COMMITMENT • INTEGRITY • LEADERSHIP	View full PDF report View Selected Abbreviations
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 —
El Dorado 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-525
2. Enter the CoC name for which you are completing the survey.

   El Dorado County CoC

   
   

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

   Collaborative Applicant, HMIS lead, CoC Board

4. What type of organization do you represent?.
Joint Powers Authority
County government agency
City government agency
Non-profit
Other (please specify)





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

   0

6. Does your organization provide homeless services directly for clients?
   No Yes (If so, what types of homeless service programs does your organization provide?)
   
   

   We provide CalWORKS HSP for homeless families who are CalWORKS eligible. We also provide CalWORKS Homeless Assistance, which is short term motel vouchers for 16 days annually or one month's rent and deposit if folks were moving into a residence. Other than those two programs, we don't provide any homeless specific programs, though our services are often generally provided to the homeless population.

7. Are you a direct recipient on your CoC's HUD application?
   No 
   Yes
8. Approximately what percentage of the funding your organization administers is from HUD for the CoC program?
   

   0

9. If not your organization, is there another organization in your CoC that administers the majority of homeless services funding?
   Not applicable. My organization administers the majority of homeless services funding.
   No. There is not one organization in my CoC that administers the majority of homeless services funding.
   If yes, what is that organization?
   
   

   The Center for Violence Free Relationships

10. Does your CoC conduct an unsheltered Point-in-Time (PIT) count annually? (Including those years not required by HUD)
    No (Skip to questions 17-19, and resume the survey on question 20.) 
    Yes (Continue on questions 11-16, and resume the survey on question 20.)
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.)
    City funding
    County funding
    HUD planning funding
    Private funding
    Other (please specify)
    
    

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?
    No.
    Yes. If so, what were they and how did you overcome them?
    
    

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)
    
    Lack of funding
    Lack of volunteers
    Lack of internal capacity
    HUD does not require an annual count
    Annual variations in numbers are not enough to justify the expense of a count every year.
    Other (please specify)
     
    

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

    We simply are too far behind, as a system. Our HUD annual renewal amount this year was less than 10k. I imagine that is one of the lowest in the state. As a rural county, there has not been support for the administration of the CoC over the years, therefore we are behind. In terms of our priorities, with limited resources, we can't validate conducting an unsheltered count annually.

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

    If we had funding that would support the annual count, as well as general CoC administration (NOFAs, AHAR, CAPER, System Performance Measures, etc), HMIS administration, Coordinated Entry administration, and the basic essentials to administering a CoC, there would likely be value to conducting an annual count.

    
    
    
20. What sources does your organization use to fund the HUD-required PIT count of unsheltered homeless? (Check all that apply)
    
    City funding
    County funding
    HUD planning funds
    Private funding
    Other (please specify)
     
    

    Historically, it has been all volunteer driven - we have received no funding to support this.

21. How much did your CoC's 2017 PIT count cost?
    
    $0
22. How many people did your CoC require to conduct its 2017 PIT count? (Staff, volunteers, and others)
    
    

    35

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

    35

24. Does your CoC recruit volunteers for its unsheltered PIT count from organizations outside the homeless services community?
    No.
    If yes, from which organizations/communities (outside of homeless service providers) did you recruit volunteers for the 2017 PIT 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.
    
    

    Our PIT numbers grew significantly for the reason that we conducted the most thorough, accurate count to date. However, most of all, our number grew due to CA's lack of housing stock. According to Zillow.com, rents went up 88% in El Dorado between 2015 and 2017, and median cost of housing went up 37%. Wage stayed the same during that time, leaving a threshold of earners on the verge of homelessness on a given day. CA currently ranks 49th in the nation in housing units per capita, and between 2000 and 2014 (according to HCD) rents in our state are up 25% while wage for renters is down 6%. For these reasons, homelessness for the majority of PIT counts in CA have gone up.

26. Has your CoC reallocated funding in the past?
    No.
    Yes. If yes, please provide additional details or comments regarding reallocation you would like to share.
    
    

27. How often does your CoC reevaluate final priority rankings for the HUD CoC Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), based on HUD priorities?
    Never
    Every year
    Other (please specify)
    
    

    Never due to our annual renewal amount of approximately 10k only funding our HMIS licenses. We need that grant to continue surviving.

28. How often does your CoC perform the following gap analyses?
    
    Housing gap analysis—Never
    
    Funding gap analysis—Only related to Preliminary Pro Rata Need assessment, annually
    
    Service gap analysis—Never
    
    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
    NA
    
    Funding gap analysis
    NA
    
    Service gap analysis
    NA
    
    Other (as you identified in question 27)
    NA
    
30. Does your CoC employ specific strategies for identifying alternative funding for programs that are reallocated or do not receive HUD funding?
    No.
    Yes. (If yes, please share some strategies your CoC employs to identify replacement 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)?
    No. (Skip to question 36.)
    Yes. (Continue to questions 32-35 and skip question 36.)
    
    
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.

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

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

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

    Lack of administration, lack of broad support regionally over the years, lack of vision and guidance from anyone with CoC experience. I was hired in February 2018 in EDC and have been leading the CoC ever since. As Solano County's former Homeless Coordinator for 2 years, I have experience with CoC administration and am doing what I can to launch Coordinated Entry by January and integrate as many services as possible within the system. Before I started, there has never been anyone with CoC experience, and the CoC has been driven by a few non-profits who lack the depth to administer a growing system. (to no fault of their own)

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

    Since May 2018, we have developed a strong partnership with the Community Foundation. Since then, we have been actively seeking funds from local hospitals and jurisdictions. We have successfully received approximately $40k, which has been helpful in receiving technical assistance and funding a few agencies to administer Coordinated Entry - however this funding is small and is quickly diminishing.

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

    Having a former homeless coordinator in El Dorado County has strengthened the vision of the CoC, particularly regarding coordination of resources and best practices. That being said, one person cannot lift an entire system, and all regional partners will need to see the vision quickly in order to ensure continued evolution.

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.
    
    

    www.edokcoc.org

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.
    
    

    For small counties with little resources, and often a traditional lens which views homelessness as an "urban issue," few systems have been developed. As California is in its worst housing crisis ever, and with homelessness rising 15% across the state over the past 2 years (according to the AHAR), rural counties will continue to see significant rises in visible homelessness for some years to come. We simply don't have the capital to invest in this system, we are ultimately starting it from scratch. It takes time to develop data, to show the need, to express the cost savings, and to grow the support from regional partners when none of this administrative infrastructure has been developed. If rural counties were able to apply for grant funds that would be strictly dedicated to CoC administration (annual requirements of PIT count, HIC Count, NOFAs, AHAR, CAPER, etc), then these systems could continue evolving over time - versus piecing bits and pieces together annually and never having the best data to validate regions financially or programatically supporting these valuable systems.

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