Published: 1 years 248 days ago
Sacramento Bee: Services for the homeless in Sacramento County are at a critical crossroads.
The county, which cut its winter shelter program last year and is
still stuck in budget-slashing mode, now says it can no longer afford
the staff costs to oversee $28 million a year in federal, state and
other public grants that support 30 homeless programs and 3,000 beds.
But in the crisis, there's also opportunity: With cooperation and
smarts, what could emerge is a system that brings together public and
nonprofit agencies, that is financially feasible for the long term and
that ends up more efficiently providing better services.
That goal is well worth pursuing.
Both county supervisors and City Council members were briefed Tuesday
and will consider more specific recommendations later this year.
A new public-private partnership is the "next step," says Mayor Kevin
Johnson. He points to Columbus, Ohio, where a group from Sacramento
recently visited a nonprofit that is in charge of homeless programs.
"We have a chance to be a leader on this," he told council colleagues.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/16/3033001/new-partnership-needed-for-homeless.html#ixzz0zhncXmqN
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