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Commission on the Status of Women seeks county response plan for unhoused women; board asks administration to consult ad hoc committee
Summary
The Commission on the Status of Women presented recommendations from a public hearing and ad hoc outreach on unhoused women and girls and asked the board to direct administration to prepare a crisis response plan developed in consultation with the commission.
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) presented the board with recommendations and a request that the county develop an urgent response plan for unhoused women and girls.
Commissioners and volunteer partners outlined results from a public hearing attended by more than 100 people and more than 50 speakers with lived experience. The CSW's ad hoc committee said that women and girls experience homelessness differently — often as survivors of domestic violence, primary caregivers, or as members of marginalized groups who face linguistic or cultural barriers — and that tailored, gender‑informed interventions are needed.
The commission's written recommendations and public testimony emphasized the following near‑term priorities: strengthen trauma‑informed referral and navigation between county departments and domestic‑violence service providers; expand safe‑parking sites with sanitation, security and case management options; and pursue small administrative and policy changes that could have outsized benefits without major new funding. The International Human Rights Clinic at Santa Clara University noted the need to treat vehicles as emergency shelter in some cases and recommended a woman‑focused safe‑parking pilot.
Commission Chair Nancy Brameau asked the board to direct administration to review the CSW report and return with a response plan developed in consultation with the CSW ad hoc committee. The board voted 4‑0 (Supervisor Abakova absent) to approve the request and directed administration to consult the commission as it drafts the response.
Public commenters urged that the county develop perpetrator‑focused rehabilitation and intervention options to prevent repeat violence and to expand safe‑parking and shelter options that are tailored to women.
Ending: Staff agreed to work with the commission and other community partners to develop the requested response plan and to circulate draft options for board consideration.
