Policy

The RTFH and CoC Board are focused on setting regional policy direction that can help guide strategies to address homelessness, funding decisions, and support the region with obtaining the desired outcome of making homelessness in San Diego rare, brief, and non-recurring.

• Strategic Framework to End and Reduce Homelessness in San Diego County 
• Policy Guidelines for Regional Response for Addressing Unsheltered Homelessness and Encampments Throughout San Diego County

Research

The RTFH is committed to working with various stakeholders including university partners to support community research efforts to address homelessness. The RTFH believes that by supporting research activities, results can improve the provision of housing and services to those experiencing homelessness, help evaluate the impact of existing strategies, identify potential gaps, and help shape local and national policy direction. As the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) lead agency, the RTFH oversees all of the homeless data for participating homeless services agencies and can help provide data for research activities as well as provide research advising and policy considerations.

Advocacy

Having a strong collective voice for those experiencing homelessness in San Diego and for our partners who provide the critical housing and services to meet their needs is an important role for the RTFH and the CoC. The RTFH advocates on important policy, funding, and legislation at the federal, state, and local levels that will impact those at-risk of or currently homeless. Much of this advocacy is through aligning a unified voice with partners and providing public comment in support or in opposition to proposed actions. Recent RTFH advocacy efforts include the following:

• Input to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness on revising the federal plan to prevent and end homelessness
• Letter of support to Senators Feinstein and Harris for the Emergency Family Stabilization Act
• Signed on to letter of support with the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) and many California agencies to Speaker Pelosi advocating for housing and homeless funding in the HEROES Act
• Public comment to the State of California Department of Healthcare Services on the 1115 Waiver extension
• Signed on to letter with the Southern California CoC Alliance opposing HUD’s proposed changes to the Equal Access Rule