More Housing, Jobs for Homeless, Report Indicates

By Oliver Lukacs
Staff Writer

Oct. 23 -- Although there is no hard data to confirm a drop in Santa Monica’s homeless population, City officials are crediting two new laws for a dramatic drop in the number of food providers in the City’s parks and the number of vagrants sleeping or camping in storefront doorways Downtown.

While wild cards such as the economy, housing market, quality of services, program capacity and clients’ health make year-to-year comparisons difficult, the City’s placement record in 2002-03 suggests that “outcomes for shelter, housing and employment are considerably improved” over the previous year, the report said.

The findings are part of the annual report on the homeless that will be presented to the City Council Tuesday night when it reviews the City’s Coordinated Plan for Homeless Services.

The report found that in 2002-03 more than half of the 2,773 homeless persons caught by the Santa Monica's $8 million homeless services safety net -- which includes $2 million in City funding -- found either a temporary or permanent home, while one out of four secured a stable job.

The report assessing the effectiveness of the City’s continuum of care -- which has served nearly 12,000 homeless since 1999 -- is mandated by a 1994 voter referendum that sought to address a vagrancy problem many residents at the time believed was spiraling out of control.

Released on Wednesday, the report seems to indicate that the number of homeless annually circulating through the system has remained relatively stable at between 2,500 and 3,000 during the past four years. That roughly accounts for the majority of the approximately 4,000 homeless estimated to be living in Santa Monica every year.

It is likely too early to tell if two ordinances passed last year by the Council -- one regulating voluntary food distributors, the other prohibiting transients from bedding down in the doorways of Downtown business -- have resulted in a decline in the number of homeless who call Santa Monica home.

“I don’t know whether (the feeding ordinance) has had an impact on the homeless population, we think it has grown a bit beyond the 1,000 that we counted (in a “point in time” survey) in 1999, but that is anecdotal," said Joel Schwartz, who heads the City’s homeless services department. "Nobody’s really sure.”

The homeless presence, however, may be less visible after the ordinances went into effect. The number of food providers dropped from 26 to 6 since last year, dwindling the crowds that flocked to the parks for a free meal.

In addition, the Bayside District is reporting a “decline” in the number of doorway guests after 150 Downtown businesses posted the “no sleep” signs needed to enforce the ordinance. So far, 52 citations have been handed out for violating the sleeping ordinance.

Furthering the crackdown, a third ordinance (adopted in June 2003) prohibits people from hanging out on the Santa Monica Palisades bluffs. The ordinance, which will be enforced with the posting of “No Trespassing” signs, is expected to eliminate a “small community of people” known to inhabit the brush-covered bluffs.

While many homeless continue to live on the streets, 1,592 of the 2,773 persons (57 percent) plugged into the ten City-funded agencies received temporary or permanent housing during the year. The agencies provide 22 programs that offer a range of services, including food, a shower, a bed, addiction recovery, temporary housing and job training.

Of those in the housing program, 460 homeless people (17 percent) transitioned into permanent housing during the course of the year, while 682 (25 percent) of those who walked in off the street unemployed landed stable jobs.

That “represents a significant achievement,” said City officials, who noted that 63 percent of all homeless are mentally or physically disabled.

The report however notes that while the 1994 referendum mandates the City to “‘provide non-housing services for approximately the same number of homeless people as can be temporarily sheltered in the City,’ City-funded agencies continue to provide ‘non-housing’ supportive services to more people than are sheltered because of the lack of available beds.”

One of the hopes is that the bed shortage will be addressed by the council-approved $7.4 million homeless services center at 1751 Cloverfield Boulevard, which “will provide a significant and needed increase in housing opportunities for homeless,” with the addition of 35 beds, bringing the total to 55.

“While a small but highly visible proportion of the homeless population has demonstrated resistance to the system of services and generated complaints from the community, the success stories of people who have transitioned to self-sufficiency through the continuum of care demonstrates its effectiveness,” the report says.

That small but highly visible group apparently has made homelessness the leading issue facing the City for the fifth consecutive year, according to a statistically valid telephone survey of more than 400 residents conducted in 2002.

Meanwhile, the number of homeless-related complaint calls to the offices of the City Manager, the City Council and the Human Services Division “remained stable” between 2001 and 2003, totaling approximately 100 a year, while the office of the five-member Santa Monica Police squad dedicated to addressing homeless issues received 770 calls.

Between October 1, 2002 and June 30, 2003 the City’s paramedics responded to 908 calls involving homeless persons, according to the report.

The cost of police and medical services is not included in the $2 million the City pumps into the homeless services system each year. But the report notes that “for every dollar” given to the organizations which actually run the programs, they “leveraged an additional $3.03 in non-City funding to support the continuum of care,” which totals a little more than $8 million.