More funding, bureaucracy aimed at S.D. homelessness

New leaders, new plans and new momentum to tackle homelessness.

That’s a cycle San Diego is familiar with, yet longterm progress has been elusive, except around the margins.

Each time, it was going to be different. Will it be this time?

The city and county of San Diego are planning major structural changes, along with substantial increases in resources, to address the region’s festering homelessness.

Mayor Todd Gloria and county Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher unveiled separate proposals not long before a new report detailed a troubling trend.

Last year, the number of people who became homeless for the first time nearly doubled from 2019, according to the report by the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless released this week.

The task force said that was partly the result of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the economy. But the report suggested the 79 percent increase also may have been fueled by better methods of collecting data and reaching more people than in previous years, according to Gary Warth of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

“This staggering statistic continues to underscore the reality that homelessness is for the most part a symptom of larger economic and housing market problems that existed before COVID-19 but made more difficult because of the pandemic,” the report said.

The city and county for the past year have engaged in triage efforts to help and protect the homeless, along with others, amid the coronavirus outbreak that made life even more challenging and threatening.

Many of those programs are ongoing, but with the pandemic in retreat, Gloria and Fletcher are pushing longer-range visions to reduce homelessness.

A lot of attention was paid to the additional $10 million Gloria intends to spend to provide hundreds more shelter beds, more housing for families and more outreach teams.

Important as that is, another component of his plan may have greater longterm impact: the creation of a Homeless Strategies and Solutions Department.

Similarly, Fletcher this month proposed creating a county Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities.

The new departments would be far from identical

but in general would attempt to centralize and better coordinate homeless efforts spread out across numerous governmental and nonprofit agencies. The county department would work beyond the unincorporated areas governed by the supervisors and help cities throughout the region.

One major goal is for the county and city to work together on homelessness, which has been a struggle in the past. Some new senior positions likely will be created, but the expectation is existing positions would be shifted from other departments.

Creating more bureaucracy to solve a big problem — particularly one as vexing as homelessness — no doubt has caused some eyes to roll. But here’s why it could help.

Homeless programs now involve an unwieldy array of government agencies, nonprofits, contractors and other entities that want to house, feed and provide other help for people — while often competing for the same piece of the funding pie.

Toss in different agendas and personalities and the process at times can seem dysfunctional. Further, there has been a revolving door of executives and top advisers in different agencies.

If these new departments are led properly, function according to plan

and take control of the homeless services system, the picture could improve significantly. Otherwise, they could be a waste of money and potentially make things even worse.

Despite attempts to streamline processes and improve coordination in recent years, the situation remains difficult.

“That’s where the herding cats come in,” said Michael McConnell, a longtime homeless advocate in San Diego.

McConnell was a vociferous critic of former Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s policies on homelessness, and he’s not sold on what Gloria and Fletcher are doing — at least not yet.

He maintains San Diego largely has taken a Band-Aid approach to homelessness for years, but sees the dual proposals to consolidate efforts as a step in the right direction.

“We need the right infrastructure and leadership to make lasting progress on this issue,” he said.

Further, he said that data and transparency must be incorporated into the process to see what programs actually work at getting people out of homelessness and keeping them housed. Agencies and organizations that aren’t getting the job done must be held accountable, he said.

Matthew Doherty, Gloria’s outside consultant on homelessness, made similar points in his recommendations for overhauling the city’s approach.

In a memo, Doherty said there has been a lack of “adequate capacity, expertise, and documentation of activities” on homelessness — a sharp critique of the Faulconer administration.

He proposed the focus, structure and staff for the city’s new department.

Government officials, homeless advocates and journalists took notice earlier this year when Gloria hired Doherty, the former head of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

Meanwhile, the county has continued to bolster its mental health programs and outreach teams. Fletcher’s proposal for a new department is a signal the county is committing to a larger role in combating homelessness than it has in the past.

How the county department works out remains to be seen, of course. But this particular expansion of government was backed by all five supervisors, including Republicans Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond.

Where Gloria and Fletcher say they are headed gave McConnell a glimmer of hope.

“I haven’t seen leadership on this before like I’m potentially starting to see blossom,” he said.

His caution is warranted. We’ve been here before.