New improvements to the City of Sacramento’s 311 system are helping streamline the reporting and response process for concerns involving homelessness.
These upgrades are designed to streamline service requests, improve coordination among response teams and ensure more transparent communication for the public, said Brian Pedro, who leads the City’s Department of Community Response (DCR) as well as the City’s Incident Management Team responding to homelessness.
“311 is the City’s system for reporting homelessness concerns; it’s the backbone of how we receive and respond to requests from the public,” Pedro said. “The innovative use of technology and data has always been integral to the City’s homelessness response, and the work we have done to improve our reporting system, in partnership with the City’s IT Department, will produce better and faster results for our residents.”
Response to a homelessness concern may require multiple services for successful resolution, including outreach and engagement, connection to behavioral health services, and/or enforcement of City ordinances, such as sidewalk obstruction, excessive storage or unlawful camping. Response from the City may also involve enforcing California Vehicle Code or working with an owner to address an encampment on private property.
Previously, residents reporting issues involving homelessness on the City’s website or 311 app were required to select a singular “call type” – such as “homeless–trash,” “homeless encampment,” or “homeless concern.” DCR personnel would respond to the location listed and often find that the request needed to be re-classified or required additional services for response, leading to delays in addressing the matter.
The updated system replaces the singular “call type” selection with a short, intuitive questionnaire. Based on the answers, the new system:
- Automatically determines the necessary service(s) for response
- Generates more than one case for requests that require a multi-service response
- Reduces potential for misclassification and shortens response times
Reclassifying calls in the old system also made communicating with residents on the progress of their request more complicated and onerous. The new system streamlines the reporting process, resulting in more seamless and reliable communication.
“User-centered design is the cornerstone of how we innovate to provide faster and smarter service to our residents,” said Darin Arcolino, director of the City’s Information Technology Department. “We are pleased to have collaborated with DCR on this project to advance solutions that improve our homelessness response and strengthen community engagement.”
Residents will soon see the new 311 reporting system reflected in the data presented on the City’s public-facing dashboard for the Incident Management Team responding to homelessness. The dashboard will begin tracking the number of cases created by each call for service, in addition to the tabulation of weekly calls.
The upgrade is part of the IT Department’s larger Customer 360 initiative, which is focused on improving City systems and making them more efficient, effective and user-friendly.
