Title
a. Receive an update on Homeless Shelter Housing Capacity; and
b. Provide direction to staff as appropriate.
Presenter: Glorietta Rowland, Management Analyst II, Department of Social Services
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Health, Housing, Homelessness & Human Services Committee:
a. Receive an update on Homeless Shelter Housing Capacity; and
b. Provide direction to staff as appropriate.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The Coalition of Homeless Service Providers (CHSP) is the organization currently partnering with the Monterey County Health Department and the Department of Social Services to launch the use of a public facing dashboard that will display shelter bed capacity/occupancy. Staff will provide an update on the current available data, existing reporting processes, challenges and potential solutions.
CHSP manages the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) to track the inventory/services of HMIS participating service providers and the clients that are utilizing such resources. There have been several challenges in formulating a status report that could potentially result in an incomplete or outdated report due to the delay of data entry. CHSP has developed an MOU with several homeless services providers that will commit to timely input of data reporting on shelter occupancy.
CHALLENGES:
• Current data collection practices include half of the shelter beds in Monterey County. Data is not collected for two Domestic Violence shelters, I-HELP for men, I-HELP for woman and Victory Mission. Conversations regarding obtaining occupancy data from these programs have been promising.
• Non-funded programs will be invited to report data but cannot be required to report.
• Motel Voucher programs require the agency providing the voucher to verify there are no shelter bed availability before supplying the voucher to the consumer.
SOLUTIONS:
• Create a simplified data collection method that will keep service providers willing to participate, while creating the habit of transparency and encouraging better performance.
• Create a Google Survey that collects basic information on bed capacity, occupancy, and population served. Please note, "population served" in this context represents specific populations beds are allocated to (i.e. DV, Veterans, Women/Men/Families, etc.)
• Link the survey response to the reporting platform, Tableau, and format the data in an easy to read dashboard.
• Embed the dashboard into the Coalition's website so that it automatically updates once a new survey is submitted. This strategy would provide real-time data.
• Provide annual or semi-annual analysis of usage and inventory trends over time.
TIMELINE
CHSP has created and BETA tested the form. The Tableau Dashboard is now ready for use. The MOU with service providers has been signed.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The Monterey County Department of Social Services partnered with the Coalition of Homeless Service Providers.
FINANCING:
Receiving the update included in this report will not result in additional General Fund contributions.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
Receipt of this report and authorization of the proposed letter supports the selected Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives:
X Economic Development
__Administration
X Health & Human Services
X Infrastructure
Public Safety
Prepared by: Glorietta Rowland, Management Analyst II
Approved by: Lori A. Medina, Director of Social Services, Ext. 4430