What is the city doing to reduce homelessness?
In 2017, the City of Carlsbad was one of the first in the region to develop a plan to combat homelessness at the city level. In February 2023, the City Council approved the updated Homelessness Action Plan, which lays out a comprehensive approach to addressing the regional, state and national trend of increasing homelessness:

• A specially trained Homeless Outreach Team in the Police Department focused on compassionate enforcement
• Contracted social workers, benefits specialists, rapid rehousing specialists and other resources that focus on transitioning people successfully into long-term housing and preventing new people from becoming homeless
• Expanding Carlsbad’s only homeless shelter to include women and families for the first time
• Cleaning up encampments that pose a health and safety concern to the community
• Creating more affordable housing options
• A special program with the Humane Society that can temporarily care for the pets of people experiencing homelessness so they can qualify for short term programs that may not allow pets
• Updates to the city’s municipal code that address the quality-of-life impacts of homelessness for local residents and businesses

How many people are currently experiencing homelessness in Carlsbad?
According to the 2024 Point-in-Time data, a count of the homeless conducted across the county and in Carlsbad, the umber of unsheltered homeless counted was 112, up from 60 in 2023. To put these numbers in perspective:

• Carlsbad makes up approximately 3.5% of the region’s population but has less than 1.8% of the region’s unsheltered population. 
• Carlsbad’s unsheltered population makes up 9% of the total North County unsheltered population.

The results showed regionwide homelessness has increased (about 18%), but the rate of the increase is less than it was last year.

Previous Point-in-Time data:
2019: 161 individuals - 59 sheltered, 102 unsheltered
2020: 148 individuals - 54 sheltered; 94 unsheltered
2022: 118 individuals - 43 sheltered; 75 unsheltered
2023: 103 individuals - 43 sheltered; 60 unsheltered

These numbers were officially released by the Regional Task Force on the Homeless in May 2024. There was no 2021 count because of the pandemic.

The count is not without its limitations. As communities like the City of Carlsbad improve on their homeless data collection, we are able to get a more accurate picture of people experiencing homelessness in our community.

Is the city providing shelter for people experiencing homelessness in local hotels?
The city began operating a limited term emergency motel voucher program in November 2021. Under the program, the city can offer vouchers to someone experiencing homelessness, on a case-by-case basis.

Those who do participate will be connected with the Homeless Outreach Team and contracted social workers the following morning, to start the process of connecting them with services. The program helps the city enforce no camping laws and address public safety and quality-of-life concerns related to homelessness and public spaces. 

Will Carlsbad’s program attract people from other areas?
The program targets people experiencing homelessness in Carlsbad. Studies and interactions have shown that people experiencing homelessness tend to remain in familiar locations and do not move around in search of benefits.

Are people experiencing homelessness the primary driver of crime in Carlsbad?
Police statistics show homelessness is not a major factor in crime in Carlsbad. Crimes are committed by many people who are not homeless. The homeless population is much like all other communities, some are law-abiding and some commit crimes.

Are crimes committed by people experiencing homelessness categorized and identified?
The Police Department tracks calls for service that are related to homelessness, but the crimes are not categorized differently.

How is the city protecting the community from potentially dangerous situations involving people experiencing homelessness? 
The Police Department and its Homeless Outreach Team are proactive in initiating contacts with people experiencing homelessness in the city. The officers enforce the laws with the homeless population while offering them services in frequent exchanges that result in the officers and members of the homeless population knowing one another. The department also regularly reviews crime data to include homelessness-related crimes and deploys officers based on the crime trends observed with a goal to prevent crime. 

What shelters are available in and around Carlsbad?
The number of homeless individuals in the city far outpaces the number of existing shelter beds, transitional housing, or permanent supportive housing units available.

There are two permanent emergency shelters in the North County:

• La Posada de Guadalupe Shelter in Carlsbad - Accepts single men
• Operation HOPE in Vista - Accepts single women and families

An emergency shelter is designed to provide a transitional, temporary place to sleep or live. La Posada de Guadalupe has a special emphasis on migrant farm workers throughout San Diego County. It is not exclusive to people experiencing homelessness in the City of Carlsbad.

What other programs are currently in place to assist people experiencing homelessness?
The county operates all of the county behavioral health and substance use programs for the region for Medi-Cal recipients. They provide same-day medication clinics, outpatient and inpatient behavioral health clinics, crisis houses, hotlines and mobile psychiatric response teams, detoxes, and substance use treatment facilities.

The county also offers specialty programs for individuals experiencing homelessness with serious mental illness, substance use disorders or mental health disorders, and pays for the mental health care providers and substance abuse services in the region.

The San Diego Department of Health and Human Services benefit workers who comes to Carlsbad once a week to enroll people experiencing homelessness with available county resources such as MediCal, CalFresh and General Relief.

Veterans experiencing homelessness might also find transitional or permanent housing resources, recuperative care facilities, rental assistance programs, physical, behavioral, and substance use resources and other assistance from the federal Veterans Administration.

What are the causes of homelessness?
Homelessness is on the rise nationwide, and the reasons range.

Lack of affordable housing, loss of a job, and family issues are commonly recognized causes of homelessness. People can also be made homeless as a result of mental health and substance use disorders or involvement with the criminal justice system, or by disabilities, exposure to trauma and violence, particularly domestic violence, sudden serious illness or the death of a partner.

What will the city do about people who don’t want help?
People experiencing homelessness cannot be forced into a shelter, it would violate their constitutional rights, and it is not against the law to be homeless. The city’s Homeless Outreach Team and clinical social workers on the contract with the city work to build relationships based on trust with people experiencing homelessness they encounter in an effort to overcome their reluctance to seek help. This includes making them aware of the range of services that might be available and helping them access the benefits to which they are entitled. Research has shown that this persistent offer of help tends gradually overcome the resistance to accepting it. At the same time, the Police Department will continue its work to prevent homeless people and all segments of the community from violating the laws.

What can be done about people experiencing mental illnesses, using drugs or both?
Carlsbad Police enforce the laws related to drug use and public intoxication.

When it comes to mental illness, a police officer or trained clinician may hospitalize those who pose an immediate threat to their safety or the safety of others or who are gravely disabled. Once taken to the hospital, a person must meet “medical necessity” to remain hospitalized. Once that immediate threat passes, they can no longer be held against their will. Individuals can be placed on conservatorship, but that decision must be made by a judge.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness in the U.S. reports one out of five Americans experience mental illness and one in 25 have a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar or psychosis. There has been an increase in mental health resources for individuals who are a history of homelessness.

What is a recuperative care center?
A recuperative care center is a 30-90 day program that provides more medical care than a shelter, but not as much as a skilled nursing facility. Generally, such a facility provides a person experiencing homelessness with an additional safety net of security and stability as they recuperate from an inpatient hospitalization like a surgery, serious medical diagnosis, or psychiatric hospitalization. These programs provide a transitional place for a person to heal, receive “in-home” services like physical or occupational therapy, wound care, attend follow-up appointments, and stabilize on medication. People experiencing homelessness need to be referred to such a center by medical professionals.

How is that different from an adult day care center?
A day care center offers non-medical supportive services, and clients can come and go as they choose.

Is homelessness concentrated in certain areas of the city?
Homelessness can be found throughout the city. Some of the population is visible and others are not. Staff has identified the highest census tracts from the Point-in-Time Count are located in downtown Carlsbad and along state Route 78.

What is the best way to report issues related to homelessness?
Please contact the Homeless Outreach Team at 442-339-2249 or policehot@carlsbadca.gov. You can also submit a Homeless Outreach Team service request online.

What can I do?
Community input is always encouraged. If you’d like to discuss the city’s homeless response efforts, please contact our Homeless Services Manager Chris Shilling.