On Tuesday city staff presented the City Council with a proposed funding strategy for next fiscal year’s implementation of our Homelessness Action Plan. 

• By securing additional grants, the city will save $145,806 in general fund spending compared to this year’s budget and nearly $300,000 from what was budgeted two years ago.
• The city’s general fund, which pays for most day-to-day city services, is growing at a slower rate than the projected cost to run the city.
• The City Council has challenged staff to find new ways to reduce ongoing spending from the general fund. Grants are one way to do this.

In all, staff have secured more than $1 million in new grant funding to combat homelessness. This includes a state grant that will help address homeless encampments in the downtown Village area. The funding plan will be included with the rest of next year’s budget when it is presented to the City Council in the spring.

Staff also presented its annual report on what has been accomplished from the Homelessness Action Plan over the past fiscal year (July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023). Here are some highlights when comparing data to the same period for fiscal year 2021-22:

• 25% decrease in the number of unduplicated people experiencing homelessness
• 23% decline in dispatched police calls related to homelessness
• 73% reduction in veteran households experiencing homelessness
• 3% increase in the number of people transitioned into permanent housing
• 36 people helped through the city’s new Employment & Benefits Program

Additional progress during the past fiscal year included:

• 66 people placed in temporary shelters 
• 106 encampment cleanups 
• 565 people provided with referrals and other services to help get them off the streets 

More information
Annual report on reducing homelessness
Homelessness Action Plan
Carlsbad’s homeless response efforts
Chris Shilling, Homeless Services Manager, 442-339-2284, chris.shilling@carlsbadca.gov