How is HEAPA Supporting Unhoused Civic Engagement? 1. We provided the first stipends, transportation, and meeting operational support for lived experience individuals to participate in County homeless advisory boards. 2. We equipped service agency case managers and advocates with laptops and digital assistance devices. 3. We assisted the Sonoma County Lived Experience Advisory Board to participate in state and national peer conferences. 4. We partnered with the County Department of Human Services to expand the distribution of brochures promoting their Open Doors Program to the unhoused at libraries and low income housing residents at Burbank Housing project sites. 5. We purchased two portable charging stations for the Sonoma County Department of Human Services Mobile Vans serving targeted low income and service agencies. 6. We established the unhoused bicycle repair project by equipping a mobile repair resource person with a long history of service on those who live and travel the streets.
What is the California Transparency Project doing? 1. We purchased digital personal assistant devices for several agencies to test out their use improving communication and data management. 2. We produced a video instructing digital assistant users on how to provide meeting reports. 3 We requested copies of all service contracts issued by the Departments of Health Services and Human Services for FY 25-26, and made them available online. 4. We called for the convening of NOFA planning committees of the Sonoma County Community Development Commission, Santa Rosa Housing Authority, Sonoma County Homeless Coalition, and the Behavioral Health Boards to prioritize citizen access to strategic planning and the coordination of their work.
Next Actions:
With the approval throughout California of Proposition One-mandated Behavioral Health Three-Year Integrated Plans by county boards of supervisors, and of their responsibility to partner with the California Department of Health Care Services, the evaluation of its outcomes will begin. HEAPA is committed to facilitate and support the participation of consumers of the services delivered. We are currently funding the out-of-pocket costs of their appointments to county advisory commissions, equipping and training them to conduct research into program performance, providing meeting opportunities for cross-county discussions, and mentoring lived experienced individuals in Sonoma County in surveying recipients in a variety of safety net programs and facilities. We will be expanding our support of the California Safety Net Evaluation Project to include the establishment of a contract archive for over $40 billion in awarded program funds, and employing hundreds of recipients to utilize AI capabilities to produce first-hand reports of program impacts.
Homeless Emergency Assistance Program Association 