Homeless Crisis In OC: No Camping, No Loitering, Nowhere To Go

COSTA MESA, CA — The homeless have been evicted from the banks of the Santa Ana river, but now what? a hearing has been ordered in response to a lawsuit filed last week by the Orange County Catholic Worker, seeking an injunction against anti-camping laws. Representatives of Orange County and the cities of Anaheim, Orange and Costa Mesa will be in court Feb. 13, when a federal judge in Santa Ana will consider issuing a temporary restraining order barring the municipalities from enforcing anti-camping laws with regards to the homeless whom they say have nowhere to go.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter on Sunday ordered the hearing, saying that he was "concerned that persons who leave or are evicted from the riverbed may subsequently be cited by defendant cities under those cities' anti-camping or anti-loitering laws, even though those persons may not be able to find a shelter or other place to sleep."

Carter ordered the municipalities to provide "the number and circumstances of any citations issued or arrests made, if any, under defendants' respective anti-camping and anti-loitering laws since Jan. 1."

The judge also said he "welcomes" information from the governments about the county's "process for clearing the riverbed, information about the number and background of homeless persons in Orange County and on the riverbed specifically, and how much and what kind of shelter space is currently available."

Carter invited others affected by the homeless encampments and anti- camping laws to file briefs or attend the hearing.

Susan Price, the county's "homeless czar," who works with all of the cities affected by the riverbed encampments, filed a declaration with the court about what's been done over the past few years regarding the issue.

Price noted the county hired City Net, a nonprofit organization, to "engage in intensive case management with individuals encamped in the area to offer resources and available shelter to those seeking it."

She said social workers "have been conducting clinical outreach along the Orange County Flood Control Channel for more than two years. I participate with City Net and their team weekly to discuss the status of street exit placement efforts and the current situation with the population in the (riverbed)."

City Net did a survey in July that showed 422 transients living in the encampment, Price said. In January, a survey showed 623 transients living in the area, "with 159 successful exits from this total between July 1, 2017, to Jan. 8, 2018."

"The street exits have increased exponentially since the project started, with an additional 43 exits recently bringing the total on Feb. 1, 2018, to 202 total street exits," Price wrote.

In September, the Orange County Sheriff's Department reported that nearly all of the transients to whom they reached out declined help, Price said.

"I have been informed through the various agencies that in recent weeks, there have been many who have voluntarily left the riverbed, however, despite the consistent services offered, many are refusing to leave," Price wrote.

She added that the county "is committed to restoring the flood control channel to its intended purpose of protecting the county from the threat of floods and preserving the water quality in the water bed channel system and the ocean for all citizens of Orange County." The clearing out of the riverbed "is a necessary remediation project, addressing deferred maintenance in an area not meant for human habitation," Price said.

"The county has provided social services assistance for seven months, seven days per week," Price wrote. "Due to criminal activities and public safety concerns, I am informed that (sheriff's deputies have) been deployed since September, with hundreds of arrests noted. Public health and public safety are of great concern, coupled with nearly 300 individuals in the encampment area that have declined assistance, preferring instead to retreat with support of the defacto community seemingly seeking indefinite reprieve on public lands. I am aware and have witnessed first-hand that conditions along the (flood control channel) are deplorable."

Price, in her declaration, said "unmitigated encampments can foster long-term homelessness ..." Beds are available "daily" at the various shelters throughout the county, which are better prepared to help get transients back on their feet, she said.
"I can attest to the fact that if someone wishes to leave the flood control channel, there is assistance available," she wrote.

The lawsuit filed last week alleges that the county and the surrounding cities have failed to provide any affordable housing despite years of reports generated by the Orange County grand jury and other organizations concluding that the lack of such housing is the main cause of homelessness.

"We want to force a discussion about the real solutions instead of increasing the criminalization" of the homeless, said attorney Brooke Weitzman. "It's the same story every time -- each of these governments has recognized the need for affordable housing and for whatever reasons have not produced any affordable housing."

If county officials continue to move forward with encouraging transients to leave the riverbed, they will be "ping-ponged" back to the outlying cities, Weitzman said.
"It leaves all of these vulnerable people with nowhere to go," she said.

The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the enforcement of the clearing out of the riverbed of transients until "there's a reasonable alternative," Weitzman said.

The lawsuit alleges that law enforcement officers often ticket and cite transients even when they haven't broken the law, so Orange County Catholic Worker also wants authorities prohibited from "detaining people for being homeless without suspicion of breaking any laws," Weitzman said.

The lawsuit also alleges shortages of beds in emergency shelters in Santa Ana, Fullerton and a new shelter in Anaheim.

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City News Service, with Ashley Ludwig, Patch Editor contributing to this post.

Ashley Ludwig, Photo