Archive

By Lookout Staff

January 30 -- The search for Santa Monica’s most vulnerable homeless individuals will end Wednesday, when government and social service officials wrap up a week-long census of those facing the greatest risk of dying on the streets.

The census focuses on the geographic areas identified by the Santa Monica Police Department as the locations where clusters of long-term homeless people sleep.

During an initial head count early Friday morning, the Santa Monica survey teams counted 277 individuals sleeping on streets in the early morning in the beach and Downtown areas and along Colorado Avenue and Wilshire and Olympic Boulevards.

“I think it went really well,” said Julie Rusk, who is in charge of homeless services for the City.

Modeled on Common Ground’s “Street to Home Initiative” in New York City, the goal of the census is to house the ten most vulnerable individuals identified in the search.

Those individuals “will be housed as quickly as possible,” City officials said in a statement “Once the top ten are housed, efforts will be directed towards housing the next ten most vulnerable people.”

Teams comprised of City staff, nonprofit social service agencies, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the County's Department of Mental Health, have been combing Santa Monica’s streets armed with a survey that will produce a “vulnerability score.”

The score -- which weighs several variables, including how long an individual has been homeless and his or her physical and mental health status -- predicts an individual’s likelihood of dying on the streets unless permanently housed.

“The vulnerability score will provide an objective measure to prioritize the future efforts of the Chronic Homeless Project and other initiatives aimed at reducing street homelessness,” City officials said.

But administering the survey hasn’t been easy. By early Sunday morning, 80 surveys had been administered and 30 to 40 homeless individuals refused to participate.

“You keep trying to get them to agree to take the survey,” Rusk said.

Based on the survey, the City, in collaboration with local service providers and the County, will create a “service registry” that will focus the efforts of the City’s existing Chronic Homeless Project, which provides housing for those who have lived on the streets the longest.

Over the past year, the “Street to Home” model has been replicated in five cities -- Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver and Washington DC.

The approach was initiated in the Skid Row areas of Los Angeles in December.

A briefing on the findings will be held on Thursday, January 31 at 3 p.m. at the Santa Monica Main Library Auditorium, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard.