Like so many areas across California, Alameda County is facing a housing crisis, which has left thousands of individuals homeless across the county. Many of these individuals are living on the streets, in vehicles, encampments, emergency shelters, or transitional housing. To help address this crisis, Alameda County has implemented a pilot program called Whole Person Care (WPC).
WPC is a pilot program within Medi-Cal 2020, California’s Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver. which is designed to improve the health of high-risk, high-utilizing patients through the coordinated delivery of physical health, behavioral health, housing support, food stability, and other critical community services.
Alameda’s WPC program, known as AC Care Connect, serves individuals with complex conditions who are receiving care management in one system, but require care coordination that crosses multiple systems. The services provided by AC Care Connect focus on two groups – patients who are homeless or facing homelessness, and patients with more stable housing. In addition to housing assistance, the core services provided by AC Care Connect include enhanced linkage to substance use disorder treatment, crisis stabilization services, and increased access to social services. They also provide specialized assistance in both getting access to and navigating the county’s physical and behavioral health delivery system.
Collaboration and partnership across agencies is a key component of WPC, which facilitates better care coordination across areas traditionally operating in silos. AC Care Connect is collaborating with 21 partner organizations that include behavioral health services, housing services, homeless shelters, Medi-Cal managed care organizations, probation department, and other city and county-level public agencies, community organizations, and health care providers.
Learn more about the services provided by AC Care Connect, hear from clients about how these programs are making a real difference in their day-to-day lives, and watch this video – voices from the homeless in Alameda County.