Santa Maria City Rangers Report Latest Homelessness Trends
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - Santa Maria’s City Rangers presented a report to the Recreation and Parks Commission Tuesday evening at City Hall regarding latest observations in the homelessness population.
The report reveals that addiction to narcotics is one of the most common challenges for homeless individuals.
The latest trends reveal an influx of individuals from Los Angeles, Ventura, and Kern counties living unhoused in the Santa Maria Valley.
Homeless individuals are found in parks, right-of-way areas such as on-and off-ramps, facilities owned by the city, and the Santa Maria Riverbed.
Measurable impacts to the community include vandalism, the closure of park restrooms four days each week, and an increase in shopping cart thefts.
City Rangers say their primary end-game is to connect individuals to assistance resources provided by social services.
There are a total of 16 different local organizations rangers can connect individuals to.
The report shows the most common challenge facing rangers upon approach to unhoused individuals is refusal of assistance.
Rangers say a common reason for refusal is that these individuals don’t trust the organizations providing assistance.
A significant number of camp clean-ups involve the retrieval of illegal narcotics, and rangers say addiction often contributes to an individual’s refusal.
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