Long Beach council seeks severity-based 'CORE' strategy for people in behavioral-health crisis and moves to update homelessness plan

Long Beach’s City Council on Tuesday asked city departments to return within 90 days with a coordinated, severity-based ‘CORE’ strategy to address severe behavioral-health crises in public spaces and also authorized staff to move forward with a data-driven update to the city’s homelessness strategic plan.

Councilmember Christina Duggan, who introduced the CORE framework, told colleagues the proposal would place voluntary outreach at the foundation while establishing clear next steps for cases where people repeatedly decline services or are in immediate danger. The motion asks staff to align outreach teams, Care Court referrals, SB 43 pathways, psychiatric holds (W&I 5150/5250 where appropriate), diversion programs and enforcement as a structured response.

“We still want engagement, de-escalation, and connection to services,” Duggan said. “But when help is declined and there isn't any immediate danger, city teams disengage. What changes with this proposal is that the city will have a clear next step implementing recent changes to state law when repeated engagement is not leading to stabilization.”

The discussion detailed legal and operational limits of the tools. Staff and councilmembers noted Care Court and SB 43 expand certain pathways but are narrow in diagnosis and cannot force long-term compliance. SB 43 broadened the definition of gravely disabled to include severe substance use disorder in certain cases; councilmembers said the city must coordinate closely with county clinicians and local prosecutors to ensure arrests and holds are documented and connected to treatment options where available.

Public commenters were sharply divided. Some urged stronger interventions, noting instances of people in immediate danger and repeated emergency contact that did not yield stabilization; others warned the approach risks criminalizing homelessness and urged investment in housing and voluntary services. Speakers asked that any enforcement be tied to guaranteed treatment and adequate bed capacity.

In a related item, the council approved specifications and recommended awarding a contract to Lazar Development Consultants (not to exceed $299,450) to complete Phase 2 of the city’s homelessness strategic-plan update. Staff said Phase 2 will include predictive modeling to estimate system demand under different investment scenarios, systems mapping that charts user journeys and provider capacity, a budget landscape analysis and an implementation plan with specific actions over the next five years. Funding for Phase 2 will come from Los Angeles County Measure A and the State’s Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention (HAP) program.

The council’s motions emphasize alignment across city, county and state tools and asked for transparency in reporting — including a public reporting strategy that would track treatment placements, SB 43 applications, Care Court referrals and diversion placements. Staff will return with the requested CORE framework, implementation options, potential council actions, and a public-reporting plan.