A recent outreach operation by county sheriff’s deputies in San Bernardino’s unincorporated areas and surrounding areas resulted in nearly two dozen people experiencing homelessness receiving referrals to assistance programs and “follow-up professional services,” county officials said last week.
On Jan. 31 from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., the sheriff’s Homeless Outreach Proactive Enforcement, or HOPE Team conducted another Operation Shelter Me outing in the San Bernardino area.
This initiative aims to connect staff with unhoused residents, offering them housing, medical and mental health treatment services. During this operation, the team focused on individuals with significant mental illnesses with the goal of linking them with “restorative mental health pathways,” according to a county statement.
Deputies located 27 county residents who were unhoused and provided 19 individuals with referrals to assistance programs, officials reported. The HOPE Team connected “two individuals with follow-up professional services.”
In June 2023, the county opted into Laura’s Law, also known as Assisted Outpatient Treatment, which provides opportunities for court-ordered medical treatment options for people who have histories of hospitalization, incarceration or violence. Deputies, however, did not identify any potential candidates for assisted outpatient treatment during the Jan. 31 outreach effort.
The HOPE Team and other outreach workers will do similar operations countywide throughout the next year with funding from the Community Concerns program. Officials said “this special funding” approved by the Board of Supervisors enables the sheriff’s department “to address topics of concern, such as homelessness and mental illness, for county residents,” officials said.
To report individuals experiencing homelessness who need services, authorities asked the public to contact the HOPE Team by phone at 909-387-0623 or via email at hope@sbcsd.org.
