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HUMAN SERVICES DIVISION - 1685 MAIN STREET ROOM 212, SANTA MONICA 90401 - (310) 458-8701 /TTY (310) 458-8696

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  About Homelessness

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The City of Santa Monica Welcomes People of All Abilities

 

About the Human Services Division

The Human Services Division, of the Community and Cultural Services Department develops and implements social service policies and programs that address the needs of community members of all ages. Staff works collaboratively with the business community and non-profit and educational institutions to build strong partnerships, and manages a $7.7 million Community Development grants program funding 27 local non-profit organizations that provide services to low-income community members, including young children and families, older youth, people who are homeless or have a disability, and older adults. The Division provides park-based educational, fitness and cultural programs in the Pico neighborhood at Virginia Avenue Park and through the Police Activities League, as well as low-cost school-based childcare and enrichment programs. The Division also provides staff support to seven Commissions and Advisory Boards.


The City of Santa Monica has adopted the FY 2010-15 Consolidated Plan &        FY 2010-11 Action Plan

FY 2010-15 Consolidated Plan - The goal of the Consolidated Plan is to identify community needs, establish housing and community development strategies, and create a set of objectives to guide Federal funding decisions over the next five years (FY 2010-15). The Consolidated Plan was built upon recent City planning efforts such as the Draft Land Use Circulation Element (LUCE) (2009), the 2008-14 Housing Element, the Action Plan to Address Homelessness in Santa Monica (2009), and the Housing Authority Annual Plan for FY 2009-10 and Five-Year Plan for FY 2009-14.

FY 2010-11 Action Plan - Each year, the City submits a One-Year Action Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that serves as a status report to the Five-Year Consolidated Plan and details activities to be funded with CDBG and HOME funds in the coming year.


Key Findings of the 2010 Santa Monica Homeless Count

This year, the City of Santa Monica opted to begin conducting a city-wide Homeless Count on an annual basis.  This commitment goes above and beyond the federal and regional requirements to conduct bi-annual homeless counts. The community responded with equal enthusiasm and dedication, with over 160 community members turning out to walk and drive every street, park, alley and underpass to enumerate homeless individuals in the City over the course of one evening.

 Employing the improved methodology implemented in the 2009 Homeless Count, we are able to more accurately compare results to 2009 and provide the most complete count findings to date. The data will serve as a benchmark from which further reductions in homelessness will be tracked and the success of local efforts to reduce homelessness evaluated. Last year, the 2009 Count showed an overall reduction of 8% city-wide as compared to 2007. This year’s results are based on a one-year comparison between 2009 and 2010.

 Results: The 2010 Santa Monica Homeless Count showed a significant reduction in the number of homeless individuals living in Santa Monica.

·     The overall homeless population declined 18.9% from 2009

o    2007 total = 999

o    2009 total = 915 (8% reduction over 2007)

o    2010 total = 742 (18.9% reduction over 2009 / 25% reduction over 2007)

·        The point-in-time homeless count is 742

o    This includes a point-in-time street homeless population of 264, a shelter and institutions population of 423 individuals, and 55 cars/encampments.

o    71% were single individuals, while 29% were members of families.

·     There was a 68% reduction in the   number of identified encampments and a 59% reduction in the number of people identified living in cars as compared to 2009.

This reduction is consistent with findings in urban areas across the county over the past several years, which is acknowledged to be due to changes in federal priorities, better data collection methods, and expanded access to affordable housing for homeless and at-risk households. The City understands that this visual point-in-time count is useful in telling us “what” is happening in our city, but alone, it cannot fully reveal “why”. This local reduction can be attributed to a number of factors, including the city’s implementation of the Action Plan to Address Homelessness, better collaboration and coordination of services, new housing subsidies and rental assistance programs, and innovative programs such as the Homeless Community Court and Project Homecoming. Over the next six months, the City will do additional analysis of this data, comparing it with data from our service providers and regional partners to try to establish if this is truly a sustainable trend.

Methodology: On January 27, 2010, over 160 community volunteers were divided into 70 small teams, each of which was assigned a specific geographic area of the city. Together, volunteers covered every street and alley in Santa Monica, a total of 226 linear miles. Volunteers were instructed to tally every homeless individual they encountered as well as every car, RV, tent or box in which someone appeared to be living. Homeless individuals in shelters, jails, motels, and hospitals were simultaneously counted by staff at each facility in the city. This method of visual enumeration is one that is accepted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and is used by many other communities across the country, including Los Angeles County. While larger jurisdictions employ a mix of a visual count in selected census tracts combined with a statistical projection of homelessness in un-counted tracts, the City has chosen to do a full visual count of all 19 census tracts within the city boundaries.

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This page was last modified on 08/09/2010

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