San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chairman Nathan Fletcher proposed an analytics policy to help prevent homelessness.
The Homelessness Prevention Program would help county employees evaluate if a person is at risk of becoming homeless and offer support to keep them housed. The County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will decide on the proposal. The proposal also calls for the County Office of Homelessness Solutions to conduct direct outreach to individuals.
According to Fletcher's office, the program would use predictive analysis that leverages a comprehensive integrated data system to enable the county to address homelessness before it even begins.
“Existing programs often rely on varying entities for referrals to individuals most in need of resources to avoid homelessness. But many individuals in need might never receive the resources before they slip through the cracks,” Fletcher wrote in his board letter.
A predictive model would allow the county to be proactive to discover who is eligible for various support programs, according to a board letter.
The program could provide individuals at-risk of homelessness resources such as a case management plan, connection to services, or providing funds. Fletcher’s letter clarified that the program is “not intended to replace any existing program or funding model, but rather to streamline and predict who might be most in need of support to prevent homelessness.
In 2020, Los Angeles County government also approved using predictive analysis to prevent homelessness. The predictive tool was developed by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles to pill data from eight county agencies to assist outreach workers by focusing their attention and outreach to families believed to be at the greatest risk of homelessness.
According to Fletcher’s Office, Los Angeles County was able to effectively target its homeless prevention efforts to ensure that often limited resources go to those most in need.
According to Barbara Jimenez, community operations officer with the San Diego Department of Homeless Solutions, the county has just started using a new app-based technology developed by RevTech called the HSEC Outreach App.
The app will let 60 additional county employees connect homeless people with services, streamline referrals, and conduct better real-time tracking of encampments to allow for a quicker response, according to Fletcher’s office.
The app allows those in need to send a referral to the Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities, requesting that HSEC staff contact the homeless person and provide services. Basic information includes the homeless person's name, a description, and additional information.
HSEC staff would then assign the referral to an appropriate team member, who could respond the same day depending on the time of referral and submitted information, Fletcher's office said.
If the proposal is approved, the County Chief Administrative Officer will have 180 days to develop an analytics plan, which will need board approval.
