Fresno County outlines new Office of Housing and Homelessness, flex‑pool plan and outreach‑first encampment policy

Dylan McCully, Fresno County’s housing and homelessness division manager, told the Tulare County Task Force that Fresno established an Office of Housing and Homelessness last November to centralize planning, coordinate funding and oversee the Fresno‑Madera Continuum of Care’s competitive HUD CoC process.

The office will serve as collaborative applicant and management entity for HUD CoC funds shared by Fresno and Madera counties, McCully said, and it has moved the county’s point‑in‑time count to an annual, survey‑based model to gather more accurate data on people experiencing homelessness.

McCully detailed a proposed flex‑pool model to administer transitional rent benefits and layer rental subsidies, supportive services and fiscal‑agent responsibilities. He said the county contracted with managed‑care plans to deliver transitional rent for people with behavioral‑health needs and expects the flex pool (initially county‑funded) to focus on permanent housing settings, landlord engagement and a centralized inventory of units.

The county also operates interim shelter programs, a motel‑voucher pilot used during encampment resolutions and a coordinated‑entry management role that prioritizes placement and service navigation. On encampments in unincorporated areas, McCully described a formal notice-and‑outreach process (typically a 72‑hour notice often extended to a week) that emphasizes voluntary compliance and connects people to available services before any resolution occurs.

McCully said state funding priorities are increasingly directed at behavioral‑health populations through the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) and CalAIM‑linked transitional rent benefits, while federal HUD CoC dollars are shifting toward interim and service‑based interventions. That funding realignment, he said, requires stronger regional coordination between counties, cities and service providers to meet funder expectations while maintaining needed services.

Task force members asked about the flex pool’s timeline and funding. McCully said the flex‑pool design is in progress and that the county will initially use county dollars while developing the fiscal‑agent model and a request‑for‑proposals for service providers. He listed BHSA, HAP and ESG among funding sources the county hopes to braid into the model.

The presentation closed with an explanation of Fresno County’s role leading street outreach redesign and the encampment policy intended to reduce harm during resolutions: outreach teams engage people, provide motel vouchers when appropriate and attempt to connect individuals to coordinated‑entry assessments and services prior to displacement.

The task force followed with questions about interjurisdictional coordination (city HEART teams vs. county sheriff civil units) and the logistics of landlord engagement, all of which McCully said are central to the county’s ongoing design work.

The meeting record shows no formal action was taken on the presentation; members thanked McCully and moved to other agenda items.