In 1988, the Stanislaus County Housing and Support Services Collaborative/Continuum of Care was formed. A Continuum of Care is an integrated system of care that guides and tracks homeless individuals & families through a comprehensive array of housing & services designed to prevent and end homelessness. Since inception, this volunteer body has secured millions in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development to combat the impact of homelessness in our community.
In 2015, the County of Stanislaus initiated Focus on Prevention, a community-wide initiative to improve the quality of life of all Stanislaus residents through coordinated prevention efforts that work across multiple sectors to promote health and well-being. These sectors include government; business; health; non-profit; philanthropy; education; faith; neighborhood; media; and arts, entertainment, and sports. A Homelessness Action Council was established to address the first initiative: Reduce and Prevent Homelessness. The Homelessness Action Council developed results, indicators and strategies to guide this effort to be implemented by organizations and leaders across the ten sectors.
In 2017, the Stanislaus County Housing and Support Services Collaborative/Continuum of Care and the Homelessness Action Council merged efforts. The Stanislaus Community System of Care (StanCSOC), led by a 25 member Council representing all major sectors of our community, will now lead homelessness efforts. Instead of isolated interventions of the past, our community’s multiple homelessness services agencies and community partners have come together, aligning their efforts and acting together to achieve the shared results of preventing and reducing homelessness. This aligned effort will greatly improve our community’s capacity to secure and leverage new resources, and strengthen our capacity to effectively and efficiently achieve results. All sectors have a role and are contributing to the desired results acknowledges that service providers and partners can accomplish much more working together rather that separately. The importance – and potential – of alignment, shared results, and learning has become crystal clear.
Standing meetings will be held on the 3rd Thursday of each month.