REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
January 23, 2024
FROM
DIANE RUNDLES, Assistant Executive Officer, County Administrative Office
SUBJECT
Title
Housing Guidelines for Homeless Shelter Projects in San Bernardino County
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Housing Guidelines for Homeless Shelter Projects in San Bernardino County to guide the Board of Supervisors and assist with the evaluation of proposed projects brought forward to address housing shortages for the homeless.
(Presenter: Diane Rundles, Assistant Executive Officer, 387-5570)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Promote the Countywide Vision.
Improve County Government Operations.
Operate in a Fiscally Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this action will not require the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost) as this item is non-financial in nature.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On October 3, 2023 (Item No. 6), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved the establishment of a Homelessness Ad Hoc Committee (Committee) consisting of two Board Supervisors, Supervisor Curt Hagman and Supervisor Joe Baca, Jr., to research, review, and recommend policy to the Board to address homelessness in San Bernardino County (County). Since its establishment, the Committee has worked with County staff to investigate the root causes of homelessness specific to this County and prepare housing guidelines to assist the Board with the evaluation of homeless shelter projects and determine County contributions, if applicable. Although the Committee is still in its early stages, significant work has been done to identify current sheltering priorities for the region.
Per the 2023 Point-in-Time Count, 4,195 individuals were identified as homeless in the County, with 2,976 of those individuals being unsheltered. Currently, according to the 2023 Housing Inventory Count, there are only 797 year-round emergency shelter beds available countywide, which includes 607 shelter beds that are designated for specialized subpopulations, such as youth, veterans, domestic violence victims, and others. This means that, at this time, there is only one general shelter bed for every 15 unsheltered residents. As such, as the Committee continues to meet and further develop additional policy and guidelines, it believes it is necessary to first put in place housing guidelines.
The Committee’s Housing Guidelines outline the Board’s vision and value system for homelessness, funding priorities, and shelter project evaluation criteria. The document describes the County’s role and level of support for local municipalities, community-based organizations, and service providers.
Approval of the recommended Housing Guidelines for Homeless Shelter Projects will provide guidance in the evaluation of proposed projects and help streamline the decision-making process to rapidly and immediately address the shortage of shelter beds in this County.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Julie Surber, Principal Assistant County Counsel, 387-5455) on December 7, 2023; Finance (Stephanie Maldonado, 387-437, and Erika Rodarte, 387-4919, Administrative Analysts) on December 6, 2023; and County Finance and Administration (Robert Saldana, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on December 7, 2023.