Emergency Response Overview
On January 10, 2023, the Long Beach City Council adopted, in an 8-0 vote, the City Manager’s proclamation of a local homelessness emergency. The local emergency strengthens the City’s preparedness and ability to respond to homelessness.The emergency also allows for increased ability to hire or contract critical roles and recruit qualified candidates; more quickly engage needed services, material and labor; speed up large-scale construction projects such as motel conversions and tiny homes; and work through zoning requirements that currently exclude certain uses of existing properties.
Following the adoption of the proclamation City leadership established an Incident Command Center and identified nine work groups consisting of 100 people to take on the various aspects of homelessness emergency response.
The City’s stated mission is to reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness in the City and the region by increasing housing opportunities and by enhancing current initiatives that provide field-based outreach, engagement, and supportive services while maintaining the safety and security of the people experiencing homelessness, the general public and staff, and address and improve overall public safety for the entire community. The nine work groups, each assigned to a different focus area, have been convened to support this mission.
Emergency Response Activities
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Notable Activities Related to the Emergency Response
- Set Up Emergency Response Structure
- Temporary Centralized Emergency Response Efforts in the Downtown Area and Reveal of a New Mobile Access Center
- Launch of a Donation Campaign to Raise Money for the Mayor’s Fund for Homeless Action
- Housing Voucher Incentives for Property Owners
- Awarded $4 million to Holos Communities for the Development of 140 Units (Affordable Housing)
- Awarded $2.1 million to Jamboree Housing Corp. for the Development of 52 units (Affordable Housing)
- Awarded Negotiating Rights to Develop Former North Neighborhood Library (Affordable Housing)
- Activation of a Field Command Center to Support Staffing of Outreach Activities
- Downtown Expansion of Street Outreach Deployment of a new Mobile Access Center (MAC)
- Sent Emergency Response Update Letter to Long Beach Unified School District
- Sent Emergency Response Update Letter to Los Angeles County
- Sent Emergency Response Update Letter to City Partners
- Sent Emergency Response Update Letter to Los Angeles Metro
- Sent Emergency Response Update Letter to Long Beach Transit
- Began Construction of a RV Sanitation and Water Filling Site for People Living in Recreational Vehicles
- Forthcoming Installation of 30 to 35 Modular Non-congregate Shelter Units (Tiny Homes)
- City Council Allocation of $13 million in One-time funds from Fiscal Year 2022 Year-end Results to Support the City’s Emergency Response to Homelessness
- Shared Resources Available to Community to Addressing issues Related to Homelessness
- Mayor Rex Richardson Hosted Housing Provider Community Forum
- Awarded Negotiating Rights to Habitat for Humanity to Develop Townhomes for First-Time Homebuyers (Affordable Housing)
- Visual Improvement Program Grants for Businesses
- Support for Business Improvement Districts (BIDS)
- Set up 60 Temporary Overnight Beds at the Multi-Service Center to Provide People Experiencing Homelessness a Warm Place to Rest
- Community Donation Drive of Physical Items
- Launched Internal Call Center to Conduct Phone Outreach to Long Beach Housing Providers
- Expanded Mobile Access Center Outreach to Additional City Locations
- Launched a Data Dashboard Featuring Local Homelessness Data
- Long Beach Police Department Doubled Quality of Life Team
- Long Beach Launched Partnership Form Seeking Community Organizations to Serve Residents Experiencing Homelessness
- Safe Parking Program Expanded for People Sheltered in Automobiles
- Winter Shelter Operations Extended to April 30
- Launched Text Alert Program to Connect People Experiencing Homelessness to Resources and Services
- Recreational Vehicle Sanitation and Water-Filling Site Opened
- Hosted Second Drive Thru Donation Event
- Opened a Temporary Emergency Shelter with 85+ Beds for People Experiencing Homelessness
- Long Beach to Receive $5.2 Million in Grants to Support Rapid Rehousing and Permanent Housing Opportunities for People Experiencing Homelessness
- Long Beach Releases Results of the 2023 Homeless Point in Time Count
- City of Long Beach Opens Temporary Emergency Shelter for People Experiencing Homelessness
- Long Beach’s Mobile Access Center Continued Homeless Services Outreach Throughout May
- Long Beach Now Offering Evening Mental Health Therapy Programming to People Experiencing Homelessness
- Hosted Third Drive Thru Donation Event Saturday, May 27, to Support People Experiencing Homelessnes
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Emergency Proclamation to Address Homelessness - Updates to City Council
Long Beach Emergency Response Leaders provide updates to the Long Beach City Council every month.
- February 6, 2024
- Presentation / Recording
- December 12, 2023
- November 14, 2023
- October 10, 2023
- Six Month Report - September 12, 2023
- August 8, 2023
- July 11, 2023
- June 20, 2023
- June 6, 2023
- May 23, 2023
- May 16, 2023
- May 2, 2023
- April 18, 2023
- April 4, 2023
- March 21, 2023
- March 7, 2023
- February 21, 2023
- February 7, 2023
- January 24, 2023
- January 10, 2023
- February 6, 2024
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Emergency Response Livestreams
Tune in to the City of Long Beach YouTube each Tuesday at 11 a.m. to join the City of Long Beach Homelessness Emergency Response Livestream.
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Emergency Response Timeline
The City of Long Beach digital timeline shares a snapshot of emergency response efforts, offering a visual representation of the City’s actions taken under its emergency proclamation to address homelessness. View the timeline here or by clicking the image below.
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Homelessness Digital Dashboard
The City of Long Beach data dashboard showcases local homelessness data, including demographics of people experiencing homelessness and data on the various housing and support services offered by the City. The dashboard is part of the City’s commitment to aiding the most vulnerable members of the Long Beach community and will serve as an accountability platform that will provide timely, transparent data to the public. View the Data Dashboard.
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Resources
