The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved the first phase of a community action plan focused on homelessness at its June 18 meeting.
Deputy Director of Housing and Community Development Dinah Lockhart presented the board with the first phase of the plan, which was developed from October 2018 to January 2019 with input from more than 140 community members and various organizations that interact with homeless individuals.
The plan outlines five strategies that will guide the county’s approach to addressing homelessness. These strategies include increasing access to affordable housing options, implementing strategies to help keep people housed, and providing services to address the needs of specific populations, among others.
According to a report on the first phase of the action plan, the number of people in the county experiencing homelessness fluctuated between roughly 1,700 and 1,800 from 2013 to 2018. Many of these people are suffering from mental health problems, chronic health conditions, and substance abuse issues, the report states.
“Homelessness is a tangled narrative of a lack of affordable housing, trauma, abuse, loss, physical and mental illness, loneliness, addiction, and paralyzing poverty,” Lockhart said during the meeting.
Following Lockhart’s presentation, 1st District Supervisor Das Williams emphasized the significant role that housing costs play in homelessness in the county. He said pursuing more affordable housing projects is vital in addressing this issue.
The report suggests that these expensive housing costs aren’t only contributing to homelessness but changing where people are homeless. According to the report, the high cost of living and low vacancy rates in South County may be leading to an increase in homeless individuals in North County cities, like Santa Maria and Lompoc.
However, despite these increases in North County, the majority of people experiencing homelessness in the county live in or near Santa Barbara. According to data in the report, 53 percent of homeless individuals in the county live in Santa Barbara, 23 percent live in Santa Maria, 15 percent live in Lompoc, and the rest live in other parts of the county.
Fourth District Supervisor Peter Adam said he disagrees that the main issue leading to homelessness in the county is expensive housing costs. Instead, he said he believes the primary factor contributing to homelessness in the county is substance abuse issues.
“I’m not sure what the solution is, except a better economy that draws people into trying to create wealth and make their lives better instead of … a life of drugs and alcohol and hopelessness,” Adam said.
He voted alongside his fellow supervisors to adopt phase one of the community action plan. Lockhart said county staff is working on the plan’s second phase, which staff will present to the board at a future meeting.
This article appears in Jun 20-27, 2019.