Long Beach\u2019s primary homeless services center is operating out of temporary tents after a repair project initially expected to take two weeks expanded into a months-long disruption.<\/p>\n
City officials closed the multi-service center to complete roof and ventilation upgrades. However, once work began, crews discovered additional storm-related damage, including water intrusion that affected walls and carpeting.<\/p>\n
The multi-service center serves as the city\u2019s main access point for people experiencing homelessness, providing connections to housing assistance, case management and other services.<\/p>\n
With the building under repair, services have been relocated to tents on-site. City officials say operations are continuing, though the temporary setup presents logistical challenges.<\/p>\n
The project was initially described as a short-term repair. However, the discovery of additional damage increased both the scope and expected cost of the work.<\/p>\n
The situation comes as the city continues to invest in homelessness programs, with spending and project oversight drawing increased attention in recent years.<\/p>\n
Our recent investigation found that the city paid millions of dollars to a contractor overseeing homeless services, and a recent, ongoing audit has discovered \u201cserious\u201d billing concerns and questions whether the city got the services it paid the provider.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Separately, the Homeless Services Bureau has faced criticism over other initiatives.<\/p>\n
In 2025, the city spent approximately $2.9 million on 33 tiny home units that were not deployed after officials were unable to secure a location for them.<\/p>\n
In 2024, shelter workers raised concerns about staffing support and conditions. More than 60 people have died from various causes while staying in Long Beach shelters since 2021, according to available data.<\/p>\n
Despite ongoing efforts, homelessness in Long Beach has increased in recent years.<\/p>\n
According to the city\u2019s Point-in-Time counts, the number of people experiencing homelessness has risen by more than 76% since 2020. By comparison, Los Angeles reported a smaller increase over the same period, while Oakland, a similarly sized city, also saw a lower rate of growth.<\/p>\n
Long Beach recorded a slight decrease of about 2% in 2024, followed by an increase of roughly 6.5% the following year.<\/p>\n
The extended closure of the city\u2019s main service hub adds to ongoing questions about infrastructure planning, project management and oversight within Long Beach\u2019s homelessness response system.<\/p>\n
City officials have not announced a revised completion date beyond the current estimate of several more months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long Beach\u2019s primary homeless services center is operating out of temporary tents after a repair project initially expected…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-287345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}