VOA Update on Homeless in Orange County

From Volunteers of America:

More than 60 of Orange County’s most seriously ill homeless people are on track to move into housing with services to help them address health issues, under a new county contract approved Tuesday.

County health officials will choose the homeless people, based on assessments of their health vulnerabilities, and they will receive housing and services through a contract with The Illumination Foundation, a nonprofit that specializes in helping homeless people move from the streets into housing with on-site support services, and then into permanent housing.

The goal, officials said, is to help homeless people move off the streets, stabilize their health issues, develop positive relationships with other community members, and save public money in hospital emergency services and other costs.

Health issues will include one or more physical ailments, substance addictions, or mental illnesses, officials said. On-site staff will include case managers, mental health workers, psychiatrists, therapists, housing navigators, and peer recovery counselors who have been through experiences similar to the homeless people.

The contract was approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday without public discussion, though they did talk about it at their April 24 meeting.