An audit commissioned by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors suggests that the sheer number of dozens of homelessness programs and funding sources in San Diego County make it difficult to track if they are successful.
As the number of unhoused people in San Diego continues to grow, the audit is providing a look at how the county prioritizes "rolling out services" to confront the homelessness crisis. Tracking progress and collecting data, however, sometimes takes a back seat.
The county has 46 homelessness programs under its umbrella, and during the audit period, funding for those came from 28 different sources. That patchwork quilt of services and funding streams can make it difficult to streamline data collection, especially when those programs have murky or disparate goals.
One bleak finding in the report: 18 of the county programs are funded, at least in part, by revenue streams that could soon run dry. Others, meanwhile, leave money on the table.
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All day, meanwhile, people come and go at the Old Town Transit Center. Just steps away, near an underpass where people sleep and sweep away debris, Michael O'Neill has been staying on the sidewalk since the spring.
O'Neill sleeps in an orange and gray tent, where, inside, there are blankets, pillows, some canned food and a puppy he is enthusiastically pet-sitting. The veteran and retired handyman said he has spent 20 years, on and off, sleeping in shelters and on the streets. Setbacks, he said, ranging from divorce to depression, kept stable housing out of reach.
“When we feel hopeless, it's easier to stay homeless ... a lot of people out here really are trying," O'Neill said. "I had my own business. The divorce came and went so quick and there I was alone.”
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O'Neill is not alone in his efforts to find housing.
“There's a lot of people that do want to get out the street, including me and my girl," said Zachary Cook, who refers to himself as a transient, adding that he has been on housing waitlists for a decade. “We are desperately trying. It's just we are poor. But we don't have people forever.”
The report, which was commissioned by the Board of Supervisors and conducted by Deloitte Consulting LLP for $102,064, according to the county, found that people experiencing homelessness "are uncertain how to navigate and connect to available resources."
"The county is committed to supporting those experiencing homelessness while also ensuring public safety," officials said in a statement. "As noted in the memo to the board of supervisors, the insights in the analysis are valuable, and many of their considerations highlight that the county is on the right track as they align existing efforts, including those included in the report’s action plan. This includes continued collaboration with our regional partners and other government agencies to help some of our most vulnerable residents."
The audit also reported that “staff overseeing programs repeatedly reported challenges related to the lack of case management tools to support their work.”
Meanwhile, O'Neill was being interviewed by NBC 7 on Friday, Alpha Project van pulled up, filled with brown bags holding food, blankets and toiletries. Chad, with Alpha Project, said the programs do coordinate and work in tandem.
“We’re all in the business of helping people, so we’re a lot more powerful if we link up with each other,” Chad said. “We need more beds. That’s what we need. We need more beds.”
Chad is talking, of course, about shelter beds.
Cook said there are clearly not enough housing units, either.
"We're not trash, OK?" Cook said. "You don't know what caused us to be out here. We just need help, OK? And that little bit of help could take us a long way."
Like the county, O'Neill knows he has work to do, but there is bright light shining through on this dreary December day: O'Neill said he was preparing to fold up his tent and move into Section 8 housing next month.
“We're still human," O'Neill said. “We're not garbage, you know? And love, loving us is needed,” O'Neill said. “When you don’t feel love, you’re empty.”
