Anaheim: The Anaheim Police Department formed a Homeless Outreach Team to help the homeless find shelter or work.
The city is also partnering with Mercy House to hold belongings for up to a week while the homeless look for jobs and find a temporary place or permanent home to stay in.
The city reports there are 447 homeless people in the city during the day. Police field more than 4,400 calls for service related to homeless people.
Costa Mesa: City leaders are working to find a way to house the homeless.
City officials had earmarked Civic Center Park for a 50-unit apartment complex for transients. But council members backed off from the project earlier this year, saying the decision to build a housing project there was rushed.
The city is studying other options for sheltering the homeless that include converting a motel, building a new project or buying various apartments in the city and subsidizing rent.
Since 2009, volunteers and students from Vanguard University each year count the people sleeping on the street for a homeless census. In the most recent count in October, volunteers said there were 109 people with a margin of plus or minus five. There are typically about 120 people who sleep on Costa Mesa's streets, according to the city.
Fullerton: The Police Department in 2013 launched an effort to catalog the estimated 200 people who call the city streets home in Fullerton.
The work included identifying each person, photographing them and recording next-of-kin and health information to create a database police officers could tap into.
City officials are also working on a plan to provide year-round shelters for the homeless, which would decrease the number of people on the streets. The county agreed to put up about $3.1 million for the shelter.
A plan to convert a furniture store into an emergency shelter was protested by residents and eventually rejected by the City Council in June.
Residents opposed to the shelter said they were concerned about how close it was to a local elementary school.
City officials have not yet set their sights on an alternative plan for the shelter.
Santa Ana: City Council members in August approved a city rule that allows emergency shelters in industrial zones. The new ordinance allows for some shelters to expand to up to 75 beds, which was a provision added to accommodate the rebuilding of the Salvation Army Hospitality House.
A 2011 study said an estimated 1,388 homeless live in Santa Ana and about 1,060 of them need shelter.
Sources: Articles from Register staff writers Art Marroquin, Antonie Boessenkool and Lou Ponsi and Register archives
The work included identifying each person, photographing them and recording next-of-kin and health information to create a database police officers could tap into.
City officials are also working on a plan to provide year-round shelters for the homeless, which would decrease the number of people on the streets. The county agreed to put up about $3.1 million for the shelter.
A plan to convert a furniture store into an emergency shelter was protested by residents and eventually rejected by the City Council in June.
Residents opposed to the shelter said they were concerned about how close it was to a local elementary school.
City officials have not yet set their sights on an alternative plan for the shelter.
Santa Ana: City Council members in August approved a city rule that allows emergency shelters in industrial zones. The new ordinance allows for some shelters to expand to up to 75 beds, which was a provision added to accommodate the rebuilding of the Salvation Army Hospitality House.
A 2011 study said an estimated 1,388 homeless live in Santa Ana and about 1,060 of them need shelter.
Sources: Articles from Register staff writers Art Marroquin, Antonie Boessenkool and Lou Ponsi and Register archives
County's 10-year plan
The county in 2012 launched a 10-year plan to end homelessness, a complex mission that includes finding ways to provide housing and emergency shelters as well as implementing prevention measures.The plan involves representatives from nearly 20 organizations, including nonprofits, advocacy groups and government agencies.
These representatives are planning projects and securing funding to meet their goals.
Development of the plan was handed down by an initiative of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which persuaded cities and counties to create comprehensive plans to target the issue.
The county is currently in phase three of its 10-year plan to end homelessness.
This phase is expected to conclude in 2015.
Here's the work that's being done now:
Establish year-round emergency centers: The county in 2013 identified $4.5 million in funding that could help develop year-round emergency shelters and multi-service centers in Orange County.
The Board of Supervisors in January 2013 also approved $3.2 million in funding for an emergency shelter in Fullerton, but the site was not approved by the City Council.
The county is looking to find space for emergency shelters and service centers in Anaheim, Fullerton and Santa Ana.
Strengthen transitional housing: OC Community Services and representatives from the county's HUD office in July analyzed how resources could be used differently to provide transitional housing.
Implement prevention strategies: Continue to develop list of resource centers for the homeless and earmark funding of homeless prevention.
Implement rapid re-housing strategies: This provides financial assistance to those living in transitional housing to get them back into their own place. More than $3 million in various grant funds in 2013 went toward these programs.
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