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The HOPE team speaks with an individual experiencing homelessness. | Photo courtesy of San Bernardino County
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A sheriff’s department team that connects homeless people with housing and support services recently worked throughout Rancho Cucamonga and surrounding areas of San Bernardino County.
On from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. the Community Service & Reentry Division, Homeless Outreach Proactive Enforcement, or HOPE, team conducted Operation Shelter Me in Rancho Cucamonga and surrounding unincorporated areas of the county.
The outreach effort aimed to connect county staff members with unhoused residents, according to a county statement. The four-man sheriff’s outreach team offered housing, medical and mental health treatment services.
“The team provided 21 individuals with referrals to programs for assistance,” according to the county’s statement. “Four individuals were linked with follow-up professional services and one veteran experiencing homelessness was provided emergency housing while awaiting services from local veteran service providers. While service capacity is limited, the teams will continue to work with this population to get them into services as they become available.”
The HOPE team focused on locating homeless individuals suffering from the most significant forms of mental illness in order to get them “linked to restorative mental health pathways,” officials said.
One individual the team encountered possibly qualifies for a state program for unhoused people “with histories of hospitalization or incarceration, and histories of violence to themselves or others,” officials said.
“Staff will coordinate with the Department of Behavioral Health for further services for this individual,” officials said.
In June 2023, San Bernardino County opted into Laura’s Law — state legislation also referred to as Assisted Outpatient Treatment that “provides opportunities for court-ordered community treatment pathways,” according to the county.
The sheriff’s HOPE team was able to conduct this homelessness outreach operation with funding from Senate Bill 170, officials said.
“The H.O.P.E. team and other aligned resources will continue operations of this type throughout the county over the next several years,” officials said.
Authorities asked the public to contact the HOPE team at 909-387-0623 or email hope@sbcsd.org if they know anyone experiencing homelessness or in need of services.
