Inside California’s System Change Efforts to Address Homelessness: Four Recommendations for Other States Looking to Do the Same

For nearly two years, Third Sector advised the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) on creating a more outcomes-focused culture for its staff and county partners. It is a shift that requires government staff to ask more about what happened after housing services were delivered (who was stably housed, when, and for how long) and which resources could be shared across departments (funding, data, and policies) within a specific time frame to serve constituents seeking services better.

The Opportunity

Everyone, no matter their age, race, zip code, or previous educational background deserves to get the education and the career they want. And yet millions of Americans face significant barriers to enrolling, persisting, and completing postsecondary education and obtaining a credential – even as more and more of the best paying jobs require some kind of postsecondary education.

At the same time, there are a variety of wraparound student support services and promising

We need our government to take action to simplify and streamline the structures and tools that help individuals fund lifelong learning. That’s why Third Sector is proposing a SIMPLE framework to help create a more streamlined approach to saving and paying for postsecondary education and job training that can provide clarity and ease for learners, workers, employers, and all those who care about ensuring these opportunities are accessible to everyone.

The six key lessons learned below come from 14 Rural Sector Partnership Leaders across 12 organizations and 26 rural sector partnerships in six states (CO, PA, WY, TX, LA, NC) as well as Third Sector’s own experiences and work to stand up these partnerships in Rural Central Texas.

Third Sector values deep and authentic relationships - amongst our staff as well as with our partners and clients. We had an opportunity to reflect on these relationships during our Spring 2023 Retreat where we focused as a team on “Why we do the work.” It was a privilege to welcome our long-time client, Dr. Cynthia [...]

As the demand for behavioral health treatment skyrockets alongside rising staff vacancy rates, behavioral health agencies are facing a true crisis in building enough capacity to meet the need. After an extensive literature review and working with more than a dozen behavioral health agencies, Third Sector believes one of the most strategic shifts agencies can make to confront this crisis is to invest heavily in roles for individuals with lived experience, known as peers. 

Increasing peer positions and expanding peer responsibilities not only provides necessary staffing capacity, but is also an