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How is Orange County Addressing Homelessness? <br /> <br />2021-2022 Orange County Grand Jury Page 1 <br /> <br />SUMMARY <br />Orange County’s homeless population continues to be of great concern to residents. Seeing <br />homeless individuals on the streets raises awareness of this persistent problem, but the elaborate <br />efforts to address homelessness are less evident. Orange County’s response to homelessness is a <br />collaboration led by the independent Orange County Continuum of Care Board (CoC), which <br />oversees the distribution of federal and state homeless funding. The CoC is supported by the <br />Orange County Office of Care Coordination (OCC) which administers contracts, monitors <br />budgets, and evaluates the results of the funded programs. <br />The Orange County Grand Jury (OCGJ) studied the CoC to understand how the County is <br />working to address homelessness. The collaborative efforts led by the CoC and OCC have <br />resulted in progress in the fight against homelessness, including a system of care across multiple <br />levels of government programs and community providers. It further established a coordinated <br />entry system, a cooperative homeless information system, and consolidated applications for <br />federal and state funds. Together, the members were responsible for a quick and effective <br />response to the coronavirus disease (COVID) pandemic on the homeless, an increase in the <br />number of shelter beds, a decrease in homeless encampments, more outreach and treatment <br />alternatives, and new housing vouchers being available for permanent housing. <br />This collaborative system of care developed by the CoC and OCC amounts to a great <br />achievement. The graphs in this OCGJ report show the increased outreach, prevention efforts, <br />shelter beds provided, and permanent housing made available that the CoC and OCC achieved. <br />They also show the additional system of care resources provided by the County of Orange to <br />prevent people from falling into homelessness. Unfortunately, from 2018 to 2021, exits from the <br />CoC homeless system to permanent housing have hovered between 24 percent and 32 percent.1 <br />Orange County is addressing homelessness with elaborate systems even beyond the efforts of the <br />CoC and OCC, but the reality of homelessness is that despite these programs our system has <br />shortcomings and bottlenecks. This OCGJ found that: South Orange County needs an emergency <br />shelter; homeless individuals suffering from mental illness and substance abuse need court- <br />ordered treatment; Orange County does not have enough housing affordable to individuals <br />exiting homeless shelters; and youth aging out of foster care do not have enough safe housing, <br />resulting in many falling into homelessness. <br />BACKGROUND <br />There are numerous causes of homelessness. These causes range from poverty, unemployment, <br />lack of affordable housing, and individual issues of mental and/or substance use disorders. Other <br />risk factors include medical problems, physical disability, domestic violence, and youth aging <br />out of the child-care system.2 <br />The continuum of care concept was created by HUD in 1994 to promote communitywide <br />commitment to the goal of ending homelessness. HUD provided funding to quickly rehouse <br /> <br />1 211 OC, Longitudinal Systems Analysis, FY 2018 through 2021, from HMIS data. <br />2 US Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.