June 1, 2023

On Wednesday, the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) held their second quarterly meeting of the year. After a brief overview of the proposed homelessness investments included in the May Budget Revision, the Council spent the majority of the meeting discussing public feedback received on updates to the State Action Plan for Preventing and Ending Homelessness in California (Action Plan). Finally, the Council heard an update from the US Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) on recent federal projects, including information on the new ALL INside initiative.

In February, Cal ICH staff began working on the annual update to the Action Plan, which was originally adopted in March 2021 and updated in September 2022. In addition to holding targeted conversations with internal and external stakeholders, Cal ICH held two public input listening webinars in April and May. While collecting public feedback, Cal ICH staff noted a variety of themes, including the need for:

• Ongoing and flexible funding to support community needs and proven interventions.
• A focus on reducing racial disparities in homelessness and utilizing guidance from people with lived experience.
• Increasing the permanent housing supply to provide pathways out of the system for people experiencing homelessness.
• Streamlining administrative requirements and processes, including reporting and data metrics.
• Intentional and visible coordination, including leadership from the State to uplift community efforts and collaboration.

Cal ICH staff will continue stakeholder engagement as they work to update the Action Plan, which will come back to the Council for approval at the September 7 meeting.

Before adjourning, Cal ICH heard from Helene Schneider, Senior Regional Advisor for USICH. Earlier this month, the Biden Administration announced the ALL INside Initiative, a new federal partnership with targeted communities across the country to address unsheltered homelessness. USICH will be working with these communities, which include both Los Angeles and the broader State of California, to provide technical assistance, identify opportunities to reduce regulatory barriers, and streamline funding opportunities to reduce the number of people living unsheltered. USICH is in the process of finalizing their full-time federal leads who will be embedded in these select communities and will be announcing those leads in the coming weeks. Through this new initiative, USICH will be working with the State of California to focus on reducing unsheltered homelessness among three sub populations: veterans, older adults, and youth.

All meeting materials can be found on the Cal ICH website. A recording of the meeting should be available and posted on the Cal ICH webpage in the coming days.