The issue of homelessness in San Diego could be very soon declared a public health crisis by the county.
According to the San Diego Union Tribune report, the county will consider a monumental proposal later today which could result in labeling the topic of homelessness as a "public health crisis".
The proposal's intention is to expand the county's response to the increasing numbers of homeless in San Diego.
Earlier this year, we reported that there's been a 10 percent increase in homelessness throughout the county.
“The reality is that for far too long, county government didn’t have any skin in the game,” Fletcher said in a press conference Monday. “They weren’t active participants in helping our region tackle the issue of homelessness, and that has changed.”
Supervisor Nora Vargas says that this is a step in the right direction that allows the region to elevate its efforts to tackle this issue stronger than before.
“We have a lot of community partners who are doing great work already, but what this does is give us an opportunity to come together and elevate the work in a way that hasn’t been done before through a regional lens,” Supervisor Vargas said.
In attendance at Monday's press conference was Regional Task Force on Homelessness President and CEO Tamera Kohler, who stated that health care is also tied to the mission of decreasing homelessness rates.
“This work of addressing homelessness is about people,” Kohler said. “Last night, I know far too many people spent the night not in their own bed, but on the street, in their cars. Unfortunately, more are in shelters than we’ve seen in a long time.”
