The following first appeared at the City of Santa Monica blog.
The Housing and Human Services Department has been hard at work with all other city departments on a citywide Homelessness Strategic Plan, or HSP, that will set clear policy direction, promote alignment and coordination between departments and with city partners, and support local, regional and statewide coordination.
Creating the plan was a recommendation in the Moss Adams Homelessness Study, which was a citywide commissioned comprehensive audit in 2022 of the homelessness response and prevention efforts.
In the FY2023-24 budget, the Santa Monica City Council directed staff to create an HSP that aligns all city departments around a shared vision, goals and investment of resources for addressing homelessness.
For the past year, the city and consulting firm BerryDunn have reviewed community feedback from the Moss Adams report, interviewed key city staff, facilitated meetings with city leadership, and refined and finalized the framework for the HSP. BerryDunn is set to present the HSP to the City Council in early 2025.
To create a central place for information and updates related to the HSP, the city has launched a new webpage: santamonica.gov/programs/homelessness-strategic-plan.
Here, you will find background on the HSP, project milestones, upcoming community meetings, and all of the latest updates. I encourage our community to follow along.
