Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/tim-houchen/)
“We don’t have sufficient capacity,” said the supervisors’ chairman, Andrew Do. The issue is scheduled to be discussed Tuesday at a federal court hearing with U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, county officials, and city officials from across Orange County.
Tim Houchen, a Homeless Policy Advisor and Executive Director of Hope 4 Restoration, writes that with Orange County officials paying off the 1994 bankruptcy last July, a good portion of the $68 million saved each year in annual debt payments should now be re-focused on addressing homelessness.
The proposed budget has a large discretionary increase for the Sheriff’s Department and comparatively tiny discretionary increases for social and health services.
A planned storage and check-in center is seen by many as a rare example of progress in helping homeless people who gather at the county Civic Center. But some who would be served say they’re suspicious of the city’s motives.
But the approval comes with criticisms from residents who live near the proposed shelter – along with advocates for Civic Center homeless and some supervisors – who say the county did a bad job of outreach.