THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS wants county outreach workers to find out whether unhoused people “have roots” in San Joaquin County before offering them services — and to relocate those they determine aren’t from here.
In a unanimous vote, supervisors directed county staff last month to draft policies requiring outreach workers to prioritize a “Re-Unification Return to Home Approach” as a first step when helping homeless individuals. But what exactly that means is unclear.
“We want to take care of our natives,” Supervisor Tom Patti, who represents the western portion of the county, told Stocktonia by phone. “People that come here, that have origins here.”
Ahead of the Nov. 12 vote, Patti and Supervisor Paul Canepa of Stockton argued in a letter to the board that, amid limited county resources, honing in on unhoused residents’ origins will help “provide permanent solutions to those most in need, specifically long-term residents.”
They proposed prioritizing “a warm handoff (of unhoused people) to family and friends … both locally and for those that need one-way transportation to their place of origin.”
Patti described the current approach as “facilitating and giving people tents, and bringing them boxes of goodies, and helping them stay in place.”
When asked if people experiencing homelessness have the same right as housed people to move to San Joaquin County, Patti did not directly address the question.
“If somebody’s housed, that’s fine,” he said in response. “If they’re living on a levee … that’s not housed.”
Following precedent
Patti pointed to San Joaquin County’s recent new law against camping, passed after the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority found that barring camping in cities without enough shelter beds doesn’t count as “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Constitution.
The District 3 supervisor says he modeled the November proposal on an executive directive San Francisco Mayor London Breed made in August. It ordered “all relevant departments and service providers” to extend relocation support “before any other service or shelter is offered.”
Ninety percent of unhoused people in San Joaquin County were living here when they became homeless, the 2024 Point in Time Count survey found. Counties are federally required to count and collect data on their homeless populations every two years.
“If somebody’s housed, that’s fine. If they’re living on a levee … that’s not housed.” Supervisor Tom Patti
Nearly 75% of unhoused people were living in the county for four years or less when they became homeless, the survey found. Five- to nine-year county residents made up just 15%, and those a decade or more about 11%.
Patti’s and Canepa’s pitch didn’t explain what standards or documents officials would use to define who’s local and who isn’t. The Nov. 12 vote directed county department heads to draft more specific language to bring back to the board, the letter shows. No timeline for doing so was provided.
Last week, Patti suggested a local could be defined as someone with family members or children in the county. But he said he doesn’t think there is some “set formula” for how residency will be determined or what will happen to those who refuse to leave the county.
“Anything we do is more discretionary than hardcore enforcement,” Patti added. “We’re not going to send someone out of town against their will.”
Providing options to being unsheltered
At the same time, the board has shown a strong interest in giving the unhoused alternative outdoor living options. Supervisors are scheduled to vote at their Dec. 10 meeting on whether to buy the closed Oakmoore Golf Course on Wilson Way in Stockton as a “safe camping” site for unhoused people who opt to live in tents rather than shelters.
In meetings with county officials who come in contact with the unhoused, Patti said he found that the county had only been able to reunite three people with their families over six months.
Supervisor Canepa said reunification efforts aren’t always successful and that some unhoused people, such as those being released from jail, lack the money or transportation they need to get home.
Sheriff Patrick Withrow said social service workers try to work with inmates well before their release dates to try to ensure they don’t become homeless.
This story originally appeared in Stocktonia.
