County efforts make progress on homelessness through the Access Initiative
Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self Sufficiency (ACCESS) Sonoma is a county initiative that focuses on the critical needs of residents who are experiencing physical and mental health challenges, economic uncertainty, housing instability, substance use disorders, criminal justice engagement and social inequity.
In a matter of 10 months, Sonoma County has successfully moved 30 percent of residents into housing from Los Guilicos Village through its ACCESS Initiative multidisciplinary team and its homeless services partner, St. Vincent de Paul. This average placement rate is near 8 percent.
Video from Marin St. Vincent de Paul
This local trend demonstrates both the effectiveness of efforts and the significant progress made in the number of individuals at Los Guilicos Village to move them into traditional housing and out of the sheltering system.
St. Vincent’s DePaul management of the site has been robust and the ACCESS team’s work to focus on the determinants of successful housing have allowed the County to achieve these incredible results.
Los Guillicos Village was established in late January 2020 to shelter vulnerable individuals from the Joe Rodota Trail encampment in Santa Rosa.
The village has 60 emergency 64 square foot individual huts, with on-site restrooms, showers, dining area, personal storage, dog run, a Navigation Center, medical services, fire watch, and 24-hour security. Los Guilicos Village is managed by St. Vincent de Paul.
How does ACCESS Sonoma work?
ACCESS Sonoma has a four-pronged approach; an Interdepartmental Multidisciplinary Team staffed by representatives from all of the Safety Net Departments, an Integrated Data Hub/Watson Care Manager developed in partnership with IBM, a system of governance led by the County’s Safety Net Collaborative, and partnerships with community based organizations and academic institutions. The result is coordinated care from across our Safety Net Departments for our most vulnerable residents. Care that is informed and supported by an innovative information and care management system, with strategic direction from the Safety Net Collaborative.
The objectives of ACCESS Sonoma are:
• To improve the health, well-being, sustained recovery, and self-sufficiency of the County’s most vulnerable residents
• To develop and implement a plan to coordinate cross-departmental services and reduce duplication of services
• To improve referrals, access and sustained engagement of clients
• To analyze the County’s highest service utilizers and develop strategies/policies for improved efficiencies, better utilization, and better outcomes
• To develop an integrated data sharing system to support care coordination across departments
