EveryOne Home - Ending Homelessness in Alameda County


News: Full Service Partnerships (FSPs) End Homelessness for Hundreds Living with Serious Mental Illness in our County

From the Fall 2008 Newsletter

In the midst of EveryOne Home’s Sponsoring Agencies’ work to write a housing plan for the County’s homelessness and extremely low-income person’s living with serious mental illness and/or HIV/AIDS the voters of California approved The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), formerly known as Proposition 63. The MHSA went into effect on January 1, 2005 and imposes a 1% tax on personal annual incomes in excess of $1 million in order to increase funding statewide for mental health services.  A portion of MHSA funds have been set aside for the creation of special new programs known as Full Service Partnership (FSPs). 

FSPs provide the most intensive level of services among the variety of MHSA-funded programs.   They are targeted to individuals who have serious mental health disorders, have no other source of mental health supports, and are not currently receiving enough support to keep them from homelessness, incarceration, hospitalization, or institutionalization. EveryOne Home planners, including our two local mental health authorities– Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services (BHCS) and the City of Berkeley Health and Human Services Department – Mental Health Division, were determined to use FSPs to prevent and end homelessness. 

There are a total of eight full service partnership programs within the County that will ultimately serve around 300 people at any point in time.   Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services funds six of the FSPs within the County and each of these six FSPs have funds to help subsidize housing for individuals and families that are currently homeless or at-risk of homelessness.  Some of the FSPs also utilize specific Shelter Plus Care grants through a partnership with Alameda County Housing and Community Development to help subsidize rents for program partners (clients). 

The majority of the FSPs are near their full capacity and these programs have made a tremendous difference in the lives of people who were previously unserved or underserved by the mental health system.  Individuals with long histories of homelessness have been engaged in services through the utilization of a housing first approach that strives to help individuals obtain stable, permanent housing as quickly as possible.  The FSPs also work with individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues that previously struggled to obtain ongoing support rather than crisis services. 

The six county-funded FSPs include:

  • Homeless Outreach and Stabilization Team (HOST) - Bonita House, Inc.  Targets chronically homeless individuals with serious mental health issues from the northern and central part of Alameda County.  Targeted to serve 90 individuals.

  • Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) - East Bay Community Recovery Project.  Targets adults with serious mental health issues, frequent criminal justice mental health contacts, and unstable housing.  Targeted to serve 60 individuals.

  • Greater HOPE – Tri-City Homeless Coalition.  Targets chronically homeless individuals with serious mental illness from the southern and eastern parts of Alameda County.  Targeted to serve 40 individuals.

  • Supportive Housing for Transition Age Youth (STAY) – Fred Finch Youth Center.  Targets transition age youth (16-24 yo) that are homeless or at-risk of homelessness with a serious mental health issue.  Targeted to serve 30+ individuals.

  • North County Older Adult – Bay Area Community Services.  Targets older homeless adults (60 and older) with serious mental health issues.  Targeted to serve 30 individuals.

  • Transition to Independence Process (TIP) – Berkeley Mental Health Family, Youth, and Children’s Services.  For transition age youth (16-24 yo) with serious mental health issues currently living with family that may be unstably housed.  Targeted to serve 20 individuals. 

One of the FSP partners had an opportunity to speak with Congresswoman Barbara Lee in Washington, D.C. as part of a conference on homelessness.  This partner encouraged Congresswoman Lee to find ways to expand the FSP model so that others like him could be given a chance to regain their lives.  BHCS in partnership with its providers hopes to make this possible with support from EveryOne Home and its partners.