Encinitas will not be sending off a previously prepared application requesting $3.9 million in state grant funding to eradicate homeless encampments near Interstate 5 and two other high-impact locations.<\/p>\n
The City Council last week voted 4-1, with Councilmember Joy Lyndes opposed, to direct city housing staff not to submit the application to the state Housing and Community Development department\u2019s Encampment Resolution Funding Grant Program. The state\u2019s deadline to apply is June 30.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because someone wants to give us money doesn\u2019t mean it aligns with what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Councilmember Jim O\u2019Hara said as he explained why he was recommending that the city not pursue the state grant.<\/p>\n
Prior state-funded, homeless eradication efforts have been spectacularly unsuccessful, O\u2019Hara argued, saying those have focused on a \u201cHousing First\u201d mentality where the people being helped are not required to undergo substance abuse treatment before they can receive housing.<\/p>\n
Other members of the council majority said they worried that the grant would come with \u201cstrings attached,\u201d and Mayor Bruce Ehlers said he didn\u2019t trust the state HCD department \u201cfor many other reasons,\u201d particularly its management of the state Density Bonus Law. Under provisions of that law, many large, multi-family housing projects are now being constructed in Encinitas, including several on or near Encinitas Boulevard.<\/p>\n
The mayor added that he so distrusted the state\u2019s HCD department that he was even willing to support having the city spend its own money to resolve homeless encampment issues, and also suggested that city staff explore other funding options, perhaps at the federal level.<\/p>\n
Lyndes said that applying for the grant was the \u201cno-risk option\u201d as Encinitas could later turn down the grant money if the state decided to put new conditions on it that the city didn\u2019t like. She also said that she thought city staff had crafted a good, homeless encampment eradication proposal \u201cthat\u2019s tailored to Encinitas\u201d and addresses any potential concerns people might have about how housing will be handled for people who have mental health and\/or substance abuse issues.<\/p>\n
A representative for San Diego Rescue Mission, which the council unanimously hired last year to begin providing homeless outreach services, encouraged council members to support the grant application, saying that the Rescue Mission has worked with the city of Vista using this program and has experienced no issues with the state regarding it.<\/p>\n
Encinitas city staff\u2019s draft grant application states that the city would use the potential funding for a multi-year program that would relocate homeless people who are illegally camping near Interstate 5 between Manchester Avenue and La Costa Avenue, as well as in the downtown Transit Center area and the 44-acre Encinitas Community Park near Santa Fe Drive.<\/p>\n
The draft paperwork mentions that there are people living in tents, under tarps and in \u201chand-built wooden shelters,\u201d as well as in vehicles near these areas.<\/p>\n
\u201c(These) residents are predominantly older adults with chronic medical and behavioral health conditions, mobility impairments, substance use disorders, and long-term disengagement from services,\u201d the draft application states, adding that \u201cthese combined vulnerabilities, along with repeated emergency responses and seasonal population fluctuations,\u201d make resolving the problems in these locations a high priority for the city.<\/p>\n
The application also states that the city would expand upon the efforts that San Diego Rescue Mission has been using since Encinitas hired it to handle homelessness services last year, including getting these homeless people into sober living programs. About 100 people would receive outreach services during the four-year program, it states.<\/p>\n
To view the draft document, visit:\u00a0https:\/\/encinitas.granicus.com\/MetaViewer.php?view_id=7&clip_id=3862&meta_id=209299<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Encinitas will not be sending off a previously prepared application requesting $3.9 million in state grant funding to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7,4779,4601,12564,23,100,3054,12565,74,84,76,75,1696],"class_list":["post-379794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-california","tag-cardiff-by-the-sea","tag-encinitas","tag-leucadia","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-north-county","tag-olivenhain","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-county","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-top-stories-sdut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379794","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=379794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}