Residents tell supervisors shelter case management failed as some were ousted before housing

Several people who said they had lived in county-contracted shelters told the Placer County Board of Supervisors on June 2 that program practices left them vulnerable to becoming or remaining homeless.

Sherry Daddis said she entered the Mid Placer Shelter program six months earlier and was told a week before her six-month mark that she would not be allowed to return. "I wasn't gonna be let back in," Daddis said, describing being put "out on the street" after she said she had completed chores, attended meetings and worked toward finding housing. She said she emailed her case manager and supervisors seeking a meeting but received no response and was told she was barred from the property.

Leslie Davidson, who identified herself as living in North Auburn, criticized shelter enforcement and reporting, saying a May 2 notice flagged drug use around nearby shelters and that she had repeatedly reported problems to the sheriff's office without the prompt remedy she expected. "When concerns are reported specifically around the gazebo area ... the sheriff's office addressed them immediately," she told the board, then said earlier reports she made had taken months to be resolved.

Another commenter, who gave only her first name, Michelle, described a decade in the shelter system and said staff turnover among case managers had produced inconsistent support: "It's just a revolving door when it comes to case managers," she said, adding that people working toward recovery sometimes still lose housing because of uneven program enforcement.

Board members acknowledged the comments and asked staff about service and funding options later in the meeting during a separate item on behavioral health and housing. Supervisor Jones pressed county staff during discussion of the Behavioral Health Services Act plan for clarity on how the new state funding requirements would support transitions out of shelters and avoid short-term housing loss.

The public remarks underscored tensions county officials raised elsewhere on the agenda: the county is shifting state behavioral health funds toward required housing interventions and fuller service partnerships, a policy change county staff said they designed to expand subsidies and supports but that supervisors and commenters warned may not immediately guarantee long-term housing stability.

The board did not take specific action on the shelter complaints during public comment; members directed staff to continue coordination across housing and behavioral health programs and proceeded with the day's agenda.