Measuring the Impact of a City-County Collaboration on Homelessness
City: San Jose, California
Reporting to: Chief Policy Officer
The Challenge
In California, homelessness services are predominantly run by counties. However, with the local homeless situation reaching a crisis, San Jose city leaders have in recent years set up nearly two thousand interim housing beds. These sites (primarily “tiny home” communities and converted hotels and motels) provide safe, dignified alternatives to encampments, and offer on-site wraparound services designed to stabilize residents and help them transition into permanent housing. The city has shouldered both the costs—which are expected to reach close to $90 million per year in 2026 (see Interim Housing Report, page 97)—and the coordination gaps that come with operating a large sheltering system outside of Santa Clara County’s broader array of services.
In September 2025, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan struck a deal with his county-level counterpart to integrate the city’s interim housing sites into the county’s broader homelessness, health, and behavioral health system. By ending duplication of services, the agreement is expected to reduce long-term costs to the city by an estimated $25 million. It is also expected to provide better care by bringing more behavioral health and medical support to interim housing sites and opening clearer pathways for people to move into permanent supportive housing.
To make this collaboration effective, agencies involved on both sides need consistent, reliable, and aligned data on shelter operations, service utilization, placements into permanent housing, and long-term outcomes. A data and evaluation backbone must be built to understand the agreement’s real-world impact and help decision makers to refine operations.
Key questions include:
- Is the agreement achieving its goals of identifying financial savings and efficiencies and improving service delivery?
- Are outcomes improving for chronically homeless individuals with complex behavioral health and medical needs?
- Are there service gaps or other challenges in the agreement that need to be addressed?
What You’ll Do
The fellow will advance the city’s broader effort to address homelessness by delivering the data, analysis, and insights needed to make the new city-county partnership effective and sustainable. The fellow will support implementation and evaluation of the partnership by building a unified, accurate picture of how people move through the new joint system, identifying gaps, measuring performance, and making recommendations to ensure the partnership delivers the promised outcomes. This will require close collaboration with the Mayor’s Office (which is leading the policy direction), the city’s Housing Department (which oversees interim housing operations), onsite service providers (who manage daily client care), and county partners, including behavioral health, housing, and coordinated entry staff who are integrating into the city-run sites. The fellow will work across these groups to gather data, align metrics, and present findings that will guide joint decision-making.
Key deliverables include:
- An inventory of metrics to be used and data sources for financial, housing, and service outcomes.
- A data dashboard and summary report showing financial, housing, and service outcomes.
- A memo analyzing service gaps or operational challenges, and actionable recommendations for improving coordination.
- A presentation to stakeholders summarizing findings, insights, and suggested next steps.
What You’ll Bring
The fellow will be expected to possess the following skills:
- Data Analysis
- Design Thinking
- Policy Analysis
- Financial Modeling
- Qualitative Interviewing and Analysis
