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Los Angeles Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse outlines homeless outreach results, services in San Gabriel
Summary
Contracted outreach provider LA CADA presented 2024 engagement and service data to the San Gabriel City Council, highlighting 223 contacts in the city last year and describing a regional, person-centered approach that links people to housing, treatment and other supports.
Michael Rubio, director of outpatient services at the Los Angeles Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse, and William Gray, the agency’s director of outreach services, told the San Gabriel City Council on Feb. 4 that the nonprofit’s outreach team made dozens of contacts with people experiencing homelessness in San Gabriel in 2024.
The presentation focused on Licata (the agency’s contracted outreach arm for the San Gabriel Valley), the organization’s “continuum of care” and how the team partners with police and local hospitals to connect people to treatment, interim housing and other supports.
Why it matters: Council members asked for detail about coordination with local hospitals, law enforcement and how outreach teams handle people who refuse services — issues that affect public safety, public health and city resources.
Rubio said LA CADA is licensed by the California Department of Health Care Services and works under approvals from Los Angeles County public agencies to provide substance-use and behavioral-health treatment, jail-based services and housing navigation. He described a regional approach in which outreach teams prioritize referrals from law enforcement and city staff, perform proactive field rounds and ``meet people where they are'' to build trust and link them to care.
Gray described the team’s daily operations and data for San Gabriel. According to his presentation, from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2024 the team made 223 engagements in San Gabriel, including 62 first-time encounters and the balance as follow-ups. Outreach staff provided 98 housing-navigation services and linked 15 individuals to interim housing options such as Sol Housing, Safe Landing, hotels and motel vouchers. The team recorded two referrals to medical services and two to emergency-room care.
Gray said the outreach model is trauma-informed and person-centered: staff provide only the help a person is willing to accept at a given time, from snacks and basic supplies to transportation and advocacy for medical or housing placement. He said the agency operates a 20-plus–bed residential facility, recovery bridge housing beds and mental-health crisis residential beds that accept clients for limited stays before stepping them down into outpatient care.
Council members asked several operational questions. Vice Mayor Menchaca, who said she had accompanied police on ride-alongs, asked whether LA CADA conducts ride-alongs and whether outreach staff can brief police on areas of concern. Rubio said the team does ride along and is in daily communication with police on referrals and scheduling. "We partner with PD so maybe there is an area of interest where there are multiple people; sometimes PD will be there with us in support," he said.
Councilmember Chen asked about partnerships with local hospitals and whether the team sees an increase in people coming from Los Angeles. Rubio and Gray said they collaborate with hospitals for medical clearance and transport when needed, and noted a slight uptick in people coming from outside San Gabriel. Gray identified riverbeds as a recent hot spot for contacts.
Councilmember Ding raised business-owner concerns about people who repeatedly refuse services and leave debris. Gray said the team persists in re-engagement and works to build rapport; when clients have very high acuity or pose safety concerns, they sometimes involve law enforcement but continue attempts to re-engage.
The presentation also included demographic breakdowns for first-time encounters in San Gabriel: the largest age group was 25–54, and the largest racial/ethnic group recorded was Hispanic. Gray noted some data gaps where individuals declined to state demographic information.
No formal council action was taken at the meeting on the presentation. City staff and LA CADA said they will provide monthly reports and additional location-level data to councilmembers who requested it.
Ending: Councilmembers thanked LA CADA for the presentation and for work in San Gabriel and the surrounding cities. Multiple councilmembers asked staff to provide more granular hotspot and referral data in future reports so the council can track outcomes and public-safety impacts.
