Today we look at a community-wide campaign headed by the Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing with the goal of ending Family Homelessness by 2025. Heading Home is based on four key strategies that help families stabilize their lives and avoid or exit homelessness. We learn the meaning of “functional zero” and how this campaign moves our community toward that elusive goal. It's no small feat, but with help from partners like Destination: Home, the City of San José, and many non-profit organizations, families won't have to face the daunting risk of homelessness alone.
Episode 24: Heading Home Program – Ending Family Homelessness
Welcome to Dwellings, a podcast from the City of San José Housing Department, where we talk with experts about ending homelessness, building affordable housing, and key housing policies. I'm Jeff Scott, and Ill be your host for season four of Dwellings. On today's episode, I'm joined by Hilary Armstrong, deputy director of the Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing(OSH). We're going to be talking about a community-wide campaign to end family homelessness by 2025 and what it means to achieve functional zero for family homelessness.
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JS: Welcome, Hilary, and thank you for joining us.
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HA: Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here. I'm Hilary Armstrong and I am currently one of our two deputy directors here at the Office of Supportive Housing(OSH). My current areas of work include our Continuum of Care, which is our system that provides supportive housing and other services for folks who have been experiencing homelessness throughout our county. And I also work closely on our housing initiatives, which includes the Heading Home campaign.
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JS: Thanks, Hilary. So why don't you start off by trying to educate our audience a little bit about Heading Home? What exactly is that campaign and what are the goals? What's the purpose of that campaign?
00;01;17;23 - 00;02;08;11
HA: The Heading Home campaign was launched almost two years ago in the fall of 2021, and the idea was really that no families should be living on our streets in our community. And so the campaign brought together some key partners, including the county of Santa Clara, the city of San Jose, the county of Santa Clara Housing Authority, Destination: Home, and then some funders who all worked together to map out a plan to reach what we call functional zero for families, meaning that we're able to provide housing placements for folks at a higher rate than folks are entering homelessness. So really, the idea is that we want to prevent homelessness and then for our families and then if families do fall into homelessness, we want to resolve that homelessness as quickly as possible.
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JS: What are the agencies who are kind of taking the lead? From an operational point of view, kind of day in and day out executing this campaign?
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HA: Yeah. So the office of Supportive Housing here at the County has been one of the leads on the day in and day out, really kind of trying to pull together the various threads of the campaign because this work to end homelessness for our families is goes across a spectrum of all of the services that we provide and that our key partners provide. And so, for instance, with our prevention system, we've been working very closely with the city of San Jose and with Destination Home and with our entire network of homelessness prevention services partners. And so in each of these, the county has been working with each of the key players in the city, has been a huge partner throughout kind of each area of the campaign. So making sure that we have emergency housing resources for families who are either on the streets or living in cars and providing those emergency and interim housing options for families along with the county and system of providers. And the Housing authority has been a really integral partner because one of the main strategies of the campaign has been to leverage this opportunity that came about for emergency housing vouchers, which was tied to the federal COVID recovery funding. And these vouchers provide at least ten years of housing subsidy for folks who've been experiencing homelessness. And in our community. As part of this campaign, we came to an agreement to really focus this really, really unusual and unprecedented resource to focus on housing our families and in providing the supportive services to help keep them housed.
00;04;02;03 - 00;04;15;28
JS: Can you tell us or give us a sense of the scale of family homelessness? I assume it's fairly substantial, and that's why it was decided that this campaign was necessary. But maybe you can tell our audience, give them a feel for the scope of the problem.
00;04;16;00 - 00;05;25;15
HA:
Yeah, sure. You know, we realized based on our data that about 600 families per year were entering homelessness. And so, you know, obviously, that's way more than we would like to see. And, you know, it is it is a smaller portion of the number of kind of total individuals experiencing homelessness every year, which is just slightly shy of 10,000 in our community. Based on our point in time count that we do every two years and that we just completed in January of 2023. But, you know, given the huge ramifications for young children who experience homelessness and the trauma associated with it, and just the idea that our families should be provided with the resources that they need to be safe and to thrive in our community, we really don't want to see these numbers of folks. So, you know, through the past 18 months of a campaign like the first year and a half, we were able to provide housing to about 923 families. So and we're getting to the point of being on track to really reach that functional zero. But it is a challenge.
00;05;25;17 - 00;05;35;23
JS: This might seem like a silly question, but just help us understand this. What is a family? Do you guys have a working definition for a family when you talk about this campaign?
00;05;35;26 - 00;06;41;25
HA: That's a great question. Yeah, and it's actually goes a little farther. So we include households that have any minor child under the age of 18, and we also include pregnant people in this definition. So making sure and that's been kind of one of the targets of the campaign has been making sure that if there are any folks who are pregnant and either living on the streets or in cars or other areas not meant for habitation, that we're connecting them as soon as possible with shelter resources. So there's a shelter priority for folks who are pregnant and that we're also getting them connected to this continuum of services as soon as possible. And we do, you know, have more need then shelter space. So that's something that our community is working on overall is expanding our shelter capacity. But within the space that we do have our shelter hotline through the Bill Wilson Center Here4You Hotline has the ability to prioritize folks if they call in who are pregnant.
00;06;42;03 - 00;06;58;21
JS: Okay. So if we're talking about 600 families roughly, who are homeless when this campaign began, we're actually probably talking about, well over a thousand, maybe close to 2000 individual people in those 600 families. Is that correct?
00;06;58;23 - 00;07;13;19
HA: That's correct. Yeah. And, you know, among the folks who were housed, it was it was 923 families with children, but actually total over 3000 people. Given the size of various families.
00;07;13;21 - 00;07;27;06
JS: So that's a that's a big chunk of we're talking about approximately 10,000 people who are homeless in our community, roughly. And this is about one third of that total. If I'm if my math is correct.
00;07;27;06 - 00;08;33;06
HA: Yeah, that we're housed over about 18 months. And so, you know, I think that while that is huge progress, then the challenge is making sure that we're preventing other folks from becoming unhoused in the meantime. So I think that's one of the critical pieces of this. And every campaign is making sure that we're going across the continuum of services. So that's why one of the main strategies of the campaign has also been a focus on our homelessness prevention system and trying to increase the capacity of that system up to about 2500 households per year. And we're getting close. We're getting close. We're at this point we were able to serve 1500 families with children and then the homelessness prevention services system has increased capacity. And that system also is great because it provides really flexible funds for families and includes case management. So to really help them get at the root causes of their homelessness and can provide more than one time assistance for folks, which we found is really critical given the extremely high costs of housing in our community.
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JS: And when you talk about a piece of the homelessness prevention system, the primary mechanism there is cash assistance, financial assistance to families who are housed currently, where they are potentially at risk of losing their housing.
00;10;19;03 - 00;10;53;01
HA: That's correct. You know, one of the things that we are doing through that system, there's been an evaluation and research study based on the homelessness prevention system that has really shown and the impact that that can have on families to really get someway upstream. It's so, kind of, nearing crisis, but trying to prevent the trauma of being displaced and becoming unhoused and really trying to help folks stabilize in place and a place where someone's living is not sustainable for them. The case management services can help them explore and potentially other options for moving. That doesn't include the disruption of an eviction and homelessness. And there's also a legal services component of the homelessness prevention system that includes assistance for folks who may be facing eviction because we know that having an eviction on your record can lead to kind of more and more instability in your housing going forward and is one of the leading causes of homelessness, as you know, being evicted due to not being able to pay rent. So we're excited about the success of that program and kind of always looking for ways to connect that to our other services. And another thing that I would want folks to know about is for folks who are enrolled in our Rapid Rehousing program, which is a program that provides tapering rental subsidies over usually 2 to 3 years for folks who will then eventually take over the rent. We had some folks who are severely rent burdened. And so as part of the Heading Home campaign, we actually moved those folks into the Emergency Housing Voucher program so that they could then have this ongoing subsidy for their rent and have just a much more sustainable rental situation going forward. So that's one way that the campaign involves are different kind of modes of service and making sure that we're moving folks between different housing interventions to provide them with what they need.
00;10;53;04 - 00;11;29;05
JS: And just to back up to the homelessness prevention system, in addition to preventing the trauma that can come from being outdoors, living unhoused, both physical and mental trauma, it's also my understanding that it is far less expensive to help someone stay in housing rather than get them housing once they're on the street. And so the this investment that we're making in the homelessness prevention system is actually a much more cost effective way to help solve or address homelessness. Now, is my understanding, correct?
00;11;29;15 - 00;12;01;12
HA: That's absolutely right. And I'm so glad that you brought that up. Absolutely. And that's one of the things that our study really we view that kind of in our in our brains and based on our experience. And the study really backed that up. So in addition to the kind of human toll, homelessness prevention is a really smart investment of public and philanthropic funding to maintain folks in their housing or help them find new housing that better meets their needs and is more manageable going forward. So absolutely.
00;12;02;04 - 00;12;09;23
JS: How are you doing towards the goal or how are we collectively doing towards our goal of reaching functional zero for family homelessness?
00;12;09;26 - 00;14;11;03
HA: Yeah, thanks so much for asking that. You know, I think we talk a lot of data. And so I think one thing for folks in the community to know is that we are we are reviewing metrics for each of our programs and each of our campaigns on a regular at least monthly basis to really understand what we're seeing out there in our system and what the needs are and what the data are showing us is that we are making strides in terms of the rate in which we're placing folks in permanent housing. So I think for the first few months of the campaign, we were placing 25 to 40 families in a permanent housing situation per month. And in the first quarter of 2023, that was up to 75 to 90. So 2 to 3 times as many families. And, you know, a big part of this was the influx of this emergency housing voucher resource. Another part of it is the fact that we have a number of housing developments funded through our measure, affordable housing bonds and through the city's Measure E and other funding sources that are coming online that have family units. And so folks may remember in prior years and prior elections, the vote the voters passed these measures to help fund affordable housing in our community and in the city. And we're really starting to see kind of the fruits of that labor, as many of these affordable housing complexes are opening, especially this year. We're seeing just a lot of new, new opportunities that include units for families. And so that's one of the biggest challenges for folks who are looking for affordable housing, is that it's hard to find larger units that are, you know, two, three, four bedroom units. And so a number of these new, affordable and subsidized housing opportunities have those family unit. So I think it's a combination of the emergency housing voucher resource and the new housing opportunities coming online.
00;14;12;04 - 00;14;22;23
JS: And are you and the team at the office, are you optimistic that by 2025 you will achieve or be close to achieving that goal, a functional zero?
00;14;23;00 - 00;16;58;05
HA: I think we're cautiously optimistic, and I say that because we need to keep our eyes on the ball here and I think constantly kind of re upping our commitment to dedicate resources and find new resources to fund all of the components of our services for families. So I think we need, you know, our homelessness prevention system has received a lot of funding through the county, through the city, through private partners. Destination: Home has done an amazing job of bringing along partners for that. And I think working toward sustainable ongoing funding for that system that's just been proven to be such an effective intervention, both kind of human costs wise and financially. And I think similarly we are maintaining our commitment to developing and supporting affordable housing development in our community. And as folks may know, we're nearing kind of the tail end of our our county affordable housing bonds. And so just looking forward to ways to fund affordable housing development in the future. And depending on kind of what comes up in the voters and future elections around this, but really in necessity of continuing to keep that housing development pipeline going for families. Similarly, I think both the city and the county and other cities in the county have really been focusing on shelter and emergency housing needs for families. And so that is one of our current areas of a pain point is just having not enough resources in terms of emergency shelter and permanent housing for families. So again, trying to expand capacity in both of those areas. So I think with a concerted, continuing, concerted effort on each of these focus areas of the campaign, that we can get very close or close or actually to this functional zero goal over the next three years. But it's it's definitely a situation that's dynamic and evolving. And we recognize also kind of the external factors that are huge in all of our efforts to address homelessness. And so kind of being prepared for if there are economic uncertainties ahead or other challenges that just continue to exacerbate our housing affordable housing crisis here.
00;16;58;29 - 00;17;20;03
JS: And for people listening who might be wondering what's the difference between regular housing and emergency housing, I think when you say emergency housing, we're talking about things like tiny homes and modular housing units that are that are built quickly and are not meant to house people permanently, but just kind of as a transition.
00;17;20;05 - 00;18;44;10
HA: Exactly. Yeah. Thanks for making that clarification. Yeah, I think, you know, traditionally we had kind of a system of shelters and folks may kind of picture, you know, kind of a large congregate setting. And I think, you know, certainly over the years and kind of accelerated by the COVID 19 pandemic, we as a system, including the city, the county and other partners, have really been looking especially for families at more private spaces. So we have the Evans Lane interim housing facility for families that the city runs and coordinates. And then we have Casitas de Esperanza, which is located at the County Civic Center, which includes some tiny homes for families and and really just creating a sense of community for folks as they're in this emergency phase of kind of getting off the streets or out of their cars or into a more stable situation. And then the hope and what we do see from the data are that folks move from the emergency shelter, interim housing into a permanent housing situation. Sometimes it's private rental and sometimes they're getting an emergency housing voucher that subsidized. Sometimes they're being placed in our rapid rehousing programs, either at one of the new affordable housing complexes or they have a basically a subsidy that they can take on the private rental market.
00;18;44;21 - 00;19;13;06
JS: In terms of the approach, as you've mentioned, a number of different very important components of this from the homelessness prevention system in emergency housing and continuing to build new affordable housing case management. You mentioned so many things. Are these approaches that you're taking to address family homelessness? Are these similar to approaches that are used for other groups, or are there anything that's kind of idiosyncratic to addressing family homelessness?
00;19;13;08 - 00;21;13;22
HA: The question I think they certainly build our entire system is built on this continuum. So for homeless individuals or for homeless families that don't have minor children, it would be very similar range of services from housing prevention to housing problem solving to emergency shelter and crisis response to our permanent supportive housing programs and subsidies. I think the difference is probably just the concerted focus of some of these resources and really making sure that we're meeting the needs of families. And so I think two areas where that's really been a factor in our campaign is the leveraging of these emergency housing vouchers. So this resource came through The federal government to the housing authority in our community, made the decision to focus this on families who are unhoused. And so I think, you know, certainly that focus of that resource really was able we were able to move more families more quickly into housing. And that has been kind of a huge jumpstart. I think, for this campaign. And I think the other thing, like I said before, is in looking at our housing production and really trying to increase the availability of affordable housing for families, that includes those larger units. And so when we look at the family affordable housing that's coming online, we have 860 new units of affordable housing for families that we know will come online by 2025. And there might be even more. And we've had a couple of we have a couple of complexes that are opening or have opened like Mesa Terrace recently opened in San Jose and has both subsidized and affordable units for families. And then we have the Italia Apartments that should be opening in the next couple of months also in San Jose. So in some some complexes in other cities.
00;21;14;18 - 00;21;25;07
JS: Based on your experience or in talking to your counterparts elsewhere, is that tight working relationship between San Jose and Santa Clara County? Is that unusual or is that the norm?
00;21;25;09 - 00;22;36;18
HA: You know, that's such a good question. I think it's a real I think it's really seen as a model. And I know that in talking to folks on the kind of state and national level, I'm our close collaboration in constant kind of working together between in particular the county, the city, the housing authority and destination home, which is a public private partnership to accelerate our efforts to address homelessness in our community is unique. And I know that there are kind of we talk to partners about it and it's really seen as a model. And I think it's wonderful and we're so lucky. And it's also built on a lot of hard work between each of those partners and just constant collaboration and trust between the partners to really be open and honest about challenges so that we can move forward and best leverage our resources. So we're not working across purposes and we're all clearly aligned on on our goals, which is, I think, one of the key underpinnings of our of our family campaign here.
00;22;37;02 - 00;22;51;18
JS: And based on the progress and the great work that's being done on this Heading Home campaign, do you anticipate or does is the county looking at doing similar campaigns? Can you just enlighten us on anything that might be coming down the pipeline?
00;22;51;20 - 00;25;18;15
HA:
Absolutely. Yeah. And, you know, the heading home campaign was actually modeled after a campaign to resolve veteran homelessness that a similar group of partners embarked on around five years ago and has been highly successful. So in additionally adding the partnership with the Veterans Administration, the VA, we are seeing really low rates of veteran homelessness in our community as a result. And very similarly, the focus was on whatever resources we had at our disposal to serve veterans and resolve their homelessness as quickly as possible, as well as to prevent their homelessness and just a constant coordination between the agencies that are serving veterans to better understand the needs and make sure that we can quickly pull together resources. Being creative with funds like there's like a kind of start up funding for folks to get furnishings for their apartment when someone moves in off the streets and just helping them with case management to adjust to living in an apartment complex after so many years on the street making sure their medical care is coordinated. So I think the veteran campaign really was kind of a founding model for the heading home campaign. And we certainly, I think, are looking at other sub populations who might benefit from this kind of targeted resource. We also have some programs like our Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program, which is funded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and includes some really cool about five new programs serving youth and young adults in our community and is very much coordinated and led by our Youth Action Board, which is a board of folks who are between the ages of 18 and 26 and have lived expertise based on lived experience of homelessness. And they really advise the programing of our youth homelessness programs and provide input and feedback to our providers of these services. So I think it's definitely something that we are thinking about, and I think part of it is also making sure that we have the resources to really see a campaign through. And that being said, we are always focused on kind of keeping our core homelessness response and housing system going so that we can work to resolve homelessness across the community.
00;25;19;15 - 00;25;36;19
JS: Well, this has been great, Hilary. This has been enlightening and fascinating. And thank you for sharing all of your experience and insights. Is there anything else that you would like to share or their audience and everything else you'd like them to know about Heading Home or about any of the other great work that OSH is doing?
00;25;36;21 - 00;27;09;22
HA:
Yeah, I think, you know, I so appreciate the time to be here and to all the listeners. I appreciate your interest and focused on these issues. And what I would say is I think that it takes all of us and all of our focus on each of the different strategies to end homelessness for families and for individuals in our community. And so I think one of the things that I'll leave you with is a couple of resources for folks. If they need to provide information to anyone, I want to provide you with our homelessness prevention system. The phone number for that system is 4089268885. And that is our system that provides rental assistance, financial assistance and case management for anyone who is unstable house and facing the loss of their housing. Again, that number is 4089268885. I also want to provide you with our Here for You hotline, which is open seven days a week. And this hotline provides connection to shelter and housing problem solving for folks who are unhoused and need those resources, including families. And that hotline number is 408385 2400. And again, that's 408385 2400. And then finally, I wanted to let everyone know about our website for the campaign, which is heading home as the dot org. And you can check that for the latest data on the campaign and any other information.
00;27;09;27 - 00;27;24;06
JS: Well, that's fantastic. Thanks for sharing those resources with our audience, Hilary. Again, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us today. And hopefully we'll have future opportunities to talk more as the campaign reaches a successful conclusion.
00;27;24;08 - 00;27;28;28
HA: Fantastic. I would love that. Thank you so much for having me. And thanks to everyone for listening.
00;27;29;00 - 00;28;17;19
JS: Thanks so much, Hilary, for joining me for today's episode. Thanks for listening to Dwellings, the City of San José Housing Department podcast. Our theme music is “Speed City,” composed and performed by Etienne Charles. Thanks to San José Jazz for letting us use their music. If you like the show, please subscribe and share with your friends and family. If you're looking for more ways to get involved with housing and homelessness response, please check out the show notes. You can follow the Housing Department on social media. We're on Twitter and Facebook at S J city housing. If you have questions or comments about today's episode, please send them to housingcomms@sanJoséca.gov. Our artwork is by Chelsea Palacio. Dwellings is produced by me, Jeff Scott and Jose Chavez of the Housing Department.