For the next two years, Long Beach will attempt to rehouse those living in the city’s largest and longest running homeless encampment: the Los Angeles Riverbed.
The City will use $11 million from California’s Encampment Resolution Fund (ERF) program and another $6.4 million from its own funding and various other grants. The $17.4 million will go towards obtaining a shelter for rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing and street outreach.
The LA Riverbed spans 9.5 miles of LA County, and includes part of Long Beach. During the 2024 Point in Time homelessness count, the city found 246 people living along the riverbed. City staff estimated that roughly 330 people live in the riverbed throughout the year. Long Beach’s goal for this two-year program, expected to begin in the summer, is to shelter 270 people.
Homeless Services Bureau Manager Paul Duncan said that according to city data, people on the riverbed are more likely than those in other encampments to be experiencing homelessness for a year or longer. He also said that from their street outreach results, they see a higher rate of reported disabilities, mental health needs and substance abuse from people in the riverbed.
Homelessness Service staff laid out specific goals for the program:
- Move 130 people who have been homeless for over a year into non-congregate shelter
- Move 100 people into rapid rehousing
- Move 40 people into permanent housing
A bulk of the funding will be used to obtain a shelter, Duncan said. According to the City’s homelessness data dashboard, shelters have been at over 90% capacity since 2022.
Long Beach acquired 60 rooms from the Vagabond Inn during the summer of 2024 to house homeless residents, but the shelter is set to close in three months.
So far this year, Long Beach has assisted 683 homeless individuals with services, moved 334 people into interim housing and 32 people into permanent housing, according to the City’s dashboard.
The funds from California’s ERF will be supplemented with City funds and additional grants that the City will apply for. The $17.4 million will be used as follows:
Duncan gave a brief explanation of each item on the chart:
- Program Coordination and Management: Staffing to oversee the work and provide data.
- Street Outreach: People on the ground talking to homeless residents.
- Non-Congregate Shelter Staffing and Operations: Motel and hotel options to temporarily house people.
- Rapid Rehousing Services and Financial Assistance: Includes short and medium-term case management support, as well as help people get into a lease while they await housing vouchers. Rapid rehousing includes housing navigation, rental assistance, application support and limited furniture assistance.
- Permanent Supportive Housing: Covers housing vouchers.
- Administrative Costs: Covers staffing costs for two years. Duncan said they’re working with current staff and did not mention more staff being hired for this program.
Councilmember Suely Saro asked how the City is going to make sure that those being moved into housing are Long Beach residents and not coming to the riverbed once the new services become known. Duncan said the City will establish a list in the early stages based on those who already live along the riverbed, and will not add people who move to the area in the later stages of the program.
The program does not budget for cleanup costs for the riverbed once people are moved out, though Duncan said they’re going to look for ways to restore green space, beautify the area, create trails and encourage a healthy habitat.
Multiple residents spoke out against the plans to sweep the riverbed, noting that people can lose all their belongings and sense of safety.
“I felt safer when my houseless neighbors were living near me. Why? Because I actually talk to them, built relationships and we looked out for each other,” said a resident who identified herself as Lee. “It’s not hard, it doesn’t take a lot of work to get to know someone. But that means that you’re going to humanize folks and it’s a lot harder to perpetrate violence when you actually see someone as a person.”
Long Beach has received two other ERF grants to clean up encampments in these areas in previous years:
- $1.3 million for the MacArthur Park area
- $5.3 million for the Downtown, Billie Jean King Main Library and Lincoln Park area