Sacramento region leaders convene countywide summit on homelessness; agencies outline progress and funding risks

A joint session of Sacramento County supervisors, Sacramento City Council members and leaders from six suburban cities convened to discuss homelessness and coordinated responses, with county and city staff outlining recent program expansions, spending and a proposal to form a time-limited regional task force.

Supervisor Serna, co-chair of the joint meeting, opened by stressing the purpose of the convening: "This is really about, taking away from this day, a better future for how we work together as partners to address what is, no doubt the most complex, complicated, subject in front of us." Mayor Kevin McCarty also framed the meeting as a start to more structured partnership across jurisdictions.

The meeting featured presentations from county and city homeless services teams, the HUD-designated continuum of care lead Sacramento Steps Forward (SSF), and outside facilitators from Mosaic Strategies. Emily Halkin, director of the County of Sacramento Department of Homeless Services and Housing, summarized system-level data and investments: the most recent point-in-time count (2024) shows that the unsheltered population is concentrated in the City of Sacramento but exists in every jurisdiction, and the county estimates that the number of people who experience at least one night of homelessness is likely two to three times the point-in-time count. Halkin reported demographic findings from the count, including that 33% of people counted identified as Black (compared with 9% of the county population) and that about 45% met the definition of chronic homelessness.

Halkin said the region invested heavily in recent years,…