Family Services

In Santa Clara County Social Services Agency (SSA), the Family Stabilization services and the CalWORKs Housing Support Program (CHSP) are incorporated into the Family Services (FS) Program. This includes intensive case management designed to address crisis situations. This strategy is designed to enhance and assist with participation, prior to, or concurrent with WTW activities. In addition to housing services, FS includes mental health counseling, substance abuse counseling, domestic violence services and access to Social Work staff.

The FS Program helps eligible CalWORKs families with housing assistance and support through three program offerings: the CalWORKs Housing Support Program, the At-Risk Office of Supportive Housing (OSH) Prevention, and the Family Stabilization Housing Assistance. Families whose needs are not met through either the At-Risk or CHSP programs will be assessed for Family Stabilization Housing Assistance.

At-Risk (OSH) Prevention will provide housed families with homeless prevention assistance to help navigate a temporary crisis and preserve existing housing. The supporting Agency for this program will be OSH. Abode Services and Sacred Heart Community Service are OSH providers that support the agency's housing programs.

Refer to CWES Handbook Family Services (FS) Program for more information.

Family Services Referral

Eligible WTW clients may be referred for FS at any point in the participant flow as follows:

Client request (self-referral),
Service Provider recommendation,
Eligibility Worker (EW),
Associate Employment Counselor (AEC)/Employment Counselor (EC), or
Social Worker (SW).

Family Services Housing Assistance

Refer to CWES Handbook Family Services (FS) Housing Assistance.

Family Stabilization Housing Assistance

Refer to CWES Handbook Family Stabilization Housing Assistance for information on eligible families, homeless/housing condition for program eligibility, and a list of services offered.

CalWORKs Housing Support Program (CHSP)

CHSP is designed to assist eligible CalWORKs families who are experiencing homelessness. This program is separate from the Homeless Assistance that is issued by the Eligibility Worker, and is in addition to the Family Stabilization Housing Assistance program. Refer to CalWORKs Housing Support Program for more information.

Referral Guidance

Use the CalWORKs Housing Assistance Referral Process - CalWORKs Housing Support Program & Family Stabilization Housing Assistance (SCD 2488) to make the appropriate referral.

Cal-OAR Measure

The California Outcomes and Accountability Review (Cal-OAR) includes the Homeless Assistance (HA), both Temporary and Permanent housing, and CHSP. The calculation for the measure is a combined measure for both the HA and CHSP.

Eligibility Workers complete the CalSAWS pages for both HA and CHSP. In CalSAWS that will be the Housing Support Program (HSP) when there is a HA request and the client meets the eligibility criteria listed in Home Visiting Program Benefits and Services Available or CWES Handbook Family Services (FS) Program. Entries in CalSAWS are as follows:

EW - completes the Homeless-Temp Detail page and process Temporary Homeless Assistance.
EW - adds a Status of "Active" to the Housing Support List and the Begin and Request Date based on the current process.
HSP - adds the Need Category of "Housing Support Program (HSP) and "Approved" Status in the Service Arrangements List page.

Note: Services are defined generally as any initial related HSP services.