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Extracted from Consolidated Report
This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 11 findings
F1
Page 180
Emergency responders in Lake County do not routinely track/identify calls relating to fires, health emergencies, or criminal acts by homeless persons and thus the impact on, and the resulting costs to, society cannot readily be calculated.
F2
Page 180
An unknown, but substantial, number of law enforcement calls pertain to complaints about troublesome behaviors by the homeless that evidence mental- health or substance abuse causes.
F3
Page 180
Hospitals and Jails have become cost centers for treating the homeless, with healthcare costs accounting for about half of expenditures and justice-system costs accounting for about one-third of expenditures.
F4
Page 180
No acute-care psychiatric facility exists in Lake County, resulting in both patients’ needing acute hospitalization having to be placed out-of-county and also in the Jail’s becoming a de facto psych ward for the chronically mentally ill.
F5
Page 180
Both Hope Center and Elijah House, as residential centers, are providing a significant step in helping to break the cycle of homelessness complicated by mental health and substance-abuse issues and lack of transitional housing.
F6
Page 180
No freestanding “housing department” exists in Lake County and thus the County has no centralized focus on providing housing for the homeless.
F7
Page 180
Section-8 housing vouchers are currently not available in Lake County due to a lack of available housing.
F8
Page 180
Bakersfield has had impressive success in providing housing for its homeless population.
F9
Page 180
Other jurisdictions report that documenting a history of incarceration via the PIT count is useful in augmenting their understanding of the contributors to homelessness.
F10
Page 180
First responders find that Behavioral Health staff are sometimes unable to respond at all to their calls for assistance or respond only after lengthy delays.
F11
Page 180
A number of homeless individuals refuse offers to enter shelters because the shelters do not accept their pets. RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations 15
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R1Page 181All First Responders within Lake County should consider collecting individualized longitudinal data on their interactions with the homeless and referrals for services. (F-1, F-2)
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R2Page 181Lake County – and the cities of Lakeport and Clearlake - should inventory their vacant and surplus property to assess whether any structure/parcel could be realistically modified to provide affordable housing for the chronically homeless. (F-5, F-6, F-7)
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R3Page 181Lake County should sell the former Juvenile Hall to Elijah House, if so requested, so that their vital services can continue to benefit Lake County’s vulnerable populations. (F-5)
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R4Page 181The Probation Department should remove its property from Elijah House so that the facility’s housing capacity could be increased. (F-5)
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R5Page 181The Continuum of Care should augment its PIT questionnaire to include queries about prior incarceration so as to permit a more comprehensive view of the causes of homelessness. (F-9)
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R6Page 181The County should make a concerted effort to arrange for the availability of Section-8 housing. (F-6, F-7, F-8)
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R7Page 181Subsidized housing that can be made available and affordable for homeless residents should be prioritized by the County for the most frequent users of public services (high-cost, high-need) so as to stabilize the neediest – and most costly – individuals. The Bakersfield approach would be a useful model. (F-3, F-6, F-7, F- 8)
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R8Page 181Targeted supportive services from Behavioral Health and Social Services should continue post-housing to improve housing retention rates and reduce the staffing logistics and cost burdens on the two hospitals, the first responders, and the Jail. (F-3, F-4)
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R9Page 181The County and Behavioral Health should focus on the costs of shipping acute psychiatric homeless patients out-of-county and of perpetuating the “revolving door” maintenance of homeless chronic psychiatric patients at the Jail and determine whether providing an in-county facility is economically feasible. (F- 4) 181
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R10Page 182Behavioral Health should clarify and communicate its crisis-response protocols to law enforcement and fire/EMS agencies in the County so that all parties know what to expect when dealing with relevant urgent/emergent situations. (F-10)
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R11Page 182The County should create a specific position dedicated to assessing the needs of - and coordinating the provision of housing to - its homeless residents (F- 6, F-7, F-8)
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R12Page 182The 2020-2021 Civil Grand Jury urges the 2021-2022 Grand Jury to follow- up on the above Recommendations to assess what progress the County is making in providing services, including stable housing, for its most vulnerable residents. (R-2, R-6, R-7, R-11)
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R13Page 182Lake County Animal Control and Clearlake Animal Control could consider investigating how safe and secure overnight shelter for pets of those homeless who are seeking their own overnight or long-term sheltering. (F-11)
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R14Page 182The County and the Cities of Lakeport and Clearlake should form a taskforce to devise a workable and coordinated method of determining the true costs to law enforcement and fire/EMS agencies of responding to emergency calls pertaining to the homeless so that limited resources could be allocated and targeted based on a factual understanding. This would be an expansion of R1. (F-1, F-2) 182 RESPONSES Pursuant to Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05, the following responses are required: Lake County Board of Supervisors (R-2, R-3, R-6, R-7, R-9, R-11,
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R30-60Page 171day drug/alcohol treatments and for 4-6 month transitional housing, using Project Roomkey funds. Former convicts who are eligible for the San Francisco-based Delancey Street programs must make a 2-yr commitment. Of the 180-200 homeless who have been treated/housed through HOT intervention, the Sgt. estimated that 90% have stayed clean. 7. No discussion of alternative responses would be complete without reference to Eugene, Oregon and CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets), which is a mobile crisis-intervention program staffed by White Bird Clinic personnel using City of Eugene vehicles. This relationship has been in place for nearly 30 years and is well embedded in the community. CAHOOTS provides support for Eugene PD (EPD) personnel by taking on many of the social-service-type calls for service to include crisis counseling. 171