A homeless shelter per se is not what Manteca needs.
City leaders reached that conclusion after weighing court decisions and what has worked — and hasn’t worked — in other California cities.
Manteca is moving forward with a long-range strategy to address homeless issues that is based on six key conclusions:
*Focusing on law enforcement alone is insufficient.
*Reducing the number of unsheltered homeless will take a multi-pronged approach.
*The needs and the rights of the homeless and the Manteca community overall must be balanced.
*A homeless navigation as opposed to simply a homeless shelter is needed.
*Regional partnerships need to be formed given homeless move around.
*Agreements with Caltrans and the county are needed to make SURE all agencies are on the same page.
*The full use of “Laura’s Law” also known as assisted outpatient treatment is needed within the county for sustained and intensive court-ordered outpatient treatment for individuals with mental illness who may be at risk of grave disability, deterioration in life skills and functioning, self-harm, and/or violence towards others.
The assisted out-patient treatment is not an alternate to voluntary treatment. It is a way to get services to those homeless who refuse voluntary treatment working in conjunction with the court system.
Such a program implemented in other counties with local jurisdictions has led to collaboration on getting assistance to those individuals with a mandated focus on the homeless.
On Tuesday, the council is expected to move forward with paperwork that will allow them to accept $2 million in state pass through funds from San Joaquin County to pursue purchasing 8 acres at 682 South Main as the permanent location for a navigation center and a mixed-use project.
The navigation center will include temporary shelter, intensive case management, housing navigation, employment services, meals, medical care, showers, and laundry facilities.
The proposed navigation center is envisioned to include a 50-bed men’s dorm, a 30-bed women’s dorm, a 20-bed family dorm, a 10-bed couples’ dorm, and 16 units of transitional housing. It will have a common room that will be used the dining and watching TV, full kitchen and food service, two offices for the operator the city contracts with, three offices for shared outside services, a classroom/multipurpose room/activity room, as well as two sets of restrooms and showers.
A 126-bed facility with 19,300 square feet is pegged at $9 million if Sprung Structures are used, $12 million if pre-engineered modular buildings are used, and $14.3 million if permanent wood-framed buildings are used.
A 299-bed facility with 32,500 square feet is estimated to cost $11.7 million if Sprung Structures are used, $16.4 million if pre-engineered modular buildings are used, and $19.9 million if permanent wood-framed buildings are used.
So far the city has secured $3.1 million from outside sources to go toward the cost.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
