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Board approves amendments to housing resource‑center contracts, staff say centers must coordinate services
Summary
The board approved amendments to master contracts that fund housing resource centers (access points). County Health Director Colleen Chawla and homelessness services staff said the contracts require access points to act as hubs that assess needs and link people to case management and other services.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved amendments to a master contract for housing resource centers, continuing agreements that the county said began in January 2021 and are intended to sustain a countywide network of access points.
Colleen Chawla, Director of Alameda County Health, said the contract began in January 2021 and has been amended repeatedly to extend services. She said, "For the care management contracts it is" required that care managers coordinate services. Jonathan Russell, head of housing and homelessness services, described housing resource centers as "the front door of the homeless response system," explaining that the centers perform assessments, problem solving and link people to other providers rather than providing long‑term case management in all cases.
President Halbert asked whether contract language required coordination across providers; county staff said that access-point deliverables and expectations were posted and that staff would share specific contract language around coordination upon request. After those clarifications, the chair supported the item and the board approved the contract amendments by roll call (Supervisor Miley recused himself on unrelated item 18B earlier but returned to the dais for other votes).
