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Chapter 10: Plan Administration Facilitate dialogue on difficult issues that create tension within the continuum, such a regional disparities, differences between disciplines and competition between providers for specific suppopulations competing for the same dollars. Topic 3 Long-Term Financial Resource Development Lack of long-term funding is perhaps the greatest barrier to achievement of a comprehensive continuum of care for preventing, reducing, and eventually eliminating homelessness in - Alameda County. The current service delivery system is stretched very thin; virtually every provider faces growing demand that far outstrips the services they are able to provide with their current limited resources. This situation may grow worse over the five years of this _ plan, with possible increased homelessness resulting from benefits cuts to immigrants and welfare recipients, decreases in Section 8 and public housing available to very low income people, and potential reductions in federal funding to Alameda County for homeless programs. _ Service delivery efforts are also hampered by a funding system that requires providers to spend an inordinate amount of time raising money, and which makes the survival of many programs uncertain year after year. _ With these thoughts in mind, it is important that jurisdictions not merely react to external _ changes to the financing and demand for homeless services, but take proactive steps to attain financial stability for the continuum of care, and achieve greater efficiency by streamlining the funding process to the extent possible. The continuum of care must assure that the needs of _ homeless people are addressed as efficiently, specifically, and thoroughly as possible through a system of service providers with adequate funding to do the job. The following set of recommendations provides along-term inter jurisdictional strategy for enhancing current homelessness resources in the county and helping finance the goals of this plan in the next five years and beyond. -- • Expand resources through the work of a full-time Continuum of Care Development Director. _ Once the Council has become fully established, if funding is available, hire a full-time Continuum of Care Development Director to generate greater continuum of care resources through new fundraising and coordination of existing fundraising. The position will be under the Council and report to the Continuum of Care _ Coordinator. During the first year to two years of plan implementation, the Continuum of Care Coordinator will explore the feasibility of raising funds for this Alameda County-Wide Homeless Continuum of Care Plan: April 1997 128