Correspondence - Closed Session #3E

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Case C-JDE Document 158 Filed 04/26/18 Page 3 of 27 Page ID #:2481 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Point -in -Time Count and Survey found there were 4,792 homeless individuals in Orange County, more than half of whom were unsheltered. 2. Many of these individuals struggle to meet the basic necessities of life, including food, shelter, and health care. They often combat mental illness, substance abuse issues, physical disabilities, or any combination of these afflictions. A significant number are single women and veterans. 3. Social, mental health, and other services provided to homeless individuals by the County of Orange and entities contracting with the County, along with their funding levels, are woefully inadequate to address the instant and ongoing crisis of homelessness. 4. The Orange County Board of Supervisors has publicly admitted that it has failed to spend tens of millions of dollars available for homeless housing and services for the homeless population in the County. 5. The number of homeless individuals living in Orange County rose almost 8% from 2013 to 2017. (See, Exhibit "A".) Nowhere in the County was there and is there, a greater concentration of homeless individuals than in the City of Santa Ana. 6. Ultimately, Santa Ana seeks by this Cross -complaint, a fair and equitable distribution of responsibilities for homeless services among the County and all Orange County cities, as well as reimbursement and sustained funding by the County for Santa Ana's decades long efforts to relieve homelessness in Orange County. The recent actions of the County and Cross -Defendant cities show that such a result is not likely to be voluntarily achieved. THE PARTIES 7. Defendant and Cross -Claimant City of Santa Ana is and at all relevant times has been a charter city and municipal corporation organized and existing under the Constitution and laws of the State of California.