What is Built for Zero?
Built for Zero Program is using data-driven systems to measurably end homelessness in our area. The initiative began in April of 2020 and has led to significant improvements in communication across agencies, jurisdictions, non-profits and other entities impacted by the rising number of people experiencing homelessness in Washoe County.
This program conducted a detailed housing inventory analysis in January 2021 of 28 organizations and 72 providers. They then developed and now manage a quality data By-Name list that identifies each individual in our community experiencing homelessness from which housing placements can be made. They’re working alongside a wide scope of agencies with the focus of finding housing for people. They’ve also coordinated efforts between homeless street outreach groups, including law enforcement street outreach, to maximize efficiency and decrease duplicative efforts. They keep a detailed inventory and complete a gap analysis of housing capacity that enables them to add beds where needed and use limited resources in an effective way.
Their work has led to improvements such as the number of service providers entering data into a common data database going from 40% to 85%. They are now able to report monthly on the number of people actively experiencing homelessness in Washoe County by sub population. They’ve also established common metrics by which to measure program success which allows funders, such as local jurisdictions, to assess the impact of their investments in a consistent, objective way.
View the actively homeless dashboard here: https://www.washoecounty.gov/homeless/CoC/built-for-zero/dashboard.php