homeless shelter Roseville Road<\/a>, located in his North Sacramento district, had a 65% rate of what they audit called \u201cnegative exits\u201d meaning they returned to homelessness or their whereabouts were unknown.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m curious whether it’s because we may stabilize people there but have no place for them to go to the next step toward a better permanent outcome, or because of other factors,\u201d he questioned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the whole, the audit recommended the city figure out what it wants to achieve from its homeless shelter programs. It also called on the city to increase the number of shelter beds in congregate settings so that it can house as many people as possible. In addition, it recommended the city revisit good neighbor policies and standardize what data it wants all service providers to collect from shelter participants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The committee agreed with all recommendations except increasing congregate shelter beds, meaning shelters with large dorm-style residential settings. Councilmember Eric Guerra expressed concern over the idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’ve shown that they have their own challenges. And it goes back to outcomes,\u201d Guerra said. \u201cWe might be able to jam them up with people but does that create client progress? No. They\u2019ll probably end up back in the emergency room or country jail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vice Mayor Karina Talamantes noted that they can\u2019t ignore one of the root issues with homelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have such a large gap for affordable housing,\u201d Talamantes said. \u201cPeople are ready to leave our shelters but they can\u2019t leave because there\u2019s nowhere for them to go because they have a job making minimum wage, maybe working 40 hours, and the current cost of living in Sacramento is so expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advocates weigh in on audit\u00a0<\/p>\n
Angela Hassell, executive director of homeless nonprofit Loaves and Fishes, said although much of the data makes it hard to come to concrete conclusions on what\u2019s working, it still points to problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact \u200awe have people that matriculate out pretty frequently and kind of time out with there being no next step or no bed for that next step means we have a fairly ineffective system that isn’t utilizing the resources well enough to keep people in until they’re ready to be out,\u201d Hassell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hassell also acknowledged the city\u2019s harsh enforcement on encampment sweeps can make people reluctant to accept services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not a way to build trust,\u201d Hassell said. \u201cThat isn\u2019t going to give somebody the internal motivation to take those next steps and move forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arturo Baiocchi, a Sacramento State Professor of Social work and homeless advocate,said the city council needs to figure out what matters more to them \u2013 serving as many people as possible or providing better services to fewer people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe report mentioned this tension of serving as many people as possible will run against another goal of actually trying to help people,\u201d he said. \u201cWhere you draw the line is kind of a political question.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Budget and Audit Committee forwarded the audit to the city council for review and it is expected to be heard on June 23 during their afternoon meeting. <\/p>\n
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