A handoff closes on confirmation
A referral is not finished when it is sent. It is finished when the receiving organization confirms the person arrived.
For Elk Grove organizations
Elk Grove referrals should stay local
Operation Iron Gate is referral tracking and accountability for homeless services, from Pathfinders for Hope. It is built so every case, every handoff and every outcome can be seen and proven. The first pilot is being prepared in Vallejo, and Elk Grove organizations can follow it in the open and ask to be briefed.
What Operation Iron Gate is
What a Elk Grove referral would prove
Homelessness solutions stop at the referral. Operation Iron Gate closes the gap they leave open. It strengthens continuity after the intake and assessment that Sacramento Steps Forward and Elk Grove providers already run, with documented handoffs and follow-up.
Nothing closes into “unknown”
There is no exit state in the record that can hold an unknown destination. A case cannot be closed into nothing.
Consent comes before the record
A record cannot exist without a consent step recorded first. Saying no to part of it does not close the door.
What it can do
Four rules the pilot is built on
No ID at the door
An identification barrier should not end an authorized handoff. The proposed Iron Gate Access Credential does not promise same-day eligibility, housing or availability.
Yes by default
The proposed workflow requires a documented decision basis before an authorized denial is recorded.
No dead ends
“Unknown” is not a completed outcome. A handoff stays open until a responsible role records a known next action or an authorized closure.
Tracked handoff
Sending is not closure. The receiving organization’s confirmation is its own status, because sent is not the same as served.
Why it matters
Where Elk Grove referrals break
Only city navigators or police can refer
Elk Grove's year-round shelter at Calvary Christian Center, funded by Measure E, serves up to 35 Elk Grove residents, and only the city's homeless services navigators or police can refer someone with a verifiable Elk Grove connection. Every county or nonprofit handoff goes through city staff first.
One in three exits to “unknown”
California spent $24 billion on homelessness from 2018 to 2023. Its State Auditor found that nearly one in three people left programs for a destination nobody recorded. Report 2023-102.1.
The Survey Road site
In February 2026 the City Council approved moving forward with buying the Survey Road site for a permanent shelter, after reviewing more than 130 sites. It is planned for 20 adults, with 5 emergency beds and space for up to 4 families, and construction is expected by late 2027 or 2028.
Get involved
How Elk Grove organizations can get involved
The North Bay Pilot is recruiting organizations that send referrals, receive referrals, provide a resource, or carry public responsibility for homeless services. Elk Grove organizations in any of those roles can watch it now and ask to be briefed.
Follow the North Bay Pilot
The measurement standard is published before the pilot begins, with housing held at 90 days as the lead measure. Results go on The Glass, a public view with no names or case identifiers, whether they are good or bad. See the pilot.
Request a briefing
Tell us your role in Elk Grove: whether you send referrals, receive them, provide a resource or oversee public outcomes. Request a briefing.
Your work stays yours
Your services, clients, funding and data stay yours. Read what Operation Iron Gate is and the questions directors ask.
The questions
Operation Iron Gate in Elk Grove: questions
Is Operation Iron Gate running in Elk Grove?
No. It has not launched anywhere. The first pilot is being prepared in Vallejo, and no Elk Grove launch has been announced.
What did the latest count find in Elk Grove?
The January 2026 count for the City of Elk Grove recorded 123 people unsheltered in Elk Grove. Up 48.2 percent from 83 in 2024. Sacramento Steps Forward publishes an unsheltered figure for the city, not a sheltered figure or a total. Elk Grove held 2.9 percent of the 4,205 people counted unsheltered across Sacramento County.
What else is happening in Elk Grove?
The city says its temporary shelter and updated camping ordinance brought a 65 percent reduction in homeless encampments over the past year. The city's shelter has served 120 people since November 2024, including 62 guests and 4,906 bed nights in 2026.
Can a Elk Grove organization take part?
Cohort 01 is recruiting in Vallejo. A Elk Grove organization can request a briefing now. The first conversation is exploratory, and nothing is signed in it.
Does this replace Sacramento Steps Forward's system?
No. Operation Iron Gate is not a replacement for Sacramento Steps Forward, the City of Elk Grove's navigators or any provider's own records. It is built to confirm that a referral between organizations reached the person.
I need help myself. Where do I go?
Call 211 for current local referral information. For food, the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services lists distribution sites across the area. Operation Iron Gate is not open for public intake yet. GATEHOUSE, our community platform and a smaller version of Operation Iron Gate, is open now: register on GATEHOUSE to ask questions and follow the build. Joining GATEHOUSE does not put you in the North Bay Pilot, which runs only in Vallejo and Solano County.
The evidence
Every figure is cited
Where these figures come from. Elk Grove: Sacramento Steps Forward, 2026 Point-in-Time Count presentation. City of Elk Grove, Elk Grove Homeless Shelter. City of Elk Grove, Future Homeless Shelter. CBS Sacramento, Survey Road. Statewide findings: California State Auditor, Report 2023-102.1 (April 2024). Operation Iron Gate has not been tested in the field. No results are claimed on this page or anywhere on this site, and the North Bay Pilot numbers will be published whether they are good or bad.
Nearby cities. Read the pages for Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto.
The inside track
Don’t wait for the pilot. Walk in now.
Operation Iron Gate starts in Vallejo. Its community platform, GATEHOUSE, is open today. Elk Grove agencies, nonprofits and neighbors can join to watch the North Bay Pilot get built, ask our team anything, and help decide what the full system becomes.
Already a member? Log in
GATEHOUSEMember pass
OPEN NOW- Follow the pilotAnnouncements and Pilot Updates as it is built, the good and the bad.
- Ask the teamOpen Q&A with our team and members who know the referral system.
- Report a dead endSent someone for help and nothing happened? Report it and follow the fix.
- Shape the buildTell us what to add, change or remove before it reaches more cities.
Direct intake · projected Jan 2027