From the Ground Up - A 10-year plan lays out these ambitious goals to end homelessness.

The problems surrounding homelessness go wide and deep, but so do the solutions. Below is a list of possible ways to attack the problem, along with some of the things – like lack of funding – currently standing in the way of progress.

Create a comprehensive housing pipeline: That would take building enough housing units, fixing federal rules that make it difficult to put the chronically homeless into permanent housing, getting people into housing with support systems like mental health counseling and finding counselors to work with the disabled.

Increase permanent housing stock for homeless people by 200 units in 10 years: That would take money to build the housing units, nonprofits to develop the projects, locations that aren’t opposed by residents saying “not in my backyard,” and finding for-profit housing developers willing to develop affordable housing, including apartment buildings. Cities and counties can modify rules to make it easier for developers to develop affordable housing.

Ensure there’s enough emergency shelter: In addition to building shelter and finding space, there would need to be a good transportation system if people have to travel to get to shelter. That would require bus passes – Monterey-Salinas Transit would have to provide funding for more passes. And there would have to be outreach so people would know where to get them.

Improve access to benefits like food stamps and cash aid: This one gets doubly challenging as the federal government cut food stamp benefits Nov. 1.

Enroll 90 percent of the homeless and at-risk in housing stabilization services in five years: That would take getting homeless people who are addicted to drugs or used to street living to adapt to a new environment. You’d need counselors and therapists and case managers, as well as places to put all the people. It can takes a long time for the outreach worker to establish relationships with the homeless.

Streamline the intake process so people can be connected to services more quickly: That might require putting people out on the street to reach the homeless, making forms easier to fill out or having people help the homeless fill out forms. The CHSP has started doing this with a computer system that lets service providers send information quickly between each other.

Reduce the duplication of services between providers: That would require analyzing the services that nonprofits and the county provide, and updating computer systems to make information flow easier between places, which CHSP has started doing.

Expand job training and employment for homeless people: That would require hiring people to do the job training, having the space and equipment for the training, taking the time to teach skills and having an economy that has room for more employees.

Help ex-inmates who are returning to the community: This requires monitoring inmates, possibly assigning case managers to them. The law enforcement community is trying to take care of this.