City, County approve $15-million plan to protect homeless people from COVID-19
Responding to the coronavirus pandemic, the Sacramento City Council and Sacramento County Board of Supervisors Tuesday adopted a joint plan to provide nearly 1,000 beds for homeless people at high risk or already infected with Covid-19.
These beds, located in motels, trailers and existing shelters, will allow at-risk or infected homeless people to be cared for in isolation.
The $15-million plan, paid for largely by state and federal COVID-19 emergency response funds, also includes $1.25 million to improve sanitation in existing homeless camps. It was developed by the Sacramento Covid-19 Homeless Task Force, a joint effort of the city , county and Sacramento Steps Forward. It is focused on addressing the immediate health needs and increasing protective measures for the homeless population. To read the full staff report, click here.
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved the plan earlier in the day.
“We are in lockstep with the county,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said after the unanimous vote. At his direction, the motion also included a requirement that the city come back within two weeks to begin hammering out a plan to rehouse people longer-term so they don’t wind up back on the street after their stay in an emergency unit is over.
“Getting people into more permanent housing is a great achievement but more difficult and expensive to do,” said Councilmember Jeff Harris.
Emily Halcon, the city’s Homeless Services Manager, said the county has already placed 37 at-risk individuals and 17 families into motels. The first leased motel, with 160 rooms, will be online later this week. The city’s shelter on North Fifth Street was expanded by 20 people last weekend.
No members of Sacramento’s homeless population have tested positive for COVID-19 to date, but encampments are considered vulnerable to rapid spread, and many people living on the streets are older and have pre-existing medical conditions.
There is no walk-up admission to the 60 trailers now at Cal Expo or the hotels or motels that the county will be leasing. Referral will be handled through Sacramento Steps Forward and will prioritize people based on their potential exposure to the virus and risk factors.
Elements of the plan include:
850 motel rooms
80 beds through expansion of existing shelters
60 new travel trailers at Cal Expo
500 meals delivered to encampments each day
50 hygiene stations placed at encampments, including portable toilets and handwashing facilities.
To read the full staff report, click here.
