This Week in Public Meetings: CoC Advisory, SCOE, At Home

*Meeting titles are linked to meeting agendas. Click for access.

12.15 – Shasta County AT-HOME Homelessness Ad Hoc Committee Meeting

City of Redding Mayor Tenessa Audette facilitated the first public meeting of the AT-HOME Ad Hoc Committee. The committee has been meeting since June 2023 to develop a plan to address homelessness county-wide. It is comprised of two elected officials from the City of Redding, Anderson, Shasta Lake, and Shasta County as well as staff and members of law enforcement. The agenda for this meeting included reviewing the action plan that the group has developed in the last six months and discussing the continuation of the committee, which would require the meetings to be public moving forward.

The committee moved through an explanation of each of the five objectives of their draft plan which include (1) fiscal responsibility; (2) Homeless Management Information System (HMIS); (3) Navigation/Day Resource Center; (4) Choice, Accountability, Incentives and Crime; and (5) Focus.

Members of the public were able to comment on each agenda item. Multiple members of the NorCal CoC were present. The NorCal CoC is one of the major state and federally-funded governing bodies that oversees regional plans and programs to address homelessness. It’s administration was provided by Shasta County HHSA until June of this year when the county withdrew. Members of the public, including CoC members, voiced concern with how little participation there had been from existing agencies and entities that currently work with the homeless population, including the CoC. Some also mentioned concerns about why housing didn’t seem to be a main objective in the plan.

Next week, representatives from the three city’s and county will ask their boards and councils for approval to continue participating in ongoing meetings to further develop the plan and hold public meetings to develop the five objectives.

12.13 – Board of the Shasta County Office of Education (SCOE)

12.14.23 7:42 pm We have updated the SCOE recap to include information about Flores pay raise and retirement.

SCOE Superintendent Judy Flores received an 8% pay raise during the meeting. She also used the meeting to announce her retirement, effective June 30, 2023.

The SCOE board focused on its annual board reorganization including approving revised protocols and practices, and appointing new officers. Robert Brown and Nick Webb were unanimously approved as President and Vice President of the SCOE board for the upcoming year. And members also voted to add make the June and September meetings parent-focused evening meetings.

During public comment, in response to questions from the public about the recent arrest of a substitute teacher for indecent exposure at a school in Anderson, Associate Shasta County Office of Education Superintendent, Adam Hillman, told the board and the public that substitute teachers within the county pass both federal and state level background checks before being hired. He also said that the substitute credentialing process ensures that districts are notified by law enforcement if a substitute teacher is arrested.

The meeting included a presentation on SCOE’s literacy initiative which has prompted a number of upcoming literacy learning opportunities within the county. The Right to Read events will be held on January 8 and will include a conference for teachers and administrators, a conference for para-educators, and a viewing of the documentary film, Right to Read for parents and students. Register for the film here. SCOE Executive Director of Youth Support Services Austin Preller also shared about proposed plans for SCOE’s substance abuse prevention initiative.

SCOE Board members also unanimously approved SCOE’s first interim budget for 2023/2024.

12.12 – NorCal Continuum of Care Shasta Advisory Committee (CoC Advisory)

Former Redding Mayor Kristen Schreder gave an update on several funding issues as the representative of the CoC Executive Board. According to Schreder, “the state has not received enough information from the county” to create amendments to HHAP3 contracts that will allow for those state funds to be distributed to local partners. CoC partner organizations have told Shasta Scout they’ve been waiting months longer than expected for Shasta county to distribute those funds. A county staff member attending the meeting did not comment.

Redding’s Community Development Manager, Nicole Smith, said that an ad hoc AT HOME Committee which includes public officials from the county and all three cities, will hold a public meeting at City Hall in the Caldwell conference room on the second floor, Thursday, December 14, at 8:30 am. She said information about the meeting will be available to the public soon. Shasta Scout has reached out for confirmation.

The United Way’s Tim Danielson gave an update on progress in taking over the Homeless Management Information System administration process from Shasta County after the county declined to continue to provide those services past December 31. While there are still some uncertainties, Danielson said the United Way is confident that the transition can be completed without interruptions for service providers as long as they enter data into the system by January 1.

The committee also discussed this year’s Housing Inventory Count and Point-in-Time count. The decision was made to skip the count of unsheltered individuals this year but details still need to be worked out around the mandatory count of those in shelters as well as the amount of available housing stock. Details about this count will be the main topic of conversation in the committee’s January meeting.

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