Law Granting Judges Power To Compel Some Homeless Into Care Of County Approved By Legislature
The law is geared toward extreme cases, such as "someone who is sleeping in his or her feces, someone who is running out in the middle of the street yelling at cars,” said the bill's author Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). Lawmakers also passed legislation to create a local agency to finance homes for people.
KQED:
Legislature Approves Measure Aimed At Helping Homeless With Serious Mental Health Problems
Hoping to empower cities to take a more active approach in helping homeless residents with severe mental illness and substance abuse issues, the state Legislature approved a bill that would allow three counties to expand conservatorship. Judges in San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles counties would be given new power to compel certain homeless residents into the care of the county. (Shafer and Marzorati, 8/31)
Los Angeles Times:
Legislators Push O.C. Homeless Bill Forward
A bill to create a regional Orange County agency to finance 2,700 homes for homeless people recently cleared the state Legislature — on the same day one of the leading advocates who helped get the bill passed suddenly left her job. Heather Stratman, who officials and advocates say led the effort to get the bill passed, stepped down from her job as the chief executive of O.C. cities on Aug. 23 — the same day the bill had its final, unanimous vote on the floor of the state Assembly. (Gerda, 9/1)
And in other news —
KPBS:
San Diego Councilman Ward: Discharged Homeless Patients Need More Places To Recover
Recuperative care facilities offer sick or injured homeless people a safe and healing place to go after they are discharged from the hospital. But in San Diego County, the facilities are almost nonexistent, said San Diego Councilman Chris Ward, who gathered with other community leaders in Hillcrest to urge action. (Murphy, 8/31)
San Francisco Chronicle:
San Francisco Rolls Out Long-Awaited System To Track, Help Homeless
For the past two years, program managers in San Francisco have been quietly crafting a system to closely track every homeless man, woman and child. The purpose is two-fold: to tailor housing, rehab and other services to them, but also to eliminate wasteful — and costly — duplication of efforts. ... The rollout began last month for logging individuals into what’s been dubbed the One System, and counselors hope to have the entire system up and running by early 2019. So far, more than 1,000 homeless people are logged in, putting the teams well on the way toward meeting their goal of registering 2,000 by the end of October. (Fagan, 9/1)