Sacramento to offer homeless shelter beds for people released from county jail
In a first for the region, Sacramento County will begin offering homeless shelter beds specifically for people recently released from county jail.
The beds will be provided at the Salvation Army’s Center of Hope on North B Street, said county spokesperson Janna Haynes. Funding comes from Proposition 47, a 2014 ballot measure that distributed money to victim services and re-entry programs.
The shelter, one of the largest in the county, provides 140 beds for men and women. In July, 70 of those beds will be designated for people released from the Sacramento County Main Jail, 651 I St.
Earlier this year, The Sacramento Bee reported that about one-third of bookings in the jail involve homeless people.
“Hopefully (this will) break the cycle of incarcerated individuals returning to the streets,” Maj. Rio Ray, the Sacramento metro coordinator for the Salvation Army, said in a written statement.
The goal is to create a collaboration that allows the shelter to know when a person will be released from jail, Haynes said. That means transportation could be scheduled in the form of a volunteer pickup or Uber ride, regardless of the time of a person’s release.
“It’s significant and it’s just something that doesn’t currently really exist,” Haynes said. “I know it’s been a complaint from a lot of advocates and even businesses downtown that people are being released directly out of the jail with nowhere to go.”
Previously, the 70 county beds were funded through one-time money available through the American Rescue Plan Act. That funding, which provided $2.4 million and lasted three years, will conclude in June. The shelter’s other beds are funded by Kaiser Permanente, the federal Department of Veterans Affairs and donations to the Salvation Army.
The Prop. 47 funds will be $3.4 million and cover three years, Haynes said. In preparation for the funding change, the shelter has paused referrals via the Coordinated Access System, which is designed to match people with housing and service options. The pause is expected to end in July following final approval from the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, Haynes said.
The shelter is also exiting people currently in those 70 beds. As of last week, 47 of the beds were filled. Those people will be offered transitions to shelter or housing opportunities by June, Ray said.
“We want to emphasize that individuals will not be exited to the street,” he said.
Last week, The Bee reported that a new housing complex in south Sacramento would open later this month for people formerly incarcerated. The property will house 59 people. People with criminal records sometimes struggle to find housing due to landlord background checks.
This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 2:11 PM.
