Oxnard highlights grants, shelter expansions and reported reductions in homelessness

City staff detailed recent funding and program outcomes related to homelessness in Oxnard and Ventura County.

Samantha Shapiro said the County of Ventura secured more than $93,000,000 in state funding for behavioral health infrastructure to help develop two residential treatment facilities, and that the CoC region received six rounds of Homeless Assistance and Prevention Program funding totaling over $28,000,000.

Shapiro described a $4,000,000 state encampment resolution grant Oxnard used to provide motel rooms and case management for people relocated from two large encampments. She said the program closed those encampments and relocated 88 individuals; a CoC preference allowed 44 of those people a pathway to permanent supportive housing.

Staff highlighted provider programs and outcomes: Pathways to Home coordinated placements for more than 40 people from two encampment sites; Project Roomkey issued motel vouchers to over 800 participants during the pandemic; Mercy House reported serving 104 unduplicated individuals (July 2024–Jan 2026) with 41 exiting to shelter and 2 exiting to permanent housing. Contracts for rapid re-housing helped 74 people over two years.

Shapiro said countywide homelessness declined by 15.6% in 2025 per the point-in-time count and Oxnard reported a 15.7% reduction. She also noted increases in interim housing (98 units between 2022 and 2025) and an unclear transcript reference to the increase in permanent supportive housing (transcript reads "5 63" units; the specific number was not specified in the transcript).

The presentation listed several partner organizations and programs involved in the regional continuum, and emphasized continued participation in the Ventura County CoC to maintain eligibility for HUD and some state funds.