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Regional outreach group reports 1,010 Buena Park calls in 2024 and 265 regional exits to shelter
Summary
OC Hope Center told the Buena Park City Council it received 7,753 regional calls in 2024 and that Buena Park accounted for 1,010 calls and 443 dispatches; across eight member cities the center served 1,153 unduplicated individuals and achieved 265 exits from street to shelter, with an average Buena Park response time of 41 minutes.
George Searcy, executive director of the OC Hope Center, presented the nonprofit’s 2024 activity report to the Buena Park City Council on May 27, describing a regional mobile outreach model meant to relieve non‑emergency calls to police.
Searcy said the center received 7,753 incoming calls regionally in 2024, which produced nearly 4,500 client contacts and 1,153 unduplicated individuals across eight participating cities. "For the entire region, we took 7,753 incoming calls... and we served an unduplicated 1,153 separate individuals across the 8 cities we serve," Searcy said. He reported 265 exits from street to shelter or transitional housing across the region—about 20% of the unduplicated individuals contacted.
Focusing on Buena Park, Searcy said the center recorded 1,010 calls from within the city boundary in 2024 and created 443 dispatches (deployed personnel in about half of the calls). He said 378 calls were police transfers accepted by OC Hope Center and that the average response time for Buena Park calls was 41 minutes. "We will respond immediately... we will deploy personnel to your site," Searcy told council, describing OutreachGrid as the platform used for dispatch and recordkeeping.
Searcy emphasized the Hope Center’s role as a non‑emergency alternative that pairs outreach staff (and sometimes embedded homeless liaison officers) with public safety when appropriate, and said the center can provide monthly activity reports to member cities. He told council that outreach teams work Monday–Friday, 7:15 a.m.–5:15 p.m., and that calls placed outside those hours are treated as priority the next business day.
Councilmembers asked whether Buena Park could increase exits to shelter and whether differences in Fullerton’s outcomes stemmed from data capture or service models; Searcy recommended a joint presentation with city staff to reconcile local records and provide a fuller picture. Council thanked the presentation and asked staff to continue collaboration and provide annual data.
The council did not take action on the presentation; staff offered to follow up with more comprehensive, joint data at the council’s request.
