Item
Title
Resolution Adopting the Durham Strategic Framework to Make Homelessness Rare and Brief by 2031 (45min)
Body
Date of BOCC Meeting: September 8, 2026
Request for Board Action:
Agenda Text
The proposed resolution adopts the Durham 5-Year Strategic Framework to Make Homelessness Rare and Brief by 2031. Developed through a collaborative community-driven process, the Framework establishes a shared aim that by June 30, 2031, homelessness in Durham will be rare and brief for all populations. The resolution authorizes the County Manager and staff to work with our partners to implement evidence-based strategies, coordinate with community partners, and utilize measurable outcomes to evaluate progress.
Background
Durham County has partnered with the City of Durham’s Department of Community Safety (DCSD) and community partners to develop a Five-Year Strategic Framework to address the issues related to homelessness in Durham.
Last year, Durham’s Continuum of Care (CoC) launched an effort to develop an evidence-informed strategic planning process. The strategic framework that emerged from the process was developed in collaboration with the community, including service providers, healthcare organizations, individuals with current lived experience of homelessness, local government partners, business and philanthropic leaders, among others.
The Strategic Framework is built on five core strategy lanes designed to move the community from managing a crisis to proactive resolution.
1. Set Foundations for an Effective, Resilient System: This pillar focuses on establishing the core infrastructure needed for a high-functioning response.
2. Establish and Maintain Effective Ways of Working: This lane transforms how partners interact on a daily basis to ensure no individual is lost in the system. It prioritizes cross-sector case conferencing, where frontline staff from different agencies meet regularly to solve barriers for specific unhoused neighbors.
3. Influence Enabling System Conditions: This strategy targets the broader environment that makes long-term change possible. Efforts include aligning local and state policies, mobilizing new resources through public-private partnerships, and shifting the public narrative to build sustained community will.
4. Drive Homelessness Reduction Strategies: These are the direct interventions aimed at improving housing outcomes. The primary focus is a "Resources First" approach, which lines up housing units and financial assistance before engagement begins.
5. Ensure Strong Backbone Operations: The Durham Community Safety Department serves as the "Backbone," providing the central coordination and accountability required to drive the five-year strategy.
The Durham Strategic Framework to End Homelessness moves from a reactive model of "managing movement" that displaces people to a proactive focus on housing outcomes. This shift is powered by four interconnected reduction strategies that function as a single engine for resolution.
1. Pre-Lining Up Housing Units: The process begins with sourcing real offers of housing before outreach teams ever engage with an encampment.
2. Flexible Housing Assistance Fund: Once units are identified, the $9 million Flexible Housing Fund provides the speed of access to the resources needed to secure them.
3. Expansion of Interim Housing: For neighbors who cannot move immediately into permanent homes, the framework calls on the addition of hundreds of interim housing options.
4. Housing Stabilization Case Management: To ensure that people can remain stably housed and do not reenter homelessness, the city is investing $1.25 million to scale up dedicated case management.
The Framework outlines a comprehensive, multi-year plan for the City of Durham and Durham County to build a resilient system that prevents homelessness and ensures it is rare and brief. The overarching goal is to achieve a state where homelessness is rare and brief for all populations by June 2031. The framework specifically defines “rare and brief” as a state where no one experiences homelessness for more than 30 days.
Alignment with Strategic Plan: This agenda item aligns with two of Durham County’s Strategic Plan Focus Areas - Healthy & Inclusive Community and Safe & Resilient Community.
Resource Persons: Maurice Jones, Deputy County Manager; Ryan Smith, Director
Durham Community Safety Department
County Manager’s Recommendation: The County Manager recommends that the Board receive the presentation on the framework and discuss the recommendations in the report.
Signature
County Manager: ____________________________