Santa Clara County board backs deeper partnership with San Jose to expand shelter and behavioral health links

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a referral Sept. 30 directing county administration to accelerate and enhance coordination with the city of San Jose on homelessness services. The referral, led by Supervisor Betty Young, aims to expand direct medical and behavioral-health services at city-funded interim housing sites, increase countywide inpatient and residential behavioral-health capacity, and incorporate the city’s temporary housing sites into the county’s coordinated entry system to improve placement into permanent supportive housing.

Supervisor Young said the county must start where the problem is largest: San Jose accounted for 61% of the county’s unhoused population in the 2025 point-in-time count. Supervisor Susan Ellenberg seconded the motion and stressed that housing remains the only sustainable solution to unsheltered homelessness, while emphasizing the need for integrated wraparound services including employment and medical care.

County staff described the referral as a next phase of ongoing county–city cooperation and said the county would provide Valley Homeless Healthcare Program mobile services to city interim shelters and work to improve referral pathways to rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing. Multiple witnesses from homelessness service providers — including PATH and local business groups — spoke in favor of the referral during the public comment period, emphasizing that on-site medical and behavioral-health services would improve health outcomes and facilitate exits to housing.

The board asked administration for an early status report and requested that some elements be folded into existing behavioral-health reporting schedules where appropriate. The vote was unanimous. Supervisors also requested regular progress updates, and the county executive indicated the first implementation report would return to the board in January 2026.