Santa Barbara's New "Safe Sleeping Program

We Need To Stop Ticketing The Homeless for Illegal Camping

On this past Saturday at a meeting of SEAT At The Table, a new homeless advocacy group in Santa Barbara, a member called for the creation of a “Safe Sleeping Program”.

The idea is both innovative and provocative, and addresses the massive criminalization of homelessness that has occurred in the City of Santa Barbara over the past few years.

As is well known, the Common Ground volunteers surveyed 1056 people on the streets of the south coast of Santa Barbara County in March of 2011, briefly interviewing these people and filling out for them the Vulnerability Index—a brief, but comprehensive assessment of physical and mental well-being.  Many homeless advocates estimate that three times that many are homeless each year in our area.

Recently, Trinity Episcopal Church, the big and beautiful stone church on the corner of State and Micheltorena, has decided to stop being a “safe haven” for the poor and frail people who took refuge on their door steps and in their yard.  For a number of months this congregation, led by social justice advocate Rev. Mark Asman, graciously welcomed these weary strangers to their door at night and allowed all sorts of campers to curl up under their covered walkway.  Soon there will be nowhere for these people to go without facing police harassment.

It has already become a huge problem.  Last fall on several nights we had no available shelter beds for woman anywhere in town.  Moreover, homeless advocates are very concerned about the lack of “respite beds” (that it, beds for poor people being released from Cottage Hospital), and the lack of beds for those with mental health challenges (including the “dually diagnosed”).  

A recent Grand Jury Santa Barbara Grand Jury report severely criticized the services of our local mental health agencies, stating that the county jail had become the de facto central mental health institution of our community.

The poor, sick, the infirm, the mentally ill are wandering our streets at night seeking refuge in doorways.  Last week I spoke to a man who got three tickets in one night.

The idea of a “Safe Sleeping Program” would be modeled after the Safe Parking Program, which is currently run by New Beginnings Counseling Center.  People would need to sign up in advance, alcohol and drugs would not be permitted on site, people would only be allowed to sleep at the site (perhaps arrive a 7pm and leave by 7am).  Ideally, the site would be indoors.  All human being deserve to sleep indoors if that want to in a safe and secure environment.  It could be like a Warming Center that is open 365 days a year.

If no spot can be found indoors, a suitable outdoor spot must be found.  Porta-potties would be brought in and the sites would be monitored by professionals, as the Safe Parking Program spaces as monitored.   Moreover, the clients would be offered various services, including outreach, job club, counseling groups, and other supportive services.

I do not know what types of sites we could find—a parking lot, a field, a gymnasium, etc.  We desperately need to find a place.  Four years ago we did not have a Warming Center and we made that happen.  I know that we can make this happen too.  It is the right thing to do.

With the closing of the Freedom Warming Centers and the closing of the winter beds at Casa Esperanza, an estimated 150 beds have been taken away from the most frail and destitute people of our community, people who are now being ticketed for sleeping outside.

This has to stop!  The criminalization of poverty is an injustice!

SEAT At The Table, the group that came up with this idea, is a coalition of homeless and formerly homeless people who hope to shape public policies that address the systemic causes of poverty and homelessness.  They envision grassroots, consumer-driven public institutions serving the true needs of their constituents..