FIX THE DANGEROUS CYCLE OF SEVERE HOMELESSNESS
Over the last year, we’ve seen incredible innovations in Downtown San Diego. From our restaurants serving San Diegans in the middle of Gaslamp’s Fifth Avenue to our beloved Padres’ Petco Park pinch-hitting as a massive COVID-19 vaccination site, everyone has had to adapt.
We also saw our regional leaders act decisively to protect those who call our streets and sidewalks home with “Operation Shelter to Home” at the San Diego Convention Center. This remarkable level of effort across agencies and service providers set a standard across California, and across the nation, securing permanent housing for more than 1,000 individuals by centralizing services and communications.
However, as we approach the one-year mark of this pandemic, we are also seeing a stark reality of helping our unsheltered population; those who were the hardest to reach prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic because of severe behavioral health issues are still being left behind. For them and the people who serve them, more tailored strategies are needed.
Our Downtown community has seen a sharp increase in severe mental health and addiction-related crises in the past year firsthand. We have heard troubling accounts of small business owners stepping in to defend their customers and staff, unstable individuals nearly missing tragedy on the trolley tracks, and people breaking into vehicles and homes to support their addictions. Allowing this dangerous cycle to continue impacts public health, safety and economic recovery efforts.
On behalf of the tens of thousands of people who live, work or engage with our city’s urban core and the 700 San Diegans still sleeping on Downtown’s streets even with Shelter to Home, we urge our leaders to once again take decisive action to step in for those who the status quo is leaving behind on our streets to suffer.
Last month, we joined 12 other organizations representing Downtown’s families, small business owners, hospitality industry workers, residents, essential workers and students on a letter to urge both the city and the county to rekindle their collaborative approach. The letter outlines steps toward a streamlined system that not only proactively seeks out individuals requiring assistance with temporary shelter but also connects them with the housing and services they need to begin their path to stability.
A critical first step detailed within that letter is the need for mental health crisis response teams and a clear route for residents and business owners to triage individuals in distress to swiftly get them off the street and into care. Initial pilot work conducted by the county of San Diego showed promising results, and we look forward to seeing its expansion countywide. This not only eases the burden placed on law enforcement but ensures an appropriate response for individuals in their moment of crisis, not a revolving door of penalization that puts them back on the street.
Second, we’ve seen countless instances of habitual intoxication to the point where people are no longer capable of accepting help. We need a partnered effort to encourage our state Legislature to expand the resources needed to help those experiencing chronic behavioral challenges, especially those who refuse or are unable to accept help because of substance abuse. By expanding the definition of “gravely disabled” at the state level to include serial cases of intoxication and drug use, we can better equip the right health professionals to step in.
These are just two of the recommendations made within our joint letter, which also discusses the need to reduce erratic and violent behavior and continue funding programs that contribute to public health and safety like community-oriented policing and Clean San Diego.
Downtown has all the ingredients to create a bright future as the catalyst for much of the life and activity that will spur our regional recovery. We have no doubt this area will once again emerge as an economically prosperous and culturally vibrant urban center amid a tech boom and flourishing blue economy. How quickly that recovery progresses will either be bolstered or hindered by how we change the status quo to help those suffering on our streets.
We are at a pivotal moment for action. The comprehensive and collaborative approach that we saw successfully implemented over the past year must not be reserved for times of emergency but instead must be deployed as standard practice.
We are confident this set of collaborative, compassionate and attainable solutions could make great strides to improve the outcomes for people living on our streets and for the quality of life for everyone in Downtown neighborhoods.