No Place Like Home (NPLH) is a new State program that will provide counties with grants in 2018 to provide critically needed housing for chronically homeless individuals who are also struggling with mental illness. Sacramento County will be applying for NPLH funding as an essential piece of our “housing first” approach to reducing homelessness.
As a first step toward pursuing those funds Sacramento County will be working with a consultant to lay the groundwork for a plan that will align with No Place Like Home specifications.
“Permanent supportive housing options are critical to people experiencing homelessness and who are also in need of mental health services,” said Patrick Kennedy, Sacramento County District 2 Supervisor and Governor Brown’s appointee to the No Place Like Home Advisory Committee. “Securing these funds will be a critical component of success in addressing the needs of this vulnerable population in the Sacramento region.”
Paul Lake, Sacramento County’s Deputy County Executive for Social Services, worked to ensure collaboration with key stakeholders when the planning committees began to meet in late 2016.
“Broad representation from advisory bodies, advocates and cities was essential for ensuring the appropriate people were sitting at the table,” Lake said. “Collaboration is imperative as we move forward to successfully address issues around homelessness in the Sacramento region.”
The NPLH Steering Committee includes Sacramento County’s Director of Homeless Initiatives as well as representatives from the County’s Departments of Human Assistance and Health and Human Services, the Mental Health Services Act Steering Committee and the City of Sacramento’s Mayor’s Office.
Additionally, the NPLH Advisory Committee includes the County’s Homeless Services Manager, Veterans’ Services Officer, and Behavioral Health Director as well as representatives from Mental Health and Alcohol and Drug Advisory Boards, the Homeless Continuum of Care Advisory Board, the Sacramento Housing Alliance, and the Steinberg Institute, among others.
Members on the Program Development Work Group include representatives from the Cities of Folsom, Elk Grove, Citrus Heights, Galt, Rancho Cordova and Sacramento.
NPLH funding is vital for the County because in order to fund NPLH, the State will be withholding the County’s Mental Health Services Act growth revenues, which will create shortfalls in funding mental health programs.
However, through prudent use of reserves, the County will continue to sustain those programs while pursuing new opportunities the NPLH grant will provide to address chronic homelessness in the Sacramento region.
The permanent housing would be linked to on- or off-site flexible, voluntary and individualized services to retain housing, improve health, and live and work in the community.
The county’s next step is submitting the grant application, due September 30. Project funding is anticipated to begin in 2018.
Read more about the County’s response to homelessness issues, the new 2017 homeless initiatives, continuum of care efforts and the new approaches to mental health services.
