The City began implementing a comprehensive approach to addressing homelessness in 2018. This includes:

• Adopting a Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness.
• Work with full-time social workers, a County case manager, and an outreach specialist who work to better connect unhoused people with critical services and support, including housing opportunities, shelter and/or mental/addiction programs.
• Creating a Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) consisting of specially trained Sheriff’s deputies and the City social worker to focus on chronic homelessness, connect the unsheltered to shelter and/or other program resources and to make sure individuals are following the law.
• Increasing the supply of affordable housing in Vista. Matching people searching for affordable housing with homeowners with available space.
• Creating a protocol to address encampments. Increasing frequency of regular cleanups of encampments.
• Enforcing city laws related to parks, encampments and housing.
• Dedicating funds to North County non-profit organizations with programs to reduce homelessness and secure shelter beds for the homeless population in North County.
• Participating in a regional task force to coordinate efforts among all North County cities to identify and develop solutions.

Provides emergency shelter at various locations throughout North County.

• Operation Hope North County: High barrier shelter for families and women
• La Posada: Low barrier shelter for adult men
• Haven House: Low barrier shelter for adult men and women
• Interfaith Family Shelter: Low barrier shelter for families with at least 1 child under 18 or a family with a disabled dependent adult.
• Buena Creek Navigation Center: Low barrier shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness in the City of Vista

The City partners with several providers to address homelessness in Vista. 

• Alliance for Regional Solutions (Shelter Bed Programs)
• Retread (Buena Creek Navigation Center)
• Operation Hope (Family and Single Women shelter)
• Alpha Project (Case Management)
• Community Housing Works (Affordable Housing Development)
• San Diego Rescue Mission (Social Work/Outreach to the unsheltered)
• Townspeople (Home Share Program)
• National Core | California Communities
• Lifeline Community Services (Financial assistance, case management, financial literacy for residents in threat of becoming homeless)

Despite the City’s best efforts to help people experiencing homelessness to find shelter and connect them with services that can help them, homeless encampments still exist on public property within the City. Certain public lands in the City used for sheltering purposes pose a danger to the health and safety of people who may stay in encampments, as well as to the general public. This is because there are adverse impacts caused by encampment activity, such environmental damage to protected biological preserves, or behavioral and mental health concerns that can lead to unsafe and unsanitary conditions.

The City wishes to protect all its citizens’ health and safety by maintaining clean, safe, and accessible areas and recodifying City of Vista’s Municipal Code Section 9. 20.020B, “No person shall camp on any public property, public park, or any public street or highway….”

In enacting these prohibitions, The City's Homeless Outreach Team actively engages with the unsheltered individuals at the encampments, using the City's contracted street outreach social workers, specially trained Sheriff's deputies and other members, to provide health and housing resources, as well as transportation services to a local shelter. During an abatement, the City will retrieve and store any personal property that may belong to a person if the property has apparent utility in its current condition and can be safely retrieved and safely stored.

Some encampments that are located on public land may be owned by another public agency such as CalTrans or North County Transit District (NCTD). In these situations, the City works directly with the public agency to address the encampment.  However, anyone can report an encampment directly to CalTrans or NCTD. 

The City does not have the authority to clear encampments on private property. Per the City’s Municipal Code, property owners are responsible for addressing encampments on their property. The Sheriff’s Department and the City’s Code Enforcement Division respond to encampment-related issues on private properties and follow normal code compliance procedures per the municipal code, which include removing individuals who violate a no trespass order and/or issuing citations for trash and debris. 

• Report an encampment

The Vista Homelessness Working Group was formed to promote better cooperation and coordination between City departments and promotes education and development of innovative ideas among staff to improve the delivery of City services related to homelessness. City departments represented in the Working Group include: City Manager, City Attorney, Community Development, Code Enforcement, Economic Development, Engineering, Fire, Housing & Homeless Services, Public Works, and Recreation & Community Services. Service providers and public agencies operating in Vista to address homelessness are also represented in the Working Group, including Exodus Recovery, PATH, Alpha Project, Caltrans, San Diego Sheriff’s Department, and the County of San Diego. The Working Group meets every other month and is led by the Homeless Services Program Manager. The Working Group is responsible for oversight of the Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness and aims to:

• Develop uniform messaging and coordination among all stakeholders
• Identify unmet needs of each department and agency
• Define priority actions and develop strategies to achieve them
• Identify necessary funding resources or means of accomplishing goals
• Create metrics to assure progress is being made towards achieving priority goals
• Establish metrics to quantify costs incurred by the City associated with homelessness

The City of Vista Homelessness Service Providers meet on the third Thursday of every other month at the direction of Vista City Council to support system coordination of the Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness and promote coordination among stake holders. This meeting will be an extension of the Homelessness Working Group, who provides education to City staff of ongoing and developing programs and ideas to improve the delivery of City services related to homelessness. 

As the Strategic Plan has evolved over time to better fit the needs of Vista and our unsheltered neighbors, an opportunity for better coordination between service providers, particularly in the outreach & engagement front, has been identified. To address this, the Working Group has been restructured into the Internal Homelessness Working Group and the City of Vista Homelessness Service Provider Meeting. The group discussions will revolve primarily around the outreach & engagement outcomes of each service provider agency and will explore opportunities for collaboration and cooperation.