This section contains three proposed actions that can begin to address the barriers identified in the system’s audit and provide a Blueprint for moving towards housing justice in the region. The three actions are not meant to be taken sequentially but are interconnected with parts of each happening simultaneously.
Proposed Action 1 is the foundational action of creating a regional kitchen table that can offer a different way of making regional funding and strategy decisions, with a more diverse set of stakeholders, led by people with lived experiences, and oriented around justice. The Regional Advisory Group should engage stakeholders of the table the through the Fall of 2021 to better understand their interest, needs, and desires to create a different type of planning and decision-making table; with the goal of the engagements being to come to a community decision on proceeding with the table in 2022. Proceeding with the table would include incremental steps towards 1) building a more sustainable kitchen table over the next 3-5 years, and 2) launching the beginning work of Proposed Action 2 and 3.
Proposed Action 2 offers a set of strategies that can better align housing and homelessness resources across the region to begin transforming the system and moving towards housing justice. Strategies include more immediate action that can be taken in the Winter and Spring of 2022, including system modeling and strategic investment planning across the region. It also outlines medium to long term actions around coordinated entry and ongoing modeling and investment planning, that can be taken over the next 3 years. This work should be launched and sustained by the regional kitchen table in Proposed Action 1.
Proposed Action 3 offers a set of strategies that can help to build out more equitable access to quality human services across the region and be paired with the housing and homelessness resources discussed in Proposed Action 2. Strategies include medium term and long term actions that can help to improve public benefits and build out more behavioral health and substance abuse services in the region. This work should also be launched and sustained by the regional kitchen table in Proposed Action 1 to ensure it is aligned with the work being done in Proposed Action 2.