Healthy and Safe Communities

Provide quality and equitable housing, health, and human services for all.

Why is Healthy and Safe Communities a Strategic Plan Pillar?

Sonoma County’s collective well-being and prosperity are impacted by ensuring that Sonoma County provides quality and equitable housing and public safety services, as well as health and human services for all.

Integrating Sonoma County’s System of Care:

Historically, the services provided by the County of Sonoma have been disparate and siloed. In April 2017, the Board of Supervisors prioritized strengthening the County’s Safety Net System, which identifies the most vulnerable residents and develops coordinated strategies to improve their well-being, self-sufficiency, and recovery.

Under the ACCESS initiative, Sonoma County’s Safety Net departments, including Department of Health Services, Human Services Department, Community Development Commission, Child Support, Public Defender, District Attorney, Probation, Sheriff’s Office, and community-based organizations, are actively working to integrate services to ensure that community members of Sonoma County receive coordinated care, no matter how the individual enters the Safety Net System. A common goal is to reduce homelessness through this collaborative system of care.

More information about ACCESS

Data-driven Results:

Sonoma County’s Safety Net departments will track the results of their work together using Results-Based Accountability (RBA) for key programs to establish common outcome measures. Performance measures will focus on whether consumers of services are better off as a result of the services, as well as help to identify equitable distribution of services and address disproportionate racial and social impacts.

Pillar Goals and Objectives

Goal 1: Expand integrated system of care to address gaps in services to the County’s most vulnerable.

Objective 1: Seek legislation to eliminate barriers to data sharing between Safety Net departments (Human Services, Health Services, Community Development Commission, Probation, Child Support and others) by 2023.
Objective 2: Identify gaps in the Safety Net system of services and identify areas where departments can address those gaps directly, and seek guidance from the Board when additional resources and/or policy direction is needed.
Objective 3: Create a “no wrong door” approach where clients who need services across multiple departments and programs are able to access the array of services needed regardless of where they enter the system.

Goal 2: Establish equitable and data-driven distribution of services.

Objective 1: Safety Net departments will begin tracking data using results-based accountability (RBA) for key programs to establish common outcome measures, such as increased service access and utilization by communities of color, or decreased homelessness and poverty rates across the County.
Objective 2: Develop and implement dashboard tracking tools to collect data on common outcome measures across Safety Net departments by 2026.
Objective 3: Identify and eliminate data gaps for underrepresented groups, and collaborate with the community to implement measures to mitigate the negative impacts caused by the lack of access to services by racial and ethnic groups that are disproportionately under-served by 2026.

Goal 3: In collaboration with cities, increase affordable housing development near public transportation and easy access to services.

Objective 1: Rezone 59 unincorporated urban sites suitable for housing development, increasing density allowance from 354 units to 2,975 units, and partner with developers and the community to break ground on as many sites as possible by 2026.
Objective 2: Partner with cities to build a strategic plan for homeless prevention and housing strategies by 2023.
Objective 3: Create incentives for developers to promote affordable housing development in the County.

Goal 4: Reduce the County's overall homeless population by 10% each year by enhancing services through improved coordination and collaboration.

Objective 1: Conduct a peer review of neighboring counties, other agencies, and successful models in other states to identify best practices for preventing and reducing homelessness through various housing options and supportive service models.
Objective 2: Partner with cities to build a strategic plan for homeless prevention and housing strategies by 2023.
Objective 3: Increase investment in programs that treat underlying causes of homelessness, including substance abuse, mental illness, poverty, and lack of affordable housing.
Objective 4: Create a housing resource tool for Safety Net departments to efficiently assist residents with accessing available housing by 2022.
Objective 5: Continue to collaborate with local partners, including Continuum of Care, to advance planning and policies to address homelessness.

Goal 5: Continue to invest in public safety so that residents and visitors feel safe in our community.

Objective 1: Continue to invest in cultural responsiveness and de-escalation training and techniques for County law enforcement workforce.
Objective 2: Better integrate services and handoffs within the Safety Net departments.
Objective 3: Assess and determine the most appropriate community response program to respond to individuals in the community experiencing a psychiatric emergency, including an analysis whether to expand the Mobile Support Team, and bring a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors by 2023.
Objective 4: Expand detention alternatives with the goal of reducing the jail population, from pre-pandemic levels, by 15% at the end of 2022, while simultaneously reducing recidivism amongst the supervised offender population.
Objective 5: Conduct outreach and engagement campaign with communities to build and strengthen community and law enforcement relationships, including education on the difference between calling 2-1-1 and 9-1-1.

Contact Information

Policy, Grants, and Special Projects Division

County Administrators' Office

Business Hours

Monday – Friday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Address

County Administration Building

575 Administration Drive

Suite 104A

Santa Rosa, CA 95403

38.4649057, -122.7277385

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