Local leaders are taking even greater steps to end homelessness in the region.
In January, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)—at the behest of Santa Barbara County Supervisor Doreen Farr and U.S. Rep. Lois Capps—granted the county an 11th-hour 30-day extension on the federal deadline to apply for housing funds. Each year, counties across the country are required to submit minimal data on the number of homeless living in the area in order to receive funding.
This year, however, Santa Barbara County is launching a more in-depth and useful survey through the newly formed coalition Common Ground Santa Barbara. Based on a national model, Common Ground Santa Barbara will create indexes of the county’s most vulnerable residents, including homeless people living on the streets and families living in homeless shelters, hotels, and other temporary places.
From that data, Common Ground Santa Barbara partners—including organizations such as the Central Coast Rescue Mission, county housing authority, the county Public Health Department, Alcohol Drug and Mental Health Services, and more—will be able to determine the community’s greatest needs and distribute services accordingly.
“I believe we’re the first in the nation to use the family index,” said Sylvia Barnard, co-leader of Common Ground Santa Barbara. Barnard is deeply invested in helping the county’s homeless; she’s also co-leader of Bringing Our Community Home, the county’s 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness, and executive director of Good Samaritan Shelter in Santa Maria.
Barnard said once the survey is completed, the data and other services will probably fit under the umbrella of Bring Our Community Home. Using the family index, she added, is especially important because North County has a significantly higher amount of homeless families.
The Common Ground survey is part of the organization’s 100,000 Homes Campaign, which aims to find homes and additional services for the nation’s homeless population. According to the Common Ground Santa Barbara website, roughly 110,000 Americans are chronically homeless, living on the streets or in shelters for more than a year.
Barnard said the problem is apparent in Santa Barbara County: “I’ve been crying out for help for so long. There are so many chronically homeless living in our county.”
She said Common Ground Santa Barbara coalition members, along with local volunteers, will conduct the survey Feb. 28 through March 4. Some groups will go out into the community from 4:30 to 6:30 a.m. to survey people living on the streets. Other groups will visit homeless shelters during mealtime, around 5 to 7 p.m., and other temporary housing facilities to survey families and other individuals.
The survey will focus on the basics, such as age, gender, and ethnicity, as well as more in-depth questions about health history and veteran status.
Barnard said survey participants’ levels of vulnerability are judged on a point system. People and/or families get points if they’ve been on the street more than three times in one year; if they have a history of substance abuse, a mental illness, or a chronic medical condition; or if they’ve had contact with Child Welfare Services, previous cases of domestic abuse, or childhood trauma.
“We also take into account if they have a felony because that can be a huge barrier to housing,” Barnard said.
Much of the information, she said, won’t go to the federal government but will rather be used by Common Ground Santa Barbara for grant writing purposes and the distribution of services.
“This will allow us to really know who we’re working with,” Barnard explained.
Common Ground Santa Barbara is seeking help from approximately 500 volunteers to conduct the survey. A volunteer training session will be held on Feb. 27 from 3 to 5 p.m. in Santa Maria. The location has yet to be determined. People interested in getting involved can sign up or get contact information online at commongroundsb.org.
Barnard said there’s a vast range of volunteer opportunities other than conducting the survey, including packet stuffing for the training session, helping with sign-ups, and staffing the survey outposts.
This article appears in Feb 10-17, 2011.