The Malibu City Council will receive a presentation during the City Council meeting on Monday, November 13 on the City’s efforts to address homelessness, including the efforts of the Malibu Task Force on Homelessness and The People’s Concern outreach workers, public safety and law enforcement issues surrounding homelessness, and the development of a Homelessness Strategic Plan.
“The people of Malibu rightly recognize this as a humanitarian crisis and the City has made it a priority issue,” Mayor Skylar Peak said. “We are collaborating intensively with non-profit service providers and the Sheriff’s Department to support comprehensive services that really make a difference for people experiencing homelessness, while also addressing the public safety and public health impacts of homelessness on the community.”
Public Safety Manager Susan Dueñas will give an update on the $50,000 grant that Malibu received in October 2017 from Los Angeles County to help fund the development of a comprehensive Homelessness Strategic Plan to address issues related to homelessness in the City.
The Homelessness Strategic Plan will coordinate Malibu’s existing resources in a more effective way, find new opportunities to address the issue, and support the efforts of the Los Angeles region. The grant is part of Los Angeles County’s Measure H, an initiative approved by voters in March 2017 to place a 10-year, ¼ cent sales tax to help fund housing and support services for the homeless population throughout the County. The City Council unanimously approved sending a letter of support to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in support of Measure H in February 2017.
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department will discuss public safety and law enforcement issues surrounding homelessness, including what the Sheriffs can and cannot legally do to address the impacts of homelessness on the community.
John Maceri, Chief Executive Officer of The People Concern, a non-profit based in Santa Monica, will discuss the results of the first full year of outreach activities in Malibu. The People Concern provides two dedicated, full-time homeless outreach workers in Malibu, funded by the local non-profit The Malibu Task Force on Homelessness with a contribution from the City.
The Malibu Task Force on Homeless will also start their Holiday Homeless Outreach Donation Drive. Donations of toiletries, socks, jerky, protein bars and other items can be dropped off in donation bins in the upstairs and downstairs lobbies of City Hall from November 13 until the end of January.
Donated items will be used by The People Concern’s Malibu outreach workers as they work to build relationships with the local homeless population in a long-term strategy to connect them with social services and eventually help them into shelter and housing.
