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 Riverside organizations
Riverside referrals should not end at sent
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 Riverside organizations can follow it in the open and ask to be briefed.
What Operation Iron Gate is
What a Riverside 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 Riverside County Housing and Workforce Solutions and Riverside 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 Riverside referrals break
When there is no count, the record carries it
Riverside County did not hold an unsheltered count in 2026 and is relying on the data its providers record every day. That makes the quality of the day-to-day record, including whether each referral landed, the thing that matters most.
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 handoff that must be announced
Under a July 2026 city ordinance, any organization transporting an unhoused person into Riverside must notify the city at least 24 hours ahead, and the drop-off must happen during normal business hours. The city says it costs about $63,000 to stabilize one person. In Riverside, an unannounced handoff breaks the rules.
Get involved
How Riverside 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. Riverside 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 Riverside: 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 Riverside: questions
Is Operation Iron Gate running in Riverside?
No. It has not launched anywhere. The first pilot is being prepared in Vallejo, and no Riverside launch has been announced.
What did the latest count find in Riverside?
The January 2025 count for the Riverside County recorded 3,990 people in shelter or on the street. Unsheltered homelessness fell 19 percent. The county did not hold an unsheltered count in 2026, so 2025 is the latest full count. The 2025 count took place on January 22 and covered people sleeping in shelter and on the streets.
What else is happening in Riverside?
The county says outreach teams still engage unsheltered residents every day and track that work in its homeless management information system. Inside Riverside's city limits, the 2025 count found 614 people unsheltered and 473 in shelter. In July 2025 the City Council approved $1.96 million to raise the shelter beds reserved for Riverside residents at Path of Life's 90-bed Hulen Place shelter to 45, plus eight beds for transition-age youth.
Can a Riverside organization take part?
Cohort 01 is recruiting in Vallejo. A Riverside organization can request a briefing now. The first conversation is exploratory, and nothing is signed in it.
Does this replace Riverside County's system?
No. Operation Iron Gate is not a replacement for Riverside County Housing and Workforce Solutions or any provider's own records. It is built to confirm that a referral between organizations reached the person, after the intake and assessment the county already runs.
I need help myself. Where do I go?
Call 211 for current local referral information. For food, the Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino 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. Riverside: County of Riverside, 2025 Homeless Point-in-Time Count. City of Riverside, May 2025. Raincross Gazette, July 2026. City of Riverside, July 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 Moreno Valley, Fontana and Corona.
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. Riverside 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