Listen here:
The “Point-in-Time” Count of the unhoused population and a better understanding of the causes of homelessness has encouraged the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors to leverage $72.7 million in federal, state, and County resources to support its Homeless Strategic Action Plan. The County is combating the problem by taking and head-on approach.
During the 2023 Point-In-Time Count, 4195 unhoused people were contacted. There are 75 unhoused persons in Twentynine Palms, 42 in Joshua Tree, 36 in Yucca Valley, and 2 in Landers, making a total of 155 people across the Morongo Basin. Joshua Tree saw a 50% increase in its unhoused population since 2022, and Yucca Valley’s unhoused population increased by 93% since 2022. In Yucca Valley, 23 of the 36 people counted were in shelters or transitional housing.
On Last week’s Z107.7 Up Close Show, host Gary Daigneault spoke with County Board of Supervisor Chair Dawn Rowe about the homeless situation in the Morongo Basin. Supervisor Rowe said about the increase in the homeless population: “I think that that has risen for two reasons: one because we have more homeless and unhoused, and, because the ‘Point-in-time count’ was allowed to take place over a longer duration, this year, and then we had more volunteers. And so, I think we captured it more accurately.”
The Current County plan sets aside $32.7 million for partnerships between the County and cities to partner on solutions, including creating shelter beds, permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing options, and addressing systemic barriers that prevent housing.
On the “Up Close Show,” Supervisor Rowe said the County is exploring the causes of homelessness and going after the root cause, such as past police records prohibiting people from getting jobs. The County is working with the Public Defender to have people’s records deleted, if appropriate.
Supervisor Rowe said, “We did an Expungement Fair here at Copper Mountain College. And that’s in coordination with our public defender.” She added, “We’ve done one in Barstow, we’ve done one in needles, and folks have come down, and we do the vital records at the same time. The assessor has a mobile unit that they can come out, and you can go right into the public defender; you can get your record expunged for those crimes that were committed long ago that meet a threshold for expungement. And then you can go right over and have a new driver’s license printed or anything else that you need.”
Supervisor Rowe added that the County would then connect people to businesses looking to hire.
In addition, Law enforcement now takes a different approach to the unhoused situation. Previously, deputies weren’t trained to deal with mental health issues. Currently, the Deputies are working with the unhoused collaboratively with the Department of Aging and Adult Services. The County Social Workers determine if the underlying cause of homelessness is substance abuse or mental health problems. Or if someone that just fell on hard times and can’t afford housing?
The Homeless Strategic Action Plan, the applied resources, and the partnership, which includes Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms, are all designed to combat this critical problem affecting San Bernardino County.
Shortly after the numbers from the Point-in-time count were released, the San Bernardino Sun reported the county had returned $4.4 million dollars out of the $8.5 million it had received in emergency grant funding during the pandemic – money that was earmarked to be used to increase shelter beds and help slow the spread of covid in a population that has limited access to healthcare.
Critics say the county sat on the money for years, when it could have been used to help slow the population of unhoused – a number that has risen an alarming 26% since last year.
With additional reporting by Robert Haydon
