Nevada County Grand Jury • 2013-2014

Panhandlers, Vagrants and Transients in a Neighborhood Near You?

Published: June 25, 2014 17 pages
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Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F4, F5, F7, F8, F11

Findings and Recommendations 8 findings

F2
The problems with PVTs will continue to increase until city and county leaders seriously address the problem. Partially Agree. The statement "the problems with PVTs will continue to increase" is based on perception, not data. The data shows that the number of homeless individuals in our community has actually decreased slightly since 2009. Data collected is a ((Point-in-Time Homeless Persons Count" following data collection criteria of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The data collection provides a count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons. Counts are further broken down into subpopulation categories including counts of persons who are chronically homeless, persons with severe mental illness, chronic substance abusers, Veterans, persons with HIV/AIDS, and victims of domestic violence. The number of persons on General Assista nce aid has aIso decreased in the last five years. Typically, homeless populations are subcategorized by "families, individuals, youth, veterans, and the chronically homeless" because of the unique experiences and challenges that each of these groups face. It is important to note, the County has received reports that homeless services provided by local non-profit providers have increased. County programs are designed to target the root causes of homelessness through assisting individuals as they are released from jail or on probation, and through providing housing, job training, substance abuse treatment, medication management and coordinated case management. These programs are significantly less expensive than the inevitable alternatives (hospitalization or jail). Additional resources for these programs would improve effectiveness. However some individuals will continue to choose a "homeless" lifestyle and for the most part, these individuals do not engage in criminal behavior. 1
No recommendations for this finding
F3
It is only a matter of time until a health incident or serious fire occurs in one of the illegal camps. Partially Agree. The report focuses on a sub-population called Panhandlers, Vagrants and Transients. However, homeless individuals who inhabit encampments are not necessarily the same sub-populations. We agree that encampments are not safe for those who live there and do pose a risk to the greater community, but this is a different issue than panhandling as it is estimated that only 40-60% of panhandlers are actually homeless. In addition, only 44% of homeless people are "unsheltered" and therefore might live in an encampment and only 12% are unsheltered and chronically homeless. Research shows that most residents of homeless encampments say they would prefer to live in a more conventional way with their own room and a job, however a significant number are addicted to drugs or alcohol, and/or are mentally ill. Specialty trained staff, through a County contract, visit encampments regularly to check on known mentally ill individuals and encourage them to participate in County services. Although CalFire estimates that 90% of all wildfires in California are caused by humans, campfires (recreational or otherwise) only accounted for 4% of wildfires in Nevada County in 2012.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
Enforcement actions authorized by law and/or codes, which are the responsibility of city and county agencies, are woefully lacking in their consistency and continuity of effort. Disagree. All complaints received regarding properties located within unincorporated areas are investigated by Nevada County Code Compliance. A majority of the complaints received deal with trespass issues which are not enforceable by the Community Development Agency or the Code Compliance Division.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
Mixed jurisdictions and agency responsibilities can complicate enforcement efforts. Agree.
No recommendations for this finding
F10
Very few city and county agencies accurately track incidents or costs associated with PVTs. Agree. The Department of Social Services tracks the number and cost of services for General Assistance and nutritional assistance to individuals, who are homeless. In addition, Behavior-al Health tracks the costs of providing housing and mental health treatment services to its clients, who may be homeless. Numerous cost studies have shown that providing shelter and basic services to the homeless population is significantly less expensive than the inevitable alternative: hospitalization, emergency medical treatment, prison/jail. Although the Grand Jury's definition of "transient and vagrant" does not stipulate an amount of time associated with that definition, the annual Homeless Count includes surveying homeless individuals and tracks the length of time individuals have been in Nevada County. For example, in 2013 of the 141 completed surveys, only ten responden ts indicated they had resided in Nevada County for less than one year and only one individual indicated they were "just passing through." In contrast, 74 individuals 2 indicated they have been in the county their whole lives or more than 5 years up to. Many statistics are maintained on homeless and low income populations; however the term "Panhandlers, Vagrants, and Transients (PVT)" is not a term the County uses and is not a stand-alone tracked category.
No recommendations for this finding
F12
CC has the responsibility and the tools necessary to remedy the sub-standard conditions found in PVT encampments, but does not enforce these statutes. Disagree. The Code Compliance Division responds to complaints and is not authorized to independently act to remedy violations of the Codes. When a complaint is flied, and a violation is verified, the Code Compliance Division works with the property owner to rectify or eliminate the violation.
No recommendations for this finding
F13
The CDA and CC fail to follow their own mission statement and do not investigate the complaints directed at PVT encampments. This allows imminent health and safety conditions to continue and worsen. Disagree. All complaints received regarding properties located within unincorporated areas are investigated. A majority of the complaints received deal with trespass issues which are not enforceable by the Community Development Agency or the Code Complia nce Division.
No recommendations for this finding
F14
An inter-jurisdictional task force with members from city and county law enforcement and fire, probation, code compliance, environmental health, homeless advocates, the chambers of commerce, and interested citizens should be able to come up with a plan, using existing laws and codes for resolving the situation with the PVTs. Partially Agree. Thus far, no community in the country has found a long term solution to dealing with the issues related to homelessness. However, existing efforts include: 1. The Homeless Resource Council of the Sierras' ongoing workgroup, the Nevada County Coordinating Council, meets monthly in Nevada County. The group consists of homeless advocates, non-profit leaders, mental health professionals, and county staff (HHSA) to address homeless outreach/ intake/assessment, prevention of housing loss, rapid re-housing, emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent housing, and supportive housing. 2. Coordination between law Enforcement and Social Services exists through Eligibility Worker visits to the Wayne Brown Correctional facility and Probation offices to assist recently released individuals and probationers to apply for Medi-Cal. Life skills and financial planning classes are offered to these groups as well as an evidence based practice to improve self-sufficiency skills and reduce recidivism rates. 3. The Community Development Agency routinely coordinates with the Sheriffs Office and other county departments to enforce existing codes and regulations. 3 ~ B. RESPONSES TO RECOMMENDATIONS
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
The Nevada County Board of Supervisors should take the lead in establishing an inter-jurisdictional task force with members from city and county law enforcement and fire, probation, Code Compliance, Environmental Healt h, mental health professionals, homeless advocates, the chambers of commerce and interested citizens to develop a plan, using existing laws and codes, for improving the situation with the PVTs. The recommendation will not be implemented. Existing efforts preclude the need for the Board of Supervisors to take the lead in establishing an additional taskforce. Already addressing these issues are the Homeless Resource Council of the Sierras which has an ongoing workgroup, the Nevada County Coordinating Council that meets monthly in Nevada County. This group is working on homeless outreach/intake/assessment process, prevention of housing loss, rapid re-housing, emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent housing, and supportive housing. Individuals from city and government agencies are members of this work group. Other city and county agencies can join this existing group. Coordination between Law Enforcement and Social Services exists through Eligibility Worker visits to the Wayne Brown Correctional facility and Probation offices. The Community Development Agency routinely coordinates with the Sheriff's Office and other county departments to enforce existing codes and regu lations.

Additional Recommendations 3

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.

No Responses Found 2

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

Grass Valley City
Nevada County Board of Supervisors Elected County Office