Fairfax County's first overhaul of its homelessness strategy in nearly two decades will cover the Town of Vienna and is open for public comment.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors' housing committee reviewed the draft plan, called "The Way Home Fairfax," at its Tuesday, Oct. 6 meeting, FFXnow first reported. The five-year strategy would guide the county's homelessness prevention and response efforts through 2031.

The plan covers Fairfax County, the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, and the towns of Clifton, Herndon and Vienna, according to the draft document.

It replaces a March 2008 strategy that aimed to end homelessness in 10 years through a "Housing First" approach. That earlier plan saw initial progress. The annual Point-in-Time count dropped to 964 people in 2017. But the number has climbed steadily since.

In the Feb. 4 count, 1,365 people in Fairfax were identified as homeless, according to county data. That is up 42% from 2017 and 3% higher than the 2025 count of 1,322.

The revised plan moves away from a single-strategy model. "No single approach works for everyone," Shenandoah Gale, a consultant who presented the draft to supervisors, said at the Oct. 6 meeting, according to FFXnow.

The plan sorts people experiencing homelessness into six groups based on household type, service history and barriers to housing. Success rates for placing people in permanent housing vary widely across those groups.

Working dual-parent households experiencing homelessness for the first time have a 60% housing success rate. At the other end, people experiencing persistent street homelessness with minimal contact with services have a 2% rate.

That lowest-success group accounts for 55% of all episodes in the county's data system.

The plan's analysis drew on more than a decade of data covering roughly 29,882 people and 18,117 episodes of homelessness.

Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity called for sharper focus on results. "We're investing a lot of money. We've got to do more of what works and less of what doesn't," Herrity said at the meeting, according to FFXnow.

Board Chair Jeff McKay called the approach a more realistic, trackable goal but acknowledged frustration that improvements have not materialized.

The plan sets four goals: improve outcomes for people who are currently homeless, strengthen prevention and early intervention, reduce persistent unsheltered homelessness, and increase community understanding of evidence-based strategies. Recommended programs include expanded outreach to unsheltered individuals and households at risk of eviction, a home-sharing pilot and peer navigators who have experienced homelessness themselves.

Residents can review the draft and provide feedback through an online survey. The Continuum of Care Board's next meeting is Wednesday, Oct. 28.