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<br />46 <br /> <br />Alameda Countywide Homeless and Special Needs Housing Plan <br /> <br />Factors shaping the context for implementation include: <br /> <br />· Increasing need and decreasing resources. As the population increases and the gaps between <br />incomes and housing costs in Alameda County increase, the amount of funding at the local, <br />state, and federal levels available for related issues is for the most part stagnant or decreasing. <br />The Mental Health Services Act represents one significant new source of new funding, but itself <br />has been offset by reductions in mental health services funding in previous years. <br /> <br />· Long-range planning in a short-term environment. This is a ten-year plan for ending <br />homelessness, but many types of funding are only available one-year at a time and may be <br />subject to sudden changes. Elected officials are often oriented toward their term in office. The <br />three- to five. years required to develop affordable housing and the required long-term periods <br />of affordability of up to 59 years are at odds with the shorter timelines of service commitments. <br /> <br />· Ensuring long-term leadership for implementation. Implementing the changes identified in <br />this plan will require consistent long-term leadership and working with many people who <br />represent the diversity of Alameda County, including all jurisdictions and all sectors-for many <br />years to come. <br /> <br />· Regional solutions required. Homelessness and permanent housing for people with disabilities <br />are regional issues that cannot be solved by one jurisdiction, program, system, or funding <br />source. What happens in one city or county affects other cities and counties, yet local <br />government is not structured to approach issues regionally. <br /> <br />· Creating new funding mechanisms. Existing resources may be re.deployed in the <br />implementation of this plan, and creative combinations of existing funding should yield greater <br />impacts. However, making significant changes will require securing new resources and making <br />long-term investments in the strategies and solutions outlined in this plan. <br />