organizations to ensure that diverse staff
are not limited to entry-level positions but can access the full range of organizational leadership positions
• Improve investments in workforce development for
positions who provide direct homeless services by
partnering with universities and community colleges
to increase the scale and quality of homeless service
workers
Strategy 7: Support Regional, Cross-Sector Alignment
and Partnership
As inflows into the homeless response system increase,
so does the need for cross-sector components and
regional alignment necessary to ending homelessness.
When communities reach the limits of their ability
to optimize the homeless-service sector, there will
still be challenges that stand in the way of ending
homelessness. This cross-sector alignment initiative is necessary to curb the inflows of people entering the
homeless response system. Cross-sector initiatives with healthcare, behavioral/mental health, substance use
disorder, criminal justice, child welfare, juvenile justice, education, immigration, employment, land use, and
code enforcement will be developed with the goal of
seeking to end a person’s housing crisis before it begins.
These will be based on targeted measures for early
identification, effective discharge planning, and rapid supports when someone faces housing instability.
Riverside County will push to align procurement priorities, goals, deliverables, and timelines according to cross-
system or multi-jurisdictional policy priorities and to • Support service provider expansion to strengthen
regional deficiencies
• Develop/Refine CoC community standards/program
guidelines for all program types
• Enhance reporting and monitoring procedures to track
and support provider performance
• Develop training strategies to improve provider, city, and regional government’s capacity. Identify training
requirements and required competencies. Training
strategies include but are not limited to:
18 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
develop and institutionalize mechanisms to inform and
shape cross-system, multi-jurisdictional policies, and
priorities. The Riverside County CoC will work to align funding across sectors.
The Riverside County CoC will look to support shared
frameworks and data sharing agreements to align metrics that are centered on customer experience, outcomes,
and cross-system policy priorities. Riverside County CoC will work to transform the homeless response system, by integrating data with cross-sector partners with the goal of building a client facing data collection infrastructure anchored by a unique identifier. Riverside County
CoC will facilitate working groups that aim to develop
the technology to interface with cross-departmental
agencies.
• Facilitate working groups around cross-sector/
departmental/multi-jurisdictional collaboration
• Ensure that each sub-region in Riverside County has
an effective regular meeting structure around issues
related to homelessness aligned with the Riverside
County CoC
• Implement unified approach for tracking
homelessness across mainstream, cross-sector
systems that touch or serve a large proportion
of homeless residents and identify ways to “flag”
homelessness and respond to “flags” in departmental
data systems by rapidly connecting clients to housing
and supportive services
• Identify the feasibility, costs, and legality of integrating and sharing data across disparate systems like
healthcare, behavioral/mental health, substance use
disorder, criminal justice, child welfare, juvenile justice, education, immigration, employment, land use, and
code enforcement
• Develop plans to address the feasibility, costs,
and legality of integrating and sharing data across
systems towards a central data lake that could spur
new opportunities in machine learning and client
ownership of data
• Develop standardized screening tools and related
protocols for identifying needs across systems and
connecting individuals to the right community-based
services
• Align strategic planning efforts, task force initiatives and planning committees across all system partners,
including all counties, cities, faith communities,
philanthropic and business sectors
• Identify internal staff responsible for cross-sector data sharing
• Investigate ways to improve client care coordination
through multidisciplinary teams that include the
healthcare, mental, and behavioral health sectors
• Strengthen partnerships with the state to increase
access to healthcare and supportive services.
Improve data sharing across providers, cities, regional governments, and systems to facilitate continuity of
care and integrated service delivery
Strategy 8: Refine Communications Efforts Around
Homelessness in Riverside County
An important part of the homeless response will be
obtaining the necessary buy-in from the public around
the efforts that Riverside County CoC is taking to
prevent and end homelessness. Due to the visibility of
unsheltered street homelessness and encampments, it
is important to proactively engage the public around the challenges, activities, and implementations of homeless programs and resources.
• Provide regular, coordinated public communication
to inform the public about actions underway, results
achieved, and ways to support those efforts
• Prepare public-facing educational materials and
articles based on data and information to educate the
public on challenges and activities, and to provide
updates on the implementation of programs and
resources
• Create public facing dashboards around performance
toward achieving adopted goals
• Designate a CoC spokesperson/PR representative to
manage CoC communications
• Expand public and private sector support for ending
and preventing homelessness through increased
community engagement. Create a business leaders
task force to establish goals and strategies for the
business community to support the strategic plan.
Areas of focus for the task force could include
fundraising, advocacy, job creation, and housing
access
• Create a countywide education/PR campaign/
communication strategy that increases awareness
about the causes and impacts of homelessness, the
ongoing efforts to end homelessness, and addressing
NIMBYism concerns
• As a part of a communications strategy, invest
in a client facing component that targets those
experiencing or at-risk of homelessness through
robust multi-media strategies to make access to
services intuitive and radically accessible
• Develop opportunities to include the voices of those
with lived experience
• Provide opportunities for action and compassion
among all residents, housed and homeless, through
advocacy, volunteerism, donations, and other
initiatives
• Increase community engagement and support for
affordable and supportive housing development
throughout Riverside County
19 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
• Increase the visibility and expand the efforts of
successful initiatives that engage faith institutions
and individual congregants; initiatives could include
advocacy, recruitment of landlords, and hosting of day
centers, meals, shelter, and encampments
Strategy 9: Expand Accountability to Clients
True accountability to clients will be rooted in increasing client autonomy in decision-making. Currently, clients
do not have a role in determining their own service
paths or in shaping the system. System transformation
requires that clients have power throughout the system
to ensure the services, approaches, and outcomes meet
their stated needs. To become accountable to clients,
the Riverside County CoC must establish system-wide
structures and processes to prioritize client feedback as primary data points in the system. That process should be facilitated by a digital transformation process that makes it easier to integrate client data across services and
systems to improve experience, coordination, and the
ability of system administrators to identify and respond to strengths and weaknesses. This shift to client-centric metrics will represent an important change in how
quality and success are measured in this system and
bring it closer to representing the realities that clients experience.
• Develop processes and technology for clients to
provide feedback on services, with mechanisms to
apply feedback data toward service delivery and
process improvement
• Continue to develop a system where client choice is
paramount
• Ensure that new and existing programs develop within
this new framework
• When developing cross-sector data sharing, center
the efforts on the benefits to the client experience for people experiencing homelessness
• Work with data team to continue to adopt client-
centric metrics
• Provide technical assistance and training
opportunities, and adapt program guidelines and
guidance
Strategy 10: Develop Lived Experience Knowledge,
Leadership, and Decision-Making
Riverside recognizes that integrating the voices of those with lived experience in decision making processes is
necessary to developing an effective, person-centered
system.
• Actively develop opportunities for persons with lived experience to participate in the development and
implementation of regional and sub-regional plans
• Expand the hiring of people with lived experience in
regular staff positions (not just peer support roles), and promote leadership development for people with lived
experience
• Develop peer certification trainings to prepare
individuals for peer support positions in the homeless
service system
• Encourage service providers to modify requirements
for specific positions to allow the substitution of lived experience in place of education or work experience
• Explore the benefit and feasibility of creating a Lived Experience Advisory Board
Strategy 11: Center Race Equity in Homeless Response
The Riverside County CoC will continue to strengthen
a race equity focused response. As the data suggests,
Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) are
significantly overrepresented in the homeless population, a legacy of historical and contemporary structural racism.
The homeless response system also plays a role in
perpetuating inequities in service provision, access, and mobility. We will continue to center race equity in the homeless response, disaggregate data to better develop
solutions, and look upstream at the inflows and structural roots of homelessness. To achieve goals, we will apply a targeted universalism approach, which will set universal goals pursued by targeted processes for specific groups to achieve those goals. Through these strategies we will rebuild the homeless response system to be anti-racist, to ensure all people, especially people of color, have
equitable access and opportunity.
• Embed a racial equity lens into all homelessness and
housing decisions
• Develop a racial equity impact assessment that will
forecast and assess the impacts of new programs and
funding decisions
• Incorporate a focus on racial equity data, analysis,
and planned activities when submitting and reviewing
applications for funding
• Utilize HMIS to analyze data and create public-facing dashboards around racial inequities in experiences of
homelessness, provision of services, and outcomes
• Analyze whether housing outcomes and placements
perpetuate residential segregation
• Adapt program guidelines, policies, procedures
focused on racial equity
• Incorporate a focus on racial equity data, analysis,
and planned activities within applications for CoC
funded projects and analyze the data and information
gathered in response
• Create a plan to move forward on racial equity work
that will include system and programmatic actions
• Institute standardized cultural humility, trauma
informed care, and anti-racist trainings for CoC
programs and system partners
• Align racial equity work in the homelessness sector
with other racial equity initiatives in Riverside County 20 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
PERFORMANCE METRICS
STRATEGY PERFORMANCE METRICS MECHANISMS
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Strategy 5: Strengthen Coordinated Access Number days between referral and contact Various HUD reporting tools – System
Performance Measures Report,
Longitudinal Systems Analysis, Stella, and
others
Riverside County CoC Public Data
Dashboards
Strategy 5: Strengthen Coordinated Access Length of stay in shelter or street Strategy 2: Improve County’s Ability to Track,
Leverage, and Manage Data
Number of System Performance Measures/goals
of Homeless Action Plan reflected in public facing
dashboards
Strategy 2: Improve County’s Ability to Track,
Leverage, and Manage Data
Strategy 11: Center Race Equity in Homeless
Response
Number of programs with demographic data
disaggregated in public facing dashboards
Strategy 9: Expand Accountability to Clients Client program satisfaction results Strategy 3: Implement Prioritization Framework
to Address System Flow
Total number of people entering homeless each
month
Strategy 3: Implement Prioritization Framework
to Address System Flow
Total number of people exiting to housing each
month
Strategy 3: Implement Prioritization Framework
to Address System Flow
Total active people experiencing homelessness
each month
HOUSING INVENTORY MEASURES
Strategy 2: Improve County’s Ability to Track,
Leverage, and Manage Data
Real time shelter and housing unit inventory
reflected in public facing dashboards
Annual Housing Inventory Count Report,
Regional Housing Need Assessment, and
other real-time housing inventory tracking
mechanisms
PROCESS MEASURES
Strategy 5: Strengthen Coordinated Access Functionality of Coordinated Entry System Various Riverside County and Riverside
County CoC process reporting tools.
Some process measures will likely need
to include the creation of new tools and
reporting mechanisms
Strategy 5: Strengthen Coordinated Access Effectiveness of access, assessment, prioritization, and matching/referrals
Strategy 5: Strengthen Coordinated Access
Strategy 6: Enhance Provider, City, and Regional
Government Capacity and System Infrastructure
Number of programs/services adhering to
Riverside County CoC CES Policies and
Procedures
Strategy 2: Improve County’s Ability to Track,
Leverage, and Manage Data
Strategy 6: Enhance Provider, City, and Regional
Government Capacity and System Infrastructure
Percentage of programs/services integrated
within CES and HMIS
Strategy 7: Support Regional, Cross-Sector
Alignment and Partnership
Number of mainstream/cross-sector systems with
data sharing agreements or integrations with
homeless response system
Strategy 7: Support Regional, Cross-Sector
Alignment and Partnership
Number of mainstream/cross-sector systems
utilizing developed homeless tracking metrics
Strategy 6: Enhance Provider, City, and Regional
Government Capacity and System Infrastructure
Number of/participation trainings, learning
collaboratives, provider forums provided
Strategy 6: Enhance Provider, City, and Regional
Government Capacity and System Infrastructure
Program staffing/Caseload ratio per program,
Increase provider, city, and regional government
capacity
Strategy 10: Develop Lived Experience
Knowledge, Leadership, and Decision-Making
Strategy 11: Center Race Equity in Homeless
Response
Percentage of CoC and service provider staff
with Black, Indigenous and People of Color and
people with Lived Experience
Strategy 1: Strengthen Leadership and
Departmental Capacity
Strategy 7: Support Regional, Cross-Sector
Alignment and Partnership
Number of new positions created in response to
Homeless Action Plan, especially around cross-
sector alignment, and partnership
21 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
PROCESS MEASURES CONTINUED
Strategy 1: Strengthen Leadership and
Departmental Capacity
Strategy 8: Refine Communications Efforts
Around Homelessness in Riverside County
Riverside County CoC Policy Agenda
Various Riverside County and Riverside
County CoC process reporting tools.
Some process measures will likely need
to include the creation of new tools and
reporting mechanisms
Strategy 3: Implement A Prioritization
Framework to Address System Flow
Strategy 4: Utilize Funding Principles Informed
by the Prioritization Framework, Provider, City,
and Regional Government Performance, and
Regional Deficiencies and Needs
Allocation of Riverside County CoC Awards
reflecting units of “Reducing Inflow”, “Increasing
Outflow”, and “Supporting Interim Solutions”
Strategy 1: Strengthen Leadership and
Departmental Capacity
Strategy 4: Utilize Funding Principles Informed
by the Prioritization Framework, Provider, City,
and Regional Government Performance, and
Regional Deficiencies and Needs
Number of new opportunities generated through
private and philanthropic funding
Strategy 7: Support Regional, Cross-Sector
Alignment and Partnership
Number of active cross-sector or regional
working groups/partnerships
Strategy 11: Center Race Equity in Homeless
Response
Number of awarded programs/projects that
address racial equity
Strategy 11: Center Race Equity in Homeless
Response
Number of Riverside County CoC Policy and
Procedures that address racial equity
Strategy 8: Refine Communications Efforts
Around Homelessness in Riverside County Effectiveness of PR/Communication Campaign
FIVE YEAR GOALS
The following Five-Y ear Goals will be tracked utilizing various existing and new reporting tools. These tools may include but are not limited to: HUD Reporting Tools, Point in Time Count, System Performance Measures, Longitudinal Systems Analysis, Stella, Riverside County CoC Public Data Dashboards, Annual Housing Inventory Count, Regional Housing Need Assessment, other real-time housing inventory tracking mechanisms, and County and Riverside County CoC process reporting tools.
• Total number of people successfully exiting to housing each month/year exceeds the people entering homelessness each month/year
• 100% of the programs/services adhere to CES Policies and Procedures • 100% of programs/services are integrated within CES and HMIS • 50% reduction in the length of stay (SO, ES, SH, TH)
• System Performance Measures are reflected in public facing dashboards • 100% of data reports, dashboards, etc. have data disaggregated demographically • Disparities of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) experiencing homelessness are reduced across all program types
• Riverside County CoC has increased the number of active partnerships with cross-sector/mainstream systems • 100% of identified cross-sector/mainstream systems utilize developed homeless tracking metrics and processes • Riverside County CoC has an effective provider training, learning collaborative, provider forum schedule in place to develop service provider capacity regionally
• Riverside County CoC has adopted Policy Agenda
• Riverside County CoC tracks client program satisfaction results and uses them to inform decision making • Increases in Riverside County CoC staff that have lived experience and/or are Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC)
• 100% of awarded projects address racial equity disparities • 100% of CoC staff and service providers are trained in cultural humility, trauma-informed care, and anti-racist trainings
• Riverside County CoC Framework implemented to right-size system flow 22 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
FUNDING PRINCIPLES
• Invest in strategies and programs that support the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan, emphasizing the
expansion of system coordination, housing resources,
outreach, navigation, and supportive services and
provider, city, regional government, and system
capacity
• Invest in programs that demonstrate ongoing, long-
term, or sustainable data-informed results that are
consistent with benchmarks established in the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan
• Utilizing a data-driven approach (HMIS, annual Point- In-Time Count, System Performance Measures, and
CES By-Name List), invest in programs addressing
significant service gaps and priority needs by
targeting high-need communities, under-served
or hard to-serve geographic areas, or special
subpopulations, such as the chronically homeless,
individuals with mental illness and substance use
disorders, older adults/seniors, and Transitional Age
Y outh (TAY)
• Strengthen equity-focused strategies, programs, and
partnerships that reduce racial disparities, support
equitable access to services and resources, and
produce equitable outcomes and communities
• Advance client-centered strategies, programs, and
partnerships that are informed by people with lived
experience of homelessness and provide legitimate
feedback mechanisms for clients experiencing
homelessness
• Support strategies to address regional inequities in
homeless response infrastructure, approaches, and
service delivery capacity. These include adopting
and implementing regional planning, coordination,
decision-making, data-sharing, and accountability
measures
ACTION AREA 2:
EQUITABLY ADDRESS
THE HEALTH, SAFETY,
AND SERVICES NEEDS OF
PEOPLE EXPERIENCING
UNSHELTERED
HOMELESSNESS
CURRENT RESPONSE
Stakeholder feedback from the Needs Assessment
and Gaps Analysis of the County of Riverside
highlighted differing regional approaches to outreach
and engagement, with some regions utilizing more
enforcement approaches and others implementing more
engagement approaches. Enforcement approaches
often highlighted a shortage of homeless street outreach services and/or mental and behavioral health services,
which results in law enforcement needing to respond
to homeless related crises. People experiencing
homelessness have far more positive outcomes when
engaging with homeless street outreach teams and
mental health crisis intervention teams than with law
enforcement. This emphasizes the need to further
invest these resources and increase the shift to the
decriminalization of the homeless response.
Stakeholders highlighted various challenges for people
experiencing unsheltered homelessness. The most
common challenge reported was the lack of sufficient
low-barrier shelter options across the county. In certain regions of the county, there are underdeveloped shelter response systems often resulting in the misalignment
of core homeless outreach duties, like shelter service
connection to law enforcement. This dynamic places
an inequitable burden on communities who already
have shelters in their communities. Second, outreach
service capacity needs to be expanded across the
county to cities that are currently under resourced. While services need to be expanded, this also calls for the
need to develop more uniform standards and operating
procedures for outreach and engagement across the
county, which shifts the responsibilities currently held by law enforcement in certain cities to homeless street outreach teams and mental health response teams.
Shifting the entity responding to homeless related
issues would be a continued step in decriminalizing the response to homelessness. The complexities of outreach
and engagement often come to a point when responding
23 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
to encampments, which vary significantly from region to region, encampment to encampment. There currently is
not a unified approach to encampment management.
Additionally, accessing services can be difficult for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, as shelter
programs in various parts of the county often require a referral from an organization. The HMIS Administrators
Council and CES Oversight Committee have adopted
a hybrid “No Wrong Door Approach”. Based on the
stated procedures of the current system, a homeless
individual or family can present at any homeless,
housing, and service provider in the geographic area or by accessing a mobile hotline. The CES Lead Agency
also highlighted that they have trained Navigators to
assist those presenting at any access point within the
geographic area. Despite these systems and processes
in place, however, stakeholders repeatedly highlighted
in interviews the challenges in accessing shelter beds.
Keeping staff informed and trained on access to various programs can be difficult given the regionalization,
high turnover among frontline staff, and changes in the processes. This lack of consistent and clear flow on how to access the services of the system puts the burden of navigating shelter and housing programs on individuals
experiencing homelessness.
There is a need to streamline connection to other vital services, including but not limited to: nutrition assistance, hygiene assistance, substance abuse care, transportation assistance, identification support, income, and benefits support.
PROPOSED STRATEGIES
Strategy 12: Increase Regional Capacity of Homeless
Street Outreach
As highlighted above, there are certain regions with
underdeveloped homeless street outreach networks.
This has led to fragmented outreach responses that are
more enforcement focused in some areas and more
engagement focused in other areas. The Riverside
County CoC will further enhance countywide street
outreach services by addressing the gaps in regional
variation to create a unified approach centered around
engagement, connection to services, harm reduction
strategies, and addressing the health, safety, and
service needs for people experiencing unsheltered
homelessness.
We know that the longer people remain unhoused, the
more it negatively effects their physical and mental
health, employability, and connection with support
networks. One of the key system components for
outreach services is to diminish the inflows into chronic homelessness and long-term homelessness. Establishing
consistent outreach across the county will reduce
the need for more intense housing interventions. The
Riverside County CoC will establish a proactive, non-
punitive, engagement focused, countywide response
to homeless street outreach that focuses on reducing
entries into chronic homelessness and increasing street to housing placements.
• Create CoC Homeless Street Outreach Protocol with
regional stakeholder that include the standardization
of outreach practices, schedules, and engagement
strategies and corresponding training across all
outreach efforts
• Establish outreach coordination infrastructure in each sub-region
• Leverage person-centered, housing-focused case
management with enhanced training in evidence
based best practices (e.g., trauma-informed care,
critical time intervention, motivational interviewing,
and housing first strategies) for service delivery
• Develop encampment management and resolution
policies
• Increase access and safety for all to basic hygiene
resources, such as bathrooms, showers, and laundry,
that accommodate their self-identified race, gender
identity, gender expression, etc.
• Increase the number of free public transportation
options for people who are unhoused to access
services
• Expand the number of outreach teams and staff
to ensure appropriate coverage to all sub-regions
throughout the county, with specific emphasis on
under-resourced communities
• Further develop data initiatives to better track,
target, and ensure comprehensive, efficient, and
effective delivery of outreach and permanent
housing assistance for people experiencing chronic
homelessness
• Connect unsheltered individuals directly with rental
assistance with the understanding that shelter
or transitional housing is not a requirement for
unsheltered individuals working with outreach teams
to qualify for rental assistance
• Develop programs that support frequent users of
public systems, including hospitals, jails or prisons,
and shelters, and provide them with supportive
housing, significantly reducing returns to the streets
• Develop systems for mental health professionals to
intervene in place of law enforcement
• Identify technological strategies to enhance street
outreach coordination
Strategy 13: Support the Health of People Experiencing
Unsheltered Homelessness through Cross-
Departmental/Cross-Sector Supports
Meeting the health needs of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness will require increased behavioral health, mental health, and substance use disorder services and housing supports from Riverside County and its
partners. The Riverside County CoC will need to leverage 24 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
cross-departmental/cross-sector collaboration to address regionalized service gaps for individuals with conditions related to physical health, Serious Mental Illness (SMI), and Substance Use Disorder (SUD).
• Identify strategies to improve ongoing connectivity
for clients referred for mental health services and/or
substance use services
• Support communities in implementing multi-agency,
multi-jurisdictional outreach and protective measures
addressing the health and safety needs of people
experiencing unsheltered homelessness
• Increase the number of mobile crisis teams with
clinical staff and expand their hours to support
individuals experiencing severe mental health and
substance use crises
• Increase the number of beds available for substance
use treatment and provide the follow-up supportive
services needed to prevent relapses
• Increase access to mental health treatment for people who are unhoused and struggling with mental illness
• Develop a plan to eliminate service access and
treatment gaps for unsheltered people struggling with
chronic and severe mental illness
• Improve health access for people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness, including through CalAIM
services like Enhanced Care Management and In Lieu
of Services
• Develop new, and enhance existing, partnerships
between behavioral health and social service
providers, neighborhood associations, cities, and
regional governments, including law enforcement and
other first responders. Engage partners in proactive
strategies that link individuals who are homeless
with housing and services with the additional goal of
reducing criminal justice system involvement
• Ensure adequate resources are available for proactive and consistent outreach efforts
• Develop multi-disciplinary teams that include
homeless street outreach, mental health services, etc.
• Ensure people living outside have adequate access to
basic needs
• Engage regional stakeholders to ensure appropriate
responses to persons living in vehicles and to ensure
adequate safe zones for people to park and receive
services while working towards housing
Strategy 14: Improve Access for People Experiencing
Homelessness
The Riverside County CoC currently utilizes a hybridized “No Wrong Door Approach,” meaning that a homeless
individual or family can present at any homeless housing and service provider in the geographic area or by
accessing a mobile hotline. A decentralized system is often difficult to navigate for individuals newly experiencing homelessness and makes administering prevention
assistance challenging. The number of locations, the
varied regional capacities, and the different agencies
conducting intakes and providing orientation to the
system often results in discrepancies, compromised data, and a wide range of client experiences. The Riverside
County CoC will need to continue to refine its hybridized “No Wrong Door Approach,” establishing access centers
across the region to serve as key nodes, or front doors, within the system. The Riverside County CoC will work to establish system access that is radically accessible to all. • Refine hybridized “No Wrong Door Approach” by
establishing Access Centers/Navigation Centers in
key subregions that are focused on providing access
to services with a focus on connecting to housing
• Enhance training, standard orientation messaging, and client facing materials to help people experiencing or
at-risk of homelessness understand what services and
resources are available to them and what the process
looks like to access services/housing across the CoC
• Develop a culture of housing-focused problem-solving
across all programs that serve as access points
(outreach, drop-in centers, access centers, navigation
centers, etc.)
• Streamline intake processes for individuals and
families experiencing homelessness, including a
review of the desirability of the VI-SPDAT through the
lens of equity
• Improve protocols for prioritization into emergency
shelter, interim housing, medical respite, etc. to ensure that bed availability is real-time
• Improve roles and responsibilities for assisting
clients in obtaining housing-related documentation,
like IDs, social security cards, proof of income, birth certificates, etc.
• Implement diversion/problem-solving conversations at
all points of entry
Strategy 15: Develop Countywide Encampment
Management Protocols
As part of the development of Homeless Street Outreach
Protocols, the Riverside County CoC will need to develop a Countywide Encampment Management Protocol. This
will include best practices in encampment management
and person-centered approaches.
• Enhance coordination between agencies engaging
people living in encampments to ensure consistent
and humane approaches to encampment resolution
across the county
• Coordinate between department and agencies to
create a coordinated encampment management
strategy
• As part of CoC Homeless Street Outreach Protocol,
establish guidance on Encampment Management and
Resolution Protocols
25 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
• Engage cities and other local government entities to
utilize encampment guidance of CoC Homeless Street
Outreach Protocol
Strategy 16: Support the Decriminalization of
Homelessness
As part of the Riverside County CoC’s commitment
to racial equity and a person-centered approach, the
Riverside County CoC will also support policies that
move towards the decriminalization of homelessness.
Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) are
disproportionately affected by homelessness and are
disproportionately represented in the criminal justice
system. Moving towards a decriminalized system will
decrease the likelihood of further trauma, decrease
time spent outdoors, and reduce criminal charges that
are often barriers to housing, employment, and other
resources. Not prosecuting chronically or unsheltered
homeless people for minor offenses reduces the
likelihood that police officers and other system
officials will attempt to arrest or institutionalize people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and may reduce
interactions between police and people experiencing
homelessness overall. Homeless Courts are also another
key strategy to resolve these barriers through voluntary, individualized action to satisfy fines, fees, and case
dismissal. The County of Riverside should continue to
push for alternatives to criminalization policies that are focused on engagement and housing.
• Develop Homeless Street Outreach Protocols to
compliment decriminalization advocacy
• Advocate for decriminalizing homelessness responses
across the county and state that include pre-
adjudication and sentencing alternatives to minimize
involvement of people experiencing homelessness in
criminal justice system
• Develop processes to ensure greater collaboration
between judicial agencies and local alternative courts
like Homeless Court and pre-booking diversion
resources
• Ensure that Riverside County does not
disproportionately enforce existing county ordinances
against homeless individuals and families
• Develop an inclusive approach to public space
management with non-punitive policies
Strategy 17: Develop Training for First Responders
First responders, like emergency medical services, fire, and law enforcement, frequently respond to homeless
related emergencies. In moving towards a responsive,
engagement-focused outreach system, the Riverside
County CoC will also need to engage and train first
responders in integrating evidence based best practices (e.g., trauma-informed care, critical time intervention, motivational interviewing, and housing first strategies) for service delivery. The Riverside County CoC will
work in partnership with first responders to develop
targeted trainings and protocols for first responders
when engaging people experiencing unsheltered
homelessness on streets or encampments.
• Co-develop protocol for first responders when
engaging people on the streets and encampments
with key considerations when engaging with key
subpopulations (survivors of domestic violence,
individuals with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) or
Substance Use Disorder (SUD), Transitional Aged
Y outh (TAY), older adults/seniors, and dependent
adults)
• Ensure that the first responder training and protocol is in alignment with CoC initiated Homeless Outreach
Strategy and Encampment Protocols
• Co-design and implement outreach training for first
responders that focuses on evidence based best
practices in homeless street outreach and service
coordination
Strategy 18: Establish Key Resources for Special
Populations Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness
There are specific subpopulations of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness that will need additional
considerations and resources to address their health,
safety, and service needs. This will include unsheltered chronically homeless, individuals with Severe Mental
Illness (SMI), individuals with Substance Use Disorder
(SUD), Transitional Aged Y outh (TAY), high utilizers of emergency services, survivors fleeing domestic violence, families, and older adults/seniors.
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it relates to needs of unsheltered chronically homeless
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it relates to needs of unsheltered individuals with Severe Mental
Illness (SMI)
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it relates to needs of unsheltered individuals with Substance Use
Disorder (SUD)
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it relates to needs of unsheltered Transitional Aged Y outh (TAY).
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it relates to needs of unsheltered high utilizers of emergency
services
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it relates to needs of unsheltered survivors fleeing domestic
violence
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it relates to needs of unsheltered families
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it relates to needs of unsheltered older adults/seniors
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it relates to needs of unsheltered LGBTQIA+ individuals
26 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
PERFORMANCE METRICS
STRATEGY PERFORMANCE METRICS MECHANISMS
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Strategy 12: Increase Regional Capacity of
Homeless Street Outreach
Strategy 18: Establish Key Resources for
Special Populations Experiencing Unsheltered
Homelessness
Number of people experiencing unsheltered
homelessness at a point in time and month to
month, including key subpopulations
Various HUD reporting tools – System
Performance Measures Report,
Longitudinal Systems Analysis, Stella, and
others
Riverside County CoC Public Data
Dashboards
Strategy 12: Increase Regional Capacity of
Homeless Street Outreach
Strategy 13: Support the Health of People
Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness
through Cross-Departmental/Cross-Sector
Supports
Strategy 14: Improve Access for People
Experiencing Homelessness
Length of time a person remains homeless (street
and shelter)
Strategy 12: Increase Regional Capacity of
Homeless Street Outreach Successful placement from Street Outreach Strategy 12: Increase Regional Capacity of
Homeless Street Outreach
Number of permanent housing placements from
Street Outreach
Strategy 12: Increase Regional Capacity of
Homeless Street Outreach
Number of successful contacts with people
experiencing unsheltered homelessness
Strategy 15: Develop Countywide Encampment
Management Protocols Number of encampments
Strategy 12: Increase Regional Capacity of
Homeless Street Outreach
Number of people entering into chronic
homelessness
Strategy 12: Increase Regional Capacity of
Homeless Street Outreach
Geographic distribution of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness (including
encampments)
Strategy 18: Establish Key Resources for
Special Populations Experiencing Unsheltered
Homelessness
Number of people experiencing unsheltered
homelessness discharged from mainstream
institutions or re-entering from homeless
response system.
Strategy 14: Improve Access for People
Experiencing Homelessness
Geographic distribution of housing access in to
CES
Strategy 14: Improve Access for People
Experiencing Homelessness
Demographics of people experiencing
homelessness utilizing access and outreach
services
PROCESS MEASURES
Strategy 12: Increase Regional Capacity of
Homeless Street Outreach
Geographic distribution and make-up of
homeless street outreach teams/programs
Various Riverside County and Riverside
County CoC process reporting tools.
Some process measures will likely need
to include the creation of new tools and
reporting mechanisms
Strategy 16: Support the Decriminalization of
Homelessness
Strategy 17: Develop Training for First
Responders
Number of emergency calls, citations, arrests
made by law enforcement for homeless related
disturbances.
Strategy 18: Establish Key Resources for
Special Populations Experiencing Unsheltered
Homelessness
Number of successful referrals to support
services (mental health, employment, hygiene,
nutrition, etc.)
27 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
FIVE YEAR GOALS
The following Five-Y ear Goals will be tracked utilizing various existing and new reporting tools. These tools
may include but are not limited to: HUD Reporting Tools, Point in Time Count, System Performance Measures,
Longitudinal Systems Analysis, Stella, Riverside County CoC Public Data Dashboards, Annual Housing Inventory
Count, Regional Housing Need Assessment, other real-
time housing inventory tracking mechanisms, and County
and Riverside County CoC process reporting tools.
• 50% reduction in the number of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness at a point in time and
month to month, including key subpopulations across
all regions
• 50% reduction in the length of stay (SO, ES, SH, TH)
• 50% increase in successful housing placement from
street outreach
• 25% reduction in the number of emergency calls,
citations, arrests made by law enforcement for
homeless related disturbances
• 75% reduction in the number of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness discharged from
institutions or re-entering from the homeless response
system
• Resources are uniformly accessible across
Riverside County regardless of sub-region or client
demographics, reflected in CES access data
• 50% increase in successful street outcomes
• Riverside County CoC has adopted Homeless Street
Outreach Protocol, including First Responder Training
and Encampment Management
FUNDING PRINCIPLES
• Invest in multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional solutions to address the health, safety, and housing needs of
people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and
staying in encampments.
• Participate in the development of CalAIM initiatives
that seek to extend a whole person care approach
through the Enhanced Care Management and In Lieu
of Services to serve people experiencing unsheltered
homelessness.
ACTION AREA 3: EXPAND
COMMUNITIES CAPACITY
TO PROVIDE SAFE AND
EFFECTIVE SHELTER AND
INTERIM HOUSING
CURRENT RESPONSE
Presently there are not enough year-round beds in
the Riverside Homeless Response system to provide
adequate temporary shelter or interim housing to people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. This was
supported by data reflected in Housing Inventory Count
and HMIS data underline the increase in unsheltered
homelessness.
Stakeholder reported the shelter and interim housing
options available as being inaccessible and hard to
navigate for people experiencing homelessness. In
addition to the system fragmentation, other stakeholders described the inaccessibility reflected in the policies of shelters themselves that place additional barriers
on people experiencing homelessness, such as no
accommodations for couples, no pets allowed, or
curfews.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges to the
region’s shelter response. Despite these challenges,
however, stakeholders highlighted successes that can
be expanded on. The region was able to leverage
state-level resources, like Project Roomkey and Project Homekey, to secure hotel and motel rooms for vulnerable people experiencing homelessness. Because of these
innovative programs, providers noted that there was an
increase in the capacity of low barrier non-congregate
shelter options for people experiencing homelessness.
With the threat of the pandemic on people experiencing
homelessness, there was increased collaboration and
problem solving between various agencies to get those
most vulnerable into shelter.
PROPOSED STRATEGIES
Strategy 19: Increase the Number of Crisis Housing
Beds Regionally
In order to meet the needs of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness, the Riverside County CoC will need to expand the number of crisis housing beds across the region. Through various funding sources and models, including new CalAIM programs and Project Homekey
2.0, the Riverside County CoC will need to increase the number of crisis housing (ES, SH, TH) units to meet the
28 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
system needs. As described earlier, to reduce the entries into chronic/long-term homelessness, which is more
costly, the Riverside County CoC will ensure coordinated access and a housing focus to ensure throughputs into
the system.
• Create more crisis housing, which includes emergency
shelter, interim housing, medical respite, domestic
violence shelters, faith-based shelters, family shelters, transitional housing, stabilization beds, recuperative
care beds, and motel vouchers to meet the specific
needs by population and region
• Develop and advance CalAIM proposals seeking to
extend statewide the service options available under
Whole Person Care and Health Homes Program
through the Enhanced Care Management program
and In Lieu of Services care coordination and housing
services to better address the health care needs of
people who are staying in shelter and interim housing
sites
• Ensure that there are more public services in
neighborhoods developing crisis housing to meet
community needs
• Ensure that crisis housing account for the unique
needs of specific subpopulations
• Mobilize Homekey resources and other funding
sources to support acquisition of sites for use as crisis housing
Strategy 20: Refine Crisis Housing Policies and
Procedures
The Riverside County CoC will further refine the policies and procedures of crisis housing, which includes
emergency shelter, interim housing, medical respite,
domestic violence shelters, faith-based shelters, family shelters, transitional housing, and motel vouchers to be radically accessible, low-barrier, and housing focused.
The Riverside County CoC will assess the current state
of crisis housing, reform policies and procedures, build capacity in certain regions, and develop real-time bed
availability.
• Assess crisis housing coordinated entry and referral
patterns to identify regional gaps and under resourced
crisis housing capacity
• Ensure that shelter access is equitable through review of data
• Refine best practices for crisis housing that focus
on accessibility and are low barrier. Barriers can
include lack of privacy, sobriety, curfews, engaging in treatment, animal policy, storage, couples, people of
non-binary gender identity
• Move towards a system where shelters are open 24/7
• Establish system wide procedures to track and utilize real-time crisis housing bed availability
• Assess and refine policies and procedures to ensure
that crisis housing is centered on housing-focused
problem-solving
• Provide technical assistance and guidance that will
support the continued application of Housing First
practices, including lowered barriers and housing-
focused services and supports, within shelter and
interim housing programs
• Ensure that policies and procedures account for the
unique needs of specific subpopulations: Transitional
Aged Y outh (TAY), high utilizers of emergency
services, survivors fleeing domestic violence, families, and LGBTQAI+
29 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
PERFORMANCE METRICS
STRATEGY PERFORMANCE METRICS MECHANISMS
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Strategy 19: Increase the Number of Crisis
Housing Beds Regionally
Strategy 20: Refine Crisis Housing Policies and
Procedures
Number of people experiencing sheltered
homelessness at a point in time and month to
month, including key subpopulations
Various HUD reporting tools – System
Performance Measures Report,
Longitudinal Systems Analysis, Stella, and
others
Riverside County CoC Public Data
Dashboards
Strategy 19: Increase the Number of Crisis
Housing Beds Regionally
Strategy 20: Refine Crisis Housing Policies and
Procedures
Demographics of people utilizing crisis housing
options
Strategy 19: Increase the Number of Crisis
Housing Beds Regionally
Strategy 20: Refine Crisis Housing Policies and
Procedures
Length of time a person remains homeless (ES,
SH, TH)
Strategy 19: Increase the Number of Crisis
Housing Beds Regionally
Strategy 20: Refine Crisis Housing Policies and
Procedures
Number of successful housing placements from
crisis housing
Strategy 19: Increase the Number of Crisis
Housing Beds Regionally
Strategy 20: Refine Crisis Housing Policies and
Procedures
Percent of returns to homelessness in 6, 12, and
24 months for people connected to crisis housing
Strategy 19: Increase the Number of Crisis
Housing Beds Regionally
Strategy 20: Refine Crisis Housing Policies and
Procedures
Number of people experiencing sheltered
homelessness discharged from institutions or re-
entering from homeless response system
HOUSING INVENTORY MEASURES
Strategy 19: Increase the Number of Crisis
Housing Beds Regionally
Strategy 20: Refine Crisis Housing Policies and
Procedures
Number of crisis housing beds in the system and
geographic distribution Annual Housing Inventory Count Report, Regional Housing Need Assessment, and
other real-time housing inventory tracking
mechanisms
Strategy 19: Increase the Number of Crisis
Housing Beds Regionally
Strategy 20: Refine Crisis Housing Policies and
Procedures
Crisis housing bed utilization
PROCESS MEASURES
Strategy 19: Increase the Number of Crisis
Housing Beds Regionally
Strategy 20: Refine Crisis Housing Policies and
Procedures
Number of successful referrals to support
services (mental health, employment, hygiene,
nutrition, etc.)
Various County and Riverside County CoC
process reporting tools. Some process
measures will likely need to include
the creation of new tools and reporting
mechanisms
30 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
FIVE YEAR GOALS
The following Five-Y ear Goals will be tracked utilizing various existing and new reporting tools. These tools
may include but are not limited to: HUD Reporting Tools, Point in Time Count, System Performance Measures,
Longitudinal Systems Analysis, Stella, Riverside County CoC Public Data Dashboards, Annual Housing Inventory
Count, Regional Housing Need Assessment, other real-
time housing inventory tracking mechanisms, and County
and Riverside County CoC process reporting tools.
• 100% of crisis housing adhere to CoC Policies and
Procedures
• 25% increase in the number of crisis housing beds
(ES, SH, TH) in the system, geographically distributed
• Increase in the ratio of sheltered to unsheltered
homelessness at a point in time and month to month,
including key subpopulations
• 50% reduction in the length of stay in crisis housing (ES, SH, TH)
• 50% increase in the number of successful housing
placements from crisis housing
• 75% reduction in the number of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness discharged from
institutions or re-entering from homeless response
system
FUNDING PRINCIPLES
• Invest in innovative approaches to expand the supply
of safe, humane, housing-placement focused shelter
and interim housing models, like Project Homekey/
Roomkey for people experiencing homelessness
• Expand alignment and engagement of healthcare,
behavioral health, mental health, and substance
use disorder resources in efforts to address
health disparities and service needs among
people experiencing unsheltered and sheltered
homelessness
ACTION AREA 4: EXPAND
AND ENSURE EQUITABLE
ACCESS TO PERMANENT
HOUSING IN OUR
COMMUNITIES
CURRENT RESPONSE
The shortage of affordable housing is a core driver of the County of Riverside’s homelessness crisis. Low vacancy
rates, rising rents, low incomes, precarious employment, and a lack of effective social safety nets are all significant contributors to homeless system pressures. The impact
of this housing shortage is reflected by challenges of
people experiencing homelessness in obtaining housing.
Due to the shortage of housing, people experiencing
homelessness sometimes spend months or longer on
waitlists, searching for suitable units, which exacerbate not only their social and economic instability but also their physical and behavioral health conditions. Research has shown that the increased instability that people
experience while waiting for housing directly undermines their ability to achieve long-term stabilization and leads to an increased utilization of services.
A major step in solving homelessness is ensuring that
every extremely low-income (ELI) household has access
to a home they can afford. Currently in Riverside County, there is a gap of roughly 38,000 homes affordable
to ELI households, those earning 30% or less of
Area Median Income (AMI), the group most at risk of
homelessness. According to two methods of analysis,
Riverside County will need an additional 21,000 to
46,000 homes affordable to ELI households to address
the homelessness crisis for those currently experiencing homelessness and those facing housing instability.
The RHNA estimate of 21,000 is primarily a production
goal, meaning it represents the number of homes that
must be built. This goal can only be met primarily by
producing new homes or converting existing buildings—
such as motels, offices, or commercial buildings—into
housing. Each locality’s RHNA is based on a number
given to each region from the state, and then distributed across the region by Southern California Association
of Governments (SCAG). The need of about 46,000
additional homes affordable to ELI households does not
need to be met by new construction of ELI-affordable
units alone. It can be met in a variety of ways, including new construction, maintaining affordability, and reducing cost of housing. This 46,000-unit threshold will secure
31 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
enough stable, decent, and affordable housing for those most at-risk of homelessness. This reflects a critical
need to increase the development of affordable housing
solutions in the region.
When looking at housing interventions, Permanent
Supportive Housing (PSH) and Rapid Rehousing
(RRH) need to be further scaled up to meet the need.
This will require supportive strategies in streamlining development and increasing housing stock. Stakeholders
highlighted other challenges of the housing response
like the accessibility of Housing Choice Vouchers, a
fragmented approach to landlord outreach, engagement,
and retention, and the unavailability of flex funds,
shallow subsidies, and funding for move-in assistance.
In feedback from stakeholders, they described that the
housing stock of certain cities’ is largely inaccessible to people experiencing homelessness, underlining the
need to better track housing outcomes geographically to ensure equitable access and opportunity.
When looking at key subpopulations, stakeholders
described that Chronically Homeless, Individuals with
Mental Illness, Individuals with Substance Use Disorders, Older Adults /Seniors, and Transition Aged Y outh (TAY) had inadequate resources or services available to them
in Riverside County.
The County of Riverside CoC will work with cities and
community partners on a multipronged approach that
implements innovative approaches, provides critical
support services, and expands housing stock.
PROPOSED STRATEGIES
Strategy 21: Advocate for the Increased Production of
Affordable Housing
There currently is a shortfall of units available for
the extremely low-income population in the County
of Riverside. In order to address the housing and
homelessness crises, the County of Riverside will
need to work towards developing and implementing
a strategy to build enough affordable housing to meet
the region’s housing needs. The Riverside County
CoC, alongside other regional partners, will need to
identify and coordinate clear unit production goals
and targets. This will require the County of Riverside
to leverage a wide array of private, local, state, and
federal funding to support the expansion of affordable
housing. For individuals, families, and communities
that are experiencing homelessness, or are at-risk of
homelessness, it will require the equitable development of housing affordable to extremely low-income
households.
• Advocate for federal, state, county, and local policies and funding to increase and preserve affordable
housing for households earning below 30% Area
Median Income (AMI)
• Pursue lower-cost housing typologies, like tiny homes, accessory dwelling units, mobile homes, hotel and
motel conversions, prefabricated modular housing,
and shipping containers, and innovative housing and
financing models
• Identify feasibility to develop affordable and
supportive housing on underutilized state, county, and
city owned land
• Ensure Riverside County utilizes full funding
opportunities from the federal and state governments
for housing development
• Advocate for inclusionary housing policies, up zoning, and infill development
• As part of communication strategy, develop strategies to address NIMBY sentiments
Strategy 22: Increase Permanent Supportive Housing
Units and Capacity
To meet the needs of people experiencing
homelessness, the Riverside County CoC will need
to develop additional Permanent Supportive Housing
(PSH) units, including site-based, scattered site, and
tenant-based. Not only will the Riverside County CoC
work towards increasing the total number of units but
will also focus on increasing PSH capacity by optimizing utilization, refining system-wide guidelines, and
supporting moving on strategies.
• Increase the number of permanent supportive housing
stock
• Identify costs associated with developing adequate
supply of permanent supportive housing
• Increase access to tenant-based, scattered site
Permanent Supportive Housing programs
• Assess coordinated entry, referral patterns to identify regional gaps, and under resourced PSH capacity
• Ensure that PSH programs access is equitable through
review of data
• Expand partnerships with behavioral health treatment
services through Riverside County and local
behavioral health providers to ensure that PSH units
are paired with adequate supportive services
• Implement a “moving on” strategy, targeting up to
20% of current PSH residents for transition to general
population affordable housing, thus freeing up PSH for
new tenants
• Convene stakeholders (housing developers,
planning departments, service providers, cities,
regional governments) to explore ways to create
and streamline permanent supportive housing within
context of local housing elements
• Leverage a wide array of private, local, state, and
federal funding, including CalAIM and Project
Homekey, to support the expansion of a Permanent
Supportive Housing
32 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
• Improve PSH service quality and fidelity by refining
community standards, facilitating trainings, and
creating learning collaboratives
• Advocate for the local conditions to develop enough
permanent supportive housing to meet the need in
our community
• Identify feasibility to develop permanent supportive
housing on underutilized State or county owned land
• Optimize utilization through progressive engagement
by enabling clients to move to less or more service-
intensive housing based on identified need
• Ensure sufficient level of supportive services, which are voluntary, housing first oriented, trauma-informed, and incorporate harm reduction principles
Strategy 23: Increase Rapid Rehousing Housing Units
and Capacity
The Riverside County CoC will need to expand Rapid
Rehousing (RRH) capacity to meet the needs of single
adults, families, and youth as identified in the gaps
analysis. Additionally, the Riverside County CoC will
also focus on increasing RRH capacity by improving
outcomes, refining system-wide guidelines, standardizing assistance, reducing competition among programs, and
strengthening move-in supports. Scaling Rapid Rehousing will prevent inflows into long-term homelessness.
• Increase the number of rapid rehousing programs/
units
• Identify costs associated with developing adequate
supply of rapid rehousing
• Assess coordinated entry, referral patterns to identify CES integrations, regional gaps, and under resourced
RRH capacity
• Ensure that RRH programs access is equitable through
review of data
• Improve RRH service quality and fidelity by refining
community standards, facilitating trainings, and
facilitating learning collaboratives. For those with
higher needs, provide longer-term housing assistance
and critical time intervention
• Advocate for the local conditions so that expanded
RRH is effective in the private rental market
• Optimize utilization through progressive engagement
by enabling clients to move to less or more service-
intensive housing based on identified need
• Assess outcomes for expanded rapid rehousing
programs
• Identify effective practices for rapid rehousing to be effective in high-cost, high-SDOH housing markets
• Strengthen the integration of workforce development/
employment services with RRH
Strategy 24: Develop Centralized Landlord Outreach,
Engagement, and Retention Strategies
The current system of landlord outreach, engagement,
and retention is decentralized, with homeless service
providers, cities, regional governments, housing
authorities, and other homeless serving entities
each managing their own network of contacts and
partnerships. Managing tenant-based programs, like
Housing Choice Vouchers and Rapid Rehousing,
requires homeless service providers to build up
individual networks of partnering landlords or property management companies; if this are not done, it requires clients to find units themselves. This dynamic often leads to competition among providers, resulting in varying
quality of housing available to clients from program to program based on the relative success of a program’s
housing location team. This often leads to unnecessary
competition and a prolonged housing search for tenant-
based rental assistance programs like RRH, HCV, etc.
The County’s Housing Authority Division launched its
Landlord Incentive Program to expand existing and new
relationships with property managers and landlords that should continue to address the disconnected approach
to landlord engagement, outreach, and retention in the
region. The Riverside County CoC will work towards
developing a centralized landlord outreach, engagement, and retention strategy.
• Assess the viability of development of a centralized
landlord engagement program with one entity
conducting housing outreach for the entire county
• Develop provider facing real-time listings of rental
units available to people experiencing homelessness
• Increase the stock of units available to programs,
homeless service providers, etc., especially in
neighborhoods with high SDOH
• Develop service provider performance standards for
issuing timely payments, documentation, processing,
and inspections so that experiences for landlords
are uniform, regardless of which provider or payment
source is being utilized
• Develop additional incentives and supports, like
contingency funds, flex funds, mediation services,
landlord incentive payments, security deposits, etc.
33 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
• Work with property management companies,
owners, landlords, apartment associations, and
housing developers to secure housing units through
developed and formalized partnerships, MOUs, master
leasing, etc.
• Incentivize the reduction of screening criteria that
screens out prospective tenants with evictions, poor
credit, and/or criminal histories
• Track key metrics associated with the housing search
and housing lease-up process
• Ensure that trained Housing Locators or Housing
Specialists are designated as representatives for the
system to ensure consistent messaging and service
delivery
Strategy 25: Innovate Approaches to Expand Existing
Housing Stock
Alongside some of the other strategies outlined above,
the Riverside County CoC will develop innovative
approaches to increase housing stock to reduce the
time spent locating an adequate unit. These methods of
increasing housing stock can also meet the unique need
of specific subpopulations and expand housing access
and mobility.
• Explore lower-cost housing typologies, like tiny
homes, accessory dwelling units, hotel and motel
conversions, prefabricated modular housing, and
shipping containers
• Explore master leasing at-scale to secure units for
people experiencing homelessness
• Develop shared housing program to increase rental
options and affordability for clients, with emphasis on private rooms, split leases, etc.
• Expand and scale the use of shallow subsidies and
longer-term subsidies
Strategy 26: Increase Flexible Housing Funds
To ensure easier move-ins to permanent housing,
mitigate concerns with landlords, and increase access to high-opportunity communities, the Riverside County CoC
will need to increase the availability of flexible housing funds. These funds could take the form of one-time
payments but could also be more long-term in the form of shallow subsidies.
• Explore possibility of developing Flexible Housing
Subsidy Pool similar to other communities
• Expand flexible housing subsidy funds, like shallow
subsidies and longer-term subsidies, especially for
instances of homelessness prevention, where families
are rent burdened
• Expand flexible housing funds to cover one-time
expenses like move-in costs
Strategy 27: Address Housing Needs of Unique
Subpopulations
As highlighted in the Gaps Analysis, there are key
subpopulations of people experiencing homelessness
that have insufficient resources and housing supports
available to them in Riverside County: Chronically
Homeless, Individuals with Mental Illness and/or
Substance Use Disorders, Older Adults/Seniors, and
Transition Aged Y outh (TAY). The Riverside County CoC
will work to increase the service and housing supports to meet the unique needs of these subpopulations.
• Assess and expand current programs serving
Chronically Homeless
• Assess and expand current programs serving
Individuals with Severe Mental Illness (SMI)
• Assess and expand current programs serving
Individuals with Substance Use Disorders (SUD)
• Assess and expand current programs serving
Transition Aged Y outh (TAY)
• Assess and expand current programs serving Older
Adults/Seniors
• Assess and expand current programs serving
LGBTQAI+
Strategy 28: Develop Strategies to Reduce Barriers
for People Experiencing Homelessness in Obtaining
Housing and to Increase the Speed of Lease-Up
Process
Once connected to services, people experiencing
homelessness still face many barriers to obtaining
housing. Some of these are addressed in previous
strategies around landlord engagement and flexible
spending. The Riverside County CoC will look to develop programs and processes that address some of these
barriers to housing like, poor credit/debt, evictions on record, criminal background, and housing documentation.
By reducing these barriers, it will decrease the time it takes for the housing search.
• Assess and establish programs and processes for
individuals experiencing homelessness to improve
credit and pay off debts
• Assess and establish programs and processes for
individuals experiencing homelessness that have
evictions on record
• Assess and establish programs and processes for
individuals experiencing homelessness that have
criminal justice issues on record
• Assess and establish programs and processes for
individuals experiencing homelessness to expedite
documentation necessary for housing, like social
security card, identification card, birth certificates, and proof of income documentation
• Assess and establish universal housing application for all programs across Riverside County
34 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
• Clarify, contractually and through training, the
expectations regarding roles and responsibilities
of shelter case managers, outreach workers, and
housing case managers in getting clients document-
ready and establish & record performance metrics to
track progress
• Identify additional ways to expedite the housing
search and lease up process
Strategy 29: Expand Housing Access to High
Opportunity Neighborhoods, With a Focus on Those
with High Social Determinants Of Health (SDOH)
Due to market and other factors, not all cities in
the County of Riverside are accessible to people
experiencing homelessness to obtain housing.
These cities are often characterized as high-income
cities. Cities that were characterized as having high
social determinants of health were inaccessible for
people experiencing homelessness. Cities with high
social determinants of health have access to quality
employment, education, healthcare, transportation,
supermarkets, housing, green spaces, clean air and
water, public safety, etc.
Riverside will track housing placements at the ZIP
code level for Permanent Supportive Housing, Rapid
Rehousing, Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8), or other types of housing interventions to analyze larger trends around racial equity, concentrations of poverty, and social determinants of health. The County of Riverside will use this data to make informed policy or programmatic design modifications to ensure that neighborhoods with high
social determinants of health are accessible to people
experiencing homelessness and that the outcomes of the
homeless response system do not perpetuate residential
segregation or the concentration of poverty. Instead, they are centered on equity, access, and mobility. Changes
to policy could include revised payment standards or
shallow subsidies to incentivize landlords in high social determinants of health areas.
• Track housing placements in HMIS at the zip code
level to analyze regional trends
• Create a framework and policy recommendations
to increase housing placements in opportunity
neighborhoods with high social determinants of health
• Ensure homeless housing stock and services are
geographically located to allow, whenever possible,
for the needs of individuals and families to be met in
their own communities.
• Explore incentivization strategies to promote move-ins in neighborhoods with high SDOH
Strategy 30: Strengthen Approaches to Case
Management
As part of developing service provider, city, and regional government capacity, the Riverside County CoC will
continue to push for person-centered, housing-focused
case management with enhanced training in evidence
based best practices such as: trauma-informed care, non- violent crisis intervention, peer supports, strength-based case management, critical time intervention, motivational interviewing, progressive engagement, cultural humility, racial equity, and housing first strategies.
• Assess and refine policies and procedures to ensure
that services are applying best practices in case
management
• Develop training around best practice approaches
to case management to improve provider, city, and
regional government capacity
• Strengthen provider tables/forums and create learning collaborative for more frequent capacity building
opportunities around best practice approaches to
case management
Strategy 31: Leverage Housing Authority Division
Resources for People Experiencing Homelessness
The County of Riverside will continue leveraging Housing Authority Division resources, like the Housing Choice
Voucher program, to better serve people experiencing
homelessness.
• Increase advocacy for the expansion of the Housing
Choice Voucher program
Strategy 32: Continue to Advocate for Legislation
Protecting Against Housing Discrimination in Housing
Search
The intersections of homelessness on race, ethnicity,
gender, sexual orientation, age, family size, criminal
history, disability status, and income source often is
seen clearly in the various forms of discrimination that people experiencing homelessness face when applying
for units in the private rental market and, in some
cases, in homeless dedicated housing. The County of
Riverside will continue to push for better protections
against housing discrimination. The County of Riverside will also seek to increase its partnerships with legal
aid organizations to develop mechanisms for better
enforcement of existing protections. As part of the
centralized landlord engagement described above, the
County of Riverside will also elevate this in partnership with industry leaders.
• Advocate for the legislation protecting against
housing discrimination
• Establish partnerships and mechanisms for better
tracking and enforcement of existing protections
35 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
PERFORMANCE METRICS
STRATEGY PERFORMANCE METRICS MECHANISMS
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Strategy 22: Increase Permanent Supportive
Housing Units and Capacity
Strategy 23: Increase Rapid Rehousing Housing
Units and Capacity
Number of people utilizing housing intervention,
including PSH and RRH, at a point in time and
month to month, including key subpopulations
Various HUD reporting tools – System
Performance Measures Report,
Longitudinal Systems Analysis, Stella, and
others
Riverside County CoC Public Data
Dashboards
Strategy 22: Increase Permanent Supportive
Housing Units and Capacity
Strategy 23: Increase Rapid Rehousing Housing
Units and Capacity
Demographics of different housing interventions,
including PSH and RRH
Strategy 22: Increase Permanent Supportive
Housing Units and Capacity
Strategy 23: Increase Rapid Rehousing Housing
Units and Capacity
Number of clients that successfully exit housing
interventions, including PSH and RRH
Strategy 22: Increase Permanent Supportive
Housing Units and Capacity
Strategy 23: Increase Rapid Rehousing Housing
Units and Capacity
Number of clients that successfully retain
housing, including PSH and RRH, for 6,12, 24
months
Strategy 24: Develop Centralized Landlord
Outreach, Engagement, and Retention
Strategies
Strategy 25: Innovate Approaches to Expand
Existing Housing Stock
Strategy 26: Increase Flexible Housing Funds
Strategy 28: Develop Strategies to Reduce
Barriers for People Experiencing Homelessness
in Obtaining Housing and to Increase the Speed
of Lease-Up Process
Length of time during housing search
Strategy 26: Increase Flexible Housing Funds Outcomes of flexible funds issued, including one- time payments and shallow subsidies
HOUSING INVENTORY MEASURES
Strategy 21: Advocate for the Increased
Production of Affordable Housing
Number of housing units affordable to extremely
low-income population, both currently and in the
pipeline
Annual Housing Inventory Count Report,
Regional Housing Need Assessment, and
other real-time housing inventory tracking
mechanisms
Strategy 22: Increase Permanent Supportive
Housing Units and Capacity
Number of Permanent Supportive Housing Units,
both tenant-based and project-based, currently
and in pipeline
Strategy 23: Increase Rapid Rehousing Housing
Units and Capacity Number of Rapid Rehousing Program Units Strategy 22: Increase Permanent Supportive
Housing Units and Capacity
Strategy 23: Increase Rapid Rehousing Housing
Units and Capacity
Utilization rates for housing interventions,
including PSH and RRH
Strategy 22: Increase Permanent Supportive
Housing Units and Capacity
Strategy 23: Increase Rapid Rehousing
Housing Units and Capacity/ Strategy 29:
Expand Housing Access to High Opportunity
Neighborhoods, With a Focus on Those with
High Social Determinants of Health
Zip codes of housing placements for housing
interventions, including PSH and RRH
Strategy 24: Develop Centralized Landlord
Outreach, Engagement, and Retention
Strategies
Strategy 25: Innovate Approaches to Expand
Existing Housing Stock
Strategy 29: Expand Housing Access to High
Opportunity Neighborhoods, With a Focus on
Those with High Social Determinants of Health
Number of units secured for people
experiencing homelessness through centralized
landlord engagement program, especially in
neighborhoods with high SDOH, including
through master leasing and shared housing
36 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
HOUSING INVENTORY MEASURES CONTINUED
Strategy 24: Develop Centralized Landlord
Outreach, Engagement, and Retention
Strategies
Average number of real-time unit availability
secured by centralized landlord engagement
program Annual Housing Inventory Count Report,
Regional Housing Need Assessment, and
other real-time housing inventory tracking
mechanisms
Strategy 31: Leverage Housing Authority
Division Resources for People Experiencing
Homelessness
Number of Housing Authority Division vouchers,
utilization rate, length of time during housing
search, zip code of housing placements, and
vouchers set aside for people experiencing
homelessness
PROCESS MEASURES
Strategy 22: Increase Permanent Supportive
Housing Units and Capacity
Strategy 23: Increase Rapid Rehousing Housing
Units and Capacity
Referral pattern for housing interventions,
including PSH and RRH
Various County and Riverside County CoC
process reporting tools; some process
measures will likely need to include
the creation of new tools and reporting
mechanisms
Strategy 27: Address Housing Needs of Unique
Subpopulations
Strategy 30: Strengthen Approaches to Case
Management
Number of successful referrals to support
services (mental health, employment, hygiene,
nutrition, etc.)
Strategy 30: Strengthen Approaches to Case
Management
Strategy 22: Increase Permanent Supportive
Housing Units and Capacity
Strategy 23: Increase Rapid Rehousing Housing
Units and Capacity
Number of programs adhering to Riverside CoC
Policies and Procedures for PSH and RRH
Strategy 24: Develop Centralized Landlord
Outreach, Engagement, and Retention
Strategies
Number of incentives and supports issued
through centralized landlord engagement
program
Strategy 24: Develop Centralized Landlord
Outreach, Engagement, and Retention
Strategies
Number of landlords participating in centralized
landlord engagement program, including
formalized partnerships
Strategy 26: Increase Flexible Housing Funds Number of flexible funds issued, including one- time payments and shallow subsides
Strategy 28: Develop Strategies to Reduce
Barriers for People Experiencing Homelessness
in Obtaining Housing and to Increase the Speed
of Lease-Up Process
Number of clients with housing barriers, including
credit, debt, evictions, criminal justice issues,
documentation (social security card, identification
card, birth certificate, proof of income, etc.)
Strategy 32: Continue to Advocate for
Legislation Protecting Against Housing
Discrimination in Housing Search
Number of housing discrimination instances
within Riverside County
FIVE YEAR GOALS
The following Five-Y ear Goals will be tracked utilizing various existing and new reporting tools. These tools may include but are not limited to: HUD Reporting Tools, Point in Time Count, System Performance Measures, Longitudinal Systems Analysis, Stella, Riverside County CoC Public Data Dashboards, Annual Housing Inventory Count, Regional Housing Need Assessment, other real-time housing inventory tracking mechanisms, and County and Riverside County CoC process reporting tools.
• Promote the development of 21,000 units affordable to extremely low-income population • Increase the number (unit count) of Permanent Housing Units by 75% from baseline year (including Permanent Supportive Housing [PSH] and Rapid Re-Housing [RRH])
• Increase the number of clients that successfully exit housing interventions, including PSH and RRH by 25% • Increase the number of clients that successfully retain housing, including PSH and RRH by 25% • Over 50% of new housing placements occur in opportunity neighborhoods/zip codes with high social determinants of health
• 100% of programs adhering to Riverside CoC Policies and Procedures for PSH and RRH • Length of time during housing search is reduced by 50% 37 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
• Increase in the number of units secured for people
experiencing homelessness through centralized
landlord engagement program, especially in
neighborhoods with high SDOH, including through
master leasing and shared housing
• Increase in the number of landlords participating in
centralized landlord engagement program, including
formalized partnerships
• Increase in the number of real-time unit availability secured by centralized landlord engagement program
FUNDING PRINCIPLES
• Strengthen the implementation of Housing First
approaches and other best practices that support
equitable access in housing markets with high
social determinants of health (SDOH), including but
not limited to: supportive housing, rapid rehousing,
short- and longer-term forms of rental subsidy and
assistance, shallow subsidies, move-in assistance, and
landlord outreach, engagement, and retention
• Invest in the creation of an expanded supply of
affordable and supportive housing opportunities,
paired with appropriate health and behavioral
health care resources, and accessible and culturally
responsive services to people exiting homelessness,
low-income individuals and families, and to people
from historically marginalized communities
ACTION AREA 5:
PREVENT PEOPLE FROM
EXPERIENCING THE CRISIS
OF HOMELESSNESS
CURRENT RESPONSE
In order to address the inflow/outflow gap, there will need to be a marked shift towards focusing on prevention
whenever possible and on providing housing focused
services, which ensure that when homelessness does
occur, the experience is rare, brief, and non-recurring.
Preventative approaches to homelessness result in
better outcomes for individuals and families and provide a higher return on investment, resulting in reduced costs in healthcare, correctional services, and emergency
services. Shifting investment away from reactive,
emergency solutions towards a strengthened focus on
preventative strategies will be critical to reducing the flow of people becoming homeless. This includes increasing
early intervention approaches that help people to avoid evictions and maintain their homes as well as diversion services. Enhanced integration with cross-sector regional partners, like healthcare, behavioral/mental health,
substance use disorder, criminal justice, child welfare, juvenile justice, education, immigration, employment,
land use and code enforcement systems, are required to
reduce pathways into homelessness.
In the Gaps Analysis, stakeholders highlighted the need to improve discharge planning from regional mainstream
institutions for people experiencing homelessness.
This included institutions like healthcare, mental health, substance use disorder, criminal justice/correctional, child welfare/foster care, and juvenile justice. Similarly, these sectors could improve their efforts to identify people
at risk for homelessness and rapidly connect them to
services before entering homelessness.
While prevention and diversion program performance has
been successful, these programs need to be made more
readily accessible to those facing housing instability.
Stakeholders noted that resources and programs that
assist those at-risk of entering homelessness when faced with eviction, displacement, or housing discrimination
could be improved. Stakeholders described that the
homeless response system is often ineffective at
preventing people from reentering into homelessness,
underlining the need for more tracking around reentry
and longer term supports.
38 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
Lastly, stakeholders often linked economic instability with housing instability. When clients obtain housing, they
often need supports to meet their basic financial needs and to gain stable employment. Those supports are
essential for homelessness prevention and for eliminating bounce back when individuals return to homelessness
after “exiting” the system. Respondents highlighted that the system does not account for this and should begin to prioritize not only permanent housing development but
also economic mobility supports that serve as buffers to homelessness.
PROPOSED STRATEGIES
Strategy 33: Increase Homelessness Prevention,
Diversion, and Mediation Services
To curtail the inflows into the homeless system, Riverside County CoC will need to strengthen and expand
homelessness prevention, diversion, housing problem
solving, and rapid resolution programs across Riverside County. As rent relief and COVID-19 eviction protections end, there will be a renewed need for these types of
services.
• Ensure right-sized funding from state and federal
resources to homelessness prevention, diversion,
housing problem solving, and rapid resolution services
and programs. with identification of clear goals and
targets for the number of households to receive
diversion and prevention services through each
program
• Ensure program models utilize flexible financial
assistance and housing focused case management
to prevent individuals and families from experiencing
homelessness
• Develop standardized best practices and procedures
for the delivery of homelessness prevention, diversion, housing problem solving, and rapid resolution services
and programs; guidance should include baseline
standards for housing-focused case management,
strengths-based service planning and delivery, and
effective strategies for reducing barriers to housing
retention
• Evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions
as programs are scaled further across the CoC; all
homelessness prevention efforts should be tracked in
the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)
• Expand targeted homelessness prevention and
diversion outreach and engagement; target services
to highest-risk populations and geographies to
ensure people and communities at highest risk for
homelessness are engaged with housing supports
before experiencing literal homelessness
• Develop an automatic process to provide information
on homelessness prevention and diversion services
when someone is issued a notice to pay or quit or
receives an unlawful detainer; by better tracking
evictions in the city, programs can target specific zip codes, apartment complexes for prevention services
• Incentivize landlords, apartment associations, etc.
to make referrals for their tenants to homelessness
prevention and diversion programs
• Target populations should include people who
previously exited the homelessness system with
housing supports and are at risk of returning to
homelessness
• Develop early identification, discharge planning, and cross-sector collaboration
• Include automated referrals for employment, income
supports, social safety net services, etc.
• More accurately track at the city and zip code level
where an individual and family fell into homelessness
and target outreach and supports to those
communities
• Disaggregate data by demographics, to identify and
address any trends in access and utilization
• Radically increase client facing materials across
Riverside County to help people at-risk of
homelessness understand what services and
resources are available to them and what the process
looks like to access prevention services/supports
Strategy 34: Address Inflows of Homelessness Through
Cross-Sector Collaboration, Discharge Planning, and
Early Identification
To further prevent the system flow gap, the homeless
response system will need to address the inflows into
homelessness through cross-sector collaboration,
discharge planning, and early identification of
individuals at-risk for homelessness. Cross-sector
collaboration with mainstream system providers, such
as healthcare, behavioral/mental health, substance use
disorder, criminal justice, child welfare, juvenile justice, education, immigration, employment, land use and code
enforcement, are necessary to create aligned strategies and policies centered on preventing people from falling into homelessness.
• Through data sharing agreements, analyze
mainstream system data to understand involvement of
people experiencing homeless in mainstream systems
before they fell into homelessness to better target
solutions
• At points of intake, ensure there is a thorough
questioning of how and where an individual became
homeless, with an understanding of mainstream
systems they may have touched in advance
• Identify and develop specific staff positions
responsible for cross-sector collaboration
• Develop strategies based on national best practices
for improving discharge planning models and
coordination to prevent mainstream systems from
discharging individuals without stable housing
39 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
• Develop strategies based on national best
practices for early identification of people at-risk for homelessness and get them connected to homeless
and other mainstream services
• Advocate for necessary resources to incorporate or
bring to scale cross-sector collaboration, discharge
planning, and early identification
• Set cross-sector goals
• Develop and adopt a universal housing/economic
stability screening tool and automated referral
processes for individuals and families accessing safety net services
• Expand on initiatives of Whole Person Care and
CalAIM to target high utilizers of emergency services
Healthcare (Behavioral Health, Mental Health, Physical
Health, Substance Use Disorders)
• Improve care coordination and connections to
services and housing for people discharged from
hospitals who are homeless
• Continue to develop communication, procedures,
processes among hospitals, substance use treatment
centers, mental health facilities, health plans, and the homeless system to improve care coordination, early
identification, and effective discharge planning for
people experiencing homelessness
• Implement CalAIM to provide medically necessary
recuperative care placements for unhoused people
who are exiting acute inpatient facilities and/or were
recently hospitalized
• Identify feasibility of creating targeted positions, like homeless services liaison, at hospitals to assist with
discharge planning and care coordination and to
prevent discharge of clients to the street
Child Welfare/ Juvenile Justice
• Develop strategies for effective discharge planning for youth exiting foster care and juvenile justice systems, with a focus on earlier interventions and supports for
youth around housing and economic stability
• Expand housing programs for families involved in the
child welfare system
• Expand and diversify housing programs for foster
youth to meet their long-term housing needs, so no
foster youth become homeless
• Conduct data match with child welfare system and
juvenile legal system to establish baseline data on the number and characteristics of system-involved youth
that experience homelessness, with an emphasis
on racial disparities within the population; establish
targeted intervention strategies
• Continue to develop a long-term plan and strategy for improving health outcomes and the delivery of fully
integrated health care services for youth in foster care Education
• Provide guidance to support schools and universities
to develop community collaborations and stronger
referral systems to address housing instability and
homelessness, and other service needs, among
students and their families
Criminal Justice
• Improve coordination and connection to services
and housing for people being discharged from
criminal justice settings, like incarceration,
detention, probation, who are homeless or at risk of
homelessness
• Develop process and outcome metrics to support
cross-system coordination and goals
• Support the implementation of CalAIM proposals
seeking to address needs of people exiting
corrections settings through expedited enrollment in
Medi-Cal
• Increase supports for households with incarcerated
family members to prevent homelessness
• Expand existing and develop new housing and
workforce development programs to successfully
reintegrate people leaving probation, parole, jails, and prisons into the community
• Offer all homeless inmates’ jail in reach services from the beginning of incarceration
• Identify the feasibility of creating targeted positions, like homeless services liaison, at hospitals to assist
with discharge planning and care coordination and to
prevent discharge of clients to the street
• Promote the creation and implementation of
effective re-entry networks and supports with
integrated services or robust links to mental health,
substance use disorder, housing, case management,
employment, and other social services in the
community
• Conduct data analysis projects with reentry partners
to improve our understanding of individuals at
heightened risk of experiencing homelessness
upon release, racial disparities that exist among this
population, patterns of shelter system utilization, and opportunities to intervene sooner
Older Adults/Seniors
• Identify strategies to serve older adults and people
with disabilities at risk of experiencing homelessness, including meeting the need for in-home supports and
access to licensed adult and senior care facilities
• Improve identification and stabilization of older adults/ seniors at greatest risk of housing loss
• Develop targeted homelessness prevention strategies
for older adults/seniors, including development of a
data-driven framework for identifying older adults/
seniors at greatest risk of housing loss
40 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
• Provide subsidized housing to homeless disabled
individuals pursuing SSI
• Support in-home care and long-term care options for
older adults/seniors
Strategy 35: Expand Opportunities to Achieve Financial
Stability/Economic Mobility Through Employment,
Educational, Income Supports, and Wealth Generation
Programs and Services.
There is a clear linkage between economic instability
and housing instability, with economic instability driving the latter. When clients obtain housing, they often need supports to meet their basic financial needs and to gain stable employment. Those supports are essential for
homelessness prevention and for eliminating bounce
back when individuals return to homelessness after
“exiting” the system. The homeless response system
will need to prioritize opportunities to achieve financial stability/economic mobility through employment,
education, income support, and wealth generation
programs and services.
• Increase the connectivity between the Riverside
County Workforce Development Center, income
supports, and education and homeless services, like
prevention, rapid rehousing, etc. to increase and
sustain income
• Expand partnerships with businesses and social
enterprises to train and hire people who have
experienced homelessness
• Increase access to appropriate services to gain and
sustain employment and educational opportunities,
such as childcare (or financial assistance for childcare) • Formalize cross-system agreements to improve
access to employment and education programs, and
outcomes of people experiencing homelessness
• Improve data collection on the employment
and education needs and outcomes of people
experiencing homelessness
• Provide training, internships, and mentorships to help people who are unhoused or at risk of homelessness
to obtain access to living wage jobs
• Establish countywide SSI and veteran’s benefits
advocacy programs for people experiencing
homelessness or at risk of homelessness, including
those in the criminal justice system
• Explore opportunities to expand assessment tools
to also screen for income-generating pathways,
like employment, and income supports; provide
automated referrals
• Identify programs and solutions to develop wealth/
equity for people experiencing homelessness and
those at-risk of homelessness
• Assess the viability of cash transfers and/or universal basic income (UBI) models to empower people
experiencing homelessness or at risk of experiencing
homelessness to meet their immediate financial needs
• Support efforts to increase the minimum wage to a
living wage in Riverside County
Strategy 36: Reduce Reentries into Homeless Response
System
A key component of ending homelessness within
Riverside County CoC will be to prevent the reentry of
individuals and families back into the homeless response system.
• Track and analyze causes for reentry into the
homeless response system
• Identify targeted solutions for anyone re-entering the homeless response system
Strategy 37: Preserve Vulnerable Housing and Prevent
Community Displacement
Vital to address the system flow gap is ensuring the
preservation of housing affordable to extremely low-
income populations to prevent community displacement.
As neighborhoods change through processes of
development and gentrification, it is essential to ensure that lower-income households are not priced out of the
rental market. The Riverside County CoC will work to
promote solutions to preserve vulnerable housing and
reduce neighborhood displacement.
• Advocate for the creation of a fund to preserve
naturally occurring, affordable housing and income
restricted affordable housing
• Promote the investments of infill area infrastructure, inclusionary zoning, community land trusts, adaptive
reuse, etc.
• Promote the preservation of existing housing stock
through long-term affordability covenants
• Advocate for the increased access to homeownership,
especially for Black, Indigenous and People of Color
(BIPOC) communities
• Advocate for right of first refusal policies
Strategy 38: Expand Protections for Renter/Tenants
To better address the inflows into homelessness, the
Riverside County CoC will advocate and push to expand
tenant protections and services that support tenants.
This will include better tracking of evictions, centralizing and coordinating eviction prevention programs, and
supporting other tenant protections.
• Develop a streamlined approach and public facing
database to better track evictions/unlawful detainers
across Riverside County, greatest impact on older
adults/seniors and Black, Indigenous and People of
Color (BIPOC)
41 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
• Coordinate and centralize eviction prevention
programs across Riverside County
• Advocate for the establishment of rent stabilization
policies paired with enforceable building standards
• Advocate for the establishment of “just cause” eviction policies
• Develop and support tenant counseling and legal
services for tenant facing housing instability and
dislocation
• Support a legal right to counsel policy for tenants to prevent evictions
• Support right to remain and right to return ordinances • Support tenant option to purchase
• Consider developing a tenant advisory council to
provide guidance and advice to the city on actions to
support tenants and those at-risk of homelessness
• Increase access to civil legal aid in situations where legal advocacy will prevent homelessness (e.g.,
access to State and Federal benefit programs, SSI/
SSDI, etc., foreclosure prevention, immigration, tenant representation, unemployment benefits, ABD, etc.)
• Strengthen local tenant protections impacting people
experiencing homelessness and those at-risk of
homelessness
Strategy 39: Advocate for the Expansion of a Social
Safety Net
Necessary to ending homelessness, the Riverside
CoC will continue to advocate for the expansion of
social safety net services and mainstream anti-poverty
initiatives. This will include expanding supports to
housing, healthcare, welfare, income supports, nutrition, and childcare.
• Advocate for the state and the federal government to
increase funding and access to safety net services
PERFORMANCE METRICS
STRATEGY PERFORMANCE METRICS MECHANISMS
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Strategy 33: Increase Homelessness Prevention,
Diversion, and Mediation Services
Strategy 34: Address Inflows of Homelessness
Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, Discharge
Planning, and Early Identification
Number of people experiencing homelessness
for first time, including regional and demographic
breakdown
Various HUD reporting tools – System
Performance Measures Report,
Longitudinal Systems Analysis, Stella, and
others.
Riverside County CoC Public Data
Dashboards
Strategy 36: Reduce Reentries into Homeless
Response System
Number of people returning to homelessness,
including regional and demographic breakdown
Strategy 34: Address Inflows of Homelessness
Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, Discharge
Planning, and Early Identification
Number of people exiting mainstream institutions
that experience sheltered and unsheltered
homelessness
Strategy 34: Address Inflows of Homelessness
Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, Discharge
Planning, and Early Identification
Number of people who would have been
homeless upon discharge from mainstream
institutions and are successfully placed into
housing
Strategy 37: Preserve Vulnerable Housing and
Prevent Community Displacement
Strategy 38: Expand Protections for Renter/
Tenants
Number of low-income households that are
considered rent-burdened
Strategy 33: Increase Homelessness Prevention,
Diversion, and Mediation Services
Percentage successful households receiving
prevention services, including regional and
demographic breakdown
Strategy 35: Expand Opportunities to Achieve
Financial Stability/Economic Mobility Through
Employment, Educational, Income Supports, and
Wealth Generation Programs and Services
Increases to employment, income, and wealth
generation among people experiencing
homelessness
42 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE MEASURES CONTINUED
Strategy 33: Increase Homelessness Prevention,
Diversion, and Mediation Services
Strategy 39: Advocate for the Expansion of a
Social Safety Net
Strategy 35: Expand Opportunities to Achieve
Financial Stability/Economic Mobility Through
Employment, Educational, Income Supports, and
Wealth Generation Programs and Services
Percent of clients still in permanent housing at
6,12-, and 24-months following assistance
Various HUD reporting tools – System
Performance Measures Report,
Longitudinal Systems Analysis, Stella, and
others.
Riverside County CoC Public Data
Dashboards
Strategy 34: Address Inflows of Homelessness
Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, Discharge
Planning, and Early Identification
Readmissions and recidivism rates
Strategy 37: Preserve Vulnerable Housing and
Prevent Community Displacement
Strategy 38: Expand Protections for Renter/
Tenants
Number of evictions across Riverside County,
including regional and demographic breakdown
PROCESS MEASURES
Strategy 34: Address Inflows of Homelessness
Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, Discharge
Planning, and Early Identification
Cost saving for discharge planning
Various Riverside County and Riverside
County CoC process reporting tools;
some process measures will likely need
to include the creation of new tools and
reporting mechanisms
Strategy 33: Increase Homelessness Prevention,
Diversion, and Mediation Services
Number of programs adhering to Riverside CoC
Policies and Procedures for Prevention and
Diversion
Strategy 34: Address Inflows of Homelessness
Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, Discharge
Planning, and Early Identification
Number of mainstream systems with data sharing
agreements or integrations with homeless
response system
Strategy 34: Address Inflows of Homelessness
Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, Discharge
Planning, and Early Identification
Number of mainstream systems utilizing
developed homeless tracking metrics
Strategy 34: Address Inflows of Homelessness
Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, Discharge
Planning, and Early Identification
Number of referrals for housing related services
from mainstream institutions
FIVE YEAR GOALS
The following Five-Y ear Goals will be tracked utilizing various existing and new reporting tools. These tools may include but are not limited to: HUD Reporting Tools, Point in Time Count, System Performance Measures, Longitudinal Systems Analysis, Stella, Riverside County CoC Public Data Dashboards, Annual Housing Inventory Count, Regional Housing Need Assessment, other real-time housing inventory tracking mechanisms, and Riverside County and Riverside County CoC process reporting tools.
• 75% reduction in the number of people experiencing homelessness for first time • 75% reduction in the number of people returning to homelessness • 75% reduction in the number of people exiting mainstream institutions that experience sheltered and unsheltered homelessness
• Increase in the number of people who would have been homeless upon discharge from mainstream institutions and are successfully placed into housing
• Reduction in the number of low-income households that are considered rent-burdened • Quadruple the number of households receiving prevention services • Increase employment, income, and wealth generation among people experiencing homelessness • 25% increase in the percentage of clients still in permanent housing at 6,12-, and 24-months following assistance • Decrease in the number of evictions across Riverside County, demographics, and geographic breakdown • 100% of programs adhering to Riverside CoC Policies and Procedures for Prevention and Diversion 43 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
FUNDING PRINCIPLES
• Invest in programs that will immediately address
the needs of data-informed special populations,
like homeless youth, older adults/seniors, veterans,
individuals, and/or families, or prevent them from
becoming homeless
• Reduce entries into homelessness as people exit and/
or receive services from institutional settings through cross-sector collaborative programs
- Invest in programs focused on reducing entries into
homelessness for people re-entering communities
from jails and prisons
- Invest in programs focused on reducing entries
into homelessness for youth and young adults
connected to the child welfare and/or juvenile
justice systems
- Invest in programs focused on reducing entries
into homelessness for people exiting health care
settings and programs, including mental health and
substance use
• Enhance communities’ capacity to provide targeted
homelessness prevention interventions and to
successfully divert people from entering shelter or
experiencing unsheltered homelessness
• Invest in cross-sector partnerships between
homelessness services systems and other systems
which can support asset and wealth building, including
access to educational opportunities and employment
services that address the economic instability for
people experiencing and exiting homelessness
• Support programs and cross-sector partnerships that
prioritize the early identification of households at-
risk for homelessness and quickly connect them to
services
• Invest in upstream homelessness prevention
programs that stabilize individuals, families, and
communities, protect vulnerable housing, prevent
displacement, and expand tenant protections
44 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
FUNDING SOURCES
LEGEND
URGENT: Items requiring immediate consideration and response within next 30 - 120 days
CATEGORY PROGRAM AVAILABLE FUNDS ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS ELIGIBLE USES TIMELINE ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Affordable
Housing
HOME-
American
Rescue Plan
Act
California received
~$667M (direct
formula allocation to
local jurisdictions +
state funding to be
further distributed).
Riverside was
allocated $4.3M.
Direct Allocation:
“Participating Jurisdictions
(PJs)” that qualified for an
annual FY 2021 HOME
Program allocation.
State funding: cities,
counties, developers,
and nonprofit Community
Housing Development
Organizations (CHDOs)
that did not receive HOME-
ARP funds from HUD.
Tenant-based Rental
Assistance
Development and support of
affordable housing.
Supportive housing services
(e.g., housing counseling,
other services under
McKinney-Vento)
Acquisition and
development of non-
congregate shelter.
HUD implementation notice
released Sept 2021; PJs
can receive 5% of their
allocation for planning and
administration currently.
For PJs to receive the
remainder of HOME-ARP
funds, they need to develop
a HOME-ARP allocation plan
and submit it as a substantial
amendment to the FY 2021
annual action plan. There is
no deadline for submission.
CA state is probably also
undergoing this process.
The State of
California received
approximately
$155 million
in HOME-ARP
resources.
California cities
and counties
that are HOME
Participating
Jurisdictions
received
allocations of
more than $512
million.
Affordable
Housing
HOME
(2020/21
funding)
$72M Cities, counties,
developers, and
nonprofit Community
Housing Development
Organizations (CHDOs)
that did not receive HOME-
ARP funds from HUD.
Rental new construction and
rehab, First-time Homebuyer
Program, Owner-occupied
rehab, Tenant-based Rental
Assistance
NOFA released from
CA HCD on Dec 1, 2021.
Applications due at 5pm,
March 10, 2022. NOFA
workshop webinars are
available.
CA HCD NOFA
Affordable
Housing
Permanent
Local
Housing
Allocation
~$340M 2021 NOFA Entitlement formula:
metropolitan cities and
urban counties allocated a
grant for the federal fiscal
year 2017 pursuant to the
federal CDBG formula
non-entitlement formula
and competitive grant
program: non-entitlement
jurisdictions.
Predevelopment,
development, acquisition,
rehabilitation, and
preservation of affordable
multifamily, residential
live-work, rental housing
(including Accessory
Dwelling Units), including
necessary operating
subsidies, Rapid re-
housing, rental assistance,
supportive/case
management services,
operating and capital costs
for navigation centers
and emergency shelters,
and the new construction,
rehabilitation, and
preservation of permanent
and transitional housing.
2021 Entitlement and
Non-Entitlement Formula
Component NOFA released
May 2021 with deadline of
Dec 31, 2021.
PLHA 2021 NOFA
Community
Development
Behavioral
Health
Continuum
Infrastructure
Program
(BHCIP)
$2.2B Counties, tribal entities,
non-profit, and for-profit
entities.
Construct, acquire, and
rehabilitate real estate
assets, or invest in mobile
crisis infrastructure to
expand the community
continuum of behavioral
health treatment resources.
Facility types include BH
Wellness Centers, Short-
term crisis stabilization,
Acute and subacute care,
Crisis residential, community,
and outpatient.
Round 1B: Crisis Care Mobile
Units Program Re-Release
was available in Nov 2021
with a deadline of Jan 2022.
Round 3: applications for
Launch-Ready projects will
be available in Jan 2022.
RFAs and
Applications
NEW: Updated information on funding awards, potential opportunities, and pending announcements to look into/out for within the next 6 months NOT NEW: Do not require immediate response
45 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
CATEGORY PROGRAM AVAILABLE FUNDS ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS ELIGIBLE USES TIMELINE ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Health
(Physical and
Behavioral) &
Services
Housing and
Disability
Advocacy
Program
$133.75M in
noncompetitive
allocation
$25M in strategic
investments.
Riverside County
received $4.4M
in noncompetitive
allocation.
Counties and tribes or
groups of counties and
tribes.
Outreach, case
management, disability
benefits advocacy, housing
assistance, (including
housing navigation and
direct financial assistance).
All four components must be
offered to recipients.
NOFA for noncompetitive
allocations released Sept
13, 2021. All grantees
must submit a Director’s
Certification by Friday,
December 3, 2021, to
receive funds.
Applications for strategic
allocation will be awarded
on a first come, first
served basis and must be
submitted by the Director’s
Certification deadline of
Friday, December 3, 2021.
FY 2021 - 22
NOFA
Interim/
Temporary
Housing
Federal
Emergency
Management
Agency
(FEMA) Public
Assistance
Program
Category B
100% of eligible
expenses
State and local
government and nonprofit
agencies that meet certain
requirements.
Currently, FEMA’s Public
Assistance Program
Category B is reimbursing
100% of expenses for shelter
and temporary housing
when state public health
authorities determine it is
needed.
Eligible costs: cost of shelter
operations, staffing needed
to protect public health
and safety, food, clothing,
toiletries, and other supplies
and infrastructure.
Many uses are now
eligible for up to 100%
reimbursement through April
1, 2022, subject to FEMA
authorizations and approval
processes, including to
support the operation of
non-congregate shelter
sites.
-
Permanent
Housing (PSH
+ RRH)
Project
Homekey
HK 2.0: $1.45B
Additional $1.3B likely
disbursed within the
next 2 years.
Cities, counties, and all
other state, regional,
and local public entitles,
including councils of
government, metropolitan
planning organizations,
and regional transportation
planning agencies.
Entities may apply
independently or jointly
with a nonprofit or for-profit
corporation as a Co-
Applicant.
Acquisition and/or
rehabilitation of motels,
hotels or other sites and
assets to be converted
to permanent or interim
housing.
Master leasing of properties
for non-congregate housing,
conversion of units from
non-residential to residential,
new construction, the
purchase of affordability
covenants and restrictions
for units, relocation costs for
individuals being displaced
as a result of this program,
and capitalized operating
subsidies for units using
funds awarded under the
Homekey Round 2 NOFA for
FY 2021-22.
NOFA and application have
been released.
Final Day for Application
Bonus Award and
Geographic Pools - January
31, 2022.
Application Period for
Statewide Pool Opens -
February 1, 2022.
Final Application Due Date
- May 2, 2022, or until funds
are exhausted, whichever
occurs first.
Award Announcements are
continuous.
Hotel to Housing
Case Studies
from the National
Alliance to End
Homelessness
(NAEH)Homekey
1.0 Awards
Permanent
Housing (PSH
+ RRH)
No Place
Like Home
Program
(NPLH)
$11.5M to Riverside
County for Round 4.
Counties, either solely
or with a housing
development sponsor.
Funding for permanent
supportive housing must
utilize low barrier tenant
selection practices that
prioritize vulnerable
populations and offer
flexible, voluntary, and
individualized supportive
services. Counties must
commit to provide mental
health services and to
help coordinate access to
other community-based
supportive services.
The Round 4 Competitive
NOFA was released on
October 29, 2021, with
applications due January
19, 2022. Awards will be
announced in June 2022.
This will be the last planned
NOFA under the program’s
current bond authority.
-
46 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
CATEGORY PROGRAM AVAILABLE FUNDS ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS ELIGIBLE USES TIMELINE ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Street
Outreach/
Engagement
Encampment
Resolution
Grants
$47.5M CoCs, counties, and cities. Direct Services and Housing Options: street outreach
and engagement, housing
and/or systems navigation,
interim housing, and
permanent housing.
Capacity Building:
service coordination
efforts, establishing and
strengthening cross-system
partnerships, and workforce
development, including
specialized training and
contracting with providers
of culturally specific
interventions.
Sustainable Outcomes:
activities and interventions
to ensure sustained
outcomes for those served
and to support sustained
restoration of encampment
sites to their intended or
original state.
HCFC released the request
for applications on October
29, 2021. Applications
will be due to HCFC no
later than December 31,
2021, and initial award
determinations shall be
made no later than March
1, 2022.
Request for
Applications (Oct
2021)
Affordable
Housing
California
Housing
Accelerator
$1.6B Project sponsors who
have been awarded HCD
funding for an affordable
housing project but were
unable to secure tax
credits.
Tier 1 prioritizes HCD-
funded projects which have
previously applied to CDLAC
for bonds and 4% tax credits.
Tier 2 project criteria may
still be in development.
Tier 1 application deadline
has already passed. The Tier
2 Project Solicitation and
application release date are
expected late 2021 or early
2022.
Eligible Uses/
Projects for Tier 1
Details on eligible
funding costs for
Tier 1
Affordable
Housing
Multifamily
Housing
Program
(MHP)
45% of distribution
to SoCal, 30% for
projects in NorCal, and
20% for projects in
rural areas.
Sponsors or their principals
must have successfully
developed at least one
affordable housing project.
Individual, JV, partnership,
LP, trust, corporation, LLC,
Local Public Entity, duly
constituted governing
body of an Indian
reservation or Rancheria,
other legal entity,
organized on a for-profit,
including limited profit, or
nonprofit basis.
New construction,
rehabilitation, and
preservation of permanent
and transitional rental
housing for lower income
households.
HCD SuperNOFA. Expected
release Feb 2022;
application closing date May
- June 2022.
AB 434
SuperNOFA
Updates
Affordable
Housing
Joe Serna, Jr.
Farmworker
Housing
Grant (FWHG)
Program
$50M Local government
agencies, nonprofit
corporations, cooperative
housing corporations,
limited partnerships where
all the general partners are
nonprofit mutual or public
benefit corporations, and
federally recognized Indian
tribes.
New construction,
rehabilitation, and
acquisition of owner-
occupied and rental units
for agricultural workers, with
a priority for lower income
households.
Eligible beneficiaries of
funds are households who
derive, or prior to retirement
or disability derived, a
substantial portion of
household income from
agricultural employment.
HCD SuperNOFA. Draft
guidelines end 2021.
Expected NOFA release Feb
2022; application closing
date May - June 2022.
AB 434
SuperNOFA
Updates
Affordable
Housing
Infill
Infrastructure
Grant (IIG)
Program
$534.1M - $90M
set-aside for small
jurisdictions; $160M
for large jurisdictions.
One of, or any combination
of, the following: (1) A
nonprofit or for-profit
Developer of a Qualifying
Infill Project; (2) A city,
county, city and county,
public housing authority,
or redevelopment agency,
or other governing body
that has jurisdiction over a
Qualifying Infill Area.
A Capital Improvement
Project must be an integral
part of, or necessary for,
the development of either
a Qualifying Infill Project or
housing designated within
a Qualifying Infill Area.
Eligible costs include the
construction, rehabilitation,
demolition, relocation,
preservation, and acquisition
of infrastructure.
HCD SuperNOFA. Draft
guidelines end 2021.
Expected NOFA release Feb
2022; application closing
date May - June 2022.
AB 434
SuperNOFA
Updates
47 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
CATEGORY PROGRAM AVAILABLE FUNDS ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS ELIGIBLE USES TIMELINE ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Building
Capacity
SDS
Supportive
Housing
Fund
$150M TBD Sole-source financing of
permanent supportive
housing. RMG serves as the
developer and long-term
owner of each apartment
community.
Not publicly available As of Oct 2021,
currently funding
30 projects in CA,
22 projects in LA
County;
Video on one
project (from May
2021)
Building
Capacity
Providing
Access and
Transforming
Health (PATH)
funds
$300M in one-time
funds (FY 21 - 22).
Requesting federal
funding of $1.25B over
5 years.
Homeless and Direct Care
Providers
Support bridge funding for
transitioning services from
Whole Person Care pilots to
ECM and ILOS; strengthen
the IT infrastructure of CBOs
that are providing ECM
and ILOS services; provide
capacity support for CBOs;
provide on-the-ground
capacity support to facilitate
the justice-involved initiative
TBD Summary of new
programs under
CalAIM
Community
Development
Community
Care
Expansion
Program
$805M Counties, tribes, non-profit
and for-profit entities
Acquisition, construction,
and rehabilitation of adult
and senior care facilities
that serve applicants and
recipients of Social Security
Income (SSI), including
individuals who are at risk
of or are experiencing
homelessness and those
who have behavioral health
conditions.
A Request for Applications
(RFA) will be released in
January 2022.
Listening Session
Slides
Flexible Use Homeless
Housing,
Assistance
and
Prevention
(HHAP) Grant
Program
HHAP 3: $4.2M for
Riverside City &
County; $1B total
HHAP 4: $1B total
CoCs, counties, and cities. Rapid rehousing, operating
subsidies and reserves,
street outreach, services
coordination, systems
support to create regional
partnerships, delivery
of permanent housing,
innovative solutions,
including motel/hotel
conversion, prevention
and shelter diversion to
permanent housing, new
navigation centers and
emergency shelters, with
requirement to demonstrate
need. For HHAP round 3
(HHAP-3), at least 10% must
be for programs serving
youth.
HHAP-3 standard
agreements for initial
allocations (20% - 25%
of base funds) were
released by the state on
September 15, 2021. All
eligible grantees submitted
their SAA by the statutory
deadline of October 15.
HHAP 3 NOFA should be
released soon (2021 - 22).
HHAP 4 funds likely
disbursed during FY 22 - 23.
Round 3
allocations
Flexible Use Coronavirus
State and
Local Fiscal
Recovery
Funds
Riverside County
received $240M.
Riverside County
nonprofits.
The County of Riverside
preliminary spending plan
proposes an allocation
of $50M to housing and
homelessness.
Funds can be used to cover
costs incurred by December
31, 2024. The County is
currently developing the
scope of the programs to be
funded under each category.
Presentation
during the Oct.
20, 2021 board
meeting with
the framework
of allocations
within the above
categories
Health
(Physical and
Behavioral) &
Services
Pet
Assistance
and Support
(PAS)
Program
$10M (FY 21 - 22) City or county, or a
nonprofit corporation that
is a "qualified homeless
shelter" that commits
to meeting a number of
conditions relating to
provision of services to
clients and their pets.
Shelter, food, and basic
veterinary services for
pets owned by individuals
experiencing homelessness,
along with staffing and
liability insurance related to
providing those services.
Program grants will be
between $100,000 and
$200,000.
A NOFA is expected to be
released before the end of
2021.
For future funding
opportunities,
interested parties
can subscribe to
the Homelessness
emailing list
to receive
notifications and
announcements.
48 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
CATEGORY PROGRAM AVAILABLE FUNDS ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS ELIGIBLE USES TIMELINE ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Health
(Physical and
Behavioral) &
Services
Enhanced
Care
Management
(ECM)
- CalAIM program that will
eventually expand to all
Medi-Cal members in the
state.
Replaces Whole Person
Care pilots and Health
Homes Program.
Services: Outreach
and Engagement;
Comprehensive Assessment
and Care Management Plan;
Enhanced Coordination of
Care; Health Promotion;
Comprehensive Transitional
Care; Member and
Family Supports; and
Coordination of and Referral
to Community and Social
Support Services.
Phased in by county and
Population of Focus from
January 2022 through July
2023. Goes live for Riverside
County in Jan 2022 for
the following populations:
Individuals and Families
Experiencing Homelessness;
High Utilizer Adults; and
Adults with SMI/SUD.
Enhanced Care
Management
and In Lieu of
Services
Permanent
Housing (PSH
+ RRH)
Housing for
a Healthy
California
(HHC) Program
$170M Organization, agency, or
other entity (including a
public housing agency,
a for-profit entity, or a
nonprofit entity) that is an
Owner or Developer.
Permanent loans for
acquisition, rehab, and/or
new construction for existing
and new supportive housing
opportunities. Grants for
Capitalized Operating
Subsidy Reserves (COSRs).
Target population: people
who are chronically
homeless or homeless and a
high-cost health user.
The next NOFA for $170
million is expected to be
released at end of 2021.
2021 NOFA
Listening Session
Slides - Details
about upcoming
NOFA
Preservation,
Community
Displacement
Portfolio
Reinvestment
Program
$300M Likely local jurisdictions
with qualifying projects.
Provide capital to HCD
legacy projects about to
go market-rate to extend
affordability covenants
and preserve the state’s
affordable housing stock.
Initial target of 60 to 80
projects, including projects
with expired loans and
regulatory agreements, as
well as other projects at risk
of conversion to market-rate
over a five-year period.
NOFA Spring 2022 Approved in FY
21 - 22 budget;
likely updated on
this site.
Prevention,
Diversion,
Problem-
Solving
In Lieu of
Services (ILOS)
- Medi-Cal Managed Care
Providers (MCPs); MCPs
must applying to the State
and obtain State approval
to offer the ILOS by
demonstrating that all the
requirements will be met.
Housing Transition
Navigation Services;
Recuperative Care (Medical
Respite); Day Habilitation
Programs; Nursing Facility
Transition/Diversion to
Assisted Living Facilities;
Community Transition
Services/Nursing Facility
Transition to a Home;
Personal Care and
Homemaker Services;
Environmental Accessibility
Adaptations (Home
Modifications); Medically
Supportive Food/Meals/
Medically Tailored Meals;
Sobering Centers; Asthma
Remediation
ILOS may be offered by
MCPs beginning January 1,
2022. Additional ILOS may
be added thereafter on a
six-month cadence.
Enhanced Care
Management
and In Lieu of
Services
Special
Populations
Veterans
Housing and
Homelessness
Prevention
(VHHP)
Program
~$300M per funding
round
Sponsors cannot have
more than two corporate
entities between itself
and the borrowing entity.
Sponsors and Borrowers
may be for profit or not-for-
profit entities. Any public
agency or private entity
capable of entering into a
contract is eligible to apply,
provided they meet the
threshold requirements in
Guidelines, Section 102.
Acquisition, construction,
rehabilitation, and
preservation of affordable
multifamily housing for
veterans and their families to
allow veterans to access and
maintain housing stability.
HCD SuperNOFA. Draft
guidelines end 2021.
Expected NOFA release Feb
2022; application closing
date May - June 2022.
AB 434
SuperNOFA
Updates
49 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
CATEGORY PROGRAM AVAILABLE FUNDS ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS ELIGIBLE USES TIMELINE ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Special
Populations
CalWORKs
Housing
Support
Program (HSP)
$190M yearly for FY
21-22 and FY 22-23
County Welfare
Departments.
Financial assistance and
housing-related wrap-
around supportive services,
including rental assistance,
housing navigation, case
management, security
deposits, utility payments,
legal services, and credit
repair. Some funds can be
set-aside for purchasing
property.
FY 21 - 22 NOFA released in
May 2021 with deadlines in
June 2021.
FY 21 - 22 RFA
Letter
Special
Populations
Transitional
Housing
Program (THP)
$8M for Round 3 (FY
21 - 22)
County child welfare
services agencies that
demonstrate a need to
provide housing for young
adults aged 18 to 25 years
of age.
Funds shall be used to help
young adults who are 18 to
25 years of age secure and
maintain housing.
Eligible uses: Identifying and
assisting housing services,
helping this population
secure and maintain housing
(with priority given to those
formerly in the state’s foster
care or probation system);
improving coordination of
services and linkages to
community resources within
the child welfare system and
the Homeless Continuum of
Care; outreach and targeting
to serve those with the
most-severe needs.
TBD. The deadline to submit
Round 2 THP application
was November 12, 2020. No
further Round 3 information
has been released.
-
Special
Populations
Bringing
Families Home
Program
$92.5M yearly in FY
21-22 and FY 22-23,
available over three
years
Counties and tribes. 22
counties and one tribe are
participating in the July
2019 – June 2022 cycle
-- Riverside County is not
one of them.
Financial assistance
and housing-related
wrap-around supportive
services for eligible families
experiencing homelessness
in the child welfare system,
including rental assistance,
housing navigation, case
management, security
deposits, utility payments,
legal services, and credit
repair.
Program was expanded
following FY 21 - 22 budget.
Announcement of funding
availability for new and
continuing grantees is
forthcoming.
Information
on Program
Expansion
Special
Populations
CalWORKS
Homeless
Assistance
Program
Varies by county
- combination of
Federal, State, and
County funds.
Counties Temporary HA, which
helps families pay the
costs of temporary shelter;
permanent HA, which helps
families secure housing or
prevent eviction; security
deposit and last month’s rent
or 2 months arrearages to
prevent eviction.
Target population:
CalWORKs recipients
or CalWORKs eligible
applicants who are
experiencing homelessness
or at risk of homelessness.
SB 1065, passed in 2020,
streamlines and expands
eligibility for HA. Likely
implemented mid-late 2022.
All County Letter
Regarding
Implementation
of SB 1065
Building
Capacity
FY 2021
Continuum
of Care
Competition
and
Noncompetitive
Award of Y outh
Homeless
Demonstration
Program
Renewal and
Replacement
Grants
~$2.65B was available
for FY 2021 NOFO
Continuum’s of Care CoC activities, including:
Quickly rehousing homeless
individuals, families,
persons fleeing domestic
violence(and dating
violence, sexual assault,
and stalking) and youth
while minimizing the trauma
and dislocation caused by
homelessness; promoting
access to and effective
utilization of mainstream
programs by homeless
individuals and families;
optimizing self-sufficiency
among those experiencing
homelessness.
NOFO released in Sept 2021
with deadline of Nov 2021.
CoC Program
Competition |
HUD.gov / U.S.
Department
of Housing
and Urban
Development
(HUD)
50 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
CATEGORY PROGRAM AVAILABLE FUNDS ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS ELIGIBLE USES TIMELINE ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Community
Development
Riverside
County CDBG
Program
Riverside County
received $8M in 2020
Non-Profits, 501(c)(3) Higher
Education Institutions,
Cooperating Cities,
and other Government
Agencies/Special Districts.
Community Development
(CD) uses: Housing, public
improvements, community
facilities, public services,
planning and technical
assistance (PTA), Native
American housing and
housing-related activities, and
Colonia housing needs.
Economic Development
(ED) uses enterprise funds,
planning and technical
assistance (PTA), and over-
the-counter grants.
Application deadline was Nov
12, 2021.
Riverside County
2022 – 23
CDBG Awards
Application
Flexible Use Emergency
Solutions
Grants Program
in CARES Act
(ESG-CV)
California received
$949M (direct formula
allocation to local
jurisdictions + state
funding to be further
distributed)
Direct Allocation: Distributed
to currently approved
units of general-purpose
local government, known
as Administrative Entities
(Aes), or directly to the COC,
depending on capacity.
State funding: Continuum
of Care (CoC) service areas
that have at least one
jurisdiction that does not
receive ESG funds directly
from HUD.
Street Outreach, Emergency
Shelter, Rapid Re-Housing,
Homelessness Prevention,
and Homeless Management
Information System.
Direct allocation: Substantial
Amendment/Action Plan
Submission to HUD due Aug
2021.
State allocation: applications
due by October 2021.
HUD Emergency
Solutions Grants
- CV
Flexible Use Mental Health
Services Act
~$2.3B annually Counties -- must expend
the funds for the required
components consistent with
a local plan.
Can be used to fund
homeless and housing
assistance services through
the Community Services and
Supports (CSS), Prevention
and Early Intervention (PEI),
Innovation (INN), and Capital
Facilities and Technological
Needs (CF/TN) components
of MHSA.
TBD. Counties with population
above 200,000 have three
years to expend funds
distributed for CSS, PEI, and
INN components. Counties
with less than 200,000 have
five years to expend funds
distributed for CSS, PEI and
INN components. All counties
have ten years to expend
funds distributed for CF/TN
and WET components.
Riverside County
MHSA Plan
Update
Health
(Physical and
Behavioral) &
Services
Whole Person
Care Pilots
$7M annually for four
years
County, a city and county, a
health or hospital authority,
or a consortium of any of
the above entities serving a
county or region.
Facilitates the coordination of
health, behavioral health, and
social services, as applicable,
in a patient-centered manner
with the goals of improved
beneficiary health and
wellbeing through more
efficient and effective use of
resources.
Will be replaced by Enhanced
Care Management (ECM)
starting Jan 2022.
Riverside County
WPC Application
Special
Populations
Home Safe
Program
$15M from July
2018 to June 2021.
Noncompetitive
allocations. Riverside
received $3.7M for FY
21 - 22.
$92.5M yearly for FY 21
- 22 and FY 22 - 23.
Counties or tribes. Adult Protective Services
(APS) clients who are
experiencing homelessness
or are at imminent risk of
homelessness as determined
by the adult protective
services agency.
Financial Assistance: Rental
Assistance, utility payments,
moving costs, and/or deep
cleaning to maintain safe
housing.
Supportive Services:
housing-related intensive
case management, eviction
prevention, and/or landlord
mediation.
On October 15, 2021, CDSS
released NOFA on Oct 15,
2021. These funds include
non-competitive allocations
available to all 58 counties
or groups of counties and/
or tribes.
The deadline for accepting
funds is December 3, 2021.
Latest NOFA
51 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
CATEGORY PROGRAM AVAILABLE FUNDS ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS ELIGIBLE USES TIMELINE ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Special
Populations
Housing
Opportunities
for People with
AIDS (HOPWA)
FY 2021: $41M Formula program (90% of
funds): MSAs with more than
500,000 people and at least
2,000 HIV/AIDS cases and
States with more than 2,000
HIV/AIDS cases outside
of eligible MSAs. Awards
are contingent upon the
submission and approval
by HUD of a jurisdiction’s
Consolidated Plan.
Competitive program (10%
of funds): States, local
governments, and nonprofit
organizations.
Formula program: housing
information, resource
identification, and permanent
housing placement;
acquisition, rehabilitation,
conversion, lease, and repair
of facilities to provide short-
term shelter and services;
new construction; project
or tenant-based rental
assistance, including for
shared housing; and short-
term rent, mortgage, and
utility payments.
Competitive program:
Special Projects of National
Significance (SPNS): Projects
of innovative nature or their
potential for replication.
New Long-Term Projects:
These projects provide
housing and services for
eligible persons in areas of
the nation that did not qualify
for HOPWA Formula Program
allocations.
FY 2021 competitive program
NOFO was announced in
April 2021 with an application
deadline of June 2021.
Awardees announced on
12/1/2021.
-
COLLABORATING AGENCIES/DEPARTMENTS
A number of the Action Areas and their associated strategies require developing and/or deepening partnerships with agencies and partners in both the homeless and the homeless serving sectors. The table below shows groups with which the Continuum of Care and its administrative support systems should work to cultivate relationships.
AGENCY/DEPARTMENT AREAS OF PARTNERSHIP
CHILD WELFARE SERVICES TAY support, family support, homeless prevention, early identification, and resolution.
CORONA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER CalAIM coordination and healthcare for those experiencing homelessness.
DESERT HEALTHCARE DISTRICT CalAIM coordination and healthcare for those experiencing homelessness.
FAITH BASED ORGANIZATIONS
Assistance with supplying food, clothing, and toiletries.
Emergency shelters, safe parking, and construction of
affordable housing on church properties.
LAW ENFORCEMENT (SHERIFF, CITY POLICE DEPARTMENTS,
PROBATION, PAROLE, JAIL, DISTRICT ATTORNEY,
PUBLIC DEFENDER)
Outreach, encampment resolution, discharge planning,
jail in reach, early identification, and resolution.
REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS OF GOVERNMENT Coordination and integration of services.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY ANIMAL SERVICES Jointly develop strategies to support pet friendly solutions for persons experiencing homelessness.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH Outreach and behavioral health services and support.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY CODE ENFORCEMENT Work to proactively address encampments in a coordinated manner.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY SERVICES Work to proactively address encampments in a coordinated manner.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Jointly develop strategies to increase the overall economic stability of the ELI population in the county. 52 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
AGENCY/DEPARTMENT AREAS OF PARTNERSHIP
RIVERSIDE COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION
Early identification of and support for children and
families at risk of and/or experiencing homelessness.
Establish/enhance year-round breakfast and lunch
programs.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY OFFICE ON AGING Early identification of and support for older adults at risk of and/or experiencing homelessness.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY PARK AND OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Work to proactively address encampments in a coordinated manner.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT
Work to identify opportunities to develop more housing
affordable to everyone and to increase the production of Permanent Supportive Housing.
RIVERSIDE COUNTY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD Jointly develop strategies to enhance training programs for persons experiencing homelessness.
RIVERSIDE FLOOD CONTROL Work to proactively address encampments in a coordinated manner.
RIVERSIDE UNIVERSITY PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM CalAIM coordination and healthcare for those experiencing homelessness.
VETERANS ADMINISTRATION AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VETERANS
SERVICES OFFICE
Funding and services for veterans experiencing
homelessness and their families.
PARTNER CITIES IN COUNTY OF
RIVERSIDE CONTINUUM OF CARE
City of Banning
City of Beaumont
City of Blythe
City of Calimesa
City of Canyon Lake
City of Cathedral City
City of Coachella
City of Corona
City of Desert Hot Springs
City of Eastvale
City of Hemet
City of Indian Wells
City of Indio
City of Jurupa Valley
City of Indio
City of Jurupa Valley
City of Lake Elsinore
City of La Quinta
City of Menifee
City of Moreno Valley
City of Murrieta
City of Norco
City of Palm Desert
City of Palm Springs
City of Perris
City of Rancho Mirage
City of Riverside
City of San Jacinto
City of Temecula
City of Wildomar
53 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
GLOSSARY
AHAR: Annual Homeless
Assessment Report
APR: Annual Performance Report
(for HUD homeless programs)
CALAIM: California Advancing and
Innovating Medi-Cal
CDBG: Community Development
Block Grant (CPD program – federal)
CES: Coordinated Entry System
CSBG: Community Services Block
Grant
COC: Continuum of Care
CPD: Community Planning and
Development (HUD Office)
ES: Emergency Shelter
ESG: Emergency Solutions Grant
(CPD – federal program)
FMR: Fair Market Rent (maximum
rent for Section 8 rental assistance/
CoC grants)
GR: General Relief
HCD: Housing and Community
Development (State office)
HEARTH: Homeless Emergency
and Rapid Transition to Housing
(HEARTH) Act of 2009
HIC: Housing Inventory Count
HMIS: Homeless Management
Information System
HOME: Home Investment
Partnerships (CPD program)
HOPWA: Housing Opportunities for
Persons with AIDS (CPD program)
HUD: U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (federal)
MHSA: Mental Health Services Act
NOFA: Notice of Funding Availability
PHA: Public Housing Authority
PIT COUNT: Point in Time Count
PH: Permanent Housing
PSH: Permanent Supportive Housing
RHNA: Regional Housing Needs
Assessment
RRH: Rapid Rehousing
SAMHSA: Substance Abuse
& Mental Health Services
Administration
SH: Supportive Housing
SMI: Severe Mental Illness
SNAPS: Office of Special Needs
Assistance Program (HUD office
overseeing CoC)
SO: Street Outreach
SOAR: SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access,
and Recovery (SSI/SSDI Application
program)
SRO: Single-Room Occupancy
housing units
SSA: Social Security Administration
SSDI: Social Security Disability
Income
SSI: Supplemental Security Income
SUD: Substance Use Disorder
TA: Technical Assistance
TANF: Temporary Assistance to
Needy Families
TAY: Transition Age Y outh (usually
ages 16-24)
TH: Transitional Housing
VA: Veterans Affairs (U.S.
Department of)
VASH: Veterans Affairs Supportive
Housing
VI-SPDT: Vulnerability Index and
Service Prioritization Decision
Assistance Tool
54 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ACTION
AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLES ACTION AREA 1: STRENGTHEN SYSTEM TO BETTER PREVENT & END HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY 1: STRENGTHEN LEADERSHIP & DEPARTMENTAL CAPACITY • Instill shared values into CoC culture and work
to increase CoC participation
• Gain deeper insight into CoC performance and
adopt a continuous improvement framework
through the use of data
• Develop system for monitoring progress of
Homeless Action Plan and other actions of the
CoC
• Continue to streamline the CoC structure &
committees in alignment with goals outlined in
this Homeless Action Plan
• Leverage political will of regional stakeholders
over the adoption of priorities and goals
outlined in this Homeless Action Plan
• Develop internal operational capacity to support
the influx of new spending related activities like
RFP responses, HUD technical assistance, etc.
• Lead cross-sector initiatives around data-sharing
and discharge planning
• Lead system mapping and regional coordination
• Spearhead the initiative to transform the
county’s data capacity
• Lead in the development of new funding
opportunities with private, philanthropic, and
public sources, including cross-sector braiding
of funding with housing/ homeless system
resources
• Develop Riverside County CoC Policy Agenda
to address items like tenant protections,
decriminalization, etc.
• Refine and develop program specific guidance,
policies, procedures, and trainings to develop
capacity regionally
• Support the enhancement/ development of sub-
regional infrastructure, specifically in subregions
without developed infrastructure, to implement
Homeless Action Plan strategies
• Engage cities and tribal lands to implement
goals outlined in the Homeless Action Plan
• Number of new positions created
in response to Homeless Action
Plan, especially around cross-
sector alignment, and partnership.
• Riverside County CoC Policy
Agenda.
• Number of new opportunities
generated through private and
philanthropic funding.
• Total number of people
successfully exiting to housing
each month/year exceeds the
people entering homelessness
each month/year.
• 100% of the programs/services
adhere to CES Policies and
Procedures.
• 100% of programs/services are
integrated within CES and HMIS.
• 50% reduction in the length of
stay (SO, ES, SH, TH).
• System Performance Measures
are reflected in public facing
dashboards.
• 100% of data reports,
dashboards, etc. have data
disaggregated demographically
• Disparities of Black, Indigenous
and People of Color (BIPOC)
experiencing homelessness
are reduced across all program
types.
• Riverside County CoC has
increased the number of active
partnerships with cross-sector/
mainstream systems.
• 100% of identified cross-sector/
mainstream systems utilize
developed homeless tracking
metrics and processes.
• Riverside County CoC has an
effective provider training,
learning collaborative, provider
forum schedule in place to
develop service provider
capacity regionally.
• Riverside County CoC has
adopted Policy Agenda.
• Riverside County CoC tracks
client program satisfaction
results and uses them to inform
decision making.
• Increases in Riverside County
CoC staff that have lived
experience and/or are Black,
Indigenous and People of Color
(BIPOC).
• 100% of awarded projects
address racial equity disparities
• 100% of CoC staff and service
providers are trained in cultural
humility, trauma-informed care,
and anti-racist trainings
• Riverside County CoC
Framework implemented to
right-size system flow
• Invest in strategies and
programs that support the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan,
emphasizing the expansion of
system coordination, housing
resources, outreach, navigation,
and supportive services
and provider, city, regional
government, and system
capacity
• Invest in programs that
demonstrate ongoing, long-term,
or sustainable data-informed
results that are consistent with
benchmarks established in the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan
• Utilizing a data-driven approach
(HMIS, annual Point-In-Time
Count, System Performance
Measures, and CES By-Name
List), invest in programs
addressing significant service
gaps and priority needs
by targeting high-need
communities, under-served or
hard to-serve geographic areas,
or special subpopulations, such
as the chronically homeless,
individuals with mental illness
and substance use disorders,
older adults/seniors, and
Transitional Age Y outh (TAY)
• Strengthen equity-focused
strategies, programs, and
partnerships that reduce
racial disparities, support
equitable access to services
and resources, and produce
equitable outcomes and
communities
• Advance client-centered
strategies, programs, and
partnerships that are informed
by people with lived experience
of homelessness and provide
legitimate feedback mechanisms
for clients experiencing
homelessness
• Support strategies to address
regional inequities in homeless
response infrastructure,
approaches, and service
delivery capacity. These include
adopting and implementing
regional planning, coordination,
decision-making, data-sharing,
and accountability measures
EXHIBIT A: TABULATED RIVERSIDE
COUNTY HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
55 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ACTION
AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLESACTION AREA 1: STRENGTHEN SYSTEM TO BETTER PREVENT & END HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY 2: IMPROVE COUNTY’S ABILITY TO TRACK,
LEVERAGE, & MANAGE DATA
• Increase the use of HMIS data for evaluating
and reporting on program and system outcomes
• Expand system and program level reporting to
inform funding and policy decisions
• Ensure that all contracts that fund services to
address homelessness require participation
in HMIS protocol, trainings, monitoring, and
procedures
• Expand services and programs in HMIS so that
HMIS is the main repository for all programs
addressing homelessness
• Create public-facing dashboards based on the
goals outlined in the Homeless Action Plan and
System Performance Measures
• Use data to assess the intersectionality of race,
ethnicity, disability, gender, and age within the
homeless response system across program
types to ensure equitable access and delivery of
services for overrepresented groups
• Refine mechanisms for improving HMIS data
entry and data quality, especially for front-line
staff at shelters, day centers, and access centers
where client turnover creates challenges for
data quality
• Develop mechanisms to track real-time
availability of shelter and housing units within
the system
• Develop reporting structure to report on key
data indicators at sub-regional and city specific
level
• Number of System Performance
Measures/goals of Homeless
Action Plan reflected in public
facing dashboards.
• Number of programs with
demographic data disaggregated
in public facing dashboards.
• Real time shelter and housing unit
inventory reflected in public facing
dashboards.
• Percentage of programs/services
integrated within CES and HMIS.
• Total number of people
successfully exiting to housing
each month/year exceeds the
people entering homelessness
each month/year.
• 100% of the programs/services
adhere to CES Policies and
Procedures.
• 100% of programs/services are
integrated within CES and HMIS.
• 50% reduction in the length of
stay (SO, ES, SH, TH).
• System Performance Measures
are reflected in public facing
dashboards.
• 100% of data reports,
dashboards, etc. have data
disaggregated demographically
• Disparities of Black, Indigenous
and People of Color (BIPOC)
experiencing homelessness
are reduced across all program
types.
• Riverside County CoC has
increased the number of active
partnerships with cross-sector/
mainstream systems.
• 100% of identified cross-sector/
mainstream systems utilize
developed homeless tracking
metrics and processes.
• Riverside County CoC has an
effective provider training,
learning collaborative, provider
forum schedule in place to
develop service provider
capacity regionally.
• Riverside County CoC has
adopted Policy Agenda.
• Riverside County CoC tracks
client program satisfaction
results and uses them to inform
decision making.
• Increases in Riverside County
CoC staff that have lived
experience and/or are Black,
Indigenous and People of Color
(BIPOC).
• 100% of awarded projects
address racial equity disparities
• 100% of CoC staff and service
providers are trained in cultural
humility, trauma-informed care,
and anti-racist trainings
• Riverside County CoC
Framework implemented to
right-size system flow
• Invest in strategies and
programs that support the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan,
emphasizing the expansion of
system coordination, housing
resources, outreach, navigation,
and supportive services
and provider, city, regional
government, and system
capacity
• Invest in programs that
demonstrate ongoing, long-term,
or sustainable data-informed
results that are consistent with
benchmarks established in the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan
• Utilizing a data-driven approach
(HMIS, annual Point-In-Time
Count, System Performance
Measures, and CES By-Name
List), invest in programs
addressing significant service
gaps and priority needs
by targeting high-need
communities, under-served or
hard to-serve geographic areas,
or special subpopulations, such
as the chronically homeless,
individuals with mental illness
and substance use disorders,
older adults/seniors, and
Transitional Age Y outh (TAY)
• Strengthen equity-focused
strategies, programs, and
partnerships that reduce
racial disparities, support
equitable access to services
and resources, and produce
equitable outcomes and
communities
• Advance client-centered
strategies, programs, and
partnerships that are informed
by people with lived experience
of homelessness and provide
legitimate feedback mechanisms
for clients experiencing
homelessness
• Support strategies to address
regional inequities in homeless
response infrastructure,
approaches, and service
delivery capacity. These include
adopting and implementing
regional planning, coordination,
decision-making, data-sharing,
and accountability measures
STRATEGY 3: IMPLEMENT PRIORITIZATION
FRAMEWORK TO ADDRESS SYSTEM FLOW
• Reducing Inflow: Root Causes and
Homelessness Prevention
• Curtailing the inflows into the homeless
response system will require addressing the
root causes of homelessness and preventing
new individuals, families, or communities
from falling into homelessness. Upstreaming
solutions by developing equity-centered,
regional, and cross-sector collaboration that
focuses on preventing people from becoming
homeless through homelessness prevention
programs, preservation of vulnerable housing
and communities, tenant protections, and the
production of affordable housing, all of which
will begin to address the system flow.
• Increasing Outflow: Housing Solutions and
Supportive Services
• Housing solutions with corresponding
supportive services rooted in Housing First, like
supportive housing, rapid rehousing, and other
flexible housing subsidies and supports are
necessary tools to end homelessness.
• Supporting Interim Solutions: Interim and
Emergency Options
• Supporting the needs of unsheltered
people experiencing homelessness will be a
critical component to humanely addressing
homelessness.
• Total number of people entering
homeless each month.
• Total number of people exiting to
housing each month.
• Total active people experiencing
homelessness each month.
• Allocation of Riverside County
CoC Awards reflecting units of
“Reducing Inflow”, “Increasing
Outflow”, and “Supporting Interim
Solutions”.
STRATEGY 4: UTILIZE FUNDING PRINCIPLES INFORMED BY THE
PRIORITIZATION FRAMEWORK, PROVIDER, CITY, & REGIONAL
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE, & REGIONAL DEFICIENCIES & NEEDS • Map out the number of units/interventions
needed for each component of prioritization
• Establish how to quantify and evaluate provider
performance
• Identify gaps in regional deficiencies across the
system
• Provide technical assistance and training
opportunities and adapt program guidelines and
guidance
• Expand partnerships with corporations,
philanthropic institutions, and individual donors
to secure private funding to reduce and prevent
homelessness
• Allocation of Riverside County
CoC Awards reflecting units of
“Reducing Inflow”, “Increasing
Outflow”, and “Supporting Interim
Solutions”.
• Number of new opportunities
generated through private and
philanthropic funding.
56 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ACTION
AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLESACTION AREA 1: STRENGTHEN SYSTEM TO BETTER PREVENT & END HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY 5: STRENGTHEN COORDINATED ACCESS
• Evaluate and refine current system functionality,
including access, assessment, prioritization, and
matching/referrals to ensure that the system is
connecting the highest need, most vulnerable
persons in the community to available housing
and supportive services equitably
• Conduct an analysis of the VI-SPDAT,
highlighting areas of concern around equity,
such as racial identity, gender identity, sexual
orientation, etc., and identify whether it is the
correct assessment tool for Riverside County
CoC
• Evaluate, refine, and implement standardized
Riverside County CoC CES Policies and
Procedures
• Increase housing and program resources
connected to CES by targeting and bringing
onboard programs and services currently
operating outside of CES and HMIS
• Systematize CES reporting, accountability,
and evaluation, and align with the Homeless
Management Information System (HMIS)
• Integrate cross-departmental referrals into
intake processes, like standardized employment
readiness assessments that leads to appropriate
linkages with employment services or
departments
• Integrate case conferencing component within
CES
• Number days between referral
and contact.
• Length of stay in shelter or street.
• Functionality of Coordinated Entry
System.
• Effectiveness of access,
assessment, prioritization, and
matching/referrals.
• Number of programs/services
adhering to Riverside County.
• Total number of people
successfully exiting to housing
each month/year exceeds the
people entering homelessness
each month/year.
• 100% of the programs/services
adhere to CES Policies and
Procedures.
• 100% of programs/services are
integrated within CES and HMIS.
• 50% reduction in the length of
stay (SO, ES, SH, TH).
• System Performance Measures
are reflected in public facing
dashboards.
• 100% of data reports,
dashboards, etc. have data
disaggregated demographically
• Disparities of Black, Indigenous
and People of Color (BIPOC)
experiencing homelessness
are reduced across all program
types.
• Riverside County CoC has
increased the number of active
partnerships with cross-sector/
mainstream systems.
• 100% of identified cross-sector/
mainstream systems utilize
developed homeless tracking
metrics and processes.
• Riverside County CoC has an
effective provider training,
learning collaborative, provider
forum schedule in place to
develop service provider
capacity regionally.
• Riverside County CoC has
adopted Policy Agenda.
• Riverside County CoC tracks
client program satisfaction
results and uses them to inform
decision making.
• Increases in Riverside County
CoC staff that have lived
experience and/or are Black,
Indigenous and People of Color
(BIPOC).
• 100% of awarded projects
address racial equity disparities
• 100% of CoC staff and service
providers are trained in cultural
humility, trauma-informed care,
and anti-racist trainings
• Riverside County CoC
Framework implemented to
right-size system flow
• Invest in strategies and
programs that support the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan,
emphasizing the expansion of
system coordination, housing
resources, outreach, navigation,
and supportive services
and provider, city, regional
government, and system
capacity
• Invest in programs that
demonstrate ongoing, long-term,
or sustainable data-informed
results that are consistent with
benchmarks established in the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan
• Utilizing a data-driven approach
(HMIS, annual Point-In-Time
Count, System Performance
Measures, and CES By-Name
List), invest in programs
addressing significant service
gaps and priority needs
by targeting high-need
communities, under-served or
hard to-serve geographic areas,
or special subpopulations, such
as the chronically homeless,
individuals with mental illness
and substance use disorders,
older adults/seniors, and
Transitional Age Y outh (TAY)
• Strengthen equity-focused
strategies, programs, and
partnerships that reduce
racial disparities, support
equitable access to services
and resources, and produce
equitable outcomes and
communities
• Advance client-centered
strategies, programs, and
partnerships that are informed
by people with lived experience
of homelessness and provide
legitimate feedback mechanisms
for clients experiencing
homelessness
• Support strategies to address
regional inequities in homeless
response infrastructure,
approaches, and service
delivery capacity. These include
adopting and implementing
regional planning, coordination,
decision-making, data-sharing,
and accountability measures
STRATEGY 6: ENHANCE PROVIDER, CITY & REGIONAL GOVERNMENT’S CAPACITY & SYSTEM INFRASTRUCTURE • Support service provider expansion to
strengthen regional deficiencies
• Develop/Refine CoC community standards/
program guidelines for all program types
• Enhance reporting and monitoring procedures
to track and support provider performance
• Develop training strategies to improve provider,
city, and regional government’s capacity.
• Identify training requirements and required
competencies.
• Training strategies include but are not limited to:
• Explicit emphasis on racial equity and cultural
humility
• Workshops to identify common errors and
mistakes on CoC Grant Applications
• Workshops to identify common errors and
mistakes in performance reports and payment
requests
• Presentations before City Councils on best
practices, good neighbor strategies, and
leveraging city resources with CoC resources
• Developing provider, city, and regional
government partnerships to fill gaps, enhance
services, and collaborate on grant opportunities
• Increase the capacity of providers to implement
tailored services, utilizing progressive
engagement and Housing First practices that
are flexible and responsive to the needs and
priorities of individuals.
• Ensure support for culture shift for providers
• Strengthen provider tables/forums and create
learning collaboratives for more frequent
capacity building opportunities
• Promote hiring and retention practices to further
diversify system staff at all levels to better
reflect populations served.
• Track results of hiring practices to ensure
diversity and inclusion are expanded.
• Encourage organizations to ensure that diverse
staff are not limited to entry-level positions
but can access the full range of organizational
leadership positions
• Improve investments in workforce development
for positions who provide direct homeless
services by partnering with universities and
community colleges to increase the scale and
quality of homeless service workers
• CoC CES Policies and Procedures.
Percentage of programs/services
integrated within CES and HMIS.
• Number of/participation trainings,
learning collaboratives, provider
forums provided.
• Program staffing/Caseload ratio
per program,
• Increase provider, city, and
regional government capacity.
57 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ACTION
AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLES ACTION AREA 1: STRENGTHEN SYSTEM TO BETTER PREVENT & END HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY 7: SUPPORT REGIONAL, CROSS-SECTOR ALIGNMENT & PARTNERSHIP • Facilitate working groups around cross-sector/
departmental/multi-jurisdictional collaboration
• Ensure that each sub-region in Riverside County
has an effective regular meeting structure
around issues related to homelessness aligned
with the Riverside County CoC
• Implement unified approach for tracking
homelessness across mainstream, cross-
sector systems that touch or serve a large
proportion of homeless residents and identify
ways to “flag” homelessness and respond to
“flags” in departmental data systems by rapidly
connecting clients to housing and supportive
services
• Identify the feasibility, costs, and legality of
integrating and sharing data across disparate
systems like healthcare, behavioral/mental
health, substance use disorder, criminal justice,
child welfare, juvenile justice, education,
immigration, employment, land use, and code
enforcement
• Develop plans to address the feasibility, costs,
and legality of integrating and sharing data
across systems towards a central data lake
that could spur new opportunities in machine
learning and client ownership of data
• Develop standardized screening tools and
related protocols for identifying needs across
systems and connecting individuals to the right
community-based services
• Align strategic planning efforts, task force
initiatives and planning committees across all
system partners, including all counties, cities,
faith communities, philanthropic and business
sectors
• Identify internal staff responsible for cross-
sector data sharing
• Investigate ways to improve client care
coordination through multidisciplinary teams
that include the healthcare, mental, and
behavioral health sectors
• Strengthen partnerships with the state to
increase access to healthcare and supportive
services.
• Improve data sharing across providers, cities,
regional governments, and systems to facilitate
continuity of care and integrated service
delivery
• Number of mainstream/cross-
sector systems with data sharing
agreements or integrations with
homeless response system.
• Number of mainstream/cross-
sector systems utilizing developed
homeless tracking metrics.
• Number of new positions created
in response to Homeless Action
Plan, especially around cross-
sector alignment, and partnership.
• Number of active cross-sector
or regional working groups/
partnerships.
• Total number of people
successfully exiting to housing
each month/year exceeds the
people entering homelessness
each month/year.
• 100% of the programs/services
adhere to CES Policies and
Procedures.
• 100% of programs/services are
integrated within CES and HMIS.
• 50% reduction in the length of
stay (SO, ES, SH, TH).
• System Performance Measures
are reflected in public facing
dashboards.
• 100% of data reports,
dashboards, etc. have data
disaggregated demographically
• Disparities of Black, Indigenous
and People of Color (BIPOC)
experiencing homelessness
are reduced across all program
types.
• Riverside County CoC has
increased the number of active
partnerships with cross-sector/
mainstream systems.
• 100% of identified cross-sector/
mainstream systems utilize
developed homeless tracking
metrics and processes.
• Riverside County CoC has an
effective provider training,
learning collaborative, provider
forum schedule in place to
develop service provider
capacity regionally.
• Riverside County CoC has
adopted Policy Agenda.
• Riverside County CoC tracks
client program satisfaction
results and uses them to inform
decision making.
• Increases in Riverside County
CoC staff that have lived
experience and/or are Black,
Indigenous and People of Color
(BIPOC).
• 100% of awarded projects
address racial equity disparities
• 100% of CoC staff and service
providers are trained in cultural
humility, trauma-informed care,
and anti-racist trainings
• Riverside County CoC
Framework implemented to
right-size system flow
• Invest in strategies and
programs that support the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan,
emphasizing the expansion of
system coordination, housing
resources, outreach, navigation,
and supportive services
and provider, city, regional
government, and system
capacity
• Invest in programs that
demonstrate ongoing, long-term,
or sustainable data-informed
results that are consistent with
benchmarks established in the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan
• Utilizing a data-driven approach
(HMIS, annual Point-In-Time
Count, System Performance
Measures, and CES By-Name
List), invest in programs
addressing significant service
gaps and priority needs
by targeting high-need
communities, under-served or
hard to-serve geographic areas,
or special subpopulations, such
as the chronically homeless,
individuals with mental illness
and substance use disorders,
older adults/seniors, and
Transitional Age Y outh (TAY)
• Strengthen equity-focused
strategies, programs, and
partnerships that reduce
racial disparities, support
equitable access to services
and resources, and produce
equitable outcomes and
communities
• Advance client-centered
strategies, programs, and
partnerships that are informed
by people with lived experience
of homelessness and provide
legitimate feedback mechanisms
for clients experiencing
homelessness
• Support strategies to address
regional inequities in homeless
response infrastructure,
approaches, and service
delivery capacity. These include
adopting and implementing
regional planning, coordination,
decision-making, data-sharing,
and accountability measures
58 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ACTION
AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLESACTION AREA 1: STRENGTHEN SYSTEM TO BETTER PREVENT & END HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY 8: REFINE COMMUNICATIONS EFFORTS AROUND HOMELESSNESS IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY • Provide regular, coordinated public
communication to inform the public about
actions underway, results achieved, and ways to
support those efforts
• Prepare public-facing educational materials
and articles based on data and information to
educate the public on challenges and activities,
and to provide updates on the implementation
of programs and resources
• Create public facing dashboards around
performance toward achieving adopted goals
• Designate a CoC spokesperson/PR
representative to manage CoC communication
• Expand public and private sector support for
ending and preventing homelessness through
increased community engagement.
• Create a business leaders task force to establish
goals and strategies for the business community
to support the strategic plan.
• Areas of focus for the task force could include
fundraising, advocacy, job creation, and housing
access
• Create a countywide education/PR campaign/
communication strategy that increases
awareness about the causes and impacts of
homelessness, the ongoing efforts to end
homelessness, and addressing NIMBYism
concerns
• As a part of a communications strategy, invest
in a client facing component that targets those
experiencing or at-risk of homelessness through
robust multi-media strategies to make access to
services intuitive and radically accessible
• Develop opportunities to include the voices of
those with lived experience
• Provide opportunities for action and compassion
among all residents, housed and homeless,
through advocacy, volunteerism, donations, and
other initiatives
• Increase community engagement and
support for affordable and supportive housing
development throughout Riverside County
• Increase the visibility and expand the efforts
of successful initiatives that engage faith
institutions and individual congregants;
initiatives could include advocacy, recruitment
of landlords, and hosting of day centers, meals,
shelter, and encampments
• Riverside County CoC Policy
Agenda.
• Effectiveness of PR/
Communication Campaign.
• Total number of people
successfully exiting to housing
each month/year exceeds the
people entering homelessness
each month/year.
• 100% of the programs/services
adhere to CES Policies and
Procedures.
• 100% of programs/services are
integrated within CES and HMIS.
• 50% reduction in the length of
stay (SO, ES, SH, TH).
• System Performance Measures
are reflected in public facing
dashboards.
• 100% of data reports,
dashboards, etc. have data
disaggregated demographically
• Disparities of Black, Indigenous
and People of Color (BIPOC)
experiencing homelessness
are reduced across all program
types.
• Riverside County CoC has
increased the number of active
partnerships with cross-sector/
mainstream systems.
• 100% of identified cross-sector/
mainstream systems utilize
developed homeless tracking
metrics and processes.
• Riverside County CoC has an
effective provider training,
learning collaborative, provider
forum schedule in place to
develop service provider
capacity regionally.
• Riverside County CoC has
adopted Policy Agenda.
• Riverside County CoC tracks
client program satisfaction
results and uses them to inform
decision making.
• Increases in Riverside County
CoC staff that have lived
experience and/or are Black,
Indigenous and People of Color
(BIPOC).
• 100% of awarded projects
address racial equity disparities
• 100% of CoC staff and service
providers are trained in cultural
humility, trauma-informed care,
and anti-racist trainings
• Riverside County CoC
Framework implemented to
right-size system flow
• Invest in strategies and
programs that support the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan,
emphasizing the expansion of
system coordination, housing
resources, outreach, navigation,
and supportive services
and provider, city, regional
government, and system
capacity
• Invest in programs that
demonstrate ongoing, long-term,
or sustainable data-informed
results that are consistent with
benchmarks established in the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan
• Utilizing a data-driven approach
(HMIS, annual Point-In-Time
Count, System Performance
Measures, and CES By-Name
List), invest in programs
addressing significant service
gaps and priority needs
by targeting high-need
communities, under-served or
hard to-serve geographic areas,
or special subpopulations, such
as the chronically homeless,
individuals with mental illness
and substance use disorders,
older adults/seniors, and
Transitional Age Y outh (TAY)
• Strengthen equity-focused
strategies, programs, and
partnerships that reduce
racial disparities, support
equitable access to services
and resources, and produce
equitable outcomes and
communities
• Advance client-centered
strategies, programs, and
partnerships that are informed
by people with lived experience
of homelessness and provide
legitimate feedback mechanisms
for clients experiencing
homelessness
• Support strategies to address
regional inequities in homeless
response infrastructure,
approaches, and service
delivery capacity. These include
adopting and implementing
regional planning, coordination,
decision-making, data-sharing,
and accountability measures
STRATEGY 9: EXPAND ACCOUNTABILITY
TO CLIENTS
• Develop processes and technology for clients to
provide feedback on services, with mechanisms
to apply feedback data toward service delivery
and process improvement
• Continue to develop a system where client
choice is paramount
• Ensure that new and existing programs develop
within this new framework
• When developing cross-sector data sharing,
center the efforts on the benefits to the
client experience for people experiencing
homelessness
• Work with data team to continue to adopt client-
centric metrics
• Provide technical assistance and training
opportunities, and adapt program guidelines
and guidance
• Client program satisfaction results.
STRATEGY 10: DEVELOP LIVED
EXPERIENCE KNOWLEDGE,
LEADERSHIP, & DECISION-MAKING
• Actively develop opportunities for persons
with lived experience to participate in the
development and implementation of regional
and sub-regional plans
• Expand the hiring of people with lived
experience in regular staff positions (not just
peer support roles), and promote leadership
development for people with lived experience
• Develop peer certification trainings to prepare
individuals for peer support positions in the
homeless service system
• Encourage service providers to modify
requirements for specific positions to allow
the substitution of lived experience in place of
education or work experience
• Explore the benefit and feasibility of creating a
Lived Experience Advisory Board
• Percentage of CoC and service
provider staff with Black,
Indigenous and People of Color
and people with Lived Experience
59 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
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AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLESACTION AREA 1: STRENGTHEN SYSTEM TO BETTER PREVENT & END HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY 11: CENTER RACE EQUITY IN HOMELESS RESPONSE
• Embed a racial equity lens into all homelessness
and housing decisions
• Develop a racial equity impact assessment that
will forecast and assess the impacts of new
programs and funding decisions
• Incorporate a focus on racial equity data,
analysis, and planned activities when submitting
and reviewing applications for funding
• Utilize HMIS to analyze data and create public-
facing dashboards around racial inequities in
experiences of homelessness, provision of
services, and outcomes
• Analyze whether housing outcomes and
placements perpetuate residential segregation
• Adapt program guidelines, policies, procedures
focused on racial equity
• Incorporate a focus on racial equity data,
analysis, and planned activities within
applications for CoC funded projects and
analyze the data and information gathered in
response
• Create a plan to move forward on racial equity
work that will include system and programmatic
actions
• Institute standardized cultural humility, trauma
informed care, and anti-racist trainings for CoC
programs and system partners
• Align racial equity work in the homelessness
sector with other racial equity initiatives in
Riverside County
• Number of programs with
demographic data disaggregated
in public facing dashboards.
• Percentage of CoC and service
provider staff with Black,
Indigenous and People of Color
and people with Lived Experience.
• Number of awarded programs/
projects that address racial equity.
• Number of Riverside County
CoC Policy and Procedures that
address racial equity.
• Total number of people
successfully exiting to housing
each month/year exceeds the
people entering homelessness
each month/year.
• 100% of the programs/services
adhere to CES Policies and
Procedures.
• 100% of programs/services are
integrated within CES and HMIS.
• 50% reduction in the length of
stay (SO, ES, SH, TH).
• System Performance Measures
are reflected in public facing
dashboards.
• 100% of data reports,
dashboards, etc. have data
disaggregated demographically
• Disparities of Black, Indigenous
and People of Color (BIPOC)
experiencing homelessness
are reduced across all program
types.
• Riverside County CoC has
increased the number of active
partnerships with cross-sector/
mainstream systems.
• 100% of identified cross-sector/
mainstream systems utilize
developed homeless tracking
metrics and processes.
• Riverside County CoC has an
effective provider training,
learning collaborative, provider
forum schedule in place to
develop service provider
capacity regionally.
• Riverside County CoC has
adopted Policy Agenda.
• Riverside County CoC tracks
client program satisfaction
results and uses them to inform
decision making.
• Increases in Riverside County
CoC staff that have lived
experience and/or are Black,
Indigenous and People of Color
(BIPOC).
• 100% of awarded projects
address racial equity disparities
• 100% of CoC staff and service
providers are trained in cultural
humility, trauma-informed care,
and anti-racist trainings
• Riverside County CoC
Framework implemented to
right-size system flow
• Invest in strategies and
programs that support the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan,
emphasizing the expansion of
system coordination, housing
resources, outreach, navigation,
and supportive services
and provider, city, regional
government, and system
capacity
• Invest in programs that
demonstrate ongoing, long-term,
or sustainable data-informed
results that are consistent with
benchmarks established in the
Homeless Strategic Action Plan
• Utilizing a data-driven approach
(HMIS, annual Point-In-Time
Count, System Performance
Measures, and CES By-Name
List), invest in programs
addressing significant service
gaps and priority needs
by targeting high-need
communities, under-served or
hard to-serve geographic areas,
or special subpopulations, such
as the chronically homeless,
individuals with mental illness
and substance use disorders,
older adults/seniors, and
Transitional Age Y outh (TAY)
• Strengthen equity-focused
strategies, programs, and
partnerships that reduce
racial disparities, support
equitable access to services
and resources, and produce
equitable outcomes and
communities
• Advance client-centered
strategies, programs, and
partnerships that are informed
by people with lived experience
of homelessness and provide
legitimate feedback mechanisms
for clients experiencing
homelessness
• Support strategies to address
regional inequities in homeless
response infrastructure,
approaches, and service
delivery capacity. These include
adopting and implementing
regional planning, coordination,
decision-making, data-sharing,
and accountability measures
60 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
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AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLESACTION AREA 2: EQUITABL Y ADDRESS THE HEALTH, SAFETY, & SERVICES NEEDS OF PEOPLE
EXPERIENCING UNSHELTERED HOMELESSNESS
STRATEGY 12: INCREASE REGIONAL CAPACITY OF HOMELESS STREET OUTREACH • Create CoC Homeless Street Outreach
Protocol with regional stakeholder that include
the standardization of outreach practices,
schedules, and engagement strategies and
corresponding training across all outreach
efforts
• Establish outreach coordination infrastructure in
each sub-region
• Leverage person-centered, housing-focused
case management with enhanced training in
evidence based best practices (e.g., trauma-
informed care, critical time intervention,
motivational interviewing, and housing first
strategies) for service delivery
• Develop encampment management and
resolution policies
• Increase access and safety for all to basic
hygiene resources, such as bathrooms,
showers, and laundry, that accommodate their
self-identified race, gender identity, gender
expression, etc.
• Increase the number of free public
transportation options for people who are
unhoused to access services
• Expand the number of outreach teams and
staff to ensure appropriate coverage to all
sub-regions throughout the county, with specific
emphasis on under-resourced communities
• Further develop data initiatives to better track,
target, and ensure comprehensive, efficient, and
effective delivery of outreach and permanent
housing assistance for people experiencing
chronic homelessness
• Connect unsheltered individuals directly with
rental assistance with the understanding
that shelter or transitional housing is not a
requirement for unsheltered individuals working
with outreach teams to qualify for rental
assistance
• Develop programs that support frequent users
of public systems, including hospitals, jails or
prisons, and shelters, and provide them with
supportive housing, significantly reducing
returns to the streets
• Develop systems for mental health professionals
to intervene in place of law enforcement
• Identify technological strategies to enhance
street outreach coordination
• Number of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness at a
point in time and month to month,
including key subpopulations.
• Length of time a person remains
homeless (street and shelter).
• Successful placement from Street
Outreach.
• Number of permanent housing
placements from Street Outreach.
• Number of successful contacts
with people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness.
• Number of people entering into
chronic homelessness.
• Geographic distribution of
people experiencing unsheltered
homelessness (including
encampments).
• Geographic distribution and make-
up of homeless street outreach
teams/programs.
• 50% reduction in the number
of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness
at a point in time and month
to month, including key
subpopulations across all
regions.
• 50% reduction in the length of
stay (SO, ES, SH, TH).
• 50% increase in successful
housing placement from street
outreach.
• 25% reduction in the
number of emergency calls,
citations, arrests made by law
enforcement for homeless
related disturbances.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness
discharged from institutions or
re-entering from the homeless
response system.
• Resources are uniformly
accessible across Riverside
County regardless of sub-region
or client demographics, reflected
in CES access data.
• 50% increase in successful
street outcomes.
• Riverside County CoC has
adopted Homeless Street
Outreach Protocol, including
First Responder Training and
Encampment Management.
• Invest in multi-agency, multi-
jurisdictional solutions to
address the health, safety,
and housing needs of people
experiencing unsheltered
homelessness and staying in
encampments.
• Participate in the development
of CalAIM initiatives that seek
to extend a whole person care
approach through the Enhanced
Care Management and In Lieu
of Services to serve people
experiencing unsheltered
homelessness.
61 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
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AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLES ACTION AREA 2: EQUITABL Y ADDRESS THE HEALTH, SAFETY, & SERVICES NEEDS OF PEOPLE EXPERIENCING UNSHELTERED HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY 13: SUPPORT THE HEALTH OF PEOPLE EXPERIENCING UNSHELTERED
HOMELESSNESS THROUGH CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL/CROSS-SECTOR SUPPORTS • Identify strategies to improve ongoing
connectivity for clients referred for mental
health services and/or substance use services
• Support communities in implementing multi-
agency, multi-jurisdictional outreach and
protective measures addressing the health
and safety needs of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness
• Increase the number of mobile crisis teams with
clinical staff and expand their hours to support
individuals experiencing severe mental health
and substance use crises
• Increase the number of beds available for
substance use treatment and provide the
follow-up supportive services needed to prevent
relapses
• Increase access to mental health treatment for
people who are unhoused and struggling with
mental illness
• Develop a plan to eliminate service access
and treatment gaps for unsheltered people
struggling with chronic and severe mental
illness
• Improve health access for people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness, including
through CalAIM services like Enhanced Care
Management and In Lieu of Services
• Develop new, and enhance existing,
partnerships between behavioral health
and social service providers, neighborhood
associations, cities, and regional governments,
including law enforcement and other first
responders.
• Engage partners in proactive strategies that link
individuals who are homeless with housing and
services with the additional goal of reducing
criminal justice system involvement
• Ensure adequate resources are available for
proactive and consistent outreach efforts
• Develop multi-disciplinary teams that include
homeless street outreach, mental health
services, etc.
• Ensure people living outside have adequate
access to basic needs
• Engage regional stakeholders to ensure
appropriate responses to persons living in
vehicles and to ensure adequate safe zones
for people to park and receive services while
working towards housing
• Length of time a person remains
homeless (street and shelter).
• 50% reduction in the number
of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness
at a point in time and month
to month, including key
subpopulations across all
regions.
• 50% reduction in the length of
stay (SO, ES, SH, TH).
• 50% increase in successful
housing placement from street
outreach.
• 25% reduction in the
number of emergency calls,
citations, arrests made by law
enforcement for homeless
related disturbances.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness
discharged from institutions or
re-entering from the homeless
response system.
• Resources are uniformly
accessible across Riverside
County regardless of sub-region
or client demographics, reflected
in CES access data.
• 50% increase in successful
street outcomes.
• Riverside County CoC has
adopted Homeless Street
Outreach Protocol, including
First Responder Training and
Encampment Management.
• Invest in multi-agency, multi-
jurisdictional solutions to
address the health, safety,
and housing needs of people
experiencing unsheltered
homelessness and staying in
encampments.
• Participate in the development
of CalAIM initiatives that seek
to extend a whole person care
approach through the Enhanced
Care Management and In Lieu
of Services to serve people
experiencing unsheltered
homelessness.
STRATEGY 14: IMPROVE ACCESS FOR
PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS
• Refine hybridized “No Wrong Door Approach”
by establishing Access Centers/Navigation
Centers in key subregions that are focused on
providing access to services with a focus on
connecting to housing
• Enhance training, standard orientation
messaging, and client facing materials to help
people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness
understand what services and resources are
available to them and what the process looks
like to access services/housing across the CoC
• Develop a culture of housing-focused problem-
solving across all programs that serve as
access points (outreach, drop-in centers, access
centers, navigation centers, etc.)
• Streamline intake processes for individuals and
families experiencing homelessness, including
a review of the desirability of the VI-SPDAT
through the lens of equity
• Improve protocols for prioritization into
emergency shelter, interim housing, medical
respite, etc. to ensure that bed availability is
real-time
• Improve roles and responsibilities for
assisting clients in obtaining housing-related
documentation, like IDs, social security cards,
proof of income, birth certificates, etc.
• Implement diversion/problem-solving
conversations at all points of entry
• Length of time a person remains
homeless (street and shelter).
• Geographic distribution of housing
access in to CES.
• Demographics of people
experiencing homelessness
utilizing access and outreach
services.
62 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
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AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLESACTION AREA 2: EQUITABL Y ADDRESS THE HEALTH, SAFETY, & SERVICES NEEDS OF PEOPLE EXPERIENCING UNSHELTERED HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY 15: DEVELOP
COUNTYWIDE ENCAMPMENT
MANAGEMENT PROTOCOLS
• Enhance coordination between agencies
engaging people living in encampments to
ensure consistent and humane approaches to
encampment resolution across the county
• Coordinate between department and
agencies to create a coordinated encampment
management strategy
• As part of CoC Homeless Street Outreach
Protocol, establish guidance on Encampment
Management and Resolution Protocols
• Engage cities and other local government
entities to utilize encampment guidance of CoC
Homeless Street Outreach Protocol
• Number of encampments. • 50% reduction in the number
of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness
at a point in time and month
to month, including key
subpopulations across all
regions.
• 50% reduction in the length of
stay (SO, ES, SH, TH).
• 50% increase in successful
housing placement from street
outreach.
• 25% reduction in the
number of emergency calls,
citations, arrests made by law
enforcement for homeless
related disturbances.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness
discharged from institutions or
re-entering from the homeless
response system.
• Resources are uniformly
accessible across Riverside
County regardless of sub-region
or client demographics, reflected
in CES access data.
• 50% increase in successful
street outcomes.
• Riverside County CoC has
adopted Homeless Street
Outreach Protocol, including
First Responder Training and
Encampment Management.
• Invest in multi-agency, multi-
jurisdictional solutions to
address the health, safety,
and housing needs of people
experiencing unsheltered
homelessness and staying in
encampments.
• Participate in the development
of CalAIM initiatives that seek
to extend a whole person care
approach through the Enhanced
Care Management and In Lieu
of Services to serve people
experiencing unsheltered
homelessness.
STRATEGY 16: SUPPORT THE
DECRIMINALIZATION OF HOMELESSNESS
• Develop Homeless Street Outreach Protocols to
compliment decriminalization advocacy
• Advocate for decriminalizing homelessness
responses across the county and state that
include pre-adjudication and sentencing
alternatives to minimize involvement of people
experiencing homelessness in criminal justice
system
• Develop processes to ensure greater
collaboration between judicial agencies and
local alternative courts like Homeless Court and
pre-booking diversion resources
• Ensure that Riverside County does not
disproportionately enforce existing county
ordinances against homeless individuals and
families
• Develop an inclusive approach to public space
management with non-punitive policies
• Number of emergency calls,
citations, arrests made by law
enforcement for homeless related
disturbances.
STRATEGY 17: DEVELOP TRAINING
FOR FIRST RESPONDERS
• Co-develop protocol for first responders
when engaging people on the streets and
encampments with key considerations when
engaging with key subpopulations (survivors
of domestic violence, individuals with Severe
Mental Illness (SMI) or Substance Use Disorder
(SUD), Transitional Aged Y outh (TAY), older
adults/seniors, and dependent adults)
• Ensure that the first responder training and
protocol is in alignment with CoC initiated
Homeless Outreach Strategy and Encampment
Protocols
• Co-design and implement outreach training for
first responders that focuses on evidence based
best practices in homeless street outreach and
service coordination
• Number of emergency calls,
citations, arrests made by law
enforcement for homeless related
disturbances.
STRATEGY 18: ESTABLISH KEY RESOURCES FOR SPECIAL
POPULATIONS EXPERIENCING UNSHELTERED HOMELESSNESS
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it
relates to needs of unsheltered chronically
homeless
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it
relates to needs of unsheltered individuals with
Severe Mental Illness (SMI)
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it
relates to needs of unsheltered individuals with
Substance Use Disorder (SUD)
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it
relates to needs of unsheltered Transitional
Aged Y outh (TAY).
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it
relates to needs of unsheltered high utilizers of
emergency services
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it
relates to needs of unsheltered survivors fleeing
domestic violence
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it
relates to needs of unsheltered families
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it
relates to needs of unsheltered older adults/
seniors
• Refine specific policies and procedures as it
relates to needs of unsheltered LGBTQIA+
individuals
• Number of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness at a
point in time and month to month,
including key subpopulations.
• Number of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness
discharged from mainstream
institutions or re-entering from
homeless response system.
• Number of successful referrals to
support services (mental health,
employment, hygiene, nutrition,
etc.)
63 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
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AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLES ACTION AREA 3: EXPAND COMMUNITIES CAPACITY TO PROVIDE SAFE & EFFECTIVE SHELTER & INTERIM HOUSING STRATEGY 19: INCREASE THE NUMBER OF CRISIS HOUSING
BEDS REGIONALL Y
• Create more crisis housing, which includes
emergency shelter, interim housing, medical
respite, domestic violence shelters, faith-based
shelters, family shelters, transitional housing,
stabilization beds, recuperative care beds, and
motel vouchers to meet the specific needs by
population and region
• Develop and advance CalAIM proposals
seeking to extend statewide the service options
available under Whole Person Care and Health
Homes Program through the Enhanced Care
Management program and In Lieu of Services
care coordination and housing services to better
address the health care needs of people who
are staying in shelter and interim housing sites
• Ensure that there are more public services in
neighborhoods developing crisis housing to
meet community needs
• Ensure that crisis housing account for the
unique needs of specific subpopulations
• Mobilize Homekey resources and other funding
sources to support acquisition of sites for use as
crisis housing
• Number of people experiencing
sheltered homelessness at a
point in time and month to month,
including key subpopulations.
• Demographics of people utilizing
crisis housing options.
• Length of time a person remains
homeless (ES, SH, TH).
• Number of successful housing
placements from crisis housing.
• Percent of returns to
homelessness in 6,12, and 24
months for people connected to
crisis housing.
• Number of people experiencing
sheltered homelessness
discharged from institutions or re-
entering from homeless response
system.
• Number of crisis housing beds
in the system and geographic
distribution.
• Crisis housing bed utilization.
• Number of successful referrals to
support services (mental health,
employment, hygiene, nutrition,
etc.).
• 100% of crisis housing adhere to
CoC Policies and Procedures
• 25% increase in the number of
crisis housing beds (ES, SH, TH)
in the system, geographically
distributed.
• Increase in the ratio of sheltered
to unsheltered homelessness
at a point in time and month
to month, including key
subpopulations.
• 50% reduction in the length of
stay in crisis housing (ES, SH,
TH).
• 50% increase in the number of
successful housing placements
from crisis housing.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness
discharged from institutions
or re-entering from homeless
response system
• Invest in innovative approaches
to expand the supply of safe,
humane, housing-placement
focused shelter and interim
housing models, like Project
Homekey/Roomkey for people
experiencing homelessness.
• Expand alignment and
engagement of healthcare,
behavioral health, mental
health, and substance use
disorder resources in efforts to
address health disparities and
service needs among people
experiencing unsheltered and
sheltered homelessness
STRATEGY 20: REFINE CRISIS HOUSING POLICIES & PROCEDURES • Assess crisis housing coordinated entry and
referral patterns to identify regional gaps and
under resourced crisis housing capacity
• Ensure that shelter access is equitable through
review of data
• Refine best practices for crisis housing that
focus on accessibility and are low barrier.
• Barriers can include lack of privacy, sobriety,
curfews, engaging in treatment, animal policy,
storage, couples, people of non-binary gender
identity
• Move towards a system where shelters are
open 24/7
• Establish system wide procedures to track and
utilize real-time crisis housing bed availability
• Assess and refine policies and procedures
to ensure that crisis housing is centered on
housing-focused problem-solving
• Provide technical assistance and guidance
that will support the continued application
of Housing First practices, including lowered
barriers and housing-focused services and
supports, within shelter and interim housing
programs
• Ensure that policies and procedures account for
the unique needs of specific subpopulations:
Transitional Aged Y outh (TAY), high utilizers of
emergency services, survivors fleeing domestic
violence, families, and LGBTQAI+
• Number of people experiencing
sheltered homelessness at a
point in time and month to month,
including key subpopulations.
• Demographics of people utilizing
crisis housing options.
• Length of time a person remains
homeless (ES, SH, TH).
• Number of successful housing
placements from crisis housing.
• Percent of returns to
homelessness in 6,12, and 24
months for people connected to
crisis housing.
• Number of people experiencing
sheltered homelessness
discharged from institutions or re-
entering from homeless response
system.
• Number of crisis housing beds
in the system and geographic
distribution. Crisis housing bed
utilization.
• Number of successful referrals to
support services (mental health,
employment, hygiene, nutrition,
etc.).
64 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
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AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLESACTION AREA 4: EXPAND & ENSURE EQUITABLE ACCESS
TO PERMANENT HOUSING IN OUR COMMUNITIES
STRATEGY 21: ADVOCATE FOR THE INCREASED PRODUCTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING • Advocate for federal, state, county, and local
policies and funding to increase and preserve
affordable housing for households earning
below 30% Area Median Income (AMI)
• Pursue lower-cost housing typologies, like tiny
homes, accessory dwelling units, mobile homes,
hotel and motel conversions, prefabricated
modular housing, and shipping containers, and
innovative housing and financing models
• Identify feasibility to develop affordable and
supportive housing on underutilized state,
county, and city owned land
• Ensure Riverside County utilizes full funding
opportunities from the federal and state
governments for housing development
• Advocate for inclusionary housing policies, up
zoning, and infill development
• As part of communication strategy, develop
strategies to address NIMBY sentiments
• Number of housing units
affordable to extremely low-
income population, both currently
and in the pipeline.
• Promote the development
of 21,000 units affordable
to extremely low-income
population.
• Increase the number (unit count)
of Permanent Housing Units
by 75% from baseline year
(including Permanent Supportive
Housing [PSH] and Rapid Re-
Housing [RRH]).
• Increase the number of clients
that successfully exit housing
interventions, including PSH and
RRH by 25%.
• Increase the number of clients
that successfully retain housing,
including PSH and RRH by 25%.
• Over 50% of new housing
placements occur in opportunity
neighborhoods/zip codes with
high social determinants of
health.
• 100% of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for PSH and RRH.
• Length of time during housing
search is reduced by 50%.
• Increase in the number of
units secured for people
experiencing homelessness
through centralized landlord
engagement program, especially
in neighborhoods with high
SDOH, including through master
leasing and shared housing.
• Increase in the number
of landlords participating
in centralized landlord
engagement program, including
formalized partnerships.
• Increase in the number of
real-time unit availability
secured by centralized landlord
engagement program
• Strengthen the implementation
of Housing First approaches
and other best practices that
support equitable access in
housing markets with high
social determinants of health
(SDOH), including but not limited
to: supportive housing, rapid
rehousing, short- and longer-
term forms of rental subsidy and
assistance, shallow subsidies,
move-in assistance, and landlord
outreach, engagement, and
retention.
• Invest in the creation of
an expanded supply of
affordable and supportive
housing opportunities, paired
with appropriate health
and behavioral health care
resources, and accessible and
culturally responsive services to
people exiting homelessness,
low-income individuals and
families, and to people from
historically marginalized
communities
65 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
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AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLESACTION AREA 4: EXPAND & ENSURE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO PERMANENT HOUSING IN OUR COMMUNITIES STRATEGY 22: INCREASE PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING UNITS & CAPACITY • Increase the number of permanent supportive
housing stock
• Identify costs associated with developing
adequate supply of permanent supportive
housing
• Increase access to tenant-based, scattered site
Permanent Supportive Housing programs
• Assess coordinated entry, referral patterns to
identify regional gaps, and under resourced
PSH capacity
• Ensure that PSH programs access is equitable
through review of data
• Expand partnerships with behavioral health
treatment services through Riverside County
and local behavioral health providers to ensure
that PSH units are paired with adequate
supportive services
• Implement a “moving on” strategy, targeting up
to 20% of current PSH residents for transition
to general population affordable housing, thus
freeing up PSH for new tenants
• Convene stakeholders (housing developers,
planning departments, service providers, cities,
regional governments) to explore ways to create
and streamline permanent supportive housing
within context of local housing elements
• Leverage a wide array of private, local, state,
and federal funding, including CalAIM and
Project Homekey, to support the expansion of a
Permanent Supportive Housing
• Improve PSH service quality and fidelity by
refining community standards, facilitating
trainings, and creating learning collaboratives
• Advocate for the local conditions to develop
enough permanent supportive housing to meet
the need in our community
• Identify feasibility to develop permanent
supportive housing on underutilized State or
county owned land
• Optimize utilization through progressive
engagement by enabling clients to move to less
or more service-intensive housing based on
identified need
• Ensure sufficient level of supportive services,
which are voluntary, housing first oriented,
trauma-informed, and incorporate harm
reduction principles
• Number of people utilizing
housing intervention, including
PSH and RRH, at a point in time
and month to month, including key
subpopulations.
• Demographics of different housing
interventions, including PSH and
RRH.
• Number of clients that successfully
exit housing interventions,
including PSH and RRH.
• Number of clients that successfully
retain housing, including PSH and
RRH, for 6,12, 24 months.
• Number of Permanent Supportive
Housing Units, both tenant-based
and project-based, currently and
in pipeline.
• Utilization rates for housing
interventions, including PSH and
RRH.
• Zip codes of housing placements
for housing interventions,
including PSH and RRH.
• Referral pattern for housing
interventions, including PSH and
RRH.
• Number of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for PSH and RRH.
• Promote the development
of 21,000 units affordable
to extremely low-income
population.
• Increase the number (unit count)
of Permanent Housing Units
by 75% from baseline year
(including Permanent Supportive
Housing [PSH] and Rapid Re-
Housing [RRH]).
• Increase the number of clients
that successfully exit housing
interventions, including PSH and
RRH by 25%.
• Increase the number of clients
that successfully retain housing,
including PSH and RRH by 25%.
• Over 50% of new housing
placements occur in opportunity
neighborhoods/zip codes with
high social determinants of
health.
• 100% of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for PSH and RRH.
• Length of time during housing
search is reduced by 50%.
• Increase in the number of
units secured for people
experiencing homelessness
through centralized landlord
engagement program, especially
in neighborhoods with high
SDOH, including through master
leasing and shared housing.
• Increase in the number
of landlords participating
in centralized landlord
engagement program, including
formalized partnerships.
• Increase in the number of
real-time unit availability
secured by centralized landlord
engagement program
• Strengthen the implementation
of Housing First approaches
and other best practices that
support equitable access in
housing markets with high
social determinants of health
(SDOH), including but not limited
to: supportive housing, rapid
rehousing, short- and longer-
term forms of rental subsidy and
assistance, shallow subsidies,
move-in assistance, and landlord
outreach, engagement, and
retention.
• Invest in the creation of
an expanded supply of
affordable and supportive
housing opportunities, paired
with appropriate health
and behavioral health care
resources, and accessible and
culturally responsive services to
people exiting homelessness,
low-income individuals and
families, and to people from
historically marginalized
communities
STRATEGY 23: INCREASE RAPID REHOUSING
HOUSING UNITS & CAPACITY
• Increase the number of rapid rehousing
programs/units
• Identify costs associated with developing
adequate supply of rapid rehousing
• Assess coordinated entry, referral patterns to
identify CES integrations, regional gaps, and
under resourced RRH capacity
• Ensure that RRH programs access is equitable
through review of data
• Improve RRH service quality and fidelity by
refining community standards, facilitating
trainings, and facilitating learning collaboratives.
• For those with higher needs, provide longer-
term housing assistance and critical time
intervention
• Advocate for the local conditions so that
expanded RRH is effective in the private rental
market
• Optimize utilization through progressive
engagement by enabling clients to move to less
or more service-intensive housing based on
identified need
• Assess outcomes for expanded rapid rehousing
programs
• Identify effective practices for rapid rehousing
to be effective in high-cost, high-SDOH housing
markets
• Strengthen the integration of workforce
development/employment services with RRH
• Number of people utilizing
housing intervention, including
PSH and RRH, at a point in time
and month to month, including key
subpopulations.
• Demographics of different housing
interventions, including PSH and
RRH.
• Number of clients that successfully
exit housing interventions,
including PSH and RRH.
• Number of clients that successfully
retain housing, including PSH and
RRH, for 6,12, 24 months.
• Number of Rapid Rehousing
Program Units.
• Utilization rates for housing
interventions, including PSH and
RRH.
• Zip codes of housing placements
for housing interventions,
including PSH and RRH.
• Referral pattern for housing
interventions, including PSH and
RRH.
• Number of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for PSH and RRH.
66 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ACTION
AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLESACTION AREA 4: EXPAND & ENSURE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO PERMANENT HOUSING IN OUR COMMUNITIES STRATEGY 24: DEVELOP CENTRALIZED LANDLORD OUTREACH,
ENGAGEMENT, & RETENTION STRATEGIES
• Assess the viability of development of a
centralized landlord engagement program with
one entity conducting housing outreach for the
entire county
• Develop provider facing real-time listings of
rental units available to people experiencing
homelessness
• Increase the stock of units available to
programs, homeless service providers, etc.,
especially in neighborhoods with high SDOH
• Develop service provider performance
standards for issuing timely payments,
documentation, processing, and inspections
so that experiences for landlords are uniform,
regardless of which provider or payment source
is being utilized
• Develop additional incentives and supports,
like contingency funds, flex funds, mediation
services, landlord incentive payments, security
deposits, etc.
• Work with property management companies,
owners, landlords, apartment associations, and
housing developers to secure housing units
through developed and formalized partnerships,
MOUs, master leasing, etc.
• Incentivize the reduction of screening criteria
that screens out prospective tenants with
evictions, poor credit, and/or criminal histories
• Track key metrics associated with the housing
search and housing lease-up process
• Ensure that trained Housing Locators or
Housing Specialists are designated as
representatives for the system to ensure
consistent messaging and service delivery
• Length of time during housing
search.
• Number of units secured
for people experiencing
homelessness through centralized
landlord engagement program,
especially in neighborhoods with
high SDOH, including through
master leasing and shared
housing.
• Average number of real-time unit
availability secured by centralized
landlord engagement program.
• Number of incentives and
supports issued through
centralized landlord engagement
program.
• Number of landlords participating
in centralized landlord
engagement program, including
formalized partnerships.
• Promote the development
of 21,000 units affordable
to extremely low-income
population.
• Increase the number (unit count)
of Permanent Housing Units
by 75% from baseline year
(including Permanent Supportive
Housing [PSH] and Rapid Re-
Housing [RRH]).
• Increase the number of clients
that successfully exit housing
interventions, including PSH and
RRH by 25%.
• Increase the number of clients
that successfully retain housing,
including PSH and RRH by 25%.
• Over 50% of new housing
placements occur in opportunity
neighborhoods/zip codes with
high social determinants of
health.
• 100% of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for PSH and RRH.
• Length of time during housing
search is reduced by 50%.
• Increase in the number of
units secured for people
experiencing homelessness
through centralized landlord
engagement program, especially
in neighborhoods with high
SDOH, including through master
leasing and shared housing.
• Increase in the number
of landlords participating
in centralized landlord
engagement program, including
formalized partnerships.
• Increase in the number of
real-time unit availability
secured by centralized landlord
engagement program
• Strengthen the implementation
of Housing First approaches
and other best practices that
support equitable access in
housing markets with high
social determinants of health
(SDOH), including but not limited
to: supportive housing, rapid
rehousing, short- and longer-
term forms of rental subsidy and
assistance, shallow subsidies,
move-in assistance, and landlord
outreach, engagement, and
retention.
• Invest in the creation of
an expanded supply of
affordable and supportive
housing opportunities, paired
with appropriate health
and behavioral health care
resources, and accessible and
culturally responsive services to
people exiting homelessness,
low-income individuals and
families, and to people from
historically marginalized
communities
STRATEGY 25: INNOVATE
APPROACHES TO EXPAND EXISTING
HOUSING STOCK
• Explore lower-cost housing typologies, like
tiny homes, accessory dwelling units, hotel
and motel conversions, prefabricated modular
housing, and shipping containers
• Explore master leasing at-scale to secure units
for people experiencing homelessness
• Develop shared housing program to increase
rental options and affordability for clients, with
emphasis on private rooms, split leases, etc.
• Expand and scale the use of shallow subsidies
and longer-term subsidies
• Length of time during housing
search.
• Number of units secured
for people experiencing
homelessness through centralized
landlord engagement program,
especially in neighborhoods with
high SDOH, including through
master leasing and shared
housing.
STRATEGY 26:
INCREASE FLEXIBLE
HOUSING FUNDS
• Explore possibility of developing Flexible
Housing Subsidy Pool similar to other
communities
• Expand flexible housing subsidy funds, like
shallow subsidies and longer-term subsidies,
especially for instances of homelessness
prevention, where families are rent burdened
• Expand flexible housing funds to cover one-time
expenses like move-in costs
• Length of time during housing
search.
• Outcomes of flexible funds issued,
including one-time payments and
shallow subsidies.
• Number of flexible funds issued,
including one-time payments and
shallow subsides.
STRATEGY 27: ADDRESS
HOUSING NEEDS OF UNIQUE
SUBPOPULATIONS
• Assess and expand current programs serving
Chronically Homeless
• Assess and expand current programs serving
Individuals with Severe Mental Illness (SMI)
• Assess and expand current programs serving
Individuals with Substance Use Disorders (SUD)
• Assess and expand current programs serving
Transition Aged Y outh (TAY)
• Assess and expand current programs serving
Older Adults/Seniors
• Assess and expand current programs serving
LGBTQAI+
• Number of successful referrals to
support services (mental health,
employment, hygiene, nutrition,
etc.)
67 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ACTION
AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLES ACTION AREA 4: EXPAND & ENSURE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO PERMANENT HOUSING IN OUR COMMUNITIES STRATEGY 28: DEVELOP STRATEGIES TO REDUCE BARRIERS
FOR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS IN OBTAINING
HOUSING & TO INCREASE THE SPEED OF LEASE-UP PROCESS
• Assess and establish programs and processes
for individuals experiencing homelessness to
improve credit and pay off debts
• Assess and establish programs and processes
for individuals experiencing homelessness that
have evictions on record
• Assess and establish programs and processes
for individuals experiencing homelessness that
have criminal justice issues on record
• Assess and establish programs and processes
for individuals experiencing homelessness to
expedite documentation necessary for housing,
like social security card, identification card, birth
certificates, and proof of income documentation
• Assess and establish universal housing
application for all programs across Riverside
County
• Clarify, contractually and through training,
the expectations regarding roles and
responsibilities of shelter case managers,
outreach workers, and housing case managers
in getting clients document-ready and establish
& record performance metrics to track progress
• Identify additional ways to expedite the housing
search and lease up process
• Length of time during housing
search.
• Number of clients with housing
barriers, including credit, debt,
evictions, criminal justice issues,
documentation (social security
card, identification card, birth
certificate, proof of income, etc.).
• Promote the development
of 21,000 units affordable
to extremely low-income
population.
• Increase the number (unit count)
of Permanent Housing Units
by 75% from baseline year
(including Permanent Supportive
Housing [PSH] and Rapid Re-
Housing [RRH]).
• Increase the number of clients
that successfully exit housing
interventions, including PSH and
RRH by 25%.
• Increase the number of clients
that successfully retain housing,
including PSH and RRH by 25%.
• Over 50% of new housing
placements occur in opportunity
neighborhoods/zip codes with
high social determinants of
health.
• 100% of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for PSH and RRH.
• Length of time during housing
search is reduced by 50%.
• Increase in the number of
units secured for people
experiencing homelessness
through centralized landlord
engagement program, especially
in neighborhoods with high
SDOH, including through master
leasing and shared housing.
• Increase in the number
of landlords participating
in centralized landlord
engagement program, including
formalized partnerships.
• Increase in the number of
real-time unit availability
secured by centralized landlord
engagement program
• Strengthen the implementation
of Housing First approaches
and other best practices that
support equitable access in
housing markets with high
social determinants of health
(SDOH), including but not limited
to: supportive housing, rapid
rehousing, short- and longer-
term forms of rental subsidy and
assistance, shallow subsidies,
move-in assistance, and landlord
outreach, engagement, and
retention.
• Invest in the creation of
an expanded supply of
affordable and supportive
housing opportunities, paired
with appropriate health
and behavioral health care
resources, and accessible and
culturally responsive services to
people exiting homelessness,
low-income individuals and
families, and to people from
historically marginalized
communities
STRATEGY 29: EXPAND HOUSING ACCESS TO HIGH
OPPORTUNITY NEIGHBORHOODS, WITH A FOCUS ON
THOSE WITH HIGH SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
• Track housing placements in HMIS at the zip
code level to analyze regional trends
• Create a framework and policy
recommendations to increase housing
placements in opportunity neighborhoods with
high social determinants of health
• Ensure homeless housing stock and services
are geographically located to allow, whenever
possible, for the needs of individuals and
families to be met in their own communities.
• Explore incentivization strategies to promote
move-ins in neighborhoods with high SDOH
• Zip codes of housing placements
for housing interventions,
including PSH and RRH.
• Number of units secured
for people experiencing
homelessness through centralized
landlord engagement program,
especially in neighborhoods with
high SDOH, including through
master leasing and shared
housing.
STRATEGY 30: STRENGTHEN
APPROACHES TO CASE
MANAGEMENT
• Assess and refine policies and procedures to
ensure that services are applying best practices
in case management
• Develop training around best practice
approaches to case management to improve
provider, city, and regional government capacity
• Strengthen provider tables/forums and create
learning collaborative for more frequent
capacity building opportunities around best
practice approaches to case management
• Number of successful referrals to
support services (mental health,
employment, hygiene, nutrition,
etc.).
• Number of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for PSH and RRH.
STRATEGY 31: LEVERAGE HOUSING
AUTHORITY DIVISION RESOURCES FOR
PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS
• Increase advocacy for the expansion of the
Housing Choice Voucher program
• Number of Housing Authority
Division vouchers, utilization rate,
length of time during housing
search, zip code of housing
placements, and vouchers set
aside for people experiencing
homelessness.
68 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ACTION
AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLESACTION AREA 4: EXPAND & ENSURE EQUITABLE ACCESS
TO PERMANENT HOUSING IN OUR COMMUNITIES
STRATEGY 32: CONTINUE TO ADVOCATE FOR LEGISLATION PROTECTING AGAINST HOUSING
DISCRIMINATION IN HOUSING SEARCH
• Advocate for the legislation protecting against
housing discrimination
• Establish partnerships and mechanisms for
better tracking and enforcement of existing
protections
• Number of housing discrimination
instances within Riverside County
• Promote the development
of 21,000 units affordable
to extremely low-income
population.
• Increase the number (unit count)
of Permanent Housing Units
by 75% from baseline year
(including Permanent Supportive
Housing [PSH] and Rapid Re-
Housing [RRH]).
• Increase the number of clients
that successfully exit housing
interventions, including PSH and
RRH by 25%.
• Increase the number of clients
that successfully retain housing,
including PSH and RRH by 25%.
• Over 50% of new housing
placements occur in opportunity
neighborhoods/zip codes with
high social determinants of
health.
• 100% of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for PSH and RRH.
• Length of time during housing
search is reduced by 50%.
• Increase in the number of
units secured for people
experiencing homelessness
through centralized landlord
engagement program, especially
in neighborhoods with high
SDOH, including through master
leasing and shared housing.
• Increase in the number
of landlords participating
in centralized landlord
engagement program, including
formalized partnerships.
• Increase in the number of
real-time unit availability
secured by centralized landlord
engagement program
• Strengthen the implementation
of Housing First approaches
and other best practices that
support equitable access in
housing markets with high
social determinants of health
(SDOH), including but not limited
to: supportive housing, rapid
rehousing, short- and longer-
term forms of rental subsidy and
assistance, shallow subsidies,
move-in assistance, and landlord
outreach, engagement, and
retention.
• Invest in the creation of
an expanded supply of
affordable and supportive
housing opportunities, paired
with appropriate health
and behavioral health care
resources, and accessible and
culturally responsive services to
people exiting homelessness,
low-income individuals and
families, and to people from
historically marginalized
communities
69 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ACTION
AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLESACTION AREA 5: PREVENT PEOPLE FROM EXPERIENCING THE CRISIS OF HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY 33: INCREASE HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION, DIVERSION, & MEDIATION SERVICES • Ensure right-sized funding from state and
federal resources to homelessness prevention,
diversion, housing problem solving, and
rapid resolution services and programs. with
identification of clear goals and targets for the
number of households to receive diversion and
prevention services through each program
• Ensure program models utilize flexible
financial assistance and housing focused case
management to prevent individuals and families
from experiencing homelessness
• Develop standardized best practices and
procedures for the delivery of homelessness
prevention, diversion, housing problem solving,
and rapid resolution services and programs;
guidance should include baseline standards
for housing-focused case management,
strengths-based service planning and delivery,
and effective strategies for reducing barriers to
housing retention
• Evaluate the effectiveness of these
interventions as programs are scaled further
across the CoC; all homelessness prevention
efforts should be tracked in the Homeless
Management Information System (HMIS)
• Expand targeted homelessness prevention
and diversion outreach and engagement;
target services to highest-risk populations and
geographies to ensure people and communities
at highest risk for homelessness are engaged
with housing supports before experiencing
literal homelessness
• Develop an automatic process to provide
information on homelessness prevention and
diversion services when someone is issued a
notice to pay or quit or receives an unlawful
detainer; by better tracking evictions in the
city, programs can target specific zip codes,
apartment complexes for prevention services
• Incentivize landlords, apartment associations,
etc. to make referrals for their tenants to
homelessness prevention and diversion
programs
• Target populations should include people who
previously exited the homelessness system with
housing supports and are at risk of returning to
homelessness
• Develop early identification, discharge planning,
and cross-sector collaboration
• Include automated referrals for employment,
income supports, social safety net services, etc.
• More accurately track at the city and zip code
level where an individual and family fell into
homelessness and target outreach and supports
to those communities
• Disaggregate data by demographics, to identify
and address any trends in access and utilization
• Radically increase client facing materials
across Riverside County to help people at-risk
of homelessness understand what services
and resources are available to them and what
the process looks like to access prevention
services/supports
• Number of people experiencing
homelessness for first time,
including regional and
demographic breakdown.
• Percentage successful
households receiving prevention
services, including regional and
demographic breakdown.
• Percent of clients still in
permanent housing at 6,12-, and
24-months following assistance.
• Number of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for Prevention and
Diversion.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people experiencing
homelessness for first time.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people returning to
homelessness.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people exiting mainstream
institutions that experience
sheltered and unsheltered
homelessness. Increase in the
number of people who would
have been homeless upon
discharge from mainstream
institutions and are successfully
placed into housing.
• Reduction in the number of
low-income households that are
considered rent-burdened.
• Quadruple the number of
households receiving prevention
services.
• Increase employment, income,
and wealth generation
among people experiencing
homelessness.
• 25% increase in the percentage
of clients still in permanent
housing at 6,12-, and 24-months
following assistance.
• Decrease in the number of
evictions across Riverside
County, demographics, and
geographic breakdown.
• 100% of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for Prevention and
Diversion
• Invest in programs that will
immediately address the
needs of data-informed special
populations, like homeless
youth, older adults/seniors,
veterans, individuals, and/or
families, or prevent them from
becoming homeless.
• Reduce entries into
homelessness as people exit
and/or receive services from
institutional settings through
cross-sector collaborative
programs.
• Invest in programs focused
on reducing entries into
homelessness for people re-
entering communities from jails
and prisons.
• Invest in programs focused
on reducing entries into
homelessness for youth and
young adults connected to the
child welfare and/or juvenile
justice systems.
• Invest in programs focused
on reducing entries into
homelessness for people
exiting health care settings and
programs, including mental
health and substance use.
• Enhance communities’
capacity to provide targeted
homelessness prevention
interventions and to successfully
divert people from entering
shelter or experiencing
unsheltered homelessness.
• Invest in cross-sector
partnerships between
homelessness services systems
and other systems which can
support asset and wealth
building, including access to
educational opportunities and
employment services that
address the economic instability
for people experiencing and
exiting homelessness.
• Support programs and
cross-sector partnerships that
prioritize the early identification
of households at-risk for
homelessness and quickly
connect them to services.
• Invest in upstream
homelessness prevention
programs that stabilize
individuals, families, and
communities, protect vulnerable
housing, prevent displacement,
and expand tenant protections
70 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
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AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLES ACTION AREA 5: PREVENT PEOPLE FROM EXPERIENCING THE CRISIS OF HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY 34: ADDRESS INFLOWS OF HOMELESSNESS THROUGH CROSS-
SECTOR COLLABORATION, DISCHARGE PLANNING, & EARL Y IDENTIFICATION • Through data sharing agreements, analyze
mainstream system data to understand
involvement of people experiencing homeless
in mainstream systems before they fell into
homelessness to better target solutions
• At points of intake, ensure there is a thorough
questioning of how and where an individual
became homeless, with an understanding of
mainstream systems they may have touched in
advance
• Identify and develop specific staff positions
responsible for cross-sector collaboration
• Develop strategies based on national best
practices for improving discharge planning
models and coordination to prevent mainstream
systems from discharging individuals without
stable housing
• Develop strategies based on national best
practices for early identification of people at-risk
for homelessness and get them connected to
homeless and other mainstream services
• Advocate for necessary resources to
incorporate or bring to scale cross-sector
collaboration, discharge planning, and early
identification
• Set cross-sector goals
• Develop and adopt a universal housing/
economic stability screening tool and
automated referral processes for individuals and
families accessing safety net services
• Expand on initiatives of Whole Person Care and
CalAIM to target high utilizers of emergency
services
• Number of people experiencing
homelessness for first time,
including regional and
demographic breakdown.
• Readmissions and recidivism
rates.
• Cost saving for discharge
planning.
• Number of mainstream systems
with data sharing agreements
or integrations with homeless
response system.
• Number of mainstream systems
utilizing developed homeless
tracking metrics.
• Number of referrals for housing
related services from mainstream
institutions.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people experiencing
homelessness for first time.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people returning to
homelessness.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people exiting mainstream
institutions that experience
sheltered and unsheltered
homelessness. Increase in the
number of people who would
have been homeless upon
discharge from mainstream
institutions and are successfully
placed into housing.
• Reduction in the number of
low-income households that are
considered rent-burdened.
• Quadruple the number of
households receiving prevention
services.
• Increase employment, income,
and wealth generation
among people experiencing
homelessness.
• 25% increase in the percentage
of clients still in permanent
housing at 6,12-, and 24-months
following assistance.
• Decrease in the number of
evictions across Riverside
County, demographics, and
geographic breakdown.
• 100% of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for Prevention and
Diversion
• Invest in programs that will
immediately address the
needs of data-informed special
populations, like homeless
youth, older adults/seniors,
veterans, individuals, and/or
families, or prevent them from
becoming homeless.
• Reduce entries into
homelessness as people exit
and/or receive services from
institutional settings through
cross-sector collaborative
programs.
• Invest in programs focused
on reducing entries into
homelessness for people re-
entering communities from jails
and prisons.
• Invest in programs focused
on reducing entries into
homelessness for youth and
young adults connected to the
child welfare and/or juvenile
justice systems.
• Invest in programs focused
on reducing entries into
homelessness for people
exiting health care settings and
programs, including mental
health and substance use.
• Enhance communities’
capacity to provide targeted
homelessness prevention
interventions and to successfully
divert people from entering
shelter or experiencing
unsheltered homelessness.
• Invest in cross-sector
partnerships between
homelessness services systems
and other systems which can
support asset and wealth
building, including access to
educational opportunities and
employment services that
address the economic instability
for people experiencing and
exiting homelessness.
• Support programs and
cross-sector partnerships that
prioritize the early identification
of households at-risk for
homelessness and quickly
connect them to services.
• Invest in upstream
homelessness prevention
programs that stabilize
individuals, families, and
communities, protect vulnerable
housing, prevent displacement,
and expand tenant protections
STRATEGY 35: EXPAND OPPORTUNITIES TO ACHIEVE FINANCIAL STABILITY/ECONOMIC MOBILITY
THROUGH EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATIONAL, INCOME SUPPORTS, & WEALTH GENERATION PROGRAMS & SERVICES.
• Increase the connectivity between the Riverside
County Workforce Development Center, income
supports, and education and homeless services,
like prevention, rapid rehousing, etc. to increase
and sustain income
• Expand partnerships with businesses and social
enterprises to train and hire people who have
experienced homelessness
• Increase access to appropriate services to
gain and sustain employment and educational
opportunities, such as childcare (or financial
assistance for childcare)
• Formalize cross-system agreements to improve
access to employment and education programs,
and outcomes of people experiencing
homelessness
• Improve data collection on the employment
and education needs and outcomes of people
experiencing homelessness
• Provide training, internships, and mentorships
to help people who are unhoused or at risk of
homelessness to obtain access to living wage
jobs
• Establish countywide SSI and veteran’s benefits
advocacy programs for people experiencing
homelessness or at risk of homelessness,
including those in the criminal justice system
• Explore opportunities to expand assessment
tools to also screen for income-generating
pathways, like employment, and income
supports; provide automated referrals
• Identify programs and solutions to develop
wealth/equity for people experiencing
homelessness and those at-risk of
homelessness
• Assess the viability of cash transfers and/
or universal basic income (UBI) models to
empower people experiencing homelessness
or at risk of experiencing homelessness to meet
their immediate financial needs
• Support efforts to increase the minimum wage
to a living wage in Riverside County
• Increases to employment,
income, and wealth generation
among people experiencing
homelessness
71 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ACTION
AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLES ACTION AREA 5: PREVENT PEOPLE FROM EXPERIENCING THE CRISIS OF HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY 36: REDUCE REENTRIES INTO HOMELESS RESPONSE SYSTEM • Track and analyze causes for reentry into the
homeless response system
• Identify targeted solutions for anyone re-
entering the homeless response system
• Number of people returning to
homelessness, including regional
and demographic breakdown.
• Number of people exiting
mainstream institutions that
experience sheltered and
unsheltered homelessness.
• Number of people who would
have been homeless upon
discharge from mainstream
institutions and are successfully
placed into housing.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people experiencing
homelessness for first time.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people returning to
homelessness.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people exiting mainstream
institutions that experience
sheltered and unsheltered
homelessness. Increase in the
number of people who would
have been homeless upon
discharge from mainstream
institutions and are successfully
placed into housing.
• Reduction in the number of
low-income households that are
considered rent-burdened.
• Quadruple the number of
households receiving prevention
services.
• Increase employment, income,
and wealth generation
among people experiencing
homelessness.
• 25% increase in the percentage
of clients still in permanent
housing at 6,12-, and 24-months
following assistance.
• Decrease in the number of
evictions across Riverside
County, demographics, and
geographic breakdown.
• 100% of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for Prevention and
Diversion
• Invest in programs that will
immediately address the
needs of data-informed special
populations, like homeless
youth, older adults/seniors,
veterans, individuals, and/or
families, or prevent them from
becoming homeless.
• Reduce entries into
homelessness as people exit
and/or receive services from
institutional settings through
cross-sector collaborative
programs.
• Invest in programs focused
on reducing entries into
homelessness for people re-
entering communities from jails
and prisons.
• Invest in programs focused
on reducing entries into
homelessness for youth and
young adults connected to the
child welfare and/or juvenile
justice systems.
• Invest in programs focused
on reducing entries into
homelessness for people
exiting health care settings and
programs, including mental
health and substance use.
• Enhance communities’
capacity to provide targeted
homelessness prevention
interventions and to successfully
divert people from entering
shelter or experiencing
unsheltered homelessness.
• Invest in cross-sector
partnerships between
homelessness services systems
and other systems which can
support asset and wealth
building, including access to
educational opportunities and
employment services that
address the economic instability
for people experiencing and
exiting homelessness.
• Support programs and
cross-sector partnerships that
prioritize the early identification
of households at-risk for
homelessness and quickly
connect them to services.
• Invest in upstream
homelessness prevention
programs that stabilize
individuals, families, and
communities, protect vulnerable
housing, prevent displacement,
and expand tenant protections
72 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
ACTION
AREA STRATEGY CORRESPONDING ACTIONS PERFORMANCE METRICS GOALS FUNDING PRINCIPLES ACTION AREA 5: PREVENT PEOPLE FROM EXPERIENCING THE CRISIS OF HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY 37: PRESERVE VULNERABLE HOUSING & PREVENT
COMMUNITY DISPLACEMENT
• Advocate for the creation of a fund to preserve
naturally occurring, affordable housing and
income restricted affordable housing
• Promote the investments of infill area
infrastructure, inclusionary zoning, community
land trusts, adaptive reuse, etc.
• Promote the preservation of existing housing
stock through long-term affordability covenants
• Advocate for the increased access to
homeownership, especially for Black,
Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC)
communities
• Advocate for right of first refusal policies
• Number of low-income
households that are considered
rent-burdened.
• Number of evictions across
Riverside County, including
regional and demographic
breakdown.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people experiencing
homelessness for first time.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people returning to
homelessness.
• 75% reduction in the number
of people exiting mainstream
institutions that experience
sheltered and unsheltered
homelessness. Increase in the
number of people who would
have been homeless upon
discharge from mainstream
institutions and are successfully
placed into housing.
• Reduction in the number of
low-income households that are
considered rent-burdened.
• Quadruple the number of
households receiving prevention
services.
• Increase employment, income,
and wealth generation
among people experiencing
homelessness.
• 25% increase in the percentage
of clients still in permanent
housing at 6,12-, and 24-months
following assistance.
• Decrease in the number of
evictions across Riverside
County, demographics, and
geographic breakdown.
• 100% of programs adhering
to Riverside CoC Policies and
Procedures for Prevention and
Diversion
• Invest in programs that will
immediately address the
needs of data-informed special
populations, like homeless
youth, older adults/seniors,
veterans, individuals, and/or
families, or prevent them from
becoming homeless.
• Reduce entries into
homelessness as people exit
and/or receive services from
institutional settings through
cross-sector collaborative
programs.
• Invest in programs focused
on reducing entries into
homelessness for people re-
entering communities from jails
and prisons.
• Invest in programs focused
on reducing entries into
homelessness for youth and
young adults connected to the
child welfare and/or juvenile
justice systems.
• Invest in programs focused
on reducing entries into
homelessness for people
exiting health care settings and
programs, including mental
health and substance use.
• Enhance communities’
capacity to provide targeted
homelessness prevention
interventions and to successfully
divert people from entering
shelter or experiencing
unsheltered homelessness.
• Invest in cross-sector
partnerships between
homelessness services systems
and other systems which can
support asset and wealth
building, including access to
educational opportunities and
employment services that
address the economic instability
for people experiencing and
exiting homelessness.
• Support programs and
cross-sector partnerships that
prioritize the early identification
of households at-risk for
homelessness and quickly
connect them to services.
• Invest in upstream
homelessness prevention
programs that stabilize
individuals, families, and
communities, protect vulnerable
housing, prevent displacement,
and expand tenant protections
STRATEGY 38: EXPAND PROTECTIONS FOR RENTER/TENANTS
• Develop a streamlined approach and public
facing database to better track evictions/
unlawful detainers across Riverside County,
greatest impact on older adults/seniors and
Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC)
• Coordinate and centralize eviction prevention
programs across Riverside County
• Advocate for the establishment of rent
stabilization policies paired with enforceable
building standards
• Advocate for the establishment of “just cause”
eviction policies
• Develop and support tenant counseling
and legal services for tenant facing housing
instability and dislocation
• Support a legal right to counsel policy for
tenants to prevent evictions
• Support right to remain and right to return
ordinances
• Support tenant option to purchase
• Consider developing a tenant advisory council
to provide guidance and advice to the city on
actions to support tenants and those at-risk of
homelessness
• Increase access to civil legal aid in
situations where legal advocacy will prevent
homelessness (e.g., access to State and Federal
benefit programs, SSI/SSDI, etc., foreclosure
prevention, immigration, tenant representation,
unemployment benefits, ABD, etc.)
• Strengthen local tenant protections impacting
people experiencing homelessness and those
at-risk of homelessness
• Number of low-income
households that are considered
rent-burdened.
• Number of evictions across
Riverside County, including
regional and demographic
breakdown.
STRATEGY 39: ADVOCATE FOR THE
EXPANSION OF A SOCIAL SAFETY NET
• Advocate for the state and the federal
government to increase funding and access to
safety net services
• Percent of clients still in
permanent housing at 6,12-, and
24-months following assistance.
73 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
EXHIBIT B:
TRANSITIONAL
AGED YOUTH
(TAY) HOMELESS
ACTION
SUMMARY
The following section summarizes
actions, strategies, and funding
principles of the Riverside County
CoC Homeless Action Plan for
Transition Aged Y outh (TAY) at-risk of
and experiencing homelessness.
In 2020 there were 256 youth
experiencing unsheltered
homelessness, a 41% increase from
2019. Surprisingly, this increase in
youth experiencing unsheltered
homelessness was accompanied
by a 65% decrease in the count
of sheltered youth experiencing
homelessness. As part of the Needs
Assessment and Gaps Analysis
of the County of Riverside,
stakeholders highlighted the need
to provide more services to key
sub-populations like Transition Aged
Y outh (TAY).
Action Area 1: Strengthen System
the Better Prevent and End
Homelessness, highlights the need
to utilize a data-driven approach
to invest in programs addressing
significant service gaps for high-
need communities, under-served
or hard to-serve geographic areas,
or special subpopulations such as
transitional age youth.
Action Area 3: Expand
Communities Capacity to
Provide Safe and Effective
Shelter and Interim Housing,
focuses on developing training
and protocols for first responders
when engaging people on the
streets and encampments, with
considerations for interacting with
key subpopulations like Transition
Aged Y outh. These strategies
also call for the need to establish
resources and refine policies and
procedures for existing programs
accessed by Transition Aged Y outh.
Additionally, this action area calls
for the refinement of crisis housing
policies and procedures like
emergency shelter, interim housing,
medical respite, domestic violence
shelters, faith-based shelters, family
shelters, transitional housing, and
motel vouchers to ensure they are
accessible, low barrier, and housing
focused. Policies and procedures will
account for the unique shelter needs
of Transition Aged Y outh.
Strategies in Action Area 4: Expand
and Ensure Equitable Access
to Permanent Housing in Our
Communities call for the need to
increase housing resources available
to Transition Aged Y outh, like Rapid
Rehousing. This section calls out the
need to expand housing supports and
programs for Transition Aged Y outh.
Action Area 5: Prevent People
from Experiencing the Crisis of
Homelessness, highlights the need
to address the inflows of youth
homelessness through cross-sector
collaboration, discharge planning,
early identification, and housing
supports within child welfare,
juvenile justice, and education
systems. Funding Principles call
for the need to invest in programs
that will immediately address the
needs of homeless youth and
programs that reduce entries into
homelessness as people exit and/
or receive services from institutional
settings through cross-sector
collaboration.
EXHIBIT C:
FAMILY
HOMELESS
ACTION
SUMMARY
The following section summarizes
actions, strategies, and funding
principles of the Riverside County
CoC Homeless Action Plan for
families at-risk of and experiencing
homelessness.
There is a significant number of
families experiencing homelessness
in Riverside County and numerous
households and families that are
precariously housed: doubled-up,
living with friends or family, and
are therefore at-risk of falling into
homelessness.
Action Area 1: Strengthen
System to Better Prevent and
End Homelessness calls for
strengthening of the homeless
response system to address the root
causes of homelessness, preventing
increases of new families falling into
homelessness.
Action Area 2: Equitably Address
the Health, Safety, and Services
Needs of People Experiencing
Unsheltered Homelessness
highlights the need to expand
the accessibility of the homeless
response system and the need to
establish designated resources for
special populations experiencing
unsheltered homelessness like
homeless families.
Action Area 3: Expand
Communities Capacity to Provide
Safe and Effective Shelter and
Interim Housing focuses on
increasing crisis housing available to
homeless families and refining crisis
housing policies and procedures to
ensure they are radically accessible,
low-barrier, and housing focused.
Action Area 4: Expand and Ensure
Equitable Access to Permanent
Housing in Our Communities
highlights the advocacy of increased
production of affordable housing
that will expand housing available
to families at-risk or currently
experiencing homelessness.
Strategies include increasing rapid
rehousing for families experiencing
homelessness, increasing the
availability of flexible housing
funds to support move-in costs
and flexible housing subsidies, and
continuing to leverage housing
authority division resources for
families experiencing homelessness.
Expanding housing access in high
opportunity neighborhoods through
centralized landlord outreach will
have a significant impact on the
health of families, most significantly
for families with children. Lastly,
this action area calls for the
advocacy of legislation protecting
against housing discrimination in
the housing search, which has a
74 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
significant impact on families looking
to utilize rental assistance, subsidies,
or vouchers.
Action Area 5: Prevent People
from Experiencing the Crisis of
Homelessness focuses on increasing
homelessness prevention, diversion,
and mediation services, which will
greatly benefit families at-risk of
homelessness. By collaborating with
cross-sector partners, the Action
Plan will address the inflows into
homelessness for families through
effective discharge planning, early
identification, and the expansion of
social and housing supports.
EXHIBIT D:
ENCAMPMENT
HOMELESS
ACTION
SUMMARY
Stakeholder feedback from the
Needs Assessment and Gaps
Analysis of the County of Riverside
highlighted differing regional
approaches to outreach and
engagement. Some regions utilize
more enforcement approaches
and others more engagement
approaches. The complexities of
outreach and engagement often
come to a point when responding
to encampments, which vary
significantly from region to region,
encampment to encampment. There
currently is not a unified approach to
encampment management.
Action Area 1: Strengthen System
to Better Prevent and End
Homelessness of the Homeless
Action Plan calls for the need to
refine communications efforts
around homelessness in Riverside
County. Due to the visibility of
unsheltered street homelessness
and encampments, it is important
to proactively engage the public
around the challenges, activities,
and implementations of homeless
programs and resources.
Action Area 2: Equitably Address the
Health, Safety, and Services Needs
of People Experiencing Unsheltered
Homelessness includes a specific
strategy to develop county wide
encampment management protocols.
This will include establishing best
practice in encampment management,
incorporating person-centered
approaches, enhancing coordination
with providers, cities, regional
governments, and developing
formal Encampment Management
and Resolution Protocols. Funding
Principles call for the investment
in multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional
solutions to address the health,
safety, and housing needs of
people experiencing unsheltered
homelessness and staying in
encampments.
EXHIBIT E:
VETERAN
HOMELESS
ACTION
SUMMARY
The successful response to veteran
Homelessness in Riverside County
represents a roadmap on how to
effectively respond to the unique
needs of subpopulations. While
veteran homelessness is included in all
the action areas of the plan, it is most
referenced in Action Area 5: Prevent
People from Experiencing the Crisis
of Homelessness. The plan calls
for the need to continue to expand
upstream early identification, housing,
and social supports for veterans at-risk
of homelessness. Funding Principles
call for the investment in programs
that immediately address the needs
of data-informed special populations
like veterans through housing and
supports.
EXHIBIT F:
DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
HOMELESS
ACTION
SUMMARY
Action Area 2: Equitably Address
the Health, Safety, and Services
Needs of People Experiencing
Unsheltered Homelessness,
highlights the need to develop
training for first responders when
engaging people experiencing
unsheltered homelessness who
are survivors of domestic violence.
Additionally, this action area focused
on establishing key resources for
special subpopulations experiencing
unsheltered homelessness like
survivors fleeing domestic violence.
Action Area 3: Expand
Communities Capacity to Provide
Safe and Effective Shelter and
Interim Housing calls to increase
the number of crisis housing
beds regionally, with emphasis on
domestic violence shelter beds and
capacity. Part of this action area
addressed the need to expand
access to resources and refine crisis
housing policies and procedures
to ensure that they are accessible,
low-barrier, and housing focused.
Part of this process will be to assess
regional capacity and develop real-
time bed availability.
EXHIBIT G:
RACIAL EQUITY
HOMELESS
ACTION
SUMMARY
Action Area 1: Strengthen System
to Better Prevent and End
Homelessness calls to center race
equity in the County of Riverside
CoC’s Homeless Response. Black,
Indigenous, and Communities of
75 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
Color (BIPOC) are significantly
overrepresented in the homeless
population, a legacy of historical
and contemporary structural racism.
The homeless response system
also plays a role in perpetuating
inequities in service provision,
access, and mobility. The County
of Riverside CoC will continue to
center race equity in the homeless
response, disaggregate data to
better develop solutions, and
look upstream at the inflows and
structural roots of homelessness.
Furthermore, this strategy calls
to embed racial equity lens into
all homelessness and housing
decisions, develop a racial equity
impact assessment that will forecast
and assess the impacts of new
programs and funding decisions, and
incorporate a focus on racial equity
data, analysis, and planned activities
when submitting and reviewing
applications for funding. The strategy
emphasizes the need to utilize
HMIS to analyze data and create
public-facing dashboards around
racial inequities in experiences of
homelessness, provision of services,
and outcomes. The strategy calls to
adapt program guidelines, policies,
procedures focused on racial equity
and institute standardized cultural
humility, trauma informed care,
and anti-racist trainings for CoC
programs and system partners.
Lastly it highlights the need to create
plan to move forward on racial equity
work that will include system and
programmatic actions and alignment
with other regional equity initiatives.
EXHIBIT H:
LGBTQIA+
HOMELESS
ACTION
SUMMARY
Action Area 2: Equitably Address
the Health, Safety, and Services
Needs of People Experiencing
Unsheltered Homelessness,
highlights the need to establish
resources for key special
populations experiencing
unsheltered homelessness, including
LGBTQAI+ individuals and families.
Action Area 3: Expand
Communities Capacity to Provide
Safe and Effective Shelter and
Interim Housing calls for the need
to refine crisis housing policies
and procedures to ensure they
are safe and accessible for key
subpopulations, including LGBTQAI+
individuals and families.
Action Area 4: Expand and Ensure
Equitable Access to Permanent
Housing in Our Communities
addresses the expanding resources
to meet the housing needs of key
subpopulations, including LGBTQAI+
individuals and families.
EXHIBIT I: OLDER
ADULTS/SENIORS
HOMELESS
ACTION
SUMMARY
Stakeholder feedback from the
Needs Assessment and Gaps
Analysis of the County of Riverside
highlighted the need to provide more
services to key sub-populations like
Seniors/Older Adults.
Action Area 1: Strengthen System
to Better Prevent and End
Homelessness of the Homeless
Action Plan calls for utilizing a data-
driven approach to invest in programs
addressing significant service gaps
and priority needs for under-served
or hard to-serve geographic areas, or
special subpopulations such as older
adults/seniors.
Action Area 2: Equitably Address the
Health, Safety, and Services Needs
of People Experiencing Unsheltered
Homelessness, highlights the
need to establish resources for key
special populations experiencing
unsheltered homelessness, including
older adults/seniors. Strategies
also include co-developing
protocols for first responders when
engaging people on the streets and
encampments, with special focus on
key subpopulations like older adults/
seniors.
Action Area 3: Expand
Communities Capacity to Provide
Safe and Effective Shelter and
Interim Housing calls for the need
to refine crisis housing policies
and procedures to ensure they
are safe and accessible for key
subpopulations, including older
adults/seniors.
Action Area 4: Expand and Ensure
Equitable Access to Permanent
Housing in Our Communities
addresses the expanding resources
to meet the housing needs of key
subpopulations, including older
adults/seniors.
Action Area 5: Prevent People
from Experiencing the Crisis of
Homelessness outlines strategies to
address inflows into homelessness
through cross-sector collaboration,
discharge planning, and early
identification. To specifically
target older adults/seniors, this
strategy includes identifying
supports to serve older adults
and people with disabilities at risk
of experiencing homelessness,
including meeting the need for
in home supports and access to
licensed adult and senior care
facilities. It also calls for improving
identification and stabilization of
older adults/seniors at greatest
risk of housing loss, developing
targeted homelessness prevention
strategies for older adults/seniors,
including development of a data-
driven framework for identifying
older adults/seniors at greatest
risk of housing loss. Additionally,
this strategy highlights the need
for providing subsidized housing
to homeless disabled individuals
pursuing SSI and supporting in-
home care and long-term care
options for older adults/seniors.
Lastly, to better address the inflows
into homelessness, the Riverside
County CoC will advocate and push
to expand tenant protections and
services that support tenants, which
will have a significant impact on
older adults/seniors.
76 / HOMELESS ACTION PLAN
EXHIBIT J:
OTHER SPECIAL
POPULATIONS
HOMELESS
ACTION
SUMMARY
While these subpopulations are
addressed throughout the plan,
they are specially called out in the
following action areas.
Action Area 2: Equitably Address
the Health, Safety, and Services
Needs of People Experiencing
Unsheltered Homelessness,
highlights the need to establish
resources for key special
populations experiencing
unsheltered homelessness,
including chronically homeless
individuals, individuals with Severe
Mental Illness (SMI), individuals with
Substance Use Disorders (SUD), and
high utilizers of emergency services.
Action Area 3: Expand
Communities Capacity to Provide
Safe and Effective Shelter and
Interim Housing calls for the need
to refine crisis housing policies
and procedures to ensure they
are safe and accessible for key
subpopulations, including chronically
homeless individuals, individuals
with Severe Mental Illness (SMI),
individuals with Substance Use
Disorders (SUD), and high utilizers of
emergency services.
Action Area 4: Expand and Ensure
Equitable Access to Permanent
Housing in Our Communities
addresses the expanding resources
to meet the housing needs of key
subpopulations, including chronically
homeless individuals, individuals
with Severe Mental Illness (SMI),
individuals with Substance Use
Disorders (SUD), and high utilizers of
emergency services.