Santa Cruz County Grand Jury
• 2015-2016
Recipe for Failure: Shrinking Budgets and Increasing Needs for Emergency Homeless Shelters
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 7 findings
F1
Local jurisdictions have not provided adequate emergency shelter to accommodate the vast majority (80%) of the more than 3,500 total homeless persons in Santa Cruz County (using 2013 PIT data).
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Scotts Valley should develop plans to provide increased emergency shelter on a priority basis to the most vulnerable populations first, including families, youth, women, and the elderly. (F1F6)
F2
Despite persistent unmet need, local jurisdictions have neither increased nor planned to increase the number of emergency shelter beds and services.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Scotts Valley should develop plans to provide increased emergency shelter on a priority basis to the most vulnerable populations first, including families, youth, women, and the elderly. (F1F6)
F3
The effectiveness of the North County Emergency Winter Shelter is limited by its reliance on the National Guard Armory facility. 12
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Scotts Valley should seek a more permanent, accessible and expandable site for the North County Emergency Winter Shelter program. (F3, F4)
F4
The absence of a backup plan to replace the National Guard Armory threatens the continuing existence of the North County Emergency Winter Shelter program.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Scotts Valley should seek a more permanent, accessible and expandable site for the North County Emergency Winter Shelter program. (F3, F4)
F5
Insufficient capacity of emergency shelters limits their potential use as an entry point to the planned coordinated entry system.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Scotts Valley should develop plans to provide increased emergency shelter on a priority basis to the most vulnerable populations first, including families, youth, women, and the elderly. (F1F6)
F6
Insufficient numbers of personnel and case managers at the emergency shelters limit the services that can be provided to homeless individuals.
Related Recommendations (2)
R1
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Scotts Valley should develop plans to provide increased emergency shelter on a priority basis to the most vulnerable populations first, including families, youth, women, and the elderly. (F1F6)
R3
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Scotts Valley should allocate more funds for additional case managers for the local emergency shelters. (F6)
F7
Insufficient number of staff dedicated to grant writing results in missed grant funding opportunities.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and the cities of Santa Cruz, Capitola and Scotts Valley should allocate additional staff to seek more grant funding for emergency shelters. (F7)
Commendations 1
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CM1 Page 13C1. The Grand Jury commends Santa Cruz County, the Homeless Action Partnership, local jurisdictions, and nonprofit organizations for their collaborative efforts to implement evidencebased programs and solutions, including the coordinated entry system, to relieve homelessness. C2. The Grand Jury commends local jurisdictions and nonprofit organizations for their ongoing collaborative efforts to fund and operate local emergency shelters. 13
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.