County Issues State of Emergency to Address Homelessness
Last Tuesday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a countywide state of emergency that will secure additional funding to assist the more than 9,700 unhoused people in the East Bay.
Board President Nate Miley, who represents parts of Oakland, Pleasanton, Ashland, Castro Valley, and Fairview, said there has been a 73 percent increase in homelessness in the last five years, which he says will dramatically increase if the county fails to take urgent action.
“I introduced this resolution because the number of people experiencing homelessness is surging, creating dangerous, inhumane situations across the county,” Miley said. “Alameda County is in crisis. This is an emergency, and it's our job to respond accordingly.”
The State of Emergency will give Alameda County additional tools to expand its $2.5 billion Home Together 2026 Community Plan, which aims to prevent homelessness, connect people with services, increase housing options, and improve coordination between the county and cities.
The county’s Health Care Services Agency Office of Homeless Care and Coordination (OHCC) will lead the emergency funding coordination and is expected to update the Supervisors on its progress in late November.
Alameda County spent more than $207 million on homeless support in 2021-2022. Nearly half ($101 million) went to crisis response, rental assistance, and projects designed to help people keep off the streets. More than $56 million went to street outreach and eviction prevention. An additional $49 million was earmarked for the people and buildings used to keep the services running.
Responsibility for homelessness is also complex, the Supervisors’ proclamation said. For example, the County is responsible for coordinating health and social services, while the cities are responsible for land use, planning, and basic city services. Oakland and Fremont provide additional social services. Berkeley has its own health department.
Recent attempts to curb homelessness have taken the form of housing and rental assistance, such as navigation centers, health care for the homeless, and other supportive housing programs.
However, Miley notes that the rate of people entering homelessness has increased so much that expanded services and other responses are already overwhelmed.
The state emergency funds could be used for the Home Together program to hire staff to support homelessness and behavioral health, faster creation of housing, expanded services, and the ability to request help from California and federal resources, according to the Supervisors' proclamation.
The reasons people enter homelessness vary from family disputes, including domestic violence, eviction or foreclosure, job loss and other money issues, and substance abuse, according to the county's homeless report. The Supervisors' report cites other reasons, such as the disparity between Social Security benefits (a monthly maximum of $1,033) compared to the monthly rent for a studio apartment ($1,583) and the median for a two-bedroom in the Bay Area (more than $3,000).
The impact of homelessness is equally devastating, according to the proclamation. Minorities are Black, multi-racial, transgender, and LGBTQ individuals are overrepresented in the homeless population. The county’s data shows people experiencing homelessness are also dying at younger ages and more often than the general population.