Opinion: Counties push for comprehensive homelessness plan

Counties have worked hard for years to partner with cities, the state and community organizations to fight homelessness. We’ve developed resources and innovations to expand housing and services for unsheltered residents suffering on our streets.

And yet, making real progress has been difficult to achieve because California doesn’t define clear state, county or city roles and responsibilities in addressing homelessness — which leaves us with the existing patchwork of solutions that aren’t yielding the results we need when we need them most.

Until we answer some basic questions — Which entity is responsible for what? Are these responsibilities properly aligned with authority, flexibility and sustainable funding? How can we design and apply accountability to ensure the best outcomes? — California will continue to live with the shame of leading the nation with nearly 200,000 unsheltered children and adults across our state.

We must change course. We can’t continue to do the same things, in the same manner, with little inter-governmental coordination or true collaboration.

We need a clear and comprehensive system that aligns resources and responsibilities with firm accountability at all levels of government.

As members of the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) Executive Committee, we’re proud to have helped develop AT HOME, a framework to address all components of homelessness in California.

The AT HOME plan (https://www.counties.org/home-plan) sets forth accountability measures and a framework for clear roles and responsibilities at the city, county, state, and federal levels of government.

AT HOME elevates homelessness as a shared top California priority.

We have statewide plans to oversee other shared priorities, including our children’s education and maintenance of streets and roads. Those priorities are addressed through comprehensive systems with clearly defined responsibilities at each level of government and sustained funding.

Creating a statewide framework to address homelessness with clearly defined responsibilities and ongoing funding should also be a shared state priority and would ensure that all of us, at every level of government, has ownership of this challenge.

The pillars of AT HOME are accountability, transparency, housing, outreach, mitigation and economic opportunity.

AT HOME prioritizes housing but also focuses on prevention and providing vital wrap-around services and economic opportunities to formerly homeless individuals to ensure their ongoing success.

AT HOME was developed by counties over the last year and is based on an intensive examination of the complicated and yet often ineffective web of programs and funding streams available today.

AT HOME is equitable and designed to meet the scope of the challenge in any community. It invites collaboration and progress and discourages finger-pointing, short-term fixes and money grabs.

Our approach to homelessness must be based on accountability for every stakeholder and government entity — city, state and counties. That’s why accountability is the foundation for the entire AT HOME framework.

Accountability means transparency and measurable outcomes. It means looking at the data and making the decision to continue supporting our successful efforts and redirecting funds away from those that haven’t produced effective results.

We are prepared to work in partnership with our city colleagues, state leaders and all stakeholders to create a comprehensive, effective and accountable system to address homelessness. This will involve discomfort and facing harsh realities, but only by working together can we significantly reduce homelessness in California.

That work must start now.

There will be a historic summit in Sacramento in April between county and city leaders to engage in creating and implementing a comprehensive statewide plan to address homelessness. We believe AT HOME is the path forward.

Keith Carson is an Alameda County supervisor. Susan Ellenberg is a Santa Clara County supervisor. John Gioia is a Contra Costa County supervisor.