Home » District 5 » Community » Homeless Resources

Homeless Resources

Neighbors have been clear that homeless needs to continue to be a top priority for me, the City, and other government agencies. As you know, homelessness is not just local- to be effective we need a regional approach. It's a big issue that needs to be solved on person at a time. They need more than just housing; they need services and often medical support. There's all sorts of laws and rules in place that add to the hoops and hurdles we have to jump through, and though we have much more work to do, Long Beach is making strides like never before. 

Long Beach's Homeless Services outreach teams and LBPD Quality of Life officers reach out to individuals and encampments on a daily basis, including those encampments which are located in Caltrans and LA County Flood Control areas. Our teams are working to reach out to all homeless individuals in the city, not just the ones in encampments we recieve reports about. I am constantly asking for areas to be addressed though we haven't received a resident complaint regarding the area. These contacts are critical as each individual has different needs in terms of connections to build trust to accept help - it takes months, if not years to get the trust of some of these folks to get them off the streets. The courts have stated governments can't "shoo" them away, harras or arrest them. We're doing all we can within the law, and the process can be slow and fustrating, but we continue to make contacts, offer services, and notice them when their area must be evacuatedfor clean-up, but they return, sometimes within hours.
My office team has put together a Community Homeless Forum that will be happening Wednesday, July 14th from 5:30pm to 7pm. If you would like to participate, RSVP and login/call-in instructions will be sent closer to the date. For now, you can find any resources related to homelessness on this page!

How you can help!

Latest in Adressing Encampments

  • February 2021- A City Manager Memo was released that speaks on homeless-related encampment clean-ups and what the City is doing to address the need. 
  • January 2021- Caltrans updated their COVID-19 policy response and guidelines to resume modified encampment clean-ups after a moratorium was put in place due to the pandemic. Our office and the City continues to advocate for additional clean-ups and other maintenance issues on the I-405/I-605 freewayson/off ramps in Caltrans District 7. When clean-ups ae scheduled, Caltrans woks with regional partners and performs a 14 day noticing period to vacate their belongings while offering direct services prior to and during the clean-up. Find more information on how to report issues to Caltrans under Who Is In Charge of What?  headline below.
  • November 2020- I led an approved council agenda item to direct the City Manager to seek approval, access and reimbursement from Caltrans and all other appropriate agencies so that the City can perform needed maintenance and clean-ups of these areas in the most efficient, cost effective, and expeditious way possible. 
  • March 2020- An exemption process to allow for encampment clean-ups in Los Angeles County Flood Control areas was established under guidance from L.A. County Chief Executive Office after a County-wide moratorium on encampment clean-ups was put in to effect. Clean-up processes resumed to address high-need areas and to maintain the health and safety of surrounding communities. The county also performs a 14 day noticing period to vace their belongings while offering direct services and outreach. Find more information on how to report issues to Los Angeles Department of Public Works under the Who Is In Charge of What? headline below. 
  • March 2020- The City of Long Beach continues to perform encampment clean-ups under our local Safer at Home Health Order within our own City jurisdiction and works with regional partners to address areas outside of City boundaries. The City performs a 48 hour noticing period to vacate their belongings while offering direct services and outreach.
  • January 2019- An Inter-Jurisdictional Collaborative (IJC) pilot program was created to address homelessness and its impacts to areas with overlapping jurisdictions (e.g., along riverbeds, under bridges, along freeway on/off ramps, etc.) to increase effectiveness in service and response times with regional partners. The IJC partners include, but are not limited to:
    • Long Beach Interdepartmental Team: LBPD, Fire, Multi-Service Center Outreach Network, and Public Works
    • Regional Partners: Los Angeles County Public Works, Caltrans, LA County Sheriff's Department, Supervisor Hahn's staff overseeing homelessness, Southern California Edison, etc.

Latest in Supportive Programming and Community Action

  • April 2021- Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert recently announced that he is expanding his office's diversion programming- for evey person who is suspected of committing a misdemeanor in the City abd who shows signs of mental illness or substance abuse, they will be considered for rehabilitation or shelter housing instead of jail time in order to break the cycle of repeat offenders. 
  • February 2021- The Long Beach Recovery Act  was passed unanimously by City Council and included $12 million in future funding to assist people experiencing homelessness by investing in new modular temporary shelters, additional housing options, mobile outreach programs, accessible restrooms and showers, and further investements in workforce and social enterprise programs. 
  • December 2020- The City of Long Beach was awarded nearly $16.7 million in state funding for Project Homekey, California's $600 million program o purchase and rehabilitate housing - including hotels, motels, vacant apartment buildings and other properties - and convert them into permanent, long-term housing for people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. 
  • October 2020- The City unveiled the new permanent New Atlantic Farms Bridge Housing Community shelter complex in North Long Beach.
  • March/April 2020- City Council approved recommended actions for Tenant Assistance Policies to help residents at-risk of eviction or foreclosure due to economic hardships from COVID-19.
  • March 2020- Long Beach launched the Safe Parking Program to provide a safe place to park overnight for individuals who are residing in their cars, with access to basic amenities and social service programs that will assist with a transition to permanent housing.
  • January 2020- Long Beach conducted the 2020 Point-in-Time Homeless Count. The report findings showed a year-over-year increase. While this signified a 7% increase in our homeless population from the prior year, the population remained 29% below the prior 2013 count. 
  • November 2018- Everyone Home Long Beach Task Force presents a comprehensive set of recommendations to the Mayor and City Council.
  • May 2018- Long Beach lanches the Everyone Home Long Beach initiative, a citywide plan to address the statewide homelessness crisis and its effects on Long Beach. 

Latest in Judicial Rulings

As you may know, when our constitution was being developed, it was decided to institutionalize three branches of government to make the laws and rules of order that affect our communities. It was decided that the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial branches of government are all important aspects of keeping the power out of the hands of only one ruling group.
 
Lately, the judicial branch has had a vast impact across the country on how cities can enforce laws when dealing with homeless populations. To further confuse things, there are also times when a decision made by a court ruling in a different state can set a legal precedent on how other municipal authorities may enforce laws within their own local jurisdictions. If local authorities are not otherwise paying attention to these rulings, they risk having costly court battles at tax payer expense that would only wind up in the same outcome.
 
Our Long Beach City Attorney and City Prosecutor are both elected into their positions by the community and they both help to determine what impacts other court rulings may have on our own local jurisdictions and what their offices can do in response to those decisions in terms of giving legal guidance and pursuing legal actions.
 
Most of these recent court rulings surround the applicability of the Eighth Amendment to our homeless populations under constitutional law. Under the Eighth Amendment, our U.S. Constitution states: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”

Martin v. City of Boise

Mitchell v. City of Los Angeles

  • A case settled by the L.A. City Council filed by four homeless residents who claimed that police officers had confiscated and destroyed their personal possessions without due process.

Lyall v. County of Denver

As these legal restrictions are decided, Long Beach City departments continue to update our own procedural processes to account for the changes. We also continue to seek alternate/creative solutions to help with the underlying root cause of homelessness while maintaining best practices for the health and safety of our surrounding communities.

County Measure H

The Draft FY2021-22 L.A. County Homeless Initiative Funding Recommendations includes funding administered by the L.A. County Chief Executive Office (Measure H, the State Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Program, and the Federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021) as well as by the L.A. County Department of Public Social Services for a portion of Strategy B1, and the L.A. Homeless Services Authority for portions of B3, E7 and E8.
 
Approved by LA County voters in March 2017, Measure H is a ¼-cent sales tax to carry out the strategies of the LA County Homeless Initiative, the most comprehensive action plan ever undertaken to address homelessness countywide.

State & County Interjurisdictional Areas

Caltrans: I-405 and I-605 Freeways on/off Ramps 

Public Works of Los Angeles County: County Flood Control Areas, San Gabriel River (SGR) & Los Coyotes Creek (LCC) LAPW

State & County Representatives

Supervisor Janice Hahn, LA County 4th District 

Assemblymember Patrick O'Donnell, AD 70 Assembly District 

Senator Lena Gonzalez, SD 33 Senate District 

Senator Tom Umberg, SD 34 Senate District 

More Resources

Homeless Initiative, Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative


U.S Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentHUD

  • Los Angeles Field Office, 213-894-8000
  • Laurie Cannady Udit, Field Office Director
  • Website


Multi-Service Center, Long Beach

  • Phone: 562-570-4500dhhs logo
  • Street Outreach Hotline: 562-570-4MSC (672)
  • Website

Growing Our Shelter Capacity

City Operates Shelters

  • Atlantic Farms Bridge Housing Community at 6841-6845 Atlantic Ave (125 beds)
  • Emergency Shelters (125 beds total):EH_LB

Hotel & Motel Conversions

Addtionally, the City Health Department is also partnering with local hotel/motel operators to secure rooms as needed for additional temporary lodging services due to housing insecurity and health risks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic:
Councilwoman
Megan Kerr

City Hall Office
411 West Ocean Blvd. 11th Floor
Long Beach, CA 90802

District 5 Field Office
Wardlow Park
3457 Stanbridge Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90808
Mon/Wed/Fri, 1pm – 5pm

Phone: (562) 570-5555
Email: district5@longbeach.gov