Recommendations of Homeless Task Force

1. Increase police presence before the summer in downtown and Heisler Park. Provide the appointed officers with direction and training to implement the community outreach program described in recommendation two.

2. Establish a permanent patrol/community outreach officer, trained to deal with the homeless. As soon as staffing levels permit it, but no later than January 2008.

3. Endorse a program to expand the scope of homeless-aid activities at the Laguna Beach Resource Center.

4. Research the county adult mental health care services agency and other health care agencies’ staff availability to partner with the city’s police department and the resource center.

5. Invite a representative of the Interfaith Council to participate in the task force, as local religious groups provide significant support to the homeless.

6. Research legal options and implications associated with an ordinance prohibiting “aggressive panhandling,” which is based on behavior. Examine other ordinances that limit the sale of alcohol to intoxicated people and the consumption of alcohol in public.

7. Work with local businesses and the Chamber of Commerce to establish an education program that encourages merchants, shoppers and tourists to discourage panhandling and to offer means by which the public instead can provide meaningful assistance to the homeless.

8. As requested by county personnel, have the city attorney write a letter requesting that Laguna Beach homeless people have access to the Homeless Court in Santa Ana

9. Work with other cities to determine if there is a regional need for establishing a homeless court in South Orange County.