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California State Auditor Logo COMMITMENT • INTEGRITY • LEADERSHIP

Homelessness in California
State Government and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Need to Strengthen Their Efforts to Address Homelessness

Report Number: 2017-112

Response to the Survey From —
San Jose, Santa Clara City and County CoC

 

HUD provides two lists of California Continuum of Care (CoC) key contacts: one for Northern California and one for Southern California.
You can find these lists at https://www.hud.gov/states/california/homeless/continuumcare.
  1. Enter the CoC number for which you are completing the survey.

    CA-500
  2. Enter the CoC name for which you are completing the survey.

    San Jose, Santa Clara City and County CoC


  3. Enter the organization within the CoC that you represent.

    County of Santa Clara Office of Supportive Housing

  4. What type of organization do you represent?.







  5. How many staff (full-time equivalents) does your organization employ?

    60

  6. Does your organization provide homeless services directly for clients?


    Case management and supportive services for permanent supportive housing program participants.

  7. Are you a direct recipient on your CoC's HUD application?
     
  8. Approximately what percentage of the funding your organization administers is from HUD for the CoC program?

    18

  9. If not your organization, is there another organization in your CoC that administers the majority of homeless services funding?




  10. Does your CoC conduct an unsheltered Point-in-Time (PIT) count annually? (Including those years not required by HUD)
     
  11. In which year did your CoC begin conducting an annual unsheltered PIT count?

  12. Why did your CoC decide to conduct an annual unsheltered PIT count?

  13. What funding sources do you use to conduct the annual unsheltered PIT count? (Check all that apply.)





  14. How did your CoC facilitate the annual unsheltered PIT count?
    (For example, did you increase the number of volunteers, or find additional funding?)

  15. Did your organization have any challenges in implementing an annual unsheltered PIT count?



  16. How has conducting an annual unsheltered PIT count affected your CoC's operations and/or outcomes? If you have any data or analyses, please share specific metrics.

  17. Why does your CoC not conduct an annual unsheltered PIT count? (Check * all that apply)







     

  18. Please elaborate on the reasons why your CoC does not conduct an annual unsheltered PIT count.

    The survey is time and cost intensive and the benefit of an annual survey does not outweigh the effort. The survey does not tell us a lot of information that we do not already know from other data sources. The funding that would be used to conduct an annual survey is used to provide assistance.


  19. What would cause your CoC to conduct an unsheltered PIT count in the years not required by HUD?

    If HUD required an annual unsheltered PIT, we would conduct it. If we expected significant variations from year to year or if the information gathered from the PIT could not be gathered elsewhere, we may consider an annual count.



  20. What sources does your organization use to fund the HUD-required PIT count of unsheltered homeless? (Check all that apply)






     

  21. How much did your CoC's 2017 PIT count cost?

    $180,000
  22. How many people did your CoC require to conduct its 2017 PIT count? (Staff, volunteers, and others)

    Over 300

  23. How many of those identified in Question 22 were volunteers?

    Approximately 200 community volunteers and 50-75 homeless guides (guides were provided a stipend)

  24. Does your CoC recruit volunteers for its unsheltered PIT count from organizations outside the homeless services community?



    We recruit volunteers from the community through churches and neighborhood organizations. All community volunteers are paired with a homeless guide for the count.

  25. Please share your perspective on the reasons your CoC's unsheltered homeless population in 2017 did or did not change from that in its previous unsheltered PIT count.

    We conducted a much more robust youth count in 2017 than in previous PIT counts. More transition aged youth were involved. The surveyors were provided more training. Our count of youth increased in 2017. In 2017, we also saw a reduction in chronic homelessness and Veteran homelessness, where we have focused a lot of resources over the past few years.

  26. Has your CoC reallocated funding in the past?



  27. How often does your CoC reevaluate final priority rankings for the HUD CoC Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), based on HUD priorities?




  28. How often does your CoC perform the following gap analyses?

    Housing gap analysis—every 5 years

    Funding gap analysis—every 5 years

    Service gap analysis—every 5 years

    Other (please specify)—

  29. In what year did your CoC perform each of the following for the first time, or leave the row blank if it is not applicable.

    Housing gap analysis
    Don't know

    Funding gap analysis
    Don't know

    Service gap analysis
    Don't know

    Other (as you identified in question 27)

  30. Does your CoC employ specific strategies for identifying alternative funding for programs that are reallocated or do not receive HUD funding?



    Last year we brought together local funders (the county and cities) to discuss alternate funding sources if any projects did not receive funding.


  31. Does your CoC have a strategic plan that integrates other publicly-funded programs that provide services, housing, and income supports to poor persons whether they are homeless or not (mainstream benefits and services)?



  32. Please provide a web address to your CoC's most recent strategic plan or email it as an attachment to CoCSurvey@auditor.ca.gov.

    https://www.sccgov.org/sites/osh/ContinuumofCare/ReportsandPublications/Pages/Community-Plan-to-End-Homelessness.aspx

  33. When did your CoC complete its first strategic plan?

    2005 (there may be a plan before this, but this is the earliest current staff could recall)

  34. How often does your CoC update its strategic plan?

    at least every 5 years

  35. How has your strategic plan benefited your CoC?

    It has helped us to focus our resources, generate funding for services and housing, and measure our success.


  36. Why has your CoC not developed a strategic plan?

  37. What grant-seeking or fundraising activities does your CoC engage in?

    We have applied for state funds to support CoC programs, such as the State ESG program. Destination: Home, our nonprofit partner, seeks funding from private sources to support demonstration and pilot programs.

  38. Are there any strategies or unique actions your agency takes that have strengthened your CoC?

    We conducted a Cost of Homelessness Study, which continues to assist us in advocating for funding and focusing resources. We transitioned to a different HMIS software in 2015, which has helped us to gather data more efficiently and measure our success more effectively.

  39. Please provide any information about these strategies or actions.
    Feel free to provide web addresses to any reports or email them as attachments to CoCSurvey@auditor.ca.gov.


    Cost of Homelessness Study: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/osh/ContinuumofCare/ReportsandPublications/Documents/Santa%20Clara%20County%20CostStudyReport.pdf

  40. If you have any additional perspective or concerns, please provide this information in the space below.
    For example, if you would like to share additional information regarding homelessness, services, or funding.


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