Add housing-focused Correctional Counselors in County jails

Lead agency: Sheriff’s Office

Population of focus: Homeless or at-risk individuals in unsentenced populations that did not previously receive housing assessments and comprehensive reentry because their release date was not known; these individuals may be released after a short stay in jail or at any point in their case.    

SIM intercept: 2-3, 4-5 

Summary of planned action: 

Initiate a pilot program in the Sheriff’s Office that will dedicate a correctional counselor with housing expertise in each of the County’s five detention and reentry facilities to identify homeless or at-risk individuals among populations that do not currently receive housing assessments and may be released quickly or at any point in their case.    

Actions taken: 

  • Onboarded and trained correctional counselors in the five jail booking and release facilities.   

  • Identify various reentry needs for linkage to service, including interim housing, through case management and comprehensive reentry planning services.  

  • The Sheriff’s Office is able to better support to the unsentenced population with access to interim housing and transportation services.   

  • Since January 2025 through September 30, 2025, there have been 255 interim housing referrals. 

  •  Correctional Counselors have also provided 214 individuals with a referral to Project In-Reach during this time period.  Referrals to the C3 Programs and the ATI Care Coordination and Housing program have been reduced due to limited program capacity; Correctional Counselors referred 136 individuals to the ATI Program, and 161 individuals to the C3 Programs during this time period.  The ATI Program previously accepted clients seeking services after their return to the community with a referral that was initiated with a Correctional Counselor while incarcerated; due to reaching capacity, they are temporarily discontinued offering this model for enrollments, which also contributed to a reduction in referrals.   

Next steps: 

  • Continue to refer to agencies with capacity to support individuals at risk of being homeless upon release, including interim housing and Project In-reach and communicate with Correctional Counselors when there are openings at programs such as ATI.