SACRAMENTO, Calif — Homeless issues continue to be a major problem facing Sacramento. Sacramento County's Point and Time homeless count indicates more than 5,000 people experience homelessness on any given night.
In July 2020, Sacramento created the Department of Community Response to reduce reliance on police in responding to many situations including homelessness and mental health situations.
Bridgette Dean spearheads the department as its director.
Dean is a licensed clinical social worker. Before joining DCR she created the first social services unit in law enforcement in the Sacramento area. Dean previously oversaw the Sacramento Police Department’s Mental Health, Impact Team, and Hospital units.
"I'm in my position to respond differently to homelessness and a lot of the issues that are around that. All of that social work experience for me has -- really paid off [because] we have to have a system change to how we respond to the needs of our community," Dean told ABC10.
Dean's Personal Story
Dean opened up to ABC10 about her personal experience with homelessness. She says she was one of nine children and ended up raising her four younger siblings when her father died.
"I dropped out of high school, I was a GED recipient and I went back later and ended up getting my education," Dean said. "I graduated from high school as an adult."
Dean said she had her first child at 18 and a second child soon after. She was a single mother.
"I've lived in poverty as a child, I've experienced poverty as an adult and I've experienced the struggle of at times being homeless with children," Dean said.
Dean said her lived experience allows her to know what it's like to walk in the shoes of the folks that are experiencing homelessness.
Bottlenecks in Homelessness
Dean said the hardest thing she sees is getting services to people where they are and meeting them there as well. She says DCR strives and wants to continue to bring individuals to services they need.
"We're working with non-profits to make sure we create more entryways more entry points across the city and make it easy and accessible to get the services you need," Dean said.
Dean shared ways in which the Sacramento city government can help address homeless issues across Sacramento.
"We need more housing, we need more landlords willing to take emergency housing vouchers. We need more city and county collaboration which we are working toward," Dean said.
In November, Sacramento's Mayor Steinberg proposed a "right to housing" that would be effective January 2023. The proposal would add 1200 housing vouchers to get unhoused individuals off the street.
Along with the bottlenecks in the Sacramento region, Dean offered her solutions to help fix the homeless crisis.
"We need to stop having these arguments about whether you're sheltered or unsheltered. We are all one community," Dean said. "Until we stop having the back and forth of who is who, what's what, we are failing people in our community every day who are on the streets."
Dean highlighted the challenges of getting homeless assistance regardless of race. Dean said there is a disproportionate rate of people of color experiencing homelessness.
In 2019, Sacramento Steps Forward, a non-profit that is federally mandated to count the homeless population reported a disproportionate number of Black and American Indian/Alaska Native people experiencing homelessness.
Many experts say historic and ongoing inequities are behind the increasing number of people of color experiencing homelessness.
"We need to invest into those communities and put resources back into agencies, non-profits, service providers who not only mirror their community but know their community," Dean said.
Dean shared her views about the housing first model and how the topic is talked about.
"I think we have a divisive discussion often in homelessness with one or the other," Dean said.
She added Roomkey and motel vouchers programs are really a quick version of housing first.
Dean said she doesn't ask if someone needs substance abuse or mental health assistance first before providing housing. She said she focuses on providing housing first and then works with the individual to address other needs.
Dean said she wants to work to help communities across all backgrounds that are poverty-ridden but cautions against stalemates that lead to no action.
"Until we start finding those doorways for people to come off the street first and get directed into housing. We will not see a difference," Dean said.
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