Shasta HHSA Director Pushes For “More Decision-Making Power” On the NorCal Continuum of Care
The seven-county regional housing collaborative is already chaired by a non-staff representative of Shasta County. But according to HHSA’s Laura Burch, “the board” wants a county staffer in the role.
Shasta County Health and Human Services Director Laura Burch (far left) takes notes during a meeting of the NorCal CoC Executive Board on January 29. Photo by Annelise Pierce.
1.30.2023 12 pm and 5:30 pm: We have updated the story to correct an error about county staff’s involvement on the Shasta Advisory Board, clarify Advisory Board members details and share a confirmation of funding information from the state.
It’s been a long time since a Shasta County staff member sat on the Executive Board of the NorCal Continuum of Care. But getting access to that seat may now be a dealbreaker, says Shasta County’s Health and Human Services Agency Director, Laura Burch.
On Monday, January 29, Burch told the CoC Executive Board that if a county staff member isn’t allowed to replace Kristen Schreder, who currently represents Shasta County’s interests at the NorCal CoC leadership table, board supervisors might refuse to sign off on a regional plan to address homelessness that will be required for the next round of state funding.
Schreder, Redding’s former mayor, has chaired the CoC Executive Board since last summer, when NorCal CoC Shasta Advisory Board members voted her into the role. Since then, she’s pushed to ensure that the NorCal CoC’s state housing funds, which were being held by the county, would be transferred to the CoC’s new administrative lead agency. Those funds were finally transferred by the county in the last week, in response to a letter of warning from the state.
Continuums of Care were set up under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and are organized under the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The NorCal CoC’s current Executive Board has seven representatives, one for every county in the NorCal Continuum of Care, which includes Shasta, Lassen, Modoc, Siskiyou, Del Norte, Plumas and Sierra counties.
According to HUD, membership on CoC governing boards should be decided through an “open and democratic process.” Under the NorCal CoC’s current governance charter, Schreder could lose her seat on the CoC Executive Board, but only if the Shasta Advisory Board chooses to replace her.
Schreder joined the Executive Board shortly before Shasta County abdicated its former role as NorCal CoC lead administrative agency, in August. As Chair, she’s been pivotally important to the stability of the NorCal CoC as the group from Shasta County’s administrative leadership to the that of the City of Redding.
There is only one HHSA county staff member who currently sit on the Advisory Board, Emily Kerr. Maggie Joyce who works for the Shasta County Office of Education under Superintendent Judy Flores, is also an Advisory Board member.
Like two other NorCal CoC Executive Board members, Schreder is not a staff member of the county she represents. That’s okay, according to information provided by HUD which stresses that CoC leadership should be “representative of both private nonprofit and public sectors.”
HUD also emphasizes that CoC’s should be focused on collaborative regional partnership between the public and non-profit sectors. But Burch told the Executive Board that without a staff member on the Executive Board, the county lacks decision-making power. And without that power, Burch said, county supervisors might not cooperate in the regional plan being developed for the next round of Homeless, Housing Assistance and Prevention funding known as HHAP-5.
“If we don’t have a seat, it could very well jeopardize the regional plan,” Burch said. “Because our board very much wants us to be on the executive board and I believe that the Shasta Board of Supervisors has to approve the regional plan . . . and that’s the risk.”
Her statement worried at least one member of the NorCal CoC Executive Board, who immediately asked for clarification on whether a refusal by the Shasta County Board to sign off on a coordinated regional plan by the six other counties could halt access to funding for all of them.
Schreder didn’t respond definitively to that question, saying she’d reach out to the state for confirmation on the question. She reached out to Shasta Scout today, January 30, to share an email from the state confirming what grant documentation makes clear, that a single county’s refusal to sign off on a CoC’s regional plan will impact only that county’s access to funding, not that of other counties who choose to sign on to the plan.
Asked by Shasta Scout after the meeting which county board members were pushing for a seat on the NorCal CoC Executive Board, Burch declined to share more information.
“As a matter of personal practice and professional courtesy,” Burch wrote by email, “the details of such discussions are generally considered private, and it is not within the scope of my responsibility or ethical guidelines to disclose information about individual board members publicly.”
Responding to a request for comment today, January 30, Supervisor Tim Garman confirmed that the issue has not yet been spoken about in a public board meeting. “This is new to me,” Garman said.
Amber Middleton, who sits on the Advisory Board as a representative of the Shasta Community Health Center, also attended the Executive Board meeting by Zoom. She asked Burch why she was requesting the change in representation to be made by CoC Executive Board members when the NorCal Governance Charter says Shasta Advisory Board members make that decision.
“That’s not the decision-making authority; this is.” Burch responded. “That’s how we feel.”
Schreder disagreed, citing the NorCal CoC Governance Charter. ”We have a process that says that the advisory boards elect the Executive Board members and that’s what the governance charter says,” Schreder said. “So I don’t think it’s within our jurisdiction [as an Executive Board] to decide who each county selects as their representative to the Executive Board.”
As part of her pitch for a county staff member to replace Schreder on the NorCal CoC Executive Board, Burch emphasized that Shasta County’s relatively large homeless population size was a reason the county should receive “more decision-making power.”
That prompted a quick response from Carol Madison, who represents Modoc County on the Executive Board, and who asked Burch pointedly whether every county should have similar rights.
“Or is it just (okay for Shasta) because you’re so big and we’re so small?” Madison said.
Do you have a correction to this story? You can submit it here. Do you have information to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org
Author
Comments (43)
Comments are closed.
Related Articles
Shasta election official Clint Curtis uses board presentation to praise his own leadership, critique predecessors
The county board voted unanimously not to act on requests included in Curtis’ presentation.
Recent flooding closed Cal’s Books. This group of young people is working to bring it back
In December, after Cal’s Books was flooded with two feet of water — and thousands of books were damaged — its owner decided to close the store permanently. Now a team of 20-year-olds has a plan to save the beloved store.
Board majority faces off against Supervisor Plummer on liaison positions, supervisor raises
During the board’s first meeting of 2026, Supervisor Matt Plummer was removed from a number of pivotal liaison positions.
In the past month 3 child support employees have been promoted to hhsa admin positions – 2 program managers and 1 senior analyst while 2 key hhse admin fiscal employees have either left or given notice of leaving for other departments. Is anyone watching? Is anyone whistling?
@anonymous
Evidence of overspending:
Look into furniture purchases and man hours related to employee/department moves.
@ chucklessweetsister Where is the actual evidence of this overspending? Please report!
To previous commentors re housing authority staff:
Just leave the leftover housing workers alone. We have new management who have a fresh outlook on the department.
We are trying to do the work for the people of Shasta County.
Sure, we lost alot of staff. But we are still here. Unafraid of retaliation. So please give it a rest. Anyone who doesn’t want to be here has left.
We thank you for your concern. We are a strong staff of 9 and are absolutely unbothered about the previous staff/workers who aren’t here anymore. They have moved on and we wish them oh so well in their future endeavors.
Sure Laura, whatever you say.
@ Sunshine and Roses. You say all is well but it’s common knowledge that 95% of your staff are actively looking for other jobs. That says something.
Yet no one is hurting or crying for them. The housing authority is HERE. we are alive and well. If people want to leave… LEAVE. Someone who ruled the housing authority once said “Everyone is replacable”
Oh, were their names Laura, Christy, and Trisha? Cuz that’s how they ran the housing department previously. The new leadership tried to change that despite resistance and look at the result. Sabotage, back stabbing, and lies all played out. People with the best intentions to help the dept were pushed out or chose to not receive daily harassment. Stop drinking the kool-aid!
The people, still anonymous, are trying to support the hard working staff that do show up and do their job to serve the citizens. Quit protecting the ones who could care less about you!
Let’s not forget that the housing authority was ran by inept leadership just 2 years ago. The program manager and director over spent by the hundreds of thousands. The PM literally pushed anyone she didn’t like out. We had 5 useless supervisors and a bunch staff that didn’t really do much.
On the flip side now we have no reception. No office assistants. Caseworkers are receptionists. Either way ya slice her the little guy gets screwed.
We are poor now. Please sir can you spare some change.
Ican’teven – I would be worried if anyone left that knows anything about Fiscal in HHSA got the promotion, they would be leaving themselves wide open to get fired soon as they would probably be considered a possible threat to leadership. Just like the first two to either be made to retire or be fired.
@Carol
The frightening thing is that the last few fiscal people with institutional knowledge left are apparently under intense scrutiny (does not bode well) right where they are, which is nowhere near the top.
No position is safe in HHSA. And if they don’t push you out, they have been known to literally just pick you up and move you to another position, often in a completely different branch.
The loss of executives is just the tip of the iceberg. The exodus is far from over.
Have you seen the movie on netflix ? The Alledged Gang of Thieves, co-starring, produced and directed by the following: Chriss Street, Patrick Jones, Kevin Crye and of course–Chris ‘Sleepy Time’ Kelstrom…you should watch it, at no cost to you and your family.
I blame the BOS for allowing Burch to go unchecked with her abuse of power. While she was the director of Housing Authority/Community Action she knew nothing about the program. Neither did her posse Christy Coleman and Trisha Boss. When the the new director came on board she chose to open the financial books to the State and the Auditors office. She was gone a little while after that.
Burch had also left carniage over at Children’s. She then found herself having absolute control at HHSA. No checks and balances. You cannot have one person be judge, jury and executioner. But the BOS believes everything that cascades from her mouth without any asking any meaningful questions. They never seem to ask the right questions. When CAA/HA was moved underneath them it was shocking. Coleman had been put in charge of the department. This was a huge error in judgement as she should have recused herself due to having a prior relationship with a staff member. It was widely known in and out of the department. Makes you wonder what other kind of bad judgements were made. Let me tell you, PM and director gone and all four of the leadership team also left. This left the department without any institutional knowledge. Not great.
They didn’t run it correctly when they had it before why would it be any different now. From the looks of it and the games being played it isn’t any better. I have listened to the misinformation from her and her number 1 at BOS meetings. But again when you surround yourself in handpicked “yes” people you will never be questioned in your actions.
The staff that has left need the job on their resume so their exits won’t reflect the real reason of their departure. Staff won’t compain because of retaliation, it is a thing and happens all the time. They make it so toxic you leave or they set impossible to meet unobtainable goals so they can fire you.
HHSA needs a life line. People are leaving and the reputation it has, people don’t want to work within the department. Because of this it’s hard to fill positions which leaves current staff overwhelmed. Employees are concerned on a daily basis about their jobs. When you hear people say those things its heartbreaking. But then they add brand new positions which should not be needed if Burch had hired the most qualifed, not her buddies. These positions are a huge cost to the department and county. Hard to understand.
Burch puts on a great song and dance show but the only people who are buying tickets are the BOS, the rest of us who have to work under her are patiently waiting for her retirement.
Shasta County leaders have been mishandling our tax dollars for years. When much needed funding for the homeless arrived through COC funds from the State of California, they withheld the money, keeping it from the least of these. Our county needed housing for low income citizens. People suffering on the streets needed this money over a year ago when it was received. The County denied them and hoarded the money. Before that they got rid of the Opportunity Center which has been around for over 50 years in this county. Many of these disabled people are still without services. Thankfully, the City of Redding stepped up to take over management of these COC funds that are not only for our county, but for all of the counties involved in NorCal COC. And now that the State is offering millions of dollars to help the people most in need in our county, (which also helps all of our citizens achieve their needs) the Shasta County BOS wants to play with that money also! They have no concern for the citizens of this county. Only their own motives of power and greed matter to them. Vote them out!
It’d sure be swell if Burch diverted some of that energy into getting HHSA workers a livable wage instead of these shoddy, sleight-of-hand, bookie deals for her BoS Overlords. Hell, the workers aren’t greedy, they’ll even settle for better working conditions! (They should still get both and more.)
So… I am just recapping to process. Burch works in housing. Becomes HHSA director. Brings housing into HHSA. Has county step down from CoC leadership. Roadblocks transparency on records. For reasons unknown takes forever to return money. (Unsubstantiated but one wonders if they had to “take from Peter to pay Paul” and when the state put their foot down). Yet despite all of that failure to effectively be administrators of the program, demands executive decision making under threats that her best buddies might roadblock approvals if they don’t get their way. So many people think that the racketeering and underhanded behaviors are the BOS alone but time keeps showing that since Burch was planted in her position the cronyism hiring practices and failure to actually run such a large organization continues to show itself. Inadequate, self serving, and barely legal doings… just the same as this board.
I couldn’t agree more @Mandy. Seems like there are some shady things happening at the County and Burch is involved at every step.
Cronyism hiring practices?
Is someone suggesting that having an analyst from Housing (who worked under Laura and Christy there) taking a demotion into the HHSA Executive Assistant role (after displacing the person who had occupied that positionfor years), only to quickly be promoted to a newly created Program Manager position, and then somehow attaining the position of Deputy Director of HHSA Administration Branch (all within about 2 years) might be cronyism instead of a merit-based climb up the career ladder?
Are you thinking that the idea that the previous Deputy and Director of the Admin Branch vanished (simultaneously) only to be replaced by that ex-Housing rising star and a person who previously worked under Laura and Christy at Department of Child Support Services (apparently with no HHSA experience) might look like cronyism? I mean, it is probably unlikely that anybody with years and years of experience within the Agency competed for that position, right?
Are the optics curiously bad that Christy followed Laura from Housing to DCSS (Deputy and Director positions), only to then find herself hired into a newly created Assistant Agency Director position?
Gosh, are people wondering out loud whether it seems odd that the majority of HHSA management positions since Laura was placed in her role (by the BOS) seem to have been filled by DCSS staff or personal friends?
If that were actually the case, would that qualify as cronyism or is there some technicality to be applied to the situation?
I mean, the idea that a CFO position now has to be created because the new Deputy and Director of Admin are unqualified to manage the fiscal responsibilities of that Branch has to be a misperception right? The position hasn’t been filled yet, but surely we shouldn’t expect whoever gets that new job to come from Housing or DCSS or the pool of Laura’s personal friends. And surely whoever gets the new Attorney position won’t be a personal friend of either Laura or the Board.
Certainly there must be some other explanation.
Government hiring practices are legally required to be based on the merit system. Perhaps there is some other way to interpret all of the bad optics here. I would love to be enlightened.
Could qualified and experienced people who were passed over for those positions bring complaints that could end up causing legal trouble (more taxpayer money wasted) for the County? Probably not. Those people who haven’t abandoned the ship under seige yet are terrified of losing their jobs if the speak up. Oh wait – there are whistleblower-type laws in place to prevent that. (Just like the merit system requirements for hiring.)
Maybe some fact-checking could shed some light?
There is a step missing here… Laura went to department of child support as an executive Director, had Christy replace her as the executive Director of the housing department, then created an assistant Director at child support services. Magically, Christy was appointed the assistant Director at child support services and then the two of them worked so hard to fire the housing Director, so that they could bring housing back to health and human services!
I feel like there is some things missing here. Burch came from an analyst in the CAO’s office, got promoted to a Director of a department that she had no experience and, work so hard to get rid of staff who put their heart and soul into the department, Left the housing department and went to child support where she created an assistant Director position. Once the assistant Director position was available, she promoted Christy from a housing Director to an assistant Director of child support. Once the health and human service Director position came available, Burch went to be that Director, and brought Christy right along with her. Once she was the Director of HHSA, her and Christy worked, so hard to get the housing, Director fired, for no reason!
@Mandy You explained it so elquently. I agree, and I will put it more bluntly: She sucks. Only has created 100k leadership jobs, like assistant agency director. All the people who worked years to get into leadership positions either fled or were menanced out, sometimes overnight.
https://www.ijpr.org/politics-government/2023-09-19/politics-and-low-pay-are-creating-a-brain-drain-in-shasta-county
I fear the entire county is vulnerable to imbezzlement and theft because all these new hires do not know thier jobs.
Mandy, that about sums it up! Except maybe add that shady Laura Burch colluded with corrupt supes to basically steal the millions they held in trust for the CoC, refusing to hand over their money until being threatened by the state. She also is the one who made unsubstantiated claims that it cost the county $400k to be the lead agency, but in typical shady fashion she refused to provide any documentation of that claim. She’s a crony, a puppet and an incompetent manager under whose leadership there’s been a stampede for the door. She’s an embarrassment to the county and should be fired.
Hi there. In line with our community guidelines I would appreciate you avoiding name calling. I would also appreciate all commenters keeping this to the facts that are known and substantiated. There is no evidence of collusion or stealing thus far. Delayed payments and lack of transparent financial reporting are concerning but they are not the same as evidence of stealing.
Annelise, if you worked in the County this would be clear as glass. These facts are known. It’s not suspicion or false statements.
100% dead on!!!
Thanks for all your reporting. I’m so grateful for all our supervisors working so hard, especially Crye, Kelstrom, and Jones, and will vote accordingly as the time comes. So glad for how conservative our county is, and supervisors. A shining light to the whole state.
I too feel the same way. It would be nice to have all county supervisors conservative! There’s absolutely no reason for any liberal county or city for that manner board members. Shasta county is a red county! We believe in less government, not more! Has the homeless situation improved? I had five different people approach me for money at gas for less while pumping just one tank of gas, give me a break
@Jon
Let me get this straight, you believe in less government, not more, but you’re okay with more involvement by the board of supervisors…
You do understand that they are government, and their involvement would mean more government not less??
@ Jon
Less government… hmmm…
Does adding more and more highly paid upper management positions – like Assistant HHSA Agency Director, CFO, HHSA Attorney, and an Internal Affairs team with Program Manager and Analysts (which were apparently necessary in the past) qualify as less government and responsible use of taxpayer money?
Here I was thinking that bloated bureaucracy was the opposite of fiscal responsibility.
*not* necesary in the past
*(which were apparently NOT necessary in the past.)
Why does politics have to come into play when there’s a goal it’s not about conservative and liberal.
If by shining light you mean ‘national embarrassment’, then I think you are spot on. 🙂
I am so grateful for Mary Rickert and the work that she done. She, Allen Long, and Matt Plummer will bring sanity back to Shasta county and they have my support.
My comment above was @Elizabeth.
OMG? MAGA SPEEKS!
This is to Elizabeth’s comment
This action by three of the extreme far right members of Shasta County’s Board of Supervisorsv and their mentor Chris Street, is simply a power play. The three supervisors often disregard governing rules, policy or even law to further their extremist far right agenda. This is an example of how the current leadership of Shasta Supervisors, is corrupt and how their agenda does not represent the best interest of the majority of citizens in our County. It’s time to bring back safe and sane leadership to this County!
Jones and Crye both need to be recalled
All 3 need to be recalled. Jones Crye and Kelstrom.
Amen to the recalls
All 3 of the trouble makers need to be voted out. My district 1 is well-organized and informed about YES on Crye methods with positive, factual information and public practices. We will vote him out in March. The others, they are going to feel planning efforts that they have never used or heard of before. The main issue is the gerrymandering process to divide all of us in the County into these areas of influence. You and I know everybody cares about fiscal responsibility, health and safety and safe schools. Shasta County residents should get to vote democratically for those issues that are important for the entire county. Issues just in the City should be represented by both the City dwellers and neighbor communities. Where ever you live, just vote when that time comes.
So do I understand this correctly-Shasta County decided to no longer administer the CoC last year on fairly short notice stating the county was losing money, then City of Redding stepped up and agrees to take over setting up the board according to HUD guidelines and now, after the transfer of funds was requested recently, Laura Burch is instructed by the Board of Supervisors (who remain nameless) that they want to replace the elected chair Schreder with a county staff member or they won’t play ball? This involves seven counties playing in the sandbox and looks like Shasta once again wants to control the direction and funds…..wonder how those counties feel about the possible affect of funding disruption due to this power play.
Kristin Schreder has an enormous amount of experience with homeless issues and did a great job in guiding the Continuum of Care after Shasta County abandoned it as lead agency. Some county staff already serve on the Advisory Committee for the Continuum of Care and have access to inform and advise the Executive Committee. Is this another of Jones-Crye-Kilstrom attempts to shoot down any CoC proposals that might affect the County and/or City? The optics of this situation are certainly not good. Please stay on top of this story as it develops!