City gets funds for homeless

The federal government is sending $560,000 Costa Mesa’s way as part of a $1.5 billion nationwide program to help local governments prevent residents from becoming homeless.

As with many other programs receiving stimulus funding, the city is required to spend the money quickly. It must be committed by September and completely spent within three years.

Two main options for the city’s portion of the funding would have been to give it all to the county and let it run centralized programs or keep it in the city.

The City Council unanimously decided that it would rather hold onto its portion and distribute it to local nonprofits.

“We didn’t have any guarantee that if we gave that money to the county that it would be used in Costa Mesa,” Councilwoman Katrina Foley said.

City staff recommended giving the money to the county because that option would streamline efforts and would require less of a time commitment on the city’s end. The county has 35,000 homeless people, according to a 2008 survey.

“In staff’s opinion, a regional approach would provide a more comprehensive approach and provide for more oversight of the funds as a whole while putting less of a strain on the county’s homeless providers,” a staff report to the council said.

Given the council’s decision, however, the city will begin looking for proposals from homeless providers who can give people at risk of becoming homeless financial assistance and place them in housing.

The money is specifically targeted to prevent those on the edge from falling into homelessness and not to deal with “long-term homelessness,” according to the stimulus instructions.

Reporter ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.