Housing Dept. to Continue Continuum of Care Homelessness Plan Presentation at Committee Meeting Tuesday

Pasadena’s Department of Housing will continue presenting a draft of the Pasadena Continuum of Care five-year Homelessness Plan on Tuesday, Jan. 30, during a special meeting of the City Council’s Economic Development and Technology (EDTech) Committee.

Housing Director William Huang and Homeless Programs Coordinator Jennifer O’Reilly-Jones started presenting the draft last October. According to the initial presentation, the Homelessness Plan creates an initial framework and sets aggressive goals for reducing homelessness in Pasadena over the next five years.

“Reaching these goals will require the collective action of the community around proven, evidence-based strategies and innovative approaches that maximize available

Resources,” part of the draft said. “Founded on the commitment to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring, this Plan aims to establish an equitable, accessible, and compassionate system for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.”

The plan, developed with input from more than 415 stakeholders and subject matter experts, is built around five action areas: Systemwide Planning, Equity and Respect, Crisis Response, Housing and Supports, and Prevention.

As part of the broader planning process, the Continuum of Care (CoC) has set the following quantitative targets to achieve by 2029: a 50% reduction in annual homelessness systemwide, parity in access and outcomes for marginalized groups compared to other participants, year-round shelter beds for 80% of people who are unhoused on any given night, 1,110 people permanently housed, and a 15% reduction in inflows.

The draft showed achieving these targets will require investment in 150 additional units of permanent housing and 70 new shelter beds over the next five years. It also said the CoC will re-assess inflows regularly and update projections accordingly if needed based on the changing landscape.

The Homelessness Plan was developed through extensive community engagement, including input from individuals who at one time were actually homeless, marginalized groups, service providers, stakeholders, and regional partners.

On contracts with the city, CityWise and Public Policy Associates conducted a needs assessment during the summer of 2022, involving focus groups, interviews with regional partners, listening sessions with key stakeholders, and an online survey. Feedback from these engagements provided the basis for a quantitative gaps analysis, which highlighted the need for permanent, affordable housing in the city to address homelessness effectively.

Based on the findings, draft goals for the Homelessness Plan were presented to the CoC Board and five City commissions, including the Human Services Commission and the Planning Commission, whose members provided input, and planning workgroups were established around the five action areas.

These workgroups, comprising diverse stakeholders and subject matter experts, met in several sessions to develop strategies aligned with the identified needs and gaps in the homeless response system.