Homelessness Prevention
System Resources
Download our Homelessness Prevention System resource documents
Download the latest system performance report
Download our Homelessness Prevention System resource documents
Download the latest system performance report
Overarching system goal:
Prevent all instances of family homelessness.
Destination: Home is committed to making homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring. The 2015-2020 Community Plan to End Homelessness contains a clear call to action, “Prevent homelessness before it happens”. Through the combined resources of Packard Foundation, Sunlight Giving, Google.org, City of San Jose, City of Santa Clara, City of Morgan Hill, and County of Santa Clara, $4.2 Million has been raised to rethink the way family homelessness is prevented in our community. Destination: Home is facilitating a 27-month pilot program with the goal of implementing a countywide homelessness prevention system and preventing all instances of family homelessness.
Sacred Heart Community Services, an experienced advocacy and emergency support organization for thousands of families, is coordinating these homelessness prevention efforts in partnership with community-based organizations across Santa Clara County.
Prior to July 1, 2017, families at risk of homelessness were served through Santa Clara County’s CALWORKS program and/or through the Emergency Assistance Network (EAN). Our goal is to expand families’ ability to become quickly connected to prevention services throughout our community, streamline and standardize service delivery, and measure the collective impact of homelessness prevention.
Under the new system, families can access help at any of the partner organizations regardless of zip code, and needs will be addressed to stabilize the household and prevent homelessness. Community-based partners have increased dedicated staff support and resources to realistically address the need and connect family members to support services, including rent assistance, employment services, child care, and transportation. Through this work we will develop, implement and scale a countywide prevention model and system of care that is focused on outcomes and best practices in preventing family homelessness. This homelessness prevention program is being independently evaluated by the University of Notre Dame’s Lab for Economic Opportunity.