Is homelessness a crisis? Declaring it one could bring money to Stanislaus County

Stanislaus County could ask its nine cities to declare that homelessness is a crisis, thereby positioning local agencies for millions of dollars in state funds.

County supervisors will hear an update Tuesday on local community responses to homelessness and a recent proposal for a low-barrier shelter in two former county hospital buildings at 830 Scenic Drive in Modesto.

By concurrently declaring an emergency-shelter crisis, the county and its cities would clear an eligibility hurdle for some of the $11 million in state funds for housing, emergency solutions and other assistance, a county report says.

California has already declared a shelter crisis statewide, while Stockton, Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Jose and San Luis Obispo have issued declarations recognizing their own crises.

County Chief Executive Officer Jody Hayes could provide the cities with language for a resolution within four to six weeks. “There is no question that well in excess of 500 people in our community are unsheltered, and that meets the qualifications for declaring a crisis,” he said.

Thomas Reeves, a spokesman for Modesto, said it’s too soon to know if the city will participate in a declaration, though he imagines there’s an appetite for the funding available. “Folks are aware it’s on the county agenda, but no one has indicated we will take up the item,” he said.

The funding sources include California Emergency Solutions and Housing, the No Place Like Home Program and the Homeless Emergency Aid Program. County staff members and partner agencies in the community system of care are looking into the application rules.

A deadline to apply for emergency solutions grants is Oct. 15, and applications for the Homeless Emergency Aid Program are due Dec. 31.

Voters statewide will need to approve Proposition 2 to authorize up to $2 billion in bonds for housing people with mental illness through the No Place Like Home Act. Up to $140 million in county mental health funds statewide would be tapped to make payments on the bonds.

Local jurisdictions may declare a crisis if a compelling number of people are without shelter and their health and safety are threatened. In addition to the funding, the declaration allows government-owned buildings to be converted for shelter use, and it also may relax standards for temporary housing.

In Stanislaus County, annual counts usually identify about 1,500 homeless, and almost half are not sheltered at night. The results of a point-in-time count in January included 1,356 homeless. Of those, 606 were not sheltered and the rest were using emergency shelters or transitional housing.

The proposed 60-bed shelter at the county center on Scenic would operate for three years before a permanent access center is opened to help homeless people rebuild their lives.

In asking cities for a concurrent declaration, the county would invite proposals from city officials for dealing with immediate needs of the homeless in their communities, Hayes said.

He will communicate with the cities in the next several weeks and expects to bring the matter back to the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 30.

At Tuesday’s meeting, supervisors are scheduled for an update on the temporary Outreach and Engagement Center for the homeless in downtown Modesto, the proposal for the Downtown Streets Team, and efforts in Turlock and Patterson to assist the homeless.

Supervisors could approve an agreement with Patterson providing $50,000 for kitchen improvements at the Host House.

The board meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the basement chambers of Tenth Street Place, at 1010 10th St., Modesto.

This story was originally published August 27, 2018 at 5:18 PM.