Emergency Response Overview
In response to the escalating homelessness and housing affordability crisis in the region and nationwide, the Long Beach City Council declared a local homelessness emergency (Emergency) on January 10, 2023. The Emergency, which concluded on February 29, 2024, mobilized City of Long Beach staff to utilize emergency provisions to bolster existing efforts and implement new programs to further address the crisis.
The Emergency ultimately allowed the City to divert and direct extra resources to address the Homelessness crisis in Long Beach. As a result, the City streamlined processes, expedited services, and dedicated additional staff to prioritize immediate and preventative solutions for people experiencing homelessness.
The Emergency was a concerted effort that yielded significant results and lessons learned. Most notably, the City marked a 2.1% decrease in homelessness, the first decrease in seven years, as noted by the 2024 Point-In-Time Count.
To learn more about our Emergency efforts, the City’s Homelessness Emergency After Action Report provides a record and evaluation of the Emergency response efforts, identifying both achievements and opportunities for improvements in future homelessness response efforts and emergency mobilizations more broadly.
Emergency Response Activities
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Notable Activities Related to the Emergency Response
- Set Up Emergency Response Structure
- Temporary Centralized Emergency Response Efforts in the Downtown Area and Reveal of a New Mobile Access Center
- Launch of a Donation Campaign to Raise Money for the Mayor’s Fund for Homeless Action
- Housing Voucher Incentives for Property Owners
- Awarded $4 million to Holos Communities for the Development of 140 Units (Affordable Housing)
- Awarded $2.1 million to Jamboree Housing Corp. for the Development of 52 units (Affordable Housing)
- Awarded Negotiating Rights to Develop Former North Neighborhood Library (Affordable Housing)
- Activation of a Field Command Center to Support Staffing of Outreach Activities
- Downtown Expansion of Street Outreach Deployment of a new Mobile Access Center (MAC)
- Sent Emergency Response Update Letter to Long Beach Unified School District
- Sent Emergency Response Update Letter to Los Angeles County
- Sent Emergency Response Update Letter to City Partners
- Sent Emergency Response Update Letter to Los Angeles Metro
- Sent Emergency Response Update Letter to Long Beach Transit
- Began Construction of a RV Sanitation and Water Filling Site for People Living in Recreational Vehicles
- Forthcoming Installation of 30 to 35 Modular Non-congregate Shelter Units (Tiny Homes)
- City Council Allocation of $13 million in One-time funds from Fiscal Year 2022 Year-end Results to Support the City’s Emergency Response to Homelessness
- Shared Resources Available to Community to Addressing issues Related to Homelessness
- Mayor Rex Richardson Hosted Housing Provider Community Forum
- Awarded Negotiating Rights to Habitat for Humanity to Develop Townhomes for First-Time Homebuyers (Affordable Housing)
- Visual Improvement Program Grants for Businesses
- Support for Business Improvement Districts (BIDS)
- Set up 60 Temporary Overnight Beds at the Multi-Service Center to Provide People Experiencing Homelessness a Warm Place to Rest
- Community Donation Drive of Physical Items
- Launched Internal Call Center to Conduct Phone Outreach to Long Beach Housing Providers
- Expanded Mobile Access Center Outreach to Additional City Locations
- Launched a Data Dashboard Featuring Local Homelessness Data
- Long Beach Police Department Doubled Quality of Life Team
- Long Beach Launched Partnership Form Seeking Community Organizations to Serve Residents Experiencing Homelessness
- Safe Parking Program Expanded for People Sheltered in Automobiles
- Winter Shelter Operations Extended to April 30
- Launched Text Alert Program to Connect People Experiencing Homelessness to Resources and Services
- Recreational Vehicle Sanitation and Water-Filling Site Opened
- Hosted Second Drive Thru Donation Event
- Opened a Temporary Emergency Shelter with 85+ Beds for People Experiencing Homelessness
- Long Beach to Receive $5.2 Million in Grants to Support Rapid Rehousing and Permanent Housing Opportunities for People Experiencing Homelessness
- Long Beach Releases Results of the 2023 Homeless Point in Time Count
- City of Long Beach Opens Temporary Emergency Shelter for People Experiencing Homelessness
- Long Beach’s Mobile Access Center Continued Homeless Services Outreach Throughout May
- Long Beach Now Offering Evening Mental Health Therapy Programming to People Experiencing Homelessness
- Hosted Third Drive Thru Donation Event Saturday, May 27, to Support People Experiencing Homelessnes
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Emergency Proclamation to Address Homelessness - Updates to City Council
Long Beach Emergency Response Leaders provide updates to the Long Beach City Council every month.
- February 6, 2024
- Presentation / Recording
- December 12, 2023
- November 14, 2023
- October 10, 2023
- Six Month Report - September 12, 2023
- August 8, 2023
- July 11, 2023
- June 20, 2023
- June 6, 2023
- May 23, 2023
- May 16, 2023
- May 2, 2023
- April 18, 2023
- April 4, 2023
- March 21, 2023
- March 7, 2023
- February 21, 2023
- February 7, 2023
- January 24, 2023
- January 10, 2023
- February 6, 2024
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Emergency Response Livestreams
Tune in to the City of Long Beach YouTube each Tuesday at 11 a.m. to join the City of Long Beach Homelessness Emergency Response Livestream.
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Emergency Response Timeline
The City of Long Beach digital timeline shares a snapshot of emergency response efforts, offering a visual representation of the City’s actions taken under its emergency proclamation to address homelessness. View the timeline here or by clicking the image below.
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Homelessness Digital Dashboard
The City of Long Beach data dashboard showcases local homelessness data, including demographics of people experiencing homelessness and data on the various housing and support services offered by the City. The dashboard is part of the City’s commitment to aiding the most vulnerable members of the Long Beach community and will serve as an accountability platform that will provide timely, transparent data to the public. View the Data Dashboard.
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Resources
