Services Without Housing: A Broken Model
Sacramento’s homelessness response is dominated by “service providers” — nonprofits and public agencies that deliver referrals, case management, or emergency shelter but rarely long-term housing. Many of these providers are incentivized by grant metrics that measure outputs (bed nights, service hours) instead of outcomes (housing placements, long-term stability).
This has created a system where the appearance of effort substitutes for meaningful results. As funding is reduced, these services are stretched thinner, becoming little more than paperwork and waitlists.
“We serve you — we just don’t house you.”
Suggested Reading:
- HUD: Supportive Housing is Cost-Effective and Reduces Homelessness
- California State Auditor Report on Homelessness Spending Effectiveness
The Lanterman Act: A Legal Promise Abandoned
The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 4500 et seq.) guarantees that individuals with developmental disabilities have the right to services and support that enable them to live full lives in the least restrictive setting — including housing.
Regional Centers are charged with coordinating these services, but in practice, they do not ensure access to permanent supportive housing, nor do they hold housing authorities accountable for systemic barriers to voucher access.
What the Law Requires:
- Housing services integrated with disability support
- Individualized service plans tied to housing goals
- A commitment to avoid institutionalization or chronic homelessness
What We See Instead:
- Clients given short-term vouchers with no placement assistance
- Delays and denials based on disability itself
- No integration between SHRA and Regional Centers
References:
- California Welfare and Institutions Code § 4500 et seq.
- Disability Rights California: Lanterman Act Overview
Youth Abandonment After Foster Care
California’s child welfare system releases thousands of youth into adulthood each year with no housing, income, or family support. While extended foster care and transitional housing exist on paper, many youth are either deemed ineligible or receive limited support for a short period — often ending by age 21.
Key facts:
- Roughly 1 in 2 former foster youth will become homeless or incarcerated by age 25
- Many never receive SSI, mental health services, or a housing voucher
- They are often blamed for failing systems that never supported them
These youth are among the most vulnerable to housing discrimination and denial — and the least likely to be able to assert their legal rights.
Sources:
- California’s Continuum of Care Reform
- Chapin Hall: Findings from the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH)
Cohabitation as Crisis Management
Tens of thousands of Sacramento residents are housing-insecure but stay out of public view because they temporarily live with others — couchsurfing, doubling up, or sharing overcrowded housing. This “informal safety net” masks the scale of the crisis and prevents policy accountability.
- These individuals are excluded from homeless counts
- They are ineligible for many programs designed only for the “literally homeless”
- Many have disabilities or trauma histories that make them especially vulnerable
The homelessness numbers Sacramento reports are not the whole truth. They are the visible edge of a much deeper collapse.
Background:
What Needs to Change
We are calling for:
- A renewed commitment to permanent supportive housing
- Enforcement of the Lanterman Act and ADA housing provisions
- Guaranteed housing pathways for foster youth aging out of care
- Integration of hidden homelessness into funding formulas and eligibility
Until Sacramento stops managing poverty and starts addressing it, this crisis will only grow.