The Homelessness Hub at UC San Diego is conducting a comprehensive inventory
and assessment of the service ecosystem in San Diego County, including the
temporary shelter network, street outreach, and safe sleeping and parking. This
proposal has been developed with Tamera Kohler, CEO of the Regional Taskforce
on Homelessness (RTFH), and other stakeholders, including service providers,
people with lived experience of homelessness, and representatives of City and
County.

Project Components

• Review Existing and Alternative Models for Temporary Shelter — Review of existing
  homeless shelter models nationally and internationally, as well as non-shelter forms of service
  delivery, to identify best practices that could be implemented locally.
• Mapping and Updating RTFH Service Ecosystem Data — Create inventory of temporary
  shelters, street outreach efforts, safe parking lots, and safe camping sites in San Diego County,
  using Geographic Information System (GIS) platform. Encompasses program characteristics
  including capacity, operator, services, age and condition of physical sites, target populations,
  regulations, and funding source. Mapping will identify service gaps within San Diego County.
• Analyze Homeless Management Information System (HMIS Data) — RTFH will analyze
  service access data for people in San Diego County as it is available within the HMIS system
  to identify service usage according to population groups, such as race, age, gender, disability,
  and veteran status.
• Conduct Case Studies — Case studies will provide us with a deeper understanding of system
  processes and population needs and will be focused on four regions representing central,
  north, south, and east county. They include:
  • Racial Equity/Black San Diegans: Black San Diegans comprise 5% of the general
    county population but 28% of the population experiencing homelessness. In this case
    study we will focus on the experiences of Black San Diegans within the service ecosystem
    to understand service access barriers and opportunities.
  • Families with Children: Insufficient shelter models serve the needs of families in San
    Diego County, especially for families headed by survivors of domestic violence and men.
    In this case study we will work with families with children to understand how they locate
    services that meet their needs, either within the traditional shelter system, hotel vouchers,
    or through alternative interventions including safe parking programs.
  • Families with Children: Insufficient shelter models serve the needs of families in San
    Diego County, especially for families headed by survivors of domestic violence and men.
    In this case study we will work with families with children to understand how they locate
    services that meet their needs, either within the traditional shelter system, hotel vouchers,
    or through alternative interventions including safe parking programs. focus on individuals impacted by PC-290. We will also address the role of substance use for this population, which can complicate shelter access.
  • Healthcare Coordination and Seniors: Older adults are the fastest growing population of
    people experiencing homelessness in San Diego in part because shelters often do not or
    cannot meet their needs. They are also more likely to need ongoing medical care, but
    typically lack consistent access. The role of health insurance companies in providing
    housing is growing, resulting in a landscape of services access that merits further study.

Project Deliverables

• Reports for each component of the project, including separate reports for each case study.
• Convenings of regional and state leaders to discuss how to improve service delivery and
  access.
• Implementation and funding tools that jurisdictions and other entities can use to better
  address service delivery shortcomings.

Collaborative, Community-Engaged Research that Centers Lived Experience

We are collaborating with community stakeholders in three important ways:

• Community Advisory Board (CAB) — Includes people with expertise in homelessness, policy, criminal justice, health, and/or housing, as well as lived experience of homelessness.
• Researchers in Training (RITs) — Homelessness Hub will provide compensated research methods training to 3 people with lived experience of homelessness who are interested in contributing to research on housing insecurity and homelessness. These individuals will collaborate on data collection and analysis.
• Cross-University Collaboration — Homelessness Hub, University of San Diego, and Urgent Challenges Collective are collaborative partners on this project.