SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento passed a $15 million plan Tuesday that could potentially remove thousands of homeless off the street and put them in shelter during the coronavirus pandemic.
The plan is a three-step process that would use federal money given to the city and county. Sacramento County approved the plan Tuesday morning.
"Both the city and county have been recipients of millions of dollars of emergency state aid and now emergency federal aid through the stimulus, and it totals about $15 million," Mayor Darrell Steinberg said.
The $15 million will only sustain the plan for four months. Steinberg said that with a 75% reimbursement from FEMA, the city will be able to continue with its efforts to keep the homeless off the streets after the coronavirus pandemic is over.
Steinberg said during the meeting that he wants the city council to come back within two weeks to come up with a rehousing plan.
Here's how the plan will work, according to the city:
Keeping Existing Emergency Shelters Safe and Operational
Part of the plan is to make sure that shelters — new and existing — are safe for the people experiencing homelessness, and that social distancing is being practiced.
Sacramento's Homelessness Response Team will meet with shelters to assist with complying with guidance from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to check on the health of those who are entering shelters.
The plan also includes housing for those who either test positive for the coronavirus or are waiting for test results.
"We are expanding some of the existing shelters to provide that kind of separation," Steinberg said.
Ensuring Safety and Health for Persons Living Outdoors
Secondly, Steinberg said the plan will make sure the people who choose to stay in encampments are given the resources they need to stay healthy. That includes providing encampments of more than 10 people with portable bathrooms and handwashing facilities.
"We are making a much more aggressive effort to provide sanitation supplies and other services to people who are in tent-encampments to help prevent the spread," Steinberg said.
Creating Quarantine Units for Persons Experiencing Homelessness
The city of Sacramento also is set to transform motels and trailers into housing units that would have 990 beds for the most vulnerable and at-risk in the homeless community.
"If people go into the beds and we are able to get them out of the motels into more permanent housing then we can turn that 990 over a couple times,” Steinberg said.
Joseph Daniels contributed to this article.
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