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Supervisors approve Good Neighbor Policy for shelter and housing programs; policy to be included in contracts
Summary
The board adopted a countywide Good Neighbor Policy setting minimum standards for county-funded shelters and housing programs, directing contracting staff to update agreements and work with sites on community engagement and site-specific addenda.
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on March 25 adopted a countywide Good Neighbor Policy for shelters and housing programs serving people experiencing homelessness and authorized department directors to update contracts to ensure compliance.
"The good neighbor policy addresses several key areas, setting minimum standard practices, including but not limited to sufficient parking, waiting areas, and restrooms so as to not disrupt the surrounding communities, maintenance and cleanliness standards, including debris removal, graffiti removal, and landscaping, managing crowds and anyone who's loitering in the area, surrounding these programs, and keeping good community relationships with neighboring residents and businesses," said Siobhan Katari, deputy county executive for social services, who presented the policy to the board.
Why this matters: the policy creates baseline expectations that county-funded shelter operators must meet, with the stated goals of minimizing disruption to surrounding neighborhoods and improving communication between program operators and nearby residents and businesses. Staff said the policy is a baseline: site-specific addenda can be added to contracts to reflect local conditions.
Key elements and discussion: - Minimum standards: staff described baseline expectations for parking, restrooms, waiting areas, site maintenance (trash and graffiti removal) and crowd management. - Contractual compliance and enforcement: Katari told the board the standards will be included in provider contracts and county-operated facilities. She also said enforcement options vary by location: where a site sits in a city, city code enforcement or police would have primary enforcement powers; in unincorporated county locations enforcement may include sheriff support and contractual remedies. - Community engagement: the policy requires operators to establish community outreach and notification strategies; staff said the degree of engagement will be tailored to the neighborhood and could include a county point of contact for residents.
Supervisors raised questions about how the policy would be enforced in city jurisdictions and whether the county and cities can align expectations for consistency across the region. Brian Pedro, director of the City of Sacramento Department of Community Response, and county staff said they are coordinating with city partners to promote consistency.
Board action: The board moved, seconded and adopted the resolution approving the Sacramento County Good Neighbor Policy and authorized department directors to amend existing homeless-service contracts to ensure compliance. The clerk recorded the vote as unanimous.
Next steps: Staff will update county contracts with the minimum standards and work with providers and local jurisdictions to implement the policy at each site. The board packet states that site-specific addenda may be used where additional measures are required.
