Urban Counties

(2022-2023) NACo’s Housing Affordability Task Force examined housing challenges and highlighted county-led solutions to address the housing affordability and inventory crisis. The task force identified intergovernmental and public-private strategies to enhance housing affordability and stability.

(2023-2024) Counties increasingly handle direct mental health services, acting as the safety net for vulnerable residents and operating crisis lines, hospitals and detention centers. NACo’s Commission on Mental Health and Wellbeing developed reports and united county leaders to address the mental health crisis through four key policy priorities.

The network supports county leaders to develop successful economic mobility strategies for their local communities.

The U.S. Department of Defense Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative Program helps manage encroachment and incompatible development near military installations. The program forms partnerships that protect military operations from restrictive development and strengthens long-term relationships between the Department of Defense and counties.

The Familiar Faces Initiative aimed to reduce incarceration and hospitalization rates for individuals frequently cycling through jails, shelters, and emergency services. The program encouraged communities to share data and integrate care between health and justice systems for earlier intervention, improving outcomes for these "familiar faces."