[Placer County] Grand Jury calls for homeless plan

Report also addresses problems with code enforcement, fire district accounting

The Placer County Grand Jury called on supervisors Thursday to act on a long-awaited plan with permanent solutions to address homelessness.

Jurors wrote, “the discussion has gone on far too long.”

While jurors found the county has done well gathering input from stakeholders of homeless issues, from advocates to concerned residents, the jury recommended the county address homeless needs with permanent solutions by the next fiscal year’s end.

“There is a continuing and growing need for services that are accessible to the homeless population throughout the county,” the report said.

The report continued an effort from the 2014 Grand Jury to assess Placer County’s progress in addressing the needs of homeless people, noting concerns from a lack of affordable housing to a need for innovative services to stop the cycle of homelessness.

The county’s communications department responded Thursday, saying more time was needed to address the jury’s conclusions.

“We are passionately committed to finding a sustainable, long-term solution, in line with the recommendations in the Marbut report, to address the challenges of homelessness throughout our region - in south Placer, the foothills and in North Tahoe,” said County Spokesperson DeDe Cordell, referring to the 2015 Marbut report that catalogued Placer homeless issues.

July 1, 2016

Auburn Journal

By Michael Mott and Gus Thompson