Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/susan-price/)
It’s a 43 percent increase from two years earlier. “We have a shortage of both affordable and available housing to meet the needs of our populations,” said Susan Price, the county’s coordinator of homeless services.
Roughly 1,300 people are sleeping in homeless shelters throughout Orange County, with all big shelters located in north and central Orange County in cities like Santa Ana and Anaheim, according to unofficial numbers provided to Voice of OC.
The two-day count of people living on the streets of Orange County finished Thursday night.
Prior “point-in-time” counts – which play a key role in policy and funding decisions – are actually estimates, officials now say.
The goal, officials said, is to help homeless people move off the streets, stabilize their health issues, develop positive relationships with other community members, and save public money in hospital emergency services and other costs.
Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Shawn Nelson said they are opposed to a proposal by south Orange County mayors to put a new homeless shelter on county-owned property in rural Silverado Canyon.
Lloyd Pendleton’s speech to local officials, business leaders and advocates came as Orange County grapples with a growing homeless population and a severe shortage of shelter and affordable housing.
Orange County supervisors appear to have at least $230 million in unspent money they can use, in collaboration with other officials and community groups, to help address homelessness, a Voice of OC examination of county government finances has found.
The now-removed plan had emphasized expanding the affordable housing supply for homeless people as a “top priority.” The supervisors also consolidated their power over the commission, removing all current members and changing the selection rules so supervisors now will pick all of the commissioners who have voting power.
Council members have not provided examples of alleged misspending, and county officials say they’re open to working with city officials on any concerns they may have.