CARLSBAD — The city has seen significant progress in finding shelter for those experiencing homelessness in Carlsbad, particularly for veterans, according to a yearly update on the city’s Homeless Action Plan.
This year, the city started using data that tracks individuals who use housing services by name and includes some demographic information. A point-in-time count in July 2022 found that of the 118 homeless individuals residing in Carlsbad, 15 were veterans.
By July 2023, the city had helped all of them find shelter, with 11 transitioning into permanent housing and four finding temporary shelter.
“When I started on the council three years ago, this was our top priority as a council. We just really wanted to work on this and do whatever we could to be flexible, change our model and make progress,” Councilmember Teresa Acosta said at the council’s Nov. 14 meeting. “And it has been working, so I’m so grateful. And it’s not because the council made that decision, but because you’re working so hard at it every day.”
Data showed the programs’ wrap-around approach has been effective.
The point-in-time count — a number collected by driving around the city and counting those unsheltered on a particular night — showed a 20% decrease this year compared to last year’s count.
City-funded programs reported interacting with 565 people from July 2022 to June 2023, compared to 749 people the previous year, representing a 25% decrease. This year, these programs helped transition 105 households into permanent housing and helped another 75 households with preventative services.
In addition to veterans, the city focused on unhoused youth, especially K-12 students.
At the end of the 2022-23 school year, 75 total enrolled students in Carlsbad Unified School District were classified as homeless, including 47 students in secondary school and 28 elementary school students.
By the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, the number of homeless students was reduced by half. The district reported that it has a total of 37 enrolled students classified as homeless, 20 in secondary school and 17 in elementary school.
“When you think about adults being homeless and wrecking their lives for whatever reason, that’s one thing, but when you’ve got children that are experiencing that, it just makes your heartbreak even worse,” Councilmember Melanie Burkholder said.
One of the notable success stories concerned a 43-year-old woman named Beth, who had been working part-time at a fast-food restaurant but sleeping outside because she couldn’t afford permanent housing. She was referred to the Community Resource Center’s employment and benefits program.
The employment specialist helped her update her resume and prepare for job interviews, allowing Beth to secure a full-time job with higher pay. The program then used flexible funds to place her in a motel room while she settled into her new position before helping her find an affordable room to rent.
Since then, Beth has been promoted twice at her job and is now a shift leader.
“We’ve been fortunate to be able to increase the amount of services available for people experiencing homelessness because of a lot of the grants that we’re able to secure,” said Mandy Mills, Carlsbad’s housing and homeless services director. “So we have more services available to do that wraparound type service.”
The city plans to continue using grant funding to expand homeless services next year. The proposed 2023-24 budget includes anticipated grant revenue that will provide an extra $1 million in annual funding for direct homeless services while reducing the city’s General Fund expenditures for the services by $145,806 compared to the current fiscal year. The total budget is about $6 million.
Next year, the city will also start using funding from nationwide opioid settlement litigation against the three largest pharmaceutical distributors.
Staff recommended that the majority of the anticipated $80,000 be used for substance abuse outreach and education. The city will start accepting proposals from organizations early next year in hopes of starting programming in July 2024.
The city also hopes to find more shelter beds for women and children. A proposed expansion of a shelter at La Posada de Guadalupe was estimated to be more expensive than anticipated. Currently, half of the available shelter beds are reserved for migrant farm workers, but city staff said that the supply of beds outpaces the need.
“Maybe it’s a priority as opposed to a requirement because a number of those beds go unutilized and it’s a shame to see empty beds when people are on the street and in their car wanting shelter,” Mills said.
Haven House in Escondido, which had the only low barrier beds for single women in North County, is in the process of relocating to the Turk Recuperative Care Center, resulting in a net loss of 49 beds in North County.
While Operation Hope has up to 45 beds for families and single women, its staff estimate a single woman could wait from 18 to 24 months for a bed at the shelter.