Changes Ahead for NorCal Continuum of Care

Since 2019, the NorCal Continuum of Care has brought over $15 million to the North State to help reduce homelessness. Obtaining that funding requires a lead administrative agency, an entity that coordinates funding requests for state and federal monies. But over the last several years, the entity has faced challenges in finding, and keeping a lead agency. 

On Thursday, June 26, the executive leadership of the Norcal Continuum of Care (CoC), will discuss proposals from two agencies that are interested in taking on the lead role. Members could choose one of the two new administrative applicants at tomorrow’s meeting, or schedule a special meeting to make the pick. 

The City of Redding stepped into the administrative role for an interim two-year contract in September 2023, after the previous lead agency, Shasta County abruptly departed as lead agency shortly before a new filing period for state funds. The city’s contract ends September 18, but staff have said they are willing to assist with a transition to new administrative leadership through December 31, to ensure a smooth transfer.

In the meantime, the CoC has actively sought proposals from other entities willing to fill the administrative role. An initial request for proposal, due May 1, did not garner any response. After edits to the RFP that allowed more options for applying, two proposals were received for a second request that closed on June 16. 

The first proposal is from Training, Employment and Community Help, Inc., a Modoc-based community nonprofit. The T.E.A.C.H., Inc. proposal includes three team members: executive director Carol Madison, grant writer and former Redding City Council member Kristen Schreder, and long-time nonprofit organizer and consultant, Teddie Pierce.

Notably, both Madison and Schreder are also members of the executive board of the NorCal CoC, where Schreder is currently the board chair. Pierce has worked as a paid consultant with the NorCal CoC in several different roles off-and-on since 2016.

Schreder has filed her resignation as board chair, and as an executive CoC board member representing Shasta County, effective tomorrow, June 26. In an email to Shasta Scout, Schreder confirmed that she made the decision to resign now, before the executive board considers the two proposals, in order to avoid any conflict of interest. Schreder participated and voted in the meeting for the initial request for proposals on April 20, but did not participate or vote on the item for the redistributed request on May 15.

Up to this point, Schreder has volunteered her time and skills to the NorCal CoC, but if the T.E.A.C.H contract is accepted, she will serve as NorCal CoC’s coordinator, and be paid by T.E.A.C.H. using CoC funds as an independent contractor. The proposed T.E.A.C.H. budget includes a $140,000 salary for the position.

The second proposal is from the Colusa-based Ministerial Association of California Counties (MACC), a coalition of faith-based and community organizations. 

That nonprofit’s proposed staffing for the administrative entity role would include CEO Jason McMullan and other members of the organization’s existing 80-person staff. McMullan said, in a phone call with Shasta Scout, that the association already has a presence across eight California counties, including Shasta, and would seek to establish a base in Redding to support the NorCal Coc’s administrative entity work.

McMullan is a member of another CoC, the Dos Rios Continuum of Care committee, which serves Colusa, Glenn and Trinity counties. Consultants with MACC have experience with both the NorCal CoC and the Yuba-Sutter CoC.

How does the NorCal Continuum of Care work?

In a phone call with Shasta Scout, Schreder specified that the CoC itself is not a legal entity, which is why the administrative entity role acts as a fiscal agent with the ability to contract for money from grants or state and federal programs. That money then can be distributed to public and nonprofit agencies in alignment with CoC processes.

In addition to federal requirements, the state also wants communities to have local collaboration to determine how money is allocated and distributed to address homelessness, something the CoC oversees. In addition, they also ensure the agencies comprising the coalition collect data on who they serve. 

McMullan described the role of a CoC as a framework for aligning resources that not only assist the unhoused community, but also help with health-related needs that cause homelessness. 

Because of this, advisory boards may include not only organizations like shelters, but also those providing housing, food and access to healthcare. For example, in Shasta County, the advisory board includes representatives from One Safe Place, United Way, the Disability Action Center, Hill Country Health and Wellness, and Pathways to Housing, among others.

Just like in Shasta, each county in the NorCal CoC has a similar advisory board, meant to represent key stakeholders in that specific region. In total, the NorCal CoC includes seven counties, which Schreder described as “highly unusual.” Most other California CoC’s are single counties, or groups of two or three neighboring counties.

The NorCal CoC Executive Board is made up of a representative from each of the seven counties: Shasta, Siskiyou, Lassen, Plumas, Modoc, Sierra and Del Norte.  

Filling the role of Administrative Entity

Schreder has been on the CoC’s executive board since April 2023, so she was fairly new to the position in June 2023, when Shasta County gave a 60-day notice to terminate its position as lead agency. 

Schreder said the county told CoC members there was not enough money for the role, but did not disclose what their operating budget was. At the time, the NorCal CoC asked every participating county if they could fill the role of administrative entity, but did not find a willing agency until the City of Redding agreed to take the role in an interim capacity. Since then, Schreder said, the CoC has been in a state of transition to make it run as well as possible. This involved identifying best practices and clearly defining roles and responsibilities. 

Anticipating the end of the City of Redding’s role as administrative entity in September, the CoC began looking ahead and examining the current NorCal CoC lead administrative budget. The cost for city staff totalled about $240,000 with other indirect costs around $110,000. 

City staff advised the NorCal CoC that utilizing a nonprofit agency rather than a public entity like a city or a county would reduce the overhead costs associated with staff salary and benefits. The CoC decided to issue a request for proposals to see who would be interested. 

After the initial request went unanswered, the CoC released a new request allowing applicants to apply to represent a smaller region, like a single county instead of all seven currently covered. The two applicants for the second request both applied to serve as the lead agency for all seven counties and support the idea of keeping the NorCal CoC together.

Schreder emphasized the importance of continuing the work that has been started under the current CoC model. McMullan felt the seven-county model was effective because smaller counties may not have the same resource sharing and unified strategy if it was split up. “In little counties, you have to team them all up to make an impact,” he said.

Continuing the work of the NorCal Continuum of Care

Both Schreder and McMullan emphasized that along with supporting a unified seven county continuum, they’d also like to see the current work of the NorCal CoC continued and avoid upsetting the status quo. 

Schreder said she feels over the last two years under city leadership, the NorCal CoC has developed good systems to allocate funds and support the seven individual advisory boards.

“I think we’ve improved things to where the distribution of funding is smooth,” Schreder said. The next step in continued improvement, she said, would be better demonstrating how the money is being used.

While it can be complicated to balance the ever-changing state and federal requirements and keep up with short timelines to apply for and receive money, Schreder said being involved in the project is an opportunity for her to support the people and organizations who are doing the hands-on work of helping those in need. 

McMullan said the administrative entity role would fit with the current scope of MACC’s work while expanding the regions they serve. MACC has previous experience assisting and acquiring other organizations and nonprofits, and McMullan said the organization would not want to disrupt the NorCal CoC, but rather keep the things that are working well and fully support the program.

He would like to see services aligned and duplications minimized so even more people can be served by shared partnerships through the CoC saying the administrative entity role would be the “pillar that would hold the programs and services and ensure that they get distributed equitably and equally through the leadership and at the pleasure of the executive board.”

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