Sacramento County supervisors approve new wellness, housing project for homeless
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a new homeless prevention program that offers behavioral health services throughout underserved neighborhoods.
Known as the Community Defined Wellness Practices Program, this program will implement a housing project and other services in Valley Hi/North Laguna, Fruitridge Pocket, Lemon Hill in south Sacramento and Glenwood Meadows in North Sacramento. These areas were identified as historically neglected and have the “highest concentrations” of homelessness, according to Sacramento County Department of Health Services’ 2024 homeless management data.
These regions have a population of more than 70,000, according to a collection of local census data. Valley Hi/North Laguna, which borders Elk Grove, has the highest concentration of residents, with more than 50,000.
About 6,615 people experienced homelessness in Sacramento County, with more than 2,000 having a serious mental health condition, according to the 2024 Point in Time Count.
Funds until 2029
The county’s resolution, which outlines how the program operates, passed unanimously. Community based organizations, including the Neighborhood Wellness Foundation and Color The Block, will assist the county in “co-locating” clinicians and peer specialists for mental health services, according to the county’s report.
The county approved $16.38 million for the program. These funds will be spread out until June 30, 2029, according the county’s resolution.
“Navigation services to the focus population, will lead to the following outcomes: improved access to and engagement in mental health services from the target population, and the reduction of disparities in the homeless data,” the county’s resolution stated.
“Participants identified that their top priorities were compassionate peer supports and having services brought directly to where recipients are,” the county’s resolution stated. “Based on community input, the INN7 programs will prioritize the strategy to improve access to services for underserved populations at risk of or experiencing homelessness and have a serious mental illness. “
Mental health services
upervisors also approved the initiative’s Unhoused Individuals INN Project. This project implements long-term mental health services, outreach to residents who frequently experience homelessness and expands DHS’s peer workforce, according to the county’s report.
After receiving regional data, the county stated its Mental Health Services Act Steering Committee “recogniz(ed) the significant geographic disparities” within its homeless data. As a result, this committee pushed for the INN Project, which the county wrote is “designed to address...inequities and better serve populations disproportionately impacted by homelessness.”
The CDWPP is funded primarily by the Mental Health Services Act, originally known as Proposition 63. This proposition passed in 2004. Funds also come from Medi-Cal and Mental Health Medi-Cal Administrative Activities.
