Santa Ana officials say nearly 100 less people are sleeping on the city’s streets this year compared to 2024 – a development they largely attribute to key social investments like transitional housing, reuniting people with families or drug and mental health treatment programs.
City staff found there were 501 people sleeping on the streets this year compared to 592 last year.
“So altogether this demonstrates a 15.4% reduction year over year,” Community Development Agency Executive Director Mike Garcia told city council members at Tuesday’s meeting.
Detailing Homelessness in Santa Ana
At Tuesday’s meeting, Garcia noted that homeless people were asked detailed questions during this year’s headcount – focused on things like where they grew up, employment status and how long they have been homeless.
Garcia said 84% of people who detailed answered questions said they were homeless for more than a year – down from last year’s 92%. Almost two-thirds – nearly 65% – of people said they’re unemployed, he noted, adding that a similar percentage are on food stamps.
Of the 379 people surveyed, 38% said they’re from Santa Ana while 56% said they’re not. Additionally, 63% of those respondents said they grapple with addiction, city staff said.
City staff also said they made 890 “positive exits,” meaning city officials helped get people into homeless shelters, housing, mental health treatment centers, drug rehab facilities and other places.
Police Chief Robert Rodriguez told council members that officers make up to 4,000 “contacts” with homeless people in a month.
“It doesn’t mean that every person we contact we arrest,” Rodriguez said.
It comes after Santa Ana City Council members beefed up anti-camping laws last year following a landmark Supreme Court ruling that opened the door for cities to bar people from sleeping in public places, even if there’s not enough shelter beds available.
[Read: Santa Ana Officials Bolster Anti-Camping Laws Ahead of Holidays]
The reduction in people sleeping on Santa Ana streets also comes a year after California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, a law that increases punishment for certain retail theft and drug crimes.
It’s unclear whether any state monies are directed to local cities to fund increased enforcement.
While Santa Ana officials didn’t detail how the two legal developments could have impacted homelessness – officials in nearby Stanton noted Prop. 36 put a higher demand on Sheriff Deputies, which led to a spike in arrests.
At a Stanton City Council meeting in September, an OC Sheriff official noted deputies arrested roughly 100 people in July throughout the small town that also grapples with people sleeping on streets, at parks and nearby railroad tracks.
[Read: Neighboring OC Cities Look to Private Security to Patrol Parks]
What’s The Right Approach to Homeless Shelters?
Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua in her remarks urged work training, drug tests and limiting shelter stays as a way of further reducing homelessness.
Amezcua said the city’s new approach no longer allows people to “basically sit on their bed and they get three hots and a cot as we call it and they’re not forced to seek employment or they don’t have to be employed.”
Garcia noted that city officials “implemented a move in and move up program in 2025. Move into our shelter and move up into housing or another type of resource” within 120 days. He also said job hunting assistance has increased for people at homeless shelters.
Amezcua said before that timeline, “basically you can stay there until you get your voucher for Section 8 housing.”
OC Grand Jurors found there are extremely long wait times for the Section 8 vouchers.
“One of the major drawbacks in this program is that there are astronomically long waiting periods to get a voucher. As of June 2025, the wait lists for two of the four housing authorities are closed to new applicants. In fact, the OC Housing Authority wait list is closed more often than it is open,” reads an OC Grand Jury report released earlier this year.
The Grand Jury also said a majority of people in county-run homeless shelters aren’t being placed into housing.
“In addition, 72% of the current population residing in County-run homeless shelters have completed all necessary steps to be eligible for housing. However, only one out of every twelve is connected to housing. This astonishing figure speaks to the need to increase housing in the County,” reads the report.
Replying to questions from Amezcua about drug testing people at homeless shelters, Homelessness Division Manager Ken Gominsky said a person can be drug tested “if an individual comes back to the shelter and they are exhibiting signs of intoxication.”
Gominksy, a former deputy police chief for the city, also said “drug testing is not a common practice at the shelter,” adding officials can’t require it.
Councilman Ben Vazquez said the reduction in homelessness numbers bolstered the case for the nuanced approach undertaken by city officials, providing more targeted human and social services at the shelter
Councilman Johnathan Hernandez also questioned how to approach drug testing, urging that it shouldn’t trigger punitive actions, noting it’s important for homeless shelters to operate “without any potential barriers to entry such as sobriety. We know homelessness is a traumatic experience for people to sleep on the street and oftentimes when people do sleep on the street, they turn to substances.”
Hernandez said if someone does fail a drug test, it should be treated as an opportunity to get them addiction treatment.
Who’s Responsible?
Santa Ana city officials this week entered into a multi-jurisdiction agreement with Anaheim, Irvine and the county to bolster a regional response to homelessness – an agreement Garcia said could help people reunite with families who live outside of Orange County.
According to a staff report, the agreement could help beef up shelter operations, get more homeless people into housing and provide services like rental assistance and help get people ready to reenter the workforce.
“These funds have been instrumental in supporting the City’s ongoing efforts to promote housing stability and improve outcomes for vulnerable residents,” states the staff report.
Garcia said the county has 14 people working homeless outreach services throughout Central Orange County
But, he noted those employees are limited on where they go.
“They do twice a week go into the Santa Ana Riverbed. They do not go into the appendages that flow into the Santa Ana Riverbed, they do not go into flood control channel areas unless they’re accompanied by a sheriff,” Garcia told council members.
Those jurisdictional limitations drew the ire of Councilman Bacerra.
“So we have the most homeless in the county – Santa Ana does – and yet we have the most outreach and engagement people out on our streets,” Bacerra said at Tuesday’s meeting. “That doesn’t seem right, does it? Or at least it shouldn’t.”
Bacerra also called out OC Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento, a former Santa Ana mayor, for his actions at the county level, like voting against banning homeless camps on county property – a move Sarmiento previously said would make people hesitant to enter shelters.
“I get a lot of calls about the county’s flood control channels and the activity that’s in there,” Bacerra said during a discussion about a multi-jurisdiction agreement to bolster homelessness services.
He said county officials like Sarmiento don’t provide enough outreach efforts to the flood control channels to get people into shelters and other services.
“He won’t support outlawing encampments but then on top of that won’t even get us the necessary outreach engagement services,” Bacerra said. “So you won’t provide the enforcement and won’t provide helpful services. I hope you provide something.”
In a Wednesday text message, Sarmiento refuted Bacerra’s claims and hinted that the councilman hasn’t worked with his office.
“We will continue to have an open door policy for the council member to work with our office and County departments to address the needs of our mutual constituents,” Sarmiento said. “In fact, our office, along with Supervisor (Katrina) Foley, has increased enforcement, maintenance and surveillance in the flood control channels.”
Sarmiento said he worries for Bacerra’s constituents.
“I am growing concerned for the council member’s constituents that have someone more interested in pointing fingers and making baseless claims, rather than collaboratively working to solve their problems.”
Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerCustodio.