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Shelter Guidance

Congregate Shelter COVID-19 Policies and Recommendations →

This guide was created in partnership between Santa Cruz County’s Department of Human Services, Housing for Health Division, and the Health Services Agency, Public Health Division. It is for emergency congregate shelters serving people experiencing homelessness in Santa Cruz County during the COVID-19 pandemic. This guidance is intended to provide both County requirements and practice recommendations for safe sheltering. It may be modified as the local response develops and/or more is known about the disease.

The CDC’s Interim Guidance for Homeless Service Providers to Plan and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), as well as the California Department of Public Health (CDPH)’s Infection Control Guidance for Clients in Congregate Shelters, Including Shelters for People Experiencing Homelessness should also be used for reference, as they will be kept current on best practices for sheltering during the pandemic.

Emergency Shelter Standards

Shared emergency shelter standards are currently in development. They will be posted here once finalized and approved by the Housing for Health Partnership.

Forms and Tools

Providers of housing-related services within Santa Cruz County utilize a variety of forms and tools to help people get and keep housing. This webpage provides a centralized location for some official required forms and written tools that providers find useful here or in other communities.

If you have suggestions for some of the current documents or ones to add, please email us at info@housingforhealthpartnership.org. We will update the site with new forms and tools as they become available.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has established specific programs that prioritize or target households experiencing “chronic homelessness.” To qualify for these housing opportunities, households must document their eligibility. The files listed below include forms and tools to help with determining if a household meets the criteria for “chronic homelessness” and the documents required to verify this eligibility.

HUD and other public and private funding agencies frequently require documentation of homelessness for eligibility purposes. Here is information on how to document homelessness according to funding sources. The first document listed is for HUD programs specifically.

This section contains forms and tools that housing service providers have found useful in helping people get and keep housing. This section will be updated as new resources become available.

Housing Assistance Fund

The Housing Assistance Fund (HAF), managed by Santa Cruz County’s Housing for Health Division in partnership with the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, was created to provide a flexible source of funding to help Santa Cruz County eligible participants and their families obtain and maintain long-term stable housing. The funds come from a variety of sources that allow for maximum flexibility tailored to the unique needs of each household experiencing a housing crisis. HAF applications are prepared and submitted on behalf of participants by eligible providers, currently limited to only those that are licensed HMIS users. Before requesting funds, providers must either attend or watch the recorded HAF training and read the policies document linked below. Questions about the HAF program can be sent to H4H.HousingAssistanceFund@SantaCruzCountyCA.gov.

Housing Assistance
Fund Policy
Summary of Eligible HAF Expenses
H4H Flexible Spending Fund Check Request Form
H4H Housing Assistance Fund Participant Info (ENG)
H4H Housing Assistance Fund Participant Info (SP)
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