HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-11-14; Housing Commission; ; Homeless Response Plan~ '1ZI
Meeting Date:
To:
From:
Staff Contact:
Subject:
November 14, 2017
Housing Commissioners
Debbie Fountain, Housing & Neighborhood Services Director
Debbie.fountain@carlsbadca.gov or 760-434-2935
Accept the staff report on the City of Carlsbad Homeless Response Plan.
Recommended Action
Accept the staff report on the City of Carlsbad Homeless Response Plan.
Executive Summary
The City of Carlsbad has experienced an increase in issues caused by homelessness including
increased calls for emergency and police services and citizen complaints. Residents and other
community members, including business owners, are requesting a response from the city to
address the increasing impacts associated with this challenging issue, both to the homeless
individuals themselves and to the surrounding community.
The reasons for homelessness are many and varied in their degrees. It is very unlikely that there
will be a single reason that a resident becomes and/or remains homeless. Each homeless
resident will have a unique story. Because of this fact, the city response to addressing the needs
of the homeless is challenging and must be multifaceted and layered in its approach if it is to be
successful. Staff prepared the attached Homeless Response Plan to address the impacts of
homelessness.
Discussion
The attached Homeless Response Plan (Exhibit 2) establishes key principles and system
responses that the city will employ to address the community impacts of homelessness. The
plan identifies the role of the City of Carlsbad in addressing homelessness and defines its
function as distinct from other tiers of government and community partnerships. The plan
provides strategies to:
1. Prevent, reduce and manage homelessness in Carlsbad;
2. Support and build capacity within the city and community to address homelessness;
3. Encourage co llaboration within the city, community partnerships and residents; and
4. Retain, protect and increase the supply of housing.
Housing and Neighborhood Services will take the lead in implementing the Homeless Response
Plan in coordination with a multi-city department, multi-agency and service organization effort.
At the risk of oversimplifying the proposed city response, it is best described as an
individualized case management system in which the homeless will be evaluated where they
are physically located within the community. They will not be referred to a location outside the
city for eva lu ation and case management assistance; this step will occur within city facilities.
The city's approach will seek to understand the obstacles to self-sufficiency for each homeless
individual and, with the assistance of many, develop a plan to move the resident towards self-
sufficiency and rehousing opportunities.
Homeless Outreach Team and other efforts
It is important to note that the Police Department recently kicked off their efforts to address
the impacts of homelessness on the community by forming and deploying their Homeless
Outreach Team with two dedicated fulltime police officers. The goals of this team is to make
consistent and frequent contact with the homeless and seek opportunities to connect the
homeless residents with ap propriate resources and services. The team will also focus on the
clean-up of homeless encampments and take other actions to address community concerns as
related to the homeless residents, including any related criminal activity. Some of the examples
of the police department's work effort to date includes:
• Working with the City Attorney's Office on possible amendments to the city's municipal
code to help with enforcement.
• Coordinating with other departments for resource referrals, and other municipalities
and the county to provide resources, as available, and make enforcements efforts more
effective.
• Community outreach and education to social service agencies, churches, and others.
• Homeless encampment clean-ups/removal, resource referral for homeless.
• Direct contact with about 30 transients to date; issued some citations.
• Coordinating with Parks on facility impacts and brainstorming so lutions.
• Responding to citizen requests for addressing impacts of homeless and homelessness.
The police department will continue to have a sign ificant role in the implementation efforts
associated with the Homeless Response Plan, and continue to operate the Homeless Outreach
Team that was funded in the 2017-18 city budget through work with regional law enforcement
partners.
It should also be noted that the Fire Department w ill have a role in addressing health issues and
emergency se rvices related to the homeless, which includes a resp onse of prevention and
education actions related to the Hepatitis A virus that has been initiated over the past few
weeks. Planning meetings will be held weekly by a city team to monitor and appropriately
respond to any health issues impacting at risk populations, including the city's homeless
residents.
Finally, the city's action are intended to move homeless residents toward se lf-sufficiency and
rehousing. It is not the city's intent to simply relocate the problem to another city. Coordination
with the other cities that are part of the Innovate 78 Collaborative may assist the city in its
efforts to ensure that there are similar efforts being implemented within each of the 5 partner
cities in a manner that benefits each of the communities and homeless residents.
Homeless Demographics
The Regional Task Force on the Homeless released the 2017 WeA//Count/Point-in-Time Count in
late Ap ril, 2017. The t otal homeless count for Carlsbad is 160; 59 sheltered and 101
unsheltered. This year the city coo rdinated the effort and helped t o ensure a better count of
the homeless because staff and local vo lunteers went into areas not usually accessed by others
who are not familiar with the city geography or have limited knowledge of the locations of the
Carlsbad homeless populations. Th e ci ty completed the counts and interviews of a sa mpling of
homeless res idents, resulting in a total count and a map of enca mpments and other locations
where the homeless res idents most often frequent for shelter. This information has been very
va luable in developing a response to the specific situation of homelessness in Carlsbad.
Base d on st aff research, the reasons for ho melessness in Carlsbad and other cities throughout
the nation are many, and often different for each individual. Some of the ca uses of
homelessness include, but are not limited to:
• Poverty • Physical and/or sexual abuse
• Un employment • Victims of financial or identify theft
• Lack of afford able housing • Esca lating hea lth care cost s
• Poor physica l or mental health • Aging out of foster ca re system with
• Drug and Alcohol Abuse no support
• Gambling • Human trafficking
• Fa mily and relationship breakdown • Lack of transportation or access t o
• Domestic violence services for various reasons
A homeless person co uld be homeless for one, several or all of the above reasons. These factors
not only ca use a person to become homeless, but ca n be the reaso ns a person remains
homeless. The solutions are not easy, and often require a multi-pronged and individualize d
response.
Summary
Implementation of this Plan w ill represent a new line of business for the City of Carlsbad and
set s forth its lea dership role in coordinating a response for its homeless residents and
addressing the co mmunity impacts of homelessness . To respond successfully t o the challenge
of homelessness in Carl sbad, t he assist ance of community m embers, service organizations,
churches, ca ring residents, busin esses, stat e and federal agencies and others w ill be needed t o
work in coordination with city staff teams to implement the strat egies set forth wit hin the Plan.
This is not a challenge that the city will be abl e to address alone. Without the assistance of
many others with ex pertise in a variet y of areas of service to the homeless, the strat egies and
t as ks set forth wit hin the Plan ca n't be complet ed in a way that will all ow for a successful
response from the city. Many of the activities will also need additional legal revi ew.
Next Steps
The City Council accepted the Homeless Response Plan on October 24, 2017, and aut hori ze d
st aff to procee d with a dist ribution of one or more request for proposals to obtain the
resources and/or services to assist with implementation of the Plan. Staff w ill return to City
Council with one or more budget requests following review of the responses to the RFP and
partnership/collaboration discussions with other organizations, agencies, churches and si milar
partners.
Exhibits
1. City of Ca rlsbad's Homeless Response Plan
2. Re gional Task Force on the Homeless Point in Time County for the City of Carlsbad, and
other cities within San Diego County.
City of Carlsbad
Homeless Response Plan
{'city of
Carlsbad
Exhibit 1
City of Carlsbad Homeless Response Plan 12
Contents
Mission Statement .......................................................................................................................... 3
Purpose ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Impact Statement ........................................................................................................................... 3
Background ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Neighboring Cities Response .......................................................................................................... 6
Community Partnerships ................................................................................................................ 7
Strategic Plan Development ........................................................................................................... 8
Measuring Success .......................................................................................................................... 8
City Departments Coordinated Work ............................................................................................. 9
Strategies ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Action Items & Status ................................................................................................................... 12
City of Carlsbad Homeless Response Plan 13
Mission Statement
Enhance the quality of life for all who live in Carlsbad by actively leveragin g and deploying city
resources in a compassionate and effective manner, and by facilitating access to resources
provided by others.
Purpose
The Homeless Response Pl an establishes key principles and system responses that the city will
employ to address the community impacts of homelessness. The plan identifies the role of the
City of Carlsbad in addressing homeless ness and defines its function as distinct from other tiers
of government and community partnerships.
The plan provides strategies aimed at:
1. Preventing, reducing and managing homeless ness in Carlsbad;
2. Supporting and building capacity within the city and community to address
homelessness;
3. Encouraging collaboration within the city, community partnerships and residents.
4. Retaining, protecting and increasing the supply of housing.
Impact Statement
The Homeless Response Plan commits to reduce the impact of homelessness on city reso urces
and the Carlsbad community while working to meet the complex needs of the homeless.
Background
In the past couple of years, the City of Carlsbad has experienced an increase in issues caused by
homelessness, including increased calls for emergency and police services and citizen complaints.
Residents and other community members, including business owners, are requesting a response
from the city to address the increasin g impacts associated with this challenging issue, both to the
homeless individuals themselves and to the surrounding community.
The reasons for homelessness are many and often complicated and time consuming to resolve.
To better understand the specific needs and the impacts of the homeless on the Carlsbad
community, Housing & Neighborhood Services convened a working group of staff from severa l
city departments, in cluding Police, Fire, Library, Parks & Recreation, Public Works, and the City
Attorney's Office to share experiences and collaborate on potential strategies. This informal
working group, known internally as the Homeless Response Team (HRT), met several times with
the goal of deve loping a proactive, solution-oriented program to address the challenge. Whil e
we will coordinate with other cities and other regional service organizations to meet the needs
of the homeless, the Carlsbad HRT intends to start with a full assessment of our chall enge in
Carlsbad and stay focused on addressin g the needs of our homeless residents as a first priority.
We intend to work more closely with other cities to expand the model out to help other cities
through an ongoing collaborative approach. There is potential negative impact to surrounding
cities when one city begins putting pressure on their homeless residents to make changes. We
City of Carlsbad Homeless Response Plan 14
hope to resolve the crisis to the greatest degree possible for Carlsbad, and not just relocate it to
another city.
As part of this working group effort, a decision was made to participate actively in the annual
Regional Task Force on the Homeless Point-In-Time Count which occurred on January 27, 2017.
City staff and vo lunteers that know the city well went into the field and took the counts, and
subsequently conducted interviews of a sa mple of the homeless as prescribed by the Task Force.
It was very important to get a more accurate count of the homeless to allow staff to better
understand the homeless population in Carlsbad specifically. With a more accurate count, it is
anticipated that the City will have much better access to state and federal funding to help us to
address the needs of the homeless in our community.
Th e Regional Task Force on the Homeless released the 2017 WeA//Count/Point-in-Time
Count results in late April, 2017. The total homeless count for Carlsbad is 160; 59 she ltered and
101 unsheltered. In addition to receiving the final counts from the Regional Task Force on the
Homeless, the following tasks have also been completed since January, 2017:
• Survey of local service, community and faith-based organizations to identify the resources
and services currently being provided to Carlsbad homeless residents, and beginning to
identify the gaps.
Developed a resource gu ide for city departments to help provide referrals and
information to the homeless community.
• Began effort to identify local social service agencies, churches, service groups, businesses
and residents serving the homeless population and what each can do to help.
• Ongoing research for alternative affordable housing and homeless she lter opportunities.
• Learning from the City of Oceanside Homeless Outreach Team on its model for how to
assess the homeless population and id entify how to assist them from a range of solutions,
and from the City of San Diego, through its City Attorney's Office.
Overview
The reasons for homelessness in Carlsbad and other cities throughout the nation are many, and
often different for each individual. Some of the causes of homelessness are:
• Poverty • Physical and/or sexual abuse
• Unemployment • Victims of financial or identify theft
• Lack of affordable housing • Escalating health care costs
• Poor physical or mental health • Aging out of foster care system with no
• Drug and Alcohol Abuse support
• Gambling • Human trafficking
• Family and relationship breakdown • Lack of transportation or access to
• Domestic violence se rvices for various reasons
City of Carlsbad Homeless Response Plan I 5
A homeless person could be homeless for one, several or all of the above reasons. These factors
not only cause a person to become homeless, but can be the reasons a person remains homeless.
The solutions are not easy, and often require a multi-pronged and individualized response.
Regional efforts have been made to present a unified response to homelessness in San Diego
County specifically, and considerable funding has been made available to address the needs.
Unfortunately, these efforts have had limited success to date and the homeless populations in
San Diego County are continuing to grow. Because the reasons are many, the solutions which
would allow a homeless person to be housed and remain successfully housed are difficult and
complex to resolve; the solutions require a more comprehensive understanding of the individual
needs and take considerable time to case manage each person.
It is staff's opinion that the current service environment to address the needs of the homeless
has not been more successful because 1) services have not been well-coordinated and there is
limited collaboration among service agencies; 2) there is duplication of effort in many services
due to overlapping organizational missions; 3) there is competition for available funding to
sustain individual organizations rather than to expand services through partnerships; and 4)
homeless have difficulty accessing the services for a variety of reasons, including lack of
transportation to the service locations.
The 2016 Point-in-Time Count by the Regional Task Force on the Homeless indicated that
Carlsbad had 67 homeless in emergency shelters, 16 unsheltered homeless individuals, and 26
homeless living in their vehicles (RV, car, truck, etc.). The 2017 Point-in-Time Count indicates that
Carlsbad has homeless in emergency shelters, homeless living in their vehicles or self-made
structures, and unsheltered homeless residents. The count indicates that there has been an
increase in homeless residents in Carlsbad. Based on Police records, there have been 769 calls
for service related to homeless individuals since August of 2016. The Police are averaging 240
calls per month, 10 calls per day. These statistics indicate that the population could be larger in
Carlsbad than reported by the Regional Task Force on the Homeless. However, the official count
does indicate an increase, even with all of the efforts to date to house the homeless throughout
San Diego County.
Based on data from emergency responders and medical service providers throughout the San
Diego region, it is estimated that it costs $45,000 to $50,000 per year to provide assistance to
one homeless resident from a medical emergency response and care standpoint. Typically, the
Fire Department responds to health crisis calls for the homeless. When you consider response
costs for the Fire Department, transport to the hospital, and related hospital costs for individuals
with no insurance, the cost per person adds up fairly fast. If we use the count of 100 unsheltered
homeless residents in Carlsbad, this has a related medical response and service cost of
$4,500,000 to $5,000,000 on an annual basis, which is significant.
The Police Department estimates that it utilizes about 3600 police officer hours per year to
respond to calls related to homeless individuals; these calls for service range from suspicious
City of Ca rlsbad Homeless Res ponse Plan 16
individual, to disruptive behavio r to criminal or threatening activity. Wh en we consider the fully
burdened hourly cost of a police officer at $99.79, the annual cost for police service calls is
estimated to be about $360,000 per year.
Th e homeless do use free public se rvices and facilities, such as the library, senior center and city
parks. Various service groups provide food to the homeless at city parks. There have, however,
been some complaints about the behavior and/or "look" of the homeless residents frequenting
these public facilities. Unfortunately, over the past few yea rs, the city has also se en an increase
in criminal activity associated with some of the homeless residents; this act ivity is ge nerally drug
or alcohol rel ated and/or petty theft or other nuisan ce crimes (such as smoking in t he parks,
ove rnight parking/camping on the public streets).
Th e city ha s experienced problems with homeless encampments in open space and habitat
prese rve areas, as well as in public facilities such as landscape medians or other areas, large storm
water pipes or other utility pipes that are pending completion of con struction projects, and storm
drains and drainage channels. Homeless resid ents have been re sponsible for some damage to
city properties and have illegally used electric to power RVs and other equipment. The clean -up
of trash and debris, fecal matter, and other pollutants by Public Works st aff and/or contractors
has increased over time. This all has a cost t o the city.
Neighboring Cities Response
M any of t he neighboring cities in northern Sa n Diego County are experiencing similar increases
in their homeless populations, and are working t o develop so lut ions that will be effective for their
particular cit ies. For exa mple, Oceanside is working their Homeless Outreach Team (HOT)
primarily from the Police Department. Carlsbad police officers attend ed a training from the
Oceanside HOT to lea rn more about what is w orking within their community to address the needs
of the homeless, and is continuing t o lea rn from other cities with emerging homeless res ponse
teams. As another ex ample, Encinitas hired a Homeless Servi ces Coordinat or to work on their
challenges associat ed with the homeless, and many other cit ies are developing city-specific
programs as well. Because of the uniqueness of the needs of each homeless resid ent and the
varying degre es of abilities to access services in each city, it appears that a community focused
effort may be more successful than the regional approach at this time. Th ese locally focused
efforts may then be able to ex pand to regional solutions as each of the cities develop a better
underst anding of the specific need s of their homeless populations and respond accordingly to
connect with resources and other longer term solutions to address those needs.
It is also important to not e that Vist a, Oceanside, Esco ndido and the City of San Diego have had
some success prosecuting illegal encampments -on both public and private property -as a
misdemea nor. Th ey have found that an infraction level offense has no impact on the homeless
population while a misdemeanor level offense provides a "carrot stick" for individuals to accept
resources and services as part of a plea agreement. The City of San Di ego also has a very effective
program that target s chronic offenders, a large subset of its homeless population.
City of Carlsbad Homeless Response Plan 17
Community Partnerships
To respond successfully to the challenge of
homelessness in Carlsbad, the assistance of
community members, service organizations,
churches, caring residents, bu sinesses, state
and federal agencies and others will be
needed to work in coordination to
implement the strategies set forth below.
This is not a challenge that the city will be
able to implement alone. Without the
assistance of many others w ith expertise in
a variety of areas of service to the homeless,
the strategies and tasks set forth below can't
be completed in a way that will al low for a
successful response from the city.
City of Carlsbad Homeless Response Plan 18
Strategic Plan Development
This homeless response plan will serve as a foundation to develop a more comprehensive, longer
term strategic plan which will continue to shape the city's efforts to address the impacts of
homelessness on the residents, the larger community and the city itself.
The strategic plan will include an ana lysis of 1) this initial homeless response action plan as well as
identify gaps and opportunities w ithin existing homeless programs and services provided by the
city, faith-based and community organizations; 2) benchmarks to track program progress; 3)
timeline for project action items; and 4) resource and funding requirements to support the strategic
plan for the longer term.
Measuring Success
A critical element of any plan involves monitoring progress and measuring success against
established objectives. Using indicators to help gauge the impact of actions will also be important,
helping the city and community to better understand where success is emerging or where efforts
need to be re-evaluated.
While the key measures noted below require more detail and clarification as well as consensus
among policy makers as to "how to define success" they outline the expectations of this Homeless
Response Plan if implemented in full. It is anticipated that these key indicators will be added to or
changed over time based on review of the Homeless Response Plan and development of the longer
term strategic homeless plan. The measures would include, but are not limited to:
• Number of homeless residents assessed and action plans developed for each person and/or
family.
• Full implementation of a case management system, put into place to effectively collaborate
with city departments, service providers and community organizations to address the
unique needs of homeless residents.
• Increase in number of community and service partnerships to serve homeless residents.
• Protocol developed and put in place and employees trained on how t o impact change in
behavior and circumstances of homeless residents.
• Increased housing opportunities for short and long-term housing for homeless residents.
City of Carlsbad Homeless Res ponse Plan 19
City Departments Coordinated Work
HNS will take the lead in implementing the Homeless Response Plan in coordination with the city's
Homeless Response Tea m. This multi-depart ment effort to address the needs of the homeless will
be more efficient and effective because it builds on the strengths and current work effort of the
Homeless Response Tea m members. In addition to executing the developed protocol for addressing
the needs of the homeless at city facilities and within the community, following are the current and
anticipated roles for the Homeless Response Tea m members:
Department Role on team
Develop and maintain a community resource database for all to use in
addressing the needs of the homeless; continue to provid e insight to
challenges and opportunities in meeting th e needs of homeless library
Library & Cultural Arts patrons to the homeless response coordinator.
Evaluate facility and service offerings that can be incorporated into the
ongoing plan to meet the needs of the homeless; continue to provide
insight to challenges and opportunities in meeting the needs of
homeless residents at the senior center, Pine Park and other city
Parks & Recreation recreation facilities and parks.
Continue to coordinate with the police department's Crime Suppression
and Homeless Outreach Team on homeless encampment cl ea n-up
projects and other re late service needs; continue to provide insight to
challenges and opportunities for addressing the impacts of homeless
Public Works resid ents and their actions on public facilities.
Provide life emergency se rvices to homeless residents; acts as subject
matter expert for emergency services best practices for homeless
res idents; continue to assist with interviewing homeless residents and
helping the move forward to obtain assistance through t he city's case
Fire management program.
Lead the Crime Suppression and Homeless Outreach Team {HOT); Two
dedicated officers will make co nsistent and frequent contact with the
homeless and seek opportunities to move homeless residents towards
the city's case management program in coordination w ith HNS an d
other Homeless Response Tea m members. The Crime Suppressio n and
HOT will take the lead on addressing impacts of homeless enca mpments
and working with the general public and regional partners on addressing
Police their concerns and complaints rega rding the homeless.
Provides legal guidance, advice and insight around homeless related
issues; assists with new policies and ordinances to address and limit,
where necessa ry, homeless impacts on the community; prosecute
City Attorney criminal offenses as appropriat e.
Develop planning documents and take lead on coo rdination of homeless
HNS response project.
City of Carlsbad Homeless Response Plan 110
Strategies
Strategy #1: Prevent, redu ce and manage homelessness in Carlsbad
a. Continue to evaluate existing city services and programs that serve homeless residents.
b. Develop a plan for city departments to coordinate cross-functional homeless res ponsibilities in a more efficient manner.
Compile homeless and/or transient related data from departments (transient camps cleaned up, number of homeless-related emergency
C. calls) to set a benchmark to track success of pl an efforts.
Develop homeless encampment enforcement cleanup plan in coordination with the city's crime suppression and homeless outreach
d. teams, other city departments and select se rvice providers.
Strategy #2: Support and build capacity within t he city and community to address homelessness
a. Hire a Homeless Response coordinator to help support the development and implementation of the city's homeless strat egy.
Contract with one or more local service provider(s) for a homeless case manager(s) to work with homeless residents and city staff to
b. develop individualized action plan s for homeless residents.
Develop a plan for a mobile office to be used in coordination with the Homeless Outreach Team to provide case management and other
C. support se rvices directly to the homeless within Carlsbad at their locations.
Conduct a community analysis of existing homeless programs and services provided by the city, fa ith-based and community
d. organizations, and service providers to identify gaps and opportunities. Implement efforts to address gaps in services.
Implement the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) ServicePoint to co llect information about homeless residents
e. enabling the city to work col laboratively w ith service providers and other regional agencies.
Develop a homeless strategic plan to define how the city and Carlsbad community will meet the needs of homeless residents and
f. resp ond to the impact of homelessness on city resources in fut ure yea rs.
g. Develop a city protocol to assist staff to serve homeless residents at city fa ci lities or in the community.
Evaluate existing city ordinances: Noise, property maintenance, open container, camping, parking, land use/zoning (e.g. churches -soup
h. kitchens) that impact the community and city response to homeless-related issues
Engage the Housing Commission to serve as an advisory group for homeless services, programs and/or issues; so unding
i. board/information gatherin g/information sharing for community.
City of Carlsbad Homeless Response Plan 111
Strategy #3: Encourage collaboration within the city, community partnerships and residents
Coordinate with local services providers, (e.g. mental health, recovery, and housing) to support rapid rehousing and successful
a. connection to needed services.
Develop partnerships with service providers, faith-based and community organizations, residents and businesses to co llaborate on
b. homeless related issues and needs, extend the partnerships to the 5 cities which are part of the Innovate 78 Collaborative.
Develop educational materials for residents and businesses on how to address or report homeless related concerns (e.g. homeless
C. resident going through trash in a dumpster on private property-whose responsibility?)
Develop working relationship with local DMV and Social Security Administrative offices to eliminate a barrier to housings or connection
d. to support services, including jobs.
Host a one-day resource fair that provides access to local services and programs, while allowing for a coordinated effort to have
e. attendees assessed by a local service provider or case management team.
Work with faith-based organizations to coordinate community outreach and service plan to reduce duplication of efforts and crime
f. related issues (e.g. providing meals, clothes, bus passes)
g. Work with service groups and faith-based organizations to provide home items for newly housed homeless.
Develop a plan with Tri-City Medical Center to address the cycling of Carlsbad homeless in and out of the center, which has a negative
h. impact on homeless residents care and a drain on city emergency resources.
Leverage existing Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) or community partnerships to conn ect homeless residents to appropriate
i. community services or programs
Strategy #4: Retain, protect and increase the supply of housing in Carlsbad
Work with existing housing developments to consider voluntarily set-aside units for the homeless. Possibly provide incentive to pay
a. person's rent for a period of time or pay the deposit.
b. lnclusionary housing policy: 10% set-aside units to serve the homeless residents and/or extremely low income for new developments.
Evaluate alternate housing options to address high rent rates and limited housing inventory: Tin y homes, motel or apartment
C. conversion, shared housing and shelters for women and families.
Request authorization from City Council to pursue the purchase of existing housing units to rehouse homeless families, veterans and/or
d. seniors as a priority, or to purchase beds in sober living facilities as may be appropriate and necessary.
City of Carlsbad Homeless Response Plan 112
Action Items & Status
Strategy #1: Prevent, reduce and manage homelessness in Carlsbad
Action Status
Continue to evaluate existing city services and programs that serve homeless residents. Active
Develop a plan for city departments to coordinate cross-functional homeless responsibilities in a more efficient manner. Active
Compile homeless and/or t ransient related data from departments (transient camps cleaned up, number of homeless-
related emergency calls) to set a benchmark to track success of plan efforts. Active
Develop homeless encampment enforcement plan in coordination with the city's crime suppression and homeless
outreach teams, other city departments and select service providers. Active
Strategy #2: Support and build capacity within the city and community to address homelessness
Action Status
Hire a Homeless Response coordinator to help support the development and implementation of the city's homeless
strategy Pending
Contract with one or more local service provider(s) for a homeless ca se manager(s) to work with homeless residents and
city staff to develop individualized action plans for homeless residents. Pending
Develop a plan for a mobile office to be used in coordination with the Homeless Outreach Team to provide case
management and other support se rvices directly to the homeless within Carlsbad. Pending
Conduct a community analysis of existing homeless programs and services provided by the city, faith-based and
community organizations, and service providers to identify gaps and opportunities. Implement efforts to address gaps. Active
Implement the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) ServicePoint to collect information about homeless
re sidents enabling the city to work collaboratively with service providers and other regional agencies. Pend ing
Develop a homeless strategic plan to define how the city and Carlsbad community will meet the needs of homeless
resid ents and respond to the impact of homelessness on city resources in future years. Active
Develop a city protocol to assist staff to serve homeless residents at city facilities or in the community. Active
Engage the Housing Commission to serve as an advisory group for homeless services, programs and/or issues. Pending
Evaluate existing city ordinances: Noise, property maintenance, open container, camping, parking, land use/zoning (e.g.
churches -soup kitchens) that impact the community and city respon se to homeless-related issues Pending
City of Carlsbad Homeless Response Plan 113
Strategy #3: Encourage collaboration within the city, community partnerships an d residents
Action Status
Coordinate with services providers, (e.g. mental health, recovery, and housing) to support rapid rehousing and
successful connection to needed services. Active
Develop partnerships with service providers, faith-based and community organizations, residents and businesses to
coll aborate on homeless related issues and needs. Active
Develop educational materials for residents and businesses on how to address or report homeless related concerns (e.g.
homeless resident going through trash in a dumpster on private property-whose responsibility?) Pending
Develop working relationship with local OMV and Socia l Security Administrative offices to eliminate a barrier to
housings or connection to support services. Pending
Host a one-day resource fair that provides access to local services and programs, while allowing for a coordinated effort
to have attendees assessed by a loca l service provider or case management team. Pending
Work with faith-based organizations to coordinate community outreach and service plan to reduce duplication of efforts
and crime related issues (e.g. providing meals, clothes, bus passes) Active
Work with service groups and faith-based organizations to provide home items for newly housed homeless. Pending
Develop a plan with Tri-City Medical Center to address the cycling of Carlsbad homeless in and out of the center, which
has a negative impact on homeless residents' care and a drain on city emergency resources. Pending
Leverage existing Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) or community partnerships to connect homeless residents
to appropriate community services or programs Pending
Strategy #4: Retain, protect and increase the supply of housing in Carlsbad
Action Status
Work with existing housing developments to consider voluntarily set-aside units for the homeless. Possibly provide
incentive to pay person's rent for a period of time or pay the deposit. Pending
lnclusionary housing policy: 10% set-aside units to serve the homeless residents for new developments Pending
Evaluate alternate housing options to address high rent rates and li mited housin g inventory: Tiny homes, motel or
apartment conversion, shared housing and shelters for women and families Pending
Request authorization from City Council to pursue the purchase of existing housing units to rehouse homeless families,
veterans and/or seniors as a priority. Pending
2017 WeALLCount: City Totals
Sheltered Unsheltered
City ES SH TH Total In div V*
San Diego City 1,240 30 1,118 2,388 1,234 817
Carlsbad 59 0 0 59 37 48
Chula Vista 43 0 62 105 58 174
Coronado 0 0 0 0 2 3
Del Mar 0 0 0 0 1 2
El Cajon 19 0 46 65 221 60
Encinitas 11 0 22 33 27 53
Escondido 82 12 175 269 120 76
l mperia.l Beach 0 0 0 0 12 10
La Mesa 0 0 0 0 13 12
Lemon Grove 0 0 0 0 13 23
National City 0 0 18 18 94 70
Oceanside 60 0 110 170 105 156
Poway 0 0 0 0 3 5
San Marcos 0 0 59 59 24 25
Santee 0 0 0 0 15 10
Solana Beach 0 0 0 0 3 0
Vista 45 0 278 323 40 124
TOTAL 1,559 42 1,888 3,489
Updated on 4/18/2017 3,495
.. *For lbt Tolaf roh111111s, veb,rles a11d F-1 /lJ / lenls 1ver·I' 11ml1,pl1ed 0• n11 om,pmuy Jae/or betivem
1.66 n11d 1.75.
H*
1180
16
30
0
0
42
4
58
0
0
0
112
100
0
3
24
0
42
Sheltered
%of
Total Total Total Unincorporated Ind iv
3231 5,619 61.6% Alpine 10
101 160 1.8% Boni ca 6 0
262 367 4.0% Bonsall 2
5 5 0.1% Casa de Oro ·15
3 3 0.0% Crest-Dehesa 0
323 388 4.3% Fallbrook 15
84 117 1.3% Hidden Meadows 0
254 523 5.7% 1amul /Dulzura 0
22 22 0.2°;., Lakeside 34
25 25 0.3% NC Metro 2
36 36 0.4% Otay 0
276 294 3.2% Ramona 0
361 531 5.8% San Dieguito 0
8 8 0.1% Spring Valley 31
52 111 1.2% Sweetwater 4
49 49 0.5% TOTAL 6
3 3 0.0%
206 529 5.8% ES -EmerJ'l"D' Shelter
5,301 8,790 96.4% SJ-/ -.\'aje Haveu
5,621 9,116 TH -'Fmmitio11al T-fo11si11g
11/(liv -fodividur,I
V -Car.r/T171rks/RV/ Vrm.r
T-f -I la11d-B11i/t J/171r/11re.r / Tmts
Unsheltered
V* H* Total %
0 9 19 0.2%
0 0 0 0.1'','o
15 0 17 0.2%
13 2 30 0.3%
0 0 0 0.0%
2 0 17 0.2%
0 0 0 0.0%
0 0 0 0.0%
38 5 77 0.8°!<,
10 2 14 0.2%
0 0 0 0.0%
61 4 65 0.7%,
3 0 3 0.0%
26 4 61 0.7%
8 5 17 0.2%
320 3.6'%
326
9,116 Total j