City adopts new anti-panhandling campaign
CITY HALL Sympathetic residents and visitors to Santa Monica might soon think twice before handing loose change to a homeless person, an anticipated result of a new educational campaign that seeks to end panhandling activities in the city.
The panhandling education campaign is part of a series of measures that City Hall is preparing to take in addressing the chronic issue of homelessness in Santa Monica, taking a new approach to solving the city’s long-standing problem, a method that has proven effective in cities experiencing similar issues across the country.
During the Human Services Division’s annual presentation reviewing the city’s various homeless service offerings, the City Council on Tuesday adopted a new action plan that places an emphasis on helping the most vulnerable and chronically homeless individuals. The “Action Plan to Address Homelessness in Santa Monica”outlines a series of short and long-term measures that seek to gradually reduce the homeless population in the city, taking steps that range from streamlining the process in receiving housing subsidies to pushing for a campaign that educates the public on panhandling.
The council also decided to award a $100,000 contract to GMMB to oversee the panhandling education campaign.
The social marketing firm will be responsible for devising a campaign that will teach residents and visitors that rather than giving change directly to homeless individuals, they should reroute that donation to a social service provider that could use the money in its efforts to get homeless people off the street.
A similar campaign has been successful in other cities, including Denver.
“Many panhandlers are in fact not homeless and often the income from panhandling go to drugs and alcohol,” Julie Rusk, the Human Services manager, told the council.
The council also took further steps to curb panhandling activities on the Third Street Promenade when it directed staff to draft an ordinance that would ban all panhandling activities from the benches there, no matter who is the solicitor.
“The report from police and the Bayside District Corporation is that the often limited seating on the promenade is occupied for a very long period of time by persons using the seats and benches as a way to solicit donations,” City Attorney Marsha Moutrie said.
Moutrie stressed the proposed ordinance would not target the homeless, adding the restriction applies to all solicitors seeking donations from benches and seats.
“I have no reason to think that persons who panhandle on the promenade or solicit donations are necessarily homeless,” Moutrie said.
TAKING STEPS TO REDUCE HOMELESSNESS In a city that saw an 80 percent increase in the number of homeless individuals that received services over the past 12 years, Santa Monica seems to be a desirable location for transients.
“Panhandling and buyback of recycling are two ways people make money in our community,” Rusk said. “These sources of income combined with meals, shower and restroom provide amenities that may enable many homeless people to remain homeless rather than getting off the street.”
Cities across the country have made strides in reducing the street homeless population, focusing on housing the most vulnerable homeless individuals, which Rusk said not only makes moral sense, but also is also an economically sound method.
One of the steps that the action plan calls for and one that is already underway is the housing of the 110 most vulnerable homeless individuals, identified through a survey recently conducted by Common Ground.
The New York-based non-profit organization recently went out on the streets of Santa Monica during a three-day period in January, interviewing 261 of the 277 homeless individuals they found sleeping on the streets in the early morning hours. Of the individuals interviewed, about 110 were identified as being “vulnerable”— those who have been on the streets for more than six months and possess one of several qualities, including a history of cold weather-related injuries, liver disease, HIV/AIDS, being over 60 years of age, and have had three or more emergency room visits in the past three months.
“There’s a 40 percent risk of dying over the next seven years if they fall in the vulnerability index,” Becky Kanis, the director of innovations for Common Ground, said.
Some cities that have adopted the method of housing the most vulnerable homeless individuals have seen reductions in their homeless populations every year, Kanis said, including in New York City’s Times Square where during a two year period, the number of street-sleeping people dropped from 55 to 7. Similar results have been reported in New Orleans, Kanis said.
“The hope is to get all of (the vulnerable) and get everyone off the street as well,” Kanis said.
City Hall has recently made some headway in moving the chronically homeless off the street. In 2004, it piloted a project where it housed the most long-term and disabled homeless individuals in the city. Since its inception, about 77 habitual homeless people have found housing and in 2007, about 74 homeless alcoholics have received treatment.
“This is an indicator that the best practices do work at the local level,” Rusk said.
Some of the steps outlined in the action plan include creating a service registry that will identify the most vulnerable and chronically homeless people,reconfiguring sleeping capacity at various shelters to service that population, including at Samoshel, which is part of OPCC. The action plan also seeks to review city policies that might contribute to individuals becoming homeless, possibly placing some restrictions on public showers and the recycling buy-back center.
The plan received the unanimous support of city coun-cilmembers, some intrigued by a bold approach to addressing the homeless issue.
Councilmember Bobby Shriver said he would specifically like to see a roundtable on homeless issues that brings in different segments, including the Chamber of Commerce and the Westside Council of Governments. Shriver also seemed struck by a statistic that showed 31 percent of vulnerable homeless people are veterans.
“I find it amazing that 31 percent of homeless people are veterans,” he said.
Councilmember Bob Holbrook stressed the pressing need to get people off the streets, mentioning two incidents where his daughter found a dead homeless person in Santa Monica — at a supermarket parking lot and at the park.
“We don’t need to have that going on in our community,” Holbrook said.
Mayor Pro Tem Richard Bloom called the action plan a “turning point” for the city.
“It’s not that the way we have done business in homeless in the past has been bad or wrong or even ineffective,” Bloom said.“What we recognize tonight is that there is a better way.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 28, 2008. Read the original PDF.