By Richard Halstead
Marin Independent Journal
Posted: 03/14/2011 05:52:48 PM PDT
A Marin civil grand jury called Marin County's policies that have resulted in the lack of a permanent emergency homeless shelter "misguided and misplaced."
There are hundreds of homeless families and individuals who need a shelter, yet the county has no plans to create one, according to the grand jury report released Monday.
Responding to the report, Larry Meredith, director of Marin County Department of Health and Human Services, said, "There are many points of disagreement, including some of the facts."
Meredith said the county has doubled its investment in providing emergency shelter to the homeless over the past three years from $578,000 to $1.25 million. He acknowledged, however, that most of the money went to support existing programs, which are insufficient to meet the current needs.
Neither Supervisor Susan Adams nor Steve Kinsey, who serve on the county's Homelessness Policy Steering Committee, could be reached for comment on the report. Kinsey was on his way to Washington D.C. on county business.
One of the report's major findings is that families and children represent the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population in Marin. A federally mandated count of the homeless conducted in 2009 identified 1,147 people as unsheltered in Marin, meaning they reside in a place not meant for human habitation, such as a car, park, sidewalk, open space or on the street.
Of that unsheltered group, the grand jury reportsthere were 111 families and 169 children under the age of 15. Another 1,241 children were identified as being at imminent risk of homelessness.
The grand jury report noted that short-term emergency housing exists for only 14 homeless families, at the Family Emergency Center in San Rafael operated by the nonprofit Homeward Bound. For unsheltered individuals, just 40 permitted beds are available year round, at the Mill Street Center in San Rafael, also operated by Homeward Bound.
During the past three winters much of the slack has been taken up by a group of local churches and synagogues that have allowed the homeless to sleep in their facilities on a rotating basis. The Rotating Emergency Shelter Team (REST) program can provide shelter for a maximum of 20 women and 45 men each night. Participants must be drug free. The program, however, turns away as many as 20 people a night during the four months that it operates.
The grand jury stated that even though several REST sponsors consistently state they do not intend to serve indefinitely, the county has no contingency plan to replace the faith-based program.
The grand jury noted that in 2006 a so-called "Visionary Committee," consisting of two county supervisors, directors of local nonprofits and others, drafted a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Marin. This plan identified the creation of a permanent emergency shelter that would accept all comers without conditions as its top priority, to be in place no later than 2009.
The grand jury recounted, however, how money once intended for an emergency shelter has been routed elsewhere. For example, in 2009 the county gave $150,000 earmarked for an emergency shelter to Homeward Bound, which needed money to pay for Americans with Disabilities Act improvements to its facilities.
During the current fiscal year, the county awarded another $550,000 to keep Homeward Bound's Mill Street Center operational and allocated $200,000 to Housing First, a new program that will move chronically homeless individuals into permanent supportive housing.
Meredith said, "We wanted a more balanced approach between the front-end temporary shelter and the longer-term both prevention and remediation of homelessness. This is based on the federal strategy."
The grand jury acknowledged the potential for Housing First, because the county estimates approximately 10 to 15 percent of homeless individuals use a disproportionate amount of social and police services. But it noted that only 12 individuals will participate in Housing First initially and only incrementally more in successive years.
"Housing First and permanent emergency shelter should not be an 'either/or' proposition," the report stated.
The grand jury noted that in addition to a lack of funding, finding a site for a permanent emergency shelter has also been a major roadblock. For example, when the county considered the defunct honor farm detention facility near McInnis Park as a potential site, the landlord would not enter into a lease. When the county approached San Rafael about using a commercial space, it was again rebuffed. This year, churches in Terra Linda and Ross were forced to drop out of the REST program after neighbors complained.
The grand jury noted that a new state law took effect in 2008 that requires cities and counties to identify potential sites where new emergency shelters can be located without discretionary review. To date, however, only Larkspur and Ross have complied with the law.
Contact Richard Halstead via e-mail at rhalstead@marinij.com
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_17613654
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