Doing nothing on homelessness no longer an option
The Santa Cruz City Council took on the issue of impacts to our shared public spaces in relation to our unhoused community members at its meeting on Feb. 23. Through hundreds of letters and public comments, we heard input from our community which cares deeply and has a shared desire for health and well-being.
Yet, as a community, we have been stuck. Until COVID-19 mandated the county and city to respond, our city had been paralyzed by the impossibility of solving the crisis of homelessness.
Homelessness is a complex and layered issue that also includes a need for mental health and substance-use disorder services. While city departments do not include social services and health care, which fall under the county, each jurisdiction must find ways to enact components of the larger approach. Our inactions have allowed human suffering, and public health and safety impacts to continue for both housed and unhoused community members.
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s meeting, much of the narrative has focused on the insufficiencies and negative aspects of the proposed Temporary Outdoor Living ordinance. What this critique fails to acknowledge is the progress that is being made around a divisive and polarizing issue in our community, and significant response strategies to move forward.
It is not enough to say we want to do something about this issue and not act, simply because the action is incomplete or imperfect. It will never be perfect.
Proceeding with the first reading of the proposed ordinance advances strategies already vetted and put forward by previous committees, including the Community Advisory Committee on Homelessness, 2020 (CACH) and the Homelessness Coordinating Committee, 2017. Many of the recommendations were approved by prior City Council actions and have yet to be implemented. Now is the time to act.
Here are the gaps that this ordinance would address:
Safe Sleeping Program
A Safe Sleeping Program will provide designated safe sleeping sites, that are supervised and staffed, for unhoused individuals. The City of Santa Cruz has been discussing some type of safe sleeping program for years. This was one of the recommendations put forth by the CACH. Should this ordinance gain final approval by the council, this would codify our commitment to a safe sleeping program within 60 days of ordinance approval. This means this program would be up and running by late spring or early summer, not years from now.
Outreach and Engagement
An elevated outreach and engagement effort preceding or simultaneously occurring with any enforcement warning will provide opportunities for unhoused individuals to get connected to services and resources, putting them on a pathway to more permanent shelter, housing goals, and health care needs. Again, this is a strategy we have been discussing for some time. It’s one of the recommendations put forth by the CACH, as well as a priority strategy of the Homelessness Coordinating Committee. Should this proposed ordinance gain final approval by council, it would also codify our commitment to outreach and engagement.
Longer-term Solutions
In addition to the strategies listed above, the council approved policy direction for the city to partner with the county, nonprofit organizations and faith-based community to pursue a stepped sheltering/housing approach including:
• A navigation center linking individuals to case management and wraparound services, and
• Longer-term transitional shelter to ensure housing paths are created.
Policy direction was also given to evaluate the city’s investment in current programs including HOPES Team, Downtown Streets Team, and Downtown Outreach Worker programs to ensure city-centric outcomes for those requiring certain interventions.
These actions are not insignificant. The proposed ordinance would allow us to enact components of a larger continuum of care approach that our city has had the intention to pursue. It will take leadership, partnership, and a community that is willing to compromise, to take action and to move toward a vision of health and well-being.