Marin County staff outline progress, gaps and funding risks in homelessness system of care

Marin County Health and Human Services officials presented a study session on the county’s homelessness system of care, reviewing progress since 2018, current operations and funding risks and asking the Board of Supervisors for guidance on priorities and a strategic refresh.

The presentation, delivered by Dr. Lisa Varhos, director of Health and Human Services, with Chief Strategy Officer Nikkor Tyler and Gary Nagariz, director of Homelessness and Coordinated Care, highlighted measurable results from prior initiatives (including the Whole Person Care pilot and the county’s Housing First adoption), described a suite of temporary rental supports used to respond to voucher shortfalls, and laid out a forthcoming process for a countywide “strategic refresh” and a proposed communications campaign.

County staff said the Whole Person Care pilot yielded local health-use reductions among participants (a 26% reduction in emergency‑room visits and an 18% reduction in hospitalizations) and helped create about 100 units of permanent supportive housing. Staff also said coordinated entry (launched in 2018) and other local efforts contributed to reductions in chronic homelessness. Marin Health and Human Services reported that roughly 3,263 people have been placed into housing since 2016 and that, for households receiving rapid rehousing, a 96% retention rate at six months was reported.

Why this matters: staff and board members said the system has demonstrable successes but faces new limits because several major grants end in the next two to four years and the Marin Housing Authority declared a Section 8 voucher shortfall in August 2024.…