Report 2020-112 Recommendation 26 Responses

Report 2020-112: Homelessness in California: The State's Uncoordinated Approach to Addressing Homelessness Has Hampered the Effectiveness of Its Efforts (Release Date: February 2021)

Recommendation #26 To: Fresno, Housing Authority of the City of

To increase the efficiency of the coordinated entry process, the County of Fresno City Housing Authority should coordinate with its CoC to determine how long it takes to locate individuals after they have been matched with a service provider. Specifically, it should use the referral data that HUD required CoCs to collect as of October 2020 to determine whether locating individuals after they have been matched with a service provider is a cause of delay in providing them with services. If it finds that excessive delays exist, it should coordinate with its CoC to implement processes such as deploying a dedicated team to locate these individuals when appropriate housing and services become available.

1-Year Agency Response

The FMCoC misunderstood the information the State Auditor was trying to elicit. We have the mechanism to demonstrate the length of time between interactions and progress in our homeless response system, i.e., from the first interaction to housing. Such calculations have been used in the past to inform improvement in the national Built for Zero campaign. In terms of persons experiencing homelessness losing contact with the homeless response system, this occurs at every engagement stage. The FMCoC has dedicated Navigation and Outreach teams to find individuals at whatever interval that connection is lost. The FMCoC will agree that calculations ran more frequently can be analyzed, which will help determine where gaps may exist.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Will Not Implement

To determine any delays in locating individuals after their initial assessment to connect them with service providers, we reviewed whether the Fresno City Housing Authority assessed the necessary data to conduct such an analysis. During our audit the Fresno City Housing Authority confirmed that the Fresno-Madera CoC has not conducted such an analysis and that the CoC does not track the needed data, which we describe in the report. Further, although the Fresno City Housing Authority states in its response that the CoC has dedicated navigation and outreach teams to find individuals, it did not provide us with any evidence demonstrating the existence of these teams or an assessment of the teams' impact on reducing delays in locating individuals referred for services. We note that the Fresno City Housing Authority agrees in its response that analyzing time elapsed between initial interaction with an individual and when the CoC connects the individual to a service provider will help it to determine where delays may exist, which is consistent with our recommendation.

6-Month Agency Response

The FMCoC misunderstood the information the State Auditor was trying to elicit. We have the mechanism to demonstrate the length of time between interactions and progress in our homeless response system, i.e., from the first interaction to housing. Such calculations have been used in the past to inform improvement in the national Built for Zero campaign. In terms of persons experiencing homelessness losing contact with the homeless response system, this occurs at every engagement stage. The FMCoC has dedicated Navigation and Outreach teams to find individuals at whatever interval that connection is lost. The FMCoC will agree that calculations ran more frequently can be analyzed, which will help determine where gaps may exist.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Will Not Implement

To determine any delays in locating individuals after their initial assessment to connect them with service providers, we reviewed whether the Fresno City Housing Authority assessed the necessary data to conduct such an analysis. During our audit the Fresno City Housing Authority confirmed that the Fresno-Madera CoC has not conducted such an analysis and that the CoC does not track the needed data, which we describe in the report. Further, although the Fresno City Housing Authority states in its response that the CoC has dedicated navigation and outreach teams to find individuals, it did not provide us with any evidence demonstrating the existence of these teams or an assessment of the teams' impact on reducing delays in locating individuals referred for services. We note that the Fresno City Housing Authority agrees in its response that analyzing time elapsed between initial interaction with an individual and when the CoC connects the individual to a service provider will help it to determine where delays may exist, which is consistent with our recommendation.

60-Day Agency Response

The FMCoC misunderstood the information the State Auditor was trying to elicit. We have the mechanism to demonstrate the length of time between interactions and progress in our homeless response system, i.e., from the first interaction to housing. Such calculations have been used in the past to inform improvement in the national Built for Zero campaign. In terms of persons experiencing homelessness losing contact with the homeless response system, this occurs at every engagement stage. The FMCoC has dedicated Navigation and Outreach teams to find individuals at whatever interval that connection is lost. The FMCoC will agree that calculations ran more frequently can be analyzed, which will help determine where gaps may exist.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Will Not Implement

To determine any delays in locating individuals after their initial assessment to connect them with service providers, we reviewed whether the Fresno City Housing Authority assessed the necessary data to conduct such an analysis. During our audit the Fresno City Housing Authority confirmed that the Fresno-Madera CoC has not conducted such an analysis and that the CoC does not track the needed data, which we describe in the report. Further, although the Fresno City Housing Authority states in its response that the CoC has dedicated navigation and outreach teams to find individuals, it did not provide us with any evidence demonstrating the existence of these teams or an assessment of the teams' impact on reducing delays in locating individuals referred for services. We note that the Fresno City Housing Authority agrees in its response that analyzing time elapsed between initial interaction with an individual and when the CoC connects the individual to a service provider will help it to determine where delays may exist, which is consistent with our recommendation.

All Recommendations in 2020-112

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.