Santa Monica College to Launch Homeless Service Work Certificate, First in California

Santa Monica College to Launch Homeless Service Work Certificate, First in California

Partnership with Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) Will Train Students for Careers in Homeless Service Field; Students Will Receive Full Scholarship

SANTA MONICA, CA—Santa Monica College (SMC) will be launching a Homeless Service Work Certificate Program in partnership with and funded by Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). The certificate will prepare students for entry-level positions in the homeless services sector and help address the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles County. Classes for the first cohort of 25 students are slated to begin in the Fall 2024 semester, which starts Aug. 26, 2024. Students accepted will receive full scholarships, which will cover nearly all costs associated with being enrolled in the program—the first of its kind in California.

According to the most recent homeless count released by LAHSA in 2023, an estimated 75,518 people were experiencing homelessness in LA County on any given night (California’s homeless population makes up approximately 28% of all unhoused people nationwide). Hundreds of organizations, many of them nonprofits/NGOs (non-governmental organizations), have emerged to address the homelessness crisis.

SMC’s for-credit certificate seeks to fill the workforce and skills gap at such organizations. While Measure H provided significant funding to expand homelessness services, nearly 1,300 entry-level jobs go unfilled. To be facilitated through the SMC Office of Workforce & Economic Development within the college’s Academic Affairs division—and made possible by a nearly $750,000 contract awarded by LAHSA to fund the program, covering costs including marketing, faculty salaries, student laptops, mentorship and other wraparound student services, and more—SMC’s certificate will train the next generation of professionals (and leaders) who will be on the frontlines of providing basic needs and holistic support to homeless individuals.

“The homelessness crisis in Los Angeles County has reached devastating proportions, and as a higher education institution committed to helping bring about needed change and serving the most vulnerable amongst us, we at Santa Monica College are honored to partner with LAHSA in creating a solution,” said SMC Superintendent/President Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery. “The students who finish this program will be poised to become tomorrow’s leaders in the sector, to bring about just, equitable, and sustainable change.”

Industry experts have been hired to help develop the curriculum for this new certificate, which will be housed in SMC’s Business Department. Courses, at the completion of which students will earn the designated college units, include: Introduction to Workforce Training within the Homeless Response System; Promoting Health Equity, Advocacy and Human Engagement; Implementing Effective Practices in the Homeless Response System; Internship - Experience Working in the Homeless Response System; and Homeless Response System Capstone Class Fieldwork Reflection and Career Planning. SMC will provide comprehensive wraparound counseling/holistic support to enrolled students and once fieldwork is completed, they will also have the opportunity to be mentored by seasoned professionals in the homeless service sector.

“With nearly 1,300 job openings across our system, LAHSA knows how challenging it can be to rehouse our unsheltered neighbors without a complete workforce,” said Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum, CEO of LAHSA. "LAHSA is proud to partner with Santa Monica College to create this first-of-its-kind program that will directly support the training of qualified workers who will enter the workforce with specific knowledge that will help address the crisis on our streets.”

SMC Business department faculty and Office of Workforce and Economic Development administrators responded to community needs and worked actively with leaders from the homelessness services sector to develop the first nonprofit management curriculum.  Business department professors Sal Veas, Aileen Huang, and Dana Nasser partnered with Celina Alvarez, executive director of Housing Works of California and Vanessa Rios, a senior advisor for workforce development at LAHSA, to design the four-course certificate with an internship component.

Alvarez added that “there’s definitely a need for intensive support and training for those entering this field,” she said. “This line of work is challenging. The human suffering that frontline workers witness happens far too often.” To address this, SMC’s counselors will be providing support to students.

Enrollment in the Homeless Service Work Program will initially be limited to 25 students. Interested students can learn more at smc.edu/HomelessServiceWork. For more information email SMC Associate Dean (Interim) of Career Education Dr. Steven Sedky at Sedky_Steven@smc.edu or Dean of Academic Affairs Dr. Patricia Ramos at Ramos_Patricia@smc.edu.

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About Santa Monica College:

Santa Monica College is a California Community College accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). For 33 consecutive years, SMC has been California’s leading transfer college to UCLA, UC Berkeley, and other University of California campuses. The college also tops in transfers to the University of Southern California and Loyola Marymount University and is the top feeder west of the Mississippi to the Ivy League Columbia University. As the leading job trainer in Los Angeles’s Westside, the college offers robust career education opportunities, with over 110 degrees and certificates in traditional and emerging fields. SMC provides news and cultural enrichment through its NPR radio station KCRW (89.9 FM), the Eli & Edythe Broad Stage at the SMC Performing Arts Center, and lifelong learning through distinctive programs such as its Emeritus Program for older adults.

About LAHSA:

Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) is a joint powers authority of the city and county of Los Angeles, created in 1993 to address the problem of homelessness in Los Angeles County. LAHSA is the lead agency in the HUD-funded Los Angeles Continuum of Care, and coordinates and manages federal, state, county, and city funds for programs providing shelter, housing, and services to people experiencing homelessness.