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 Oakland organizations
Oakland referrals should land across the county
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 Oakland organizations can follow it in the open and ask to be briefed.
What Operation Iron Gate is
What a Oakland 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 Alameda County and the City of Oakland and Oakland 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 Oakland referrals break
Half the county, one city
Oakland has about a fifth of Alameda County's population and more than half of its homelessness. Many referrals start in Oakland and end somewhere else in the county. That crossing between jurisdictions is exactly where a handoff is most likely to go unrecorded.
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.
A shelter spot held for two days
Oakland's April 2026 encampment policy requires staff, in standard closures, to offer each resident at least one shelter spot and hold it for 48 hours. A referral with a 48-hour window has to be confirmed inside that window, in a city with fewer than 1,300 shelter beds.
Get involved
How Oakland 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. Oakland 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 Oakland: 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 Oakland: questions
Is Operation Iron Gate running in Oakland?
No. It has not launched anywhere. The first pilot is being prepared in Vallejo, and no Oakland launch has been announced.
What did the latest count find in Oakland?
The 2026 count, preliminary for the City of Oakland recorded 4,410 people homeless in the city. Down nearly 20 percent from 2024. Alameda County counted 8,201 people, and Oakland still holds more than half of them. Across the county, unsheltered homelessness fell 18 percent, from 6,343 to 5,202 people.
What else is happening in Oakland?
Alameda County ran the 2026 count on January 22 with about 1,300 volunteers. In 2026 Oakland closed the 3rd and Peralta cabin site, home to about 40 residents, and the 71st Avenue RV safe-parking lot, and it is closing Mandela House, leaving fewer than 1,300 shelter beds in the city. Encampments have grown to about 1,700 locations across the city, and the policy asks the city to pace its closures while it tries to identify shelter in non-emergency cases.
Can a Oakland organization take part?
Cohort 01 is recruiting in Vallejo. A Oakland organization can request a briefing now. The first conversation is exploratory, and nothing is signed in it.
Does this replace Alameda County's system?
No. Operation Iron Gate is not a replacement for Alameda County's homelessness system or any provider's records. It is built to confirm that a referral between organizations, including one that crosses city lines, reached the person.
I need help myself. Where do I go?
Call 211 for current local referral information. For food, the Alameda County Community Food Bank 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. Oakland: City of Oakland, 2026 Alameda County Point-in-Time Count results. Oaklandside, March 2026. Oaklandside, April 2026. 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 San Francisco, Hayward and Fremont.
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. Oakland 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