Item 16 - OC Grand Jury’s Investigative Report, Findings, and Recommendations Regarding “How is Orange County Addressing Homelessness”

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How is Orange County Addressing Homelessness? 2021-2022 Orange County Grand Jury Page 4 Federal Court Intervenes and Regional Shelters Are Opened In response to a lawsuit against the County of Orange filed on behalf of the homeless individuals living in large encampments along the Santa Ana River and other public property, a federal District Court got involved in overseeing the County’s actions to clear the encampments. On February 13, 2018, US District Court Judge David Carter ordered that “OC officials, cities and homeless advocates collaborate to find shelter for hundreds of people who have been living in the camps.”10 Judge Carter issued a Temporary Restraining Order barring the arrest of those living along the Santa Ana River stating, “That order will stand until public officials can identify an alternative place to house those living along the river trail.”11 As a result of this litigation, on July 23, 2019, the District Court brokered a Settlement Agreement between the County of Orange and the advocates for the homeless.12 This agreement outlined the number of emergency shelter beds that must be developed in each Orange County Service Planning Area (SPA)13, before any homeless individuals could be removed from the encampments. This agreement was later adopted by North and Central SPA cities to avoid litigation and became a major impetus to opening low-threshold emergency shelters in the North and Central OC communities. South OC SPA cities did not sign the Settlement Agreement and no new low-threshold emergency shelters have subsequently been opened to meet the need of the South OC homeless identified in the OCGJ investigation. REASON FOR THE STUDY Homelessness continues to be one of the most frequently identified issues of concern to Orange County residents.14 Previous Grand Juries examined efforts to address homelessness and made recommendations, many of which have been implemented.15 Yet concerns about homelessness persist in our communities. The purpose of this report is to discuss the effectiveness of the CoC and OCC in collaborating to address Orange County’s homelessness through the services that are provided by the 37 contracts they authorize and oversee. The Grand Jury sought to evaluate the 10 Hannah Fry and Doug Smith, “Frustrated judge demands O.C. find shelter for homeless being evicted from camps”, Los Angeles Times, February 14, 2018 11 Ibid. 12 “Federal Judge Approves Settlement of Homeless Lawsuits”, City News Service, July 23, 2019. 13 Service Planning Area (SPA) is the division of Orange County cities into three regional areas North, Central, and South, for the purpose of facilitating regional collaboration in the provision of services to the homeless. 14 OC Annual Survey, Chapman University 2020. 15 OCGJ Report 2017-18. “John” was a homeless man who lived in Hart Park in the City of Orange for several years. He sought housing at the County “BRIDGES at Kraemer” shelter, where he stayed for seven months. He was an Army Veteran and during his time at BRIDGES, the staff worked with him to obtain identification and get his veteran benefits. Together they developed a housing plan and found a permanent home for him in Fountain Valley. He reported his joy when BRIDGES staff even gave him transportation to his new home where he now lives.