As Mayor, I am committed to working with experts and community members to find ways to reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness in the City of Long Beach.
At this stage of the homelessness crisis, the City of Long Beach should be focused on how many individuals experiencing homelessness we have living on the streets, what resources we are directing to that issue, and what it is going to take for us to scale up those resources to make a significant impact on the situation.
Over the last eight years, I have spent a lot of time talking to residents and experts regarding our homelessness crisis. In my professional job I work hard on collaborative courts, street outreach programs, and diversion efforts to address the homelessness crisis in Orange County. I see firsthand what types of outreach and service models work and what resources are necessary to carry out specific plans.
As a council member, I initiated a major discussion about innovative solutions for homelessness in 2017.
As part of the agenda item I brought to council, my staff and I, in collaboration with community leaders all over the city, researched every single innovative program being used throughout the country. It contained many programs for us to consider. You can read the item here. Ideas such as:
- A homeless work program, based on a model used in Albuquerque, NM;
- Expanding non-police outreach teams, such as HEART;
- Exploring social impact bonds, as studied by the Kennedy School of Public Policy at Harvard;
- Creating multidisciplinary city teams; and
- Hiring specially trained dispatchers;
As a council member, I initiated a major discussion about innovative solutions for homelessness in 2017.
As part of the agenda item I brought to council, my staff and I, in collaboration with community leaders all over the city, researched every single innovative program being used throughout the country. It contained many programs for us to consider. You can read the item here. Ideas such as:
- A homeless work program, based on a model used in Albuquerque, NM;
- Expanding non-police outreach teams, such as HEART;
- Exploring social impact bonds, as studied by the Kennedy School of Public Policy at Harvard;
- Creating multidisciplinary city teams; and
- Hiring specially trained dispatchers;
In 2020, as Chair of the Public Safety Committee, I brought forth an agenda item to look at unarmed mental health response teams based on models used in other cities, such as Eugene, Oregon.
See item here. These ideas have served as the foundation for much of our current efforts. But, they are not enough and we need to scale up in two specific ways:
(1) increase our street outreach efforts to be every day, and in every council district, and
(2) offer realistic services at the time of outreach like transitioning to a Palett/Tiny house community or placement at one of the many non-profit service providers in the region.
Street Outreach
This type of trained outreach will allow the teams to form meaningful relationships built in trust and respect that will allow for people to be in a place to accept services. These teams need to have flexible funding so that whatever the individual needs at that moment, to be diverted from living on the street, in a park, or on a beach, to going back to the last place where they felt safe or to a suitable safe place is made possible. Whether that means a haircut, a new set of clothes, or help getting an identification card or a bus ticket home to family. This initial contact is critical for establishing trust and credibility. I have gone on multiple homeless ride-alongs, participated in the homeless count in two counties, and interacted with a number of people experiencing homelessness. Sometimes, going back to the last place where they felt safe is a difficult concept for them to imagine given where they are today. Helping them cross that bridge requires our outreach teams to have some flexible funding available to them, as well as the resources needed to build those relationships.
Suzie's planned approach to addressing homelessness is the most comprehensive plan I have seen. Implementing these changes will have a significant impact and will improve the lives of many people. I look forward to working with her.
Transition to Services
We need to expand our capacity for service placement by
- working with existing non-profits and investing in their expansion into Long Beach, and
- working with private developers to acquire land to build pallet/tiny houses or other transitional home/service communities.
Both of these efforts will transition people directly from the street to a setting that is safe and designed to serve as a bridge. For those who are not yet ready to enter a residential treatment program, those who may not yet feel they need that type of service, or don’t have the mindset to understand that such a service is essential for their future success, they should not be permitted to live in the park, on beaches or outside of private businesses. Those individuals should be routed to a temporary shelter facility such as a pallet home community, like we have seen be established in so many other neighboring cities. I had the opportunity to visit one this past week. These communities offer compact living spaces where there is security and onsite services. They allow people to have a safe place to stay while they wait for a more permanent housing opportunity to open up. They are low cost alternatives for shelter and together with consistent and meaningful outreach will make a huge difference in our ability to tackle the homelessness problem.
We need to embrace the many nonprofits that are out there working every single day to address this issue. We need to bring them in the fold and stop talking about creating more bureaucracy within our own existing system. That is the last thing we need.
We have been given a lot of funding and resources from the State and Federal government. The best way to leverage those dollars is to work with existing nonprofits throughout the county to expand their presence in Long Beach and to partner with them on an issue that affects us as well as so many other cities throughout the county.
We need to work collaboratively with our regional partners and nonprofits, and identify some key private sector partners to scale up what we currently offer in the city. I have already started those conversations and the individuals I am working with will serve as part of my Mayoral transition team.
The homelessness crisis is something we can tackle in Long Beach. Our numbers have not yet reached levels that are beyond control, but the changes we need to make must happen today. Otherwise, the numbers will continue to grow and that is not a good thing for anyone. By working together to re-prioritize our efforts, we can make a significant impact on our homelessness crisis within the first 6 months of implementation. I have seen directed efforts like this work in other places and I know they can work here in Long Beach.
