FRESNO COUNTY – As it looks for better ways to address the ever-growing crisis, Fresno County has continued its push to streamline the administration of resources through the new Office of Housing and Homelessness.

The Fresno County Board of Supervisors approved the creation of the Office of Housing and Homelessness (OHH), overseen by the County Administrative Officer’s (CAO) department, at its meeting on Nov. 18. Despite some initial questions and skepticism from Supervisor Brian Pacheco, the full board supported the recommended action presented by Deputy CAO Amina Flores-Becker. 

“The purpose for this recommendation is to provide centralized leadership, coordination and accountability for the county’s efforts to prevent and end homelessness,” Flores-Becker said. “In doing so, the office would coordinate … to align resources, advance effective solutions and ensure accountability for measurable progress toward ending homelessness in our region.” 

Flores-Becker said the OHH would act as the main point of contact in the county’s response to homelessness, coordinating between county programs, the county’s 15 incorporated cities, local nonprofit service providers and the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care. 

The creation of the OHH follows previous action taken by the board of supervisors to assert more control over the county’s response to homelessness.

In April, Fresno County became the “collaborative applicant” for federal funding, replacing the Fresno Housing Authority. Most recently, the board approved the county taking over the role of management entity for the continuum of care, a role previously held by the Poverello House. 

Flores-Becker said the county feels that the centralization of these administrative duties and the provision of homelessness services will help focus the county’s efforts to end homelessness. 

“We believe it increases accountability by creating a clear chain of command which is tied to outcome monitoring and management, and that chain of command runs up directly through the CAO’s office to your board,” Flores-Becker said. 

Much of the work that will be handled by the OHH is already being done by county staff, Flores-Becker said, just under different departments — mainly the Department of Social Services and the Department of Behavioral Health. This includes grant management and planning, handling service contracts and dealing with regional planning. The CAO’s homelessness unit also already manages homeless encampment resolution tasks. 

Flores-Becker said the immediate next steps will be to begin to move these functions over from their current departments to the new office. She said the initial discussion about the OHH estimated that the county will transfer six positions from DSS to the OHH. The county expects to make that transfer official through board action no later than March. 

County staff also plan to come back to the board next year, in November 2026, to provide an update on how the OHH is functioning, Flores-Becker said. 

Supervisor Luis Chavez said that he and Supervisor Nathan Magsig have been working with county staff on the broader issue of homelessness and he believes this action will be a step in the right direction. Chavez has said before that so many people have been working in their own silos with regard to homelessness response and these county actions will help encourage collaboration. 

Chavez also acknowledged that a past issue has been how much money the county spends on addressing homelessness within the city of Fresno compared to the remainder of the county but said he feels encouraged by the conversations happening with rural communities.

Other supervisors criticized the state’s response to homelessness and the way it has administered funding in the past but said they too have faith in county staff and the adjustments they are making to the administration of these programs. 

“We’ve thrown millions at this problem over the last five years, and in my opinion, we’re no better today than we were five years ago, so I don’t know how this is going to make it better,” Pacheco said. “Hopefully, it’ll make the dollars being thrown at this more efficient. I’m willing to try it, but again, I’m a little skeptical on this whole grand scheme of things.”