County obtains trailers to house homeless diagnosed with COVID-19
The spread of the COVID-19 has brought with it the challenges of trying to keep Imperial Valley residents safe.
The challenge is amplified when it comes to addressing the needs of the homeless or those at risk for homelessness though this pandemic.
Aided by state grant funds, the Imperial County Department of Social Services — working alongside other Imperial County Continuum of Care Council and other county services — to provide housing to the homeless who otherwise would be unable to shelter in place.
Most recently, the county has launched the COVID-19 Homeless Housing Program as a key step to shelter homeless individuals who have tested positive for the virus but are not ill enough to be hospitalized.
The 10 trailers serve to quarantine those homeless with a positive COVID-19 test result while also serve to contain the spread of the virus within a high-risk community.
“We want to centralize the program to one location and bring together a multidisciplinary team to evaluate the immediate needs of the homeless participating in the program,” said Veronica Rodriguez, director of Imperial County Department of Social Services. She added the goal of the program is to both prevent further spread of the virus and make sure the medical needs of those quarantined are met. “This is about providing coordinated care services.”
The 10 trailers were obtained under the governor’s $500 million emergency funding package authorized by the
Legislature with $150 million of that funding set aside for local emergency homeless actions. That funding was divided into two uses.
• A hundred million directly went to local governments, for shelter support and emergency housing to for the homeless.
• Fifty million went to California Department of Social Services and the California Office of Emergency Services to purchase the travel trailers and lease rooms in hotels, motels, and other facilities in partnership with counties and cities to provide immediate isolation placements throughout the state for homeless individuals.
The trailers provided by the state to Imperial County are expected to meet the needs of those homeless who test positive, Rodriguez said.
For homeless persons diagnosed COVID-19 positive who do not require hospitalization, the medical facilities conducting the test will notify county Social Services through a homeless hotline. At that time, a facilitator for the county will begin the coordinated effort and enroll those individuals into the COVID-19 Homeless Housing Program to provide care and address the most immediate needs such as the quarantined shelter as well as medical care and food.
Individuals quarantined will have access to coordinated support through a centralized operation center.
“Our coordinated care services are strictly to help them recuperate from COVID-19 and aim to transition them to sustainable housing options upon their return to the community,” Rodriguez said.
The trailers are a part of larger effort to address the needs of the homeless during the pandemic. Of the $150 million in state funding set aside for the homeless emergency response, Imperial County received $528,000 that was awarded to the Imperial County Continuum of Care. The funds have largely gone toward working with area hotels to establish housing for the homeless who have not tested positive for the virus, but whom are at risk due to factors, like pre-existing health issues or a living situation that makes social distancing impossible.
Rodriguez said the pandemic has reignited the discussion on how to care for the homeless, whether serving those living on the streets or those who live “couch-to-couch” or live in their cars and use other facilities, like area gyms, for a shower.
“This is going to take a communitywide effort,” she said, adding, “It does spark a conversation about the importance to work as a community to address the bigger system issues we have of homelessness in our county.”
However, the immediate needs relate to the COVID-19 virus and the trailers to quarantine those with a positive test result and funding for temporary shelter in hotels for those homeless at risk are critical to prevent further spread of the virus.