Home Safe
BHHI evaluated the Home Safe program following a request by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS).
Our Home Safe Interim Evaluation Key Findings explain:
- Home Safe Led to Improved Systems Integration
- Housing Shortage Hinders Program Effectiveness
- Flexibility of Home Safe Funds is Key to its Successes
- Equity Concerns
- Commonly Used Risk Assessment Tool is of Limited Usefulness
- Early Results Suggest Home Safe Helped Some Clients Avoid Homelessness
- Proposed Expansion Brings Potential Benefits
Background
In California, county Adult Protective Services (APS) agencies investigate reports of abuse, neglect or self-neglect, and exploitation inflicted on seniors and non-senior dependent adults.
Home Safe programs operated by county APS agencies assist clients at imminent risk of homelessness by offering a range of potential services, including eviction prevention, landlord mediation, short-term financial assistance, and intensive case management.
The California Legislature created Home Safe in 2018 and allocated $15 million from the General Fund for county APS agencies to start their own Home Safe programs with a 1:1 county match. Since then, the State allocated an additional $92.5 million match-exempt General Fund to Home Safe for expenditure through June 2025. BHH is conducting the evaluation on this expansion in the program.
