SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - When I took office, tackling the homelessness crisis was my top priority. As a member of the Folsom City Council, I witnessed firsthand how fragmented and uncoordinated the response was between the County of Sacramento and individual cities. Each jurisdiction worked independently, duplicating efforts, lacking coordination, and ultimately failing to drive meaningful change.

This disjointed approach has led to a system that simply doesn’t work. Homelessness is a regional crisis, and until we commit to working together as one unified force, we won’t see a real decline in the numbers.

According to the most recent Point-in-Time count, Sacramento County has at least 6,615 homeless individuals, though I firmly believe this is an undercount. Even with this conservative estimate, the picture is stark: we have a fraction of the shelter beds, permanent supportive housing, and services needed to meet the demand.

Without a collaborative strategy, we remain stuck in a cycle where homeless individuals are simply moved from one city to another as encampments are cleared, rather than being placed on a meaningful path to stability.

At the same time, we cannot allow illegal encampments and the status quo to continue. Sacramento County residents should not bear the brunt of inaction, whether it’s in the form of blight, negative impacts on local businesses and neighborhoods or increased crime. These encampments are unsafe, both for those living in them and for the surrounding communities.

Clearing them isn’t just about restoring order; it’s about ensuring individuals have access to the treatment and services they need to get back on their feet.

The solution is clear: we must drastically increase the availability of shelter and supportive housing, while ensuring that our local government, county and city, works together in a unified system. This includes:

Coordinating Resources Across Jurisdictions: Rather than cities and counties working in isolation, we need a shared strategy to efficiently allocate shelter beds, housing and services where they are most needed.

Maximizing Existing Shelter Capacity: We must better manage our available shelter beds to ensure individuals have a safe place to go when encampments are cleared.

Expanding Services Alongside Shelters and Housing: Simply providing housing isn’t enough. True progress requires robust mental health care, substance use disorder treatment, and job training programs to help individuals transition back into society. Without these critical services, the cycle of homelessness will continue.

Holding Ourselves Accountable: A fragmented approach has failed us. It’s time for all local governments to take responsibility and focus on results over bureaucracy. As elected officials, we must ensure real-time data is used to improve efficiency and effectiveness, enabling quick action and problem-solving.

Requiring Outcomes from Community Partners: Organizations receiving government funding must be held accountable, with key performance indicators based on measurable and achievable results reported monthly.

Establishing Effective and Efficient Communication: Homelessness is the top priority for most of us living in Sacramento County, and addressing it requires clear, concise, and timely communication. We must utilize data to foster dialogue, understanding, and collaboration to drive better outcomes.

Sacramento County has a unique opportunity to set a new standard for addressing homelessness, not through fragmented efforts by individual cities and agencies, but by coming together as a unified force. I’ve been working to bring leaders together, including recent meetings with Sacramento City Mayor Kevin McCarty, to develop a collaborative strategy that will drive real, lasting change.

We are joining forces to bring leaders from all cities in Sacramento County to identify the gaps and challenges within the current system, uncover deficiencies, and create a cost-effective, long-term plan to significantly reduce homelessness throughout our county.

If we fail to collaborate, the crisis will only deepen. But if we unite, we can build a system that helps move individuals off the streets and into stable, fulfilling lives.

Let’s come together and take real action to solve this crisis. I want to hear from you, how can we better coordinate our efforts? Reach out to my office at 916-874-5491 or e-mail at [email protected].

Major Bust on Watt Avenue

I want to give a big thank you to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and their deputies for a successful human trafficking sting in the Watt Avenue area long known as a hotspot for these crimes.

By going undercover and posing as sex workers, they arrested 53 individuals attempting to buy sex.

This operation is part of an ongoing effort to reduce the demand driving commercial sex trafficking. I’m also grateful to the partner agencies who supported this effort: the Sacramento Family Justice Center, Drive4Impact Foundation, Sacramento County Probation Department and the California Department of Justice.

These coordinated actions are crucial in protecting victims and making our communities safer.

Supervisor Rosario Rodriguez represents Sacramento County Supervisorial District 4, which includes the cities of Citrus Heights and Folsom, and the unincorporated communities of Orangevale, Antelope, North Highlands, Rio Linda, Elverta and Rancho Murieta.