San Bernardino staff report outreach, motel vouchers and a new data pilot as homelessness response expands
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Summary
City staff told the council that outreach teams engaged over 4,000 individuals, the motel voucher program has issued roughly 1,500 vouchers (benefiting about 2,000 people), and the city is piloting a data platform, Deep Blue, to coordinate outreach, bed availability and encampment responses.
San Bernardino ' City staff told the mayor and city council Wednesday the city has expanded its homeless-response system across outreach, interim shelter and housing services and is piloting new technology to coordinate partners.
During a multi-hour workshop staff reported that coordinated outreach teams and partner nonprofits have engaged more than 4,000 individuals, with about 1,500 formal enrollments in case management and nearly 2,000 people accepting services. "Outreach is targeted, focused on meaningful engagements," Gabby, the homeless solutions manager, said, adding that successful engagement often requires dozens of contacts per person.
The city's motel voucher program was presented as the primary interim shelter approach while navigation centers come online. Gabby said the program issued roughly 1,500 motel vouchers from 2023 through Dec. 31, 2025, benefiting about 2,000 individuals; typical placements begin as seven-night stays with case planning and regular check-ins that can extend stays for those actively working their housing plans.
Staff described a layered outreach model including the Salvation Army street outreach contract (ARPA-funded), a city-funded ERF street outreach team, the PEACE team from the police department and targeted partnerships for transitional-aged youth. Adi Estrada said the Salvation Army received $680,000 in ARPA funding for outreach after a previous contract ended.
To address field coordination and data gaps, the city plans a pilot of Deep Blue, a HIPAA-compliant, city-owned platform that will track outreach activities, bed availability, encampment reports and outcomes in real time so staff and partners can reduce duplication and deploy resources more efficiently.
Other program notes: Community Action Partnership operates a mobile hygiene unit funded in part by $450,000 in ARPA dollars and reported 249 individuals served; interim housing through the ERF grant (VARP partnership) currently provides 12 interim beds (contract originally planned for 18 but limited by permitting); rapid rehousing programs have housed dozens of households with city investments and subcontractors including the Salvation Army and the Benjamin E. Jones Community Resource Center.
Staff said the city must continue expanding outreach capacity (three boots on the ground is insufficient for 62 square miles) and improve nonprofit reporting and accountability; council members asked staff to provide clearer, regular reporting on program utilization and outcomes.
