Camarillo staff outline homelessness strategic plan priorities; public engagement and data analysis underway

City staff and consultants presented an update on the city’s homelessness strategic plan at the Camarillo City Council meeting on Jan. 22, describing a multi-department project team, community outreach and a quantitative analysis phase.

The project team, led by Lisette Torres, senior management analyst in the city manager’s office, and consultant Colleen Murphy of LaSalle (Lazar) Development Consultants, told council the plan will prioritize realistic, actionable strategies; a range of housing types; comprehensive wraparound services; homelessness prevention; public engagement; communications; and data and metrics to measure outcomes.

“The team really felt that it was important that the plan is actionable,” Torres said, noting the group includes representatives from city departments, Ventura County Behavioral Health and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, Project Hope partners and two people with lived experience. “We also prioritized diverse housing, comprehensive services and prevention.”

Murphy described the project’s scope: a mix of qualitative and quantitative data collection, an on‑line community survey, in‑person input sessions, key‑informant interviews and analysis of local performance metrics, Point‑in‑Time counts and HMIS (homeless management information system) data. She said staff conducted an initial community session with more than 40 attendees that included people currently experiencing homelessness.

Council members raised timing and population questions. Council Member Martinez Bravo asked about results from that morning’s Point‑in‑Time count; staff said the county will compile final numbers and deliver a report in early spring. Torres said Camarillo’s local experience differs from many cities: “The majority of our population…reside in their vehicles or their RVs, and many of them are employed or…have some sort of an income. They just can't make ends meet,” she said.

Members of the public urged accountability and periodic public reporting on the city’s climate and resilience work and on homelessness progress. David Gilbertson, a resident, urged the council to prioritize climate action and to provide periodic updates on the climate action plan; Meryl Berge and others also asked for annual progress reporting.

Council members and consultants said the plan is intended to be finalized later this year. Torres and Murphy said quantitative analysis will finish by February, after which the team will develop goals and strategies and begin drafting the full plan with additional community input; a final plan is targeted for September 2025.

The council received the update; no formal action on the plan was taken at the meeting. Staff noted further stakeholder outreach and the ongoing community survey remain open for public input.