Commissioners hear how Temecula contracts outreach to work with long‑term unhoused residents

Commissioner DeGraves asked how Temecula’s unhoused population compares with similar cities and what the city does for individuals resistant to services. Director Russo described the city’s contracted outreach work and long-term outreach strategy.

“Every other year now they do a point-in-time count, and that’s kind of our best opportunity to get an apples-to-apples comparison,” Director Russo said, adding that the point-in-time methodology undercounts many people who are couch‑surfing or living in vehicles. He described a category of “resource resistant” individuals whose combination of substance use and behavioral-health issues presents persistent barriers to placement, documentation and reintegration.

Russo said the city contracts with an outreach organization called Social Work Action Group (SWAG) to provide three professional case managers/outreach workers who operate five days a week. He described long-term engagement as the core strategy: repeated contacts build trust until a person is willing to accept treatment or shelter. Russo recounted a multi-year case in which repeated outreach led one chronically unhoused individual to enter a 90‑day treatment program; staff celebrated the participant’s completion with a donated guitar from a local music store (the director said he could not recall the store’s name).

Commissioner Castro and others praised the city’s long-term approach. Russo and commissioners emphasized that causes for homelessness are varied — some people lack affordable housing, others face substance-use or mental‑health barriers — and that the city pairs contracted outreach with referrals to shelters, treatment programs and services.

No new policies or funding changes were proposed at the meeting; commissioners were updated on outreach operations and successful placement examples.