Fullerton briefs council on homelessness: officials say lack of shelter beds limits exits from street

Fullerton City Hall heard a broad homelessness update on Feb. 4 that highlighted expanded shelter partnerships, outreach efforts and lingering shortages in shelter capacity across the region.

Deputy City Manager Daisy Perez told the council the city participates in the Northern Service Planning Area (North SPA) and has a five-year financial commitment of $4,530,000 (largely funded through SB2) to regional shelter programs. Fullerton’s Navigation Center holds 40 beds dedicated to Fullerton residents; staff said the city pays about $80 per bed per night and that, after a rent credit, the net annual cost has been about $700,000 and was previously funded by ARPA. Perez also described ongoing encampment cleanups, a homeless liaison officer (HLO) unit expanded to four officers and a sergeant, a motel-voucher winter program supported by federal funds, and a social worker pilot that will embed behavioral health clinicians with response teams.

George Searcy, executive director of the Hope Center that coordinates regional outreach, told the council that while the region’s mobile teams made thousands of contacts and hundreds of shelter referrals last year, shelter-bed supply remains the primary barrier to exiting people from the streets. “Of the people that we referred to the shelter beds... only about 1 in 4 shelter referrals were able to be fulfilled because there were no shelter beds available,” Searcy said. He and council members urged continued pursuit of partnerships to expand options and to use county and Medi-Cal-linked programs (CalAIM) for supportive services.

Police briefed the council on enforcement and outreach: since the city passed a critical infrastructure ordinance in December 2023, officers have issued 11 citations tied to refusals to relocate from protected areas; Operation Clean Streets (started Oct. 2023) produced more than 400 enforcement actions and over 150 citations. Police and Hope Center staff emphasized there are both people who want help and structural limits—many would accept shelter if beds were available; some decline services because of mental-health or substance-use conditions.

Council members pressed staff on point-in-time counts and budgets. Staff reported Fullerton’s 2024 count at 434 people (208 unsheltered, 226 sheltered), up slightly from 2022 totals, and said the city budgeted roughly $180,000 for encampment cleanups (in-house cleanup costs now estimated $4,000–$5,000 per cleanup). Councilmembers suggested pursuing additional beds, exploring motel-voucher expansions and aligning authorities such as CalOptima/CalAIM to fund supportive services that facilitate housing exits.

Mayor Jung said the council would pursue potential ordinance updates and asked staff to bring back proposals that could be considered as soon as March. No new ordinance was adopted at the Feb. 4 meeting; the item was presented as receive-and-file with direction to return with options.