County reports 2,500 families housed under Heading Home campaign; officials warn federal funding changes could jeopardize gains

County staff reported substantive progress on the Heading Home family homelessness campaign, saying they have housed more than 2,500 families (nearly 5,000 children) since the campaign’s 2021 launch and created or preserved nearly 2,000 family‑oriented affordable/supportive housing units in the pipeline.

The Office of Supportive Housing highlighted that more than half of families entering the coordinated entry system arrive from shelter or sleeping in cars; the typical client profile includes a high share of female‑headed households and Latino families. Emergency shelter capacity for families was expanded to approximately 1,300 beds and new Homekey and measure‑bond developments are opening or under construction.

Staff noted a 42‑day average wait for shelter placement as of October 2025 and said flexible funds pilots with school districts have shown promise for targeted prevention. But officials warned that recent federal guidance for HUD Continuum of Care awards shifts emphasis to sheltering and could reduce permanent‑housing funding that the county has used to house families. Supervisors asked for additional data — including up‑to-date shelter wait lists and city‑level breakdowns — and asked staff to return with focused reports for South County needs and strategies to protect placements if federal grants are reduced.

What’s next: The board accepted the report and asked administration for follow‑ups on community queue wait‑list counts, city‑level inflow/outflow patterns and strategies to shore up placements if federal Continuum of Care funding changes.