CHICO — Homelessness remained a consistent challenge and top priority for officials throughout Butte County and Chico the past year, with anti-camping enforcement continuing in Chico with no pause in sight.
Charged by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide call to address homelessness, Chico, Oroville and other localities’ officials worked to figure out avenues that would allow them to legally remove camps.
Ron Belser, nine-year director of Code Enforcement for Oroville, said Aug. 21 that while his resources are mostly devoted to homelessness issues, “it’s not a problem that we’ve ever turned our back to … or said that it was OK to behave a certain way.
“This isn’t a problem we’re going to solve; it’s a problem we’re going to manage,” Belser said.
A security camera oversees Chico’s alternative camp site, obscured behind fencing, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024 at Eaton and Cohasset roads in Chico, California. (Michael Weber/Enterprise-Record)
And on this “problem,” local officials have looked to gain clarity on what enforcement power they do or do not have when respecting one’s rights during camp abatement, particularly in June when the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Grants Pass v. Johnson that jurisdictions can enforce anti-camping laws without regard to available nor adequate shelter.
In Chico, city officials filed in August to a federal court requesting exit from its settlement in Warren v. Chico, the ruling which resulted in the city’s 177 Pallet shelters to accommodate a rigid relocation process. The city claimed the agreement is “unworkable” in maintaining safety of public property, and that it is now backed by the Supreme Court’s decision.
As officials look to strengthen their front towards removing camps, service organizations opened more pathways for many homeless people in 2024, including new programs devoted solely to serving people experiencing addiction or mental illness while homeless.
The county and local nonprofits beefed up programs this year following a “housing first” approach to shelter, transitional and permanent housing by including mental health and addiction services.
Housing opportunities now exist for chronically homeless and disabled people that did not exist before, like Chico Housing Action Team’s 20-cabin campus Everhart Village, which opened right next to the Butte County Behavioral Health facility for immediate and regular behavioral health care.
And serving the population of chronically homeless people are dedicated outreach teams that have been the backbone of jurisdictions enforcing anti-camping laws in public areas, in considering their dignity and fundamental rights to property.
Nonprofits Safe Space Chico, which hosts summer and winter shelters in Chico churches, and North State Shelter Team, which does weekly mobile shower services, have both put in work to move people’s belongings when law enforcement comes knocking on moving day.
Butte County
Throughout Butte County, outreach workers with the county Department of Behavioral Health and Department of Employment and Social Services did field work with people regardless of their living situation.
The Butte County Department of Employment and Social Services, on an administrative end, takes in housing referrals from all organizations in the county including the largest shelters like Torres Community Shelter and Chico’s Genesis (Pallet) housing site.
An entrance sign leads to Everhart Village, a 20-cabin campus dedicated to housing homeless clients with Butte County Behavioral Health clients, as well as the BCBH Sobering Center operated by Horizon Treatment Services, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024 in Chico, California. (Michael Weber/Enterprise-Record)
DESS, which is also the lead administrator for the Butte County Homeless Continuum of Care, works with jurisdictions with their housing referrals. Outreach workers with this department also accompany law enforcement to help with services, while BCBH workers deal with mental health issues.
Similarly, Chico’s Target police team is also accompanied by DESS and BCBH professionals when the city’s social worker hands out assessments for shelter following the Warren v. Chico settlement agreement.
Navigating services
In this year, navigation centers have been clearly identified as a key service in addressing homelessness in a “housing first” approach.
DESS’s navigation center in Oroville is the main hub for housing referrals, and True North Housing Alliance will be opening their own navigation center expansion to the Torres Community within one year.
Because there are so many services — for families, veterans, disabled, chronically homeless — these centers are directed to help appropriately connect people with what they need, according to service providers.
Services adjacent to homelessness include BCBH’s Sobering Center which opened Aug. 1, allowing walk in and immediate care for people who are acutely intoxicated.
Soon, CARE court will be in effect for Butte County in December, promising to open an avenue for families, social workers and law enforcement to request CARE court for certain people who struggle to live independently.
Chico housing
Capacity for affordable housing and temporary shelter increased in Chico, both for permanent affordable housing and temporary shelter shelter.
Of 1,251 affordable housing units in the pipeline since 2020 using disaster tax credits, and serving area median incomes of 30-60%, 575 units are now completed and occupied, 542 are in construction and 134 are in pre-development, according to a housing report by the city in August 2024.
For homeless families, shelter nonprofit Jesus Center’s Renewal Center has been open since September 2023, serving stays up to six months with a focus on childcare and classes for kids in order to free time for parents to gain work training and work on next steps toward housing.
At Chico’s Genesis housing site, where 177 Pallet shelters were built as result of the Warren v. Chico settlement agreement, 368 people were served at least one night within two years of its opening. Notably, 78% of the people served were identified as being homeless for more than one year.
Meanwhile, its alternative campsite, where people determined incompatible with the city’s two biggest shelters, saw a massive maintenance job in August that displaced homeless people who were not authorized to be there, and also improved the site’s safety with increased spacing between camps and security cameras.
A recent success celebrated is The Foundation. Built by nonprofit Jamboree on the former grounds of the Jesus Center, it opened in June to serve a variety of households with mixed income, including 43 units with Section 8 housing and 27 units dedicated for people with special needs.
Oroville housing
In Oroville, city councilors heard about continued need for more affordable housing development from the Butte County Housing Authority, with 882 units coming online in the city in the past five years.
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A report by Amy Bergstrand, director of business assistance and housing development for Oroville, showed vacancy rates at 1% to none for new affordable housing complexes in the city, and wait lists exceeding 80 with wait times up to one year or more.
For success in light of shelter opportunity, Oroville Rescue Mission has been working away at opening a 105-bed expansions slated for December called Esperanza Village, with the help of the city to obtain more than $4.4 million in grants, to help provide safe parking, safe camping and 30 double-bed Pallet shelters.
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