About Homelessness in Santa Monica

History

In 1991, the Santa Monica City Council appointed a citizen's Task Force on Homelessness.  The Task Force was given the mandate to formulate recommendations on immediate and long-term action for the City to better respond to the growing crisis of homelessness in Santa Monica.  The report estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 homeless persons in Santa Monica over the course of a year.

Read the full Task Force Report "A Call to Action" (pdf)

Since that time, many of the recommendations from the report have been implemented.  The Community Development Grants Program moved forward with funding for a comprehensive continuum of services for homeless persons, the Police Department implemented a special team of Homeless Liaison officers and Human Services and other City staff have focused on working with regional partners.

Updating the Call to Action

In 2006, the City selected the Urban Institute to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the City's homeless service delivery system and make recommendations for next steps.  The evaluators discovered the following key statistics about the homeless population in Santa Monica:

• Approximately 10,800 homeless persons in Santa Monica over the course of a year;

• 94% have either a mental illness or a substance abuse issue or both; and

• 33% are "chronically homeless", which means they have been homeless for a significant length of time and suffer from a disability.

The evaluation also provided the following key recommendations:

• Address the public behaviors that frighten people (such as drunkenness and mental illness) by rapidly intervening and placing people in appropriate services;

• Restrict the use of brief, emergency services, including emergency shelter;

• Make sure that chronically homeless people get into and keep housing;

• Develop, launch and maintain a community education campaign;

• Work regionally to assure a "fair share" distribution of services

Read the full Urban Institute Report "Ending Homelessness in Santa Monica: Current Efforts and Recommended Next Steps" (pdf)

Next: The Community Responds: Action Plan and special initiatives...