The Shasta County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved a budget amendment and salary resolution to add a drug-and-alcohol counselor to the county Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) to support a new veterans homelessness plan.

The vote was 5-0 after a presentation from Christy Coleman, interim agency director for Health and Human Services, and Troy Payne, the county Veteran Service Officer, who described a networked approach pairing the Veterans Service Office (VSO) with local veteran organizations such as Our Hero’s Dreams and Nation’s Finest.

Coleman said the plan starts with a call to the Veterans Service Office and then routes each veteran to the local agency best positioned to meet immediate needs. "The VSO will do an intake form and will be able to try to verify the veteran status," Coleman said. "Based on the needs of the veteran, the VSO will reach out to a local veteran agency." Payne added, "This has been a labor of love. This collaboration that we're putting together ... has been prepared by veterans for veterans."

Why it matters: County leaders and veteran organizations said the approach focuses limited county resources where they believe they will do the most immediate good: identifying veterans, vetting eligibility, providing urgent care or short-term shelter, and then connecting people to longer-term housing supports such as HUD VASH vouchers, rapid rehousing or transitional housing. The board also approved using opioid settlement funds in the near term to underwrite the counselor position.

What the plan says and what the board approved
- The plan establishes the VSO as the program’s hub and single point of contact for people who see or encounter a homeless veteran. Coleman described the role as a "hub of this program," able to coordinate referrals to Our Hero’s Dreams, Nation’s Finest, HHSA case management, and jail reentry contacts.
- The board approved a budget amendment and salary resolution to add a drug-and-alcohol counselor to HHSA; Supervisor Long indicated the position would start on opioid settlement funding (about $94,000 was mentioned during the meeting) and staff said they expect to work toward more sustainable mixes of funding over time. The motion passed 5-0.
- The collaborative partners plan to issue an RFP to encourage developers or nonprofits to acquire or create transitional housing stock targeted at veterans, with the goal of increasing bed inventory.

Scope, capacity and gaps discussed at the meeting
- HHSA reported 84 self-identified veterans in the county Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), with 27 of those currently working with Nation’s Finest. Payne and others emphasized there is insufficient bed inventory: Nation’s Finest had "2 beds that were coming available in July," and local providers and partners frequently must use hotels or temporary motel vouchers as an interim step. Justin Bond of Our Hero’s Dreams said his group had placed 24 veterans recently and described a mix of emergency hotel placements and casework to rehouse people.
- The plan lists wraparound services: substance-use disorder (SUD) treatment, mental-health referrals through county programs or Medi-Cal when veterans do not qualify for VA health care, benefits enrollment, eviction prevention for those at risk, landlord incentives, and case management to assist veterans to retain housing.

Directions and next steps (board and staff commitments)
- The board asked staff for semiannual reporting on outcomes. Payne committed to returning to the board with data twice a year so elected officials can track numbers of veterans out of encampments, vouchers leased, and how many remain housed for 12 months or more.
- HHSA, the VSO and partners will pursue an RFP for transitional housing and will continue outreach to encampments; partners will also pursue grants to supplement local funding.
- Supervisors asked CEO Dave Rickert to work with UC Davis representatives on a resolution to consider opioid funds for residency or psychiatric training support; that request was posed during the broader discussion of local medical workforce development and is a direction to staff rather than a formal board appropriation at this meeting.

What was not decided or remains uncertain
- The board approved the new counselor position and immediate funding source but did not adopt a long-term funding plan during the meeting; staff said they would aim to blend opioid funds with other billable sources or grants over time.
- Plans to expand transitional housing depend on an RFP process and market availability; Justin Bond noted a local 150‑acre parcel with 12 beds that his group was exploring but no acquisition was approved by the board at this meeting.

Voices from veterans and providers
- Veterans and peer leaders gave repeated, personal testimony in public comment about the role of veteran-led organizations. Brian Holland, a Navy veteran, described arriving at Nation’s Finest and being connected to housing and support: "The first thing she said was, we can help you. That's when the fire started and is still burning today." Justin Bond described rapid responses that included hotels, medical placement and rehab steps to stabilize veterans.

Bottom line: The board approved the staffing and budget change to add SUD counseling capacity and endorsed a multi‑partner, veteran-led approach that makes the VSO the single point of contact for outreach and coordination. The plan relies heavily on existing veteran non‑profits for outreach and short-term placements and on future RFPs and partner grants to increase bed inventory. The board requested and received commitments for semiannual outcome reports so supervisors can monitor whether the approach reduces veteran homelessness.