Housing Focused System of Care

In early 2025, the City Council adopted a Homelessness Strategic Plan to align all city departments around a shared vision, measurable goals and resource investment for addressing homelessness. Building on the four pillars detailed in the plan – prevention, intervention, coordination and communication – the city is working to refine its system of care and reimagine its current sheltering model.

This new housing-focused system of care model is in the proposal stage and will be presented to the City Council at their regular meeting on Tuesday, July 28.

Led by the Homelessness Prevention and Intervention Division, the proposed model aims to create a direct pathway from homelessness to permanent housing with city control at each step of the process.

The proposed model includes:

A city-controlled, housing-focused system of care, with several connected stages that would:

1) have the city’s homeless street outreach teams and public safety-first responders serve as the primary referral point to the city’s interim housing resources

2) via referral, connect unhoused individuals with interim housing options focused on the preparation for transition out of homelessness

3) create pathways for individuals to exit directly into permanent affordable and supportive housing.

The city would have direct control over each stage of this interconnected system of care – rather than the County or individual service providers – and would control access to every resource stage, set the standards for every site, and be accountable for the results.

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FAQ

What is a housing focused system of care?

Different from “Housing first,” which is a blanket term used for a variety of programs that don’t necessarily provide services paired with housing or have mechanisms to ensure housing stability, the city’s housing focused system of care has:

structured stages that are intended to move through housing pathways
financial counseling, substance-use treatment options, and workforce development integrated into interim housing
emergency psychiatric services for people whose needs exceed what interim housing can provide
and city accountability at every stage of the process.

Why does this model propose closing the SAMOSHEL shelter?

SAMOSHEL was originally designed as a temporary facility, housed in a tent-like structure. That temporary facility has served a very necessary role in the city’s homelessness services but has now been in operation for more than 30 years, far longer than it was originally intended.

In the 30 years since SAMOSHEL opened, best practices show that individuals tend to stabilize and recover more successfully in more private, dignified spaces, rather than in congregate shelters like SAMOSHEL, which place dozens of people into one large room.

The new model proposes moving away from this reliance on a single congregate shelter. In alignment with best practices, it will focus city resources on options that provide a direct pathway to permanent housing.

What happens to the people staying at SAMOSHEL now?

All individuals currently residing at SAMOSHEL will transition into alternate interim housing options as part of a managed closure plan.

Does this mean there will be more street homelessness in Santa Monica if there's no SAMOSHEL?

No. While the city is moving away from the congregate shelter model, there is still an urgent need for interim housing within Santa Monica and the region.

For the last two years, the County of Los Angeles has operated an interim housing shelter at the Palm Motel in Santa Monica as part of its Pathway Home program. The County does not plan to renew its Palm Motel lease in August, so the model proposes the city taking over the lease and preserving the Palm Motel as interim housing for the city. It will be operated very differently than SAMOSHEL:

it is individual motel rooms rather than congregate housing
the city would operate it
security and site management would be directed by the city and coordinated with the Police and Fire Departments

In addition to the Palm Motel, the city would fund 35 beds at the Salvation Army's Bell Shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness in Santa Monica that did not become homeless in Santa Monica or have no connection to Santa Monica. Investing in this facility will ensure that there are designated beds that local outreach teams can offer to people who want to come off the street, and will also allow other jurisdictions in LA County to provide that same type of support, given that our investment creates additional capacity for the whole region.

Will there be more shelter beds or fewer in Santa Monica?

SAMOSHEL currently has 60 shelter beds, so while the total amount of shelter beds the city has access to will remain the same at the outset of the new model, 35 of these beds will now be located outside of the city.

To create more interim housing capacity, the city will issue a Request for Information to invite owners of existing motels and apartment properties in both Santa Monica and across LA County to offer sites for the city to lease. Responses will be evaluated against published siting principles that will include a fair geographic distribution of where the facilities are sited, so that no single neighborhood carries the weight of the entire system. Those principles will also be part of what staff presents to the City Council for consideration.

Can people walk up to these facilities for shelter or services?

No. Every site in the system being proposed by the city would be by referral-only. People would enter through city outreach teams and first responder placement, which is how the city keeps the system orderly, matches people to the right resource, and remains accountable for who is served and how.

Who will be eligible for referral to these facilities?

Interim shelter within Santa Monica will be reserved for Santa Monica Program Participants, or SMPP. The city uses this designation across multiple housing and human services programs to prioritize assistance for individuals who fall within one of the following categories:

An individual/household experiencing homelessness whose last permanent address at which they resided was in Santa Monica
An individual/adult-only household experiencing homelessness who has been in Santa Monica for at least three years
An individual/household experiencing homelessness referred by city staff as a high utilizer of city services
An individual experiencing homelessness who currently works in Santa Monica a minimum of thirty hours per week for at least six continuous months
An individual experiencing homelessness who, within the past year, was terminated or laid off from a job in Santa Monica after having worked there a minimum of thirty hours per week for at least six continuous months.
An individual experiencing homelessness who is disabled, meets certain county-wide criteria for being considered extremely vulnerable, has a documented history of homelessness within the city for one year, and has been served by the city’s Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team.

Who will operate the Palm Motel and other potential facilities going forward?

Experienced service providers would operate the facilities under direct, performance-based contracts with the city. The city will publish a Request for Qualifications to build a bench of qualified providers, so that operations at every site are held to written standards that are set and enforced by the city, with reporting requirements and consequences for non-performance.

How will the city be accountable for any impacts of this type of facility on its neighbors?

The city will be accountable through numerous channels:

A regularly updated, public performance dashboard will be deployed, showing site-level data such as placements, exits, calls for service, and/or other metrics.
The city will utilize performance-based contracts with its operators and will enforce these written standards.
The city itself will be in charge of the entire continuum of care being built, including reporting on our progress in open council meeting sessions, where any resident can address the city directly. We are asking to be judged on results, in public, if the new system of care is instituted.

What are the outcome metrics for the proposed new system of care?

The city's primary goals for the new system of care are to:

maintain full occupancy and full utilization of city-funded interim housing beds
maintain an average interim housing length of stay of 120-240 days
and place individuals into permanent housing options within eight months of interim housing enrollment.

What will this cost?

Different scenarios will be presented to the City Council on July 28, and this site will be updated with costs once staff receive direction on which scenario to pursue. The staff report for the July 28 meeting will be made available at least three days prior here.

When is this decided, and how do I weigh in?

The City Council will consider this overarching housing focused system of care proposal at its regular meeting on Tuesday, July 28. Everyone is invited to comment in person at the meeting, in writing through the City Clerk, or by email to clerk.mailbox@santamonica.gov. Find more information about City Council meetings here.

What do I do when I see a person experiencing homelessness that needs help?

If you encounter someone in a potentially life-threatening emergency, please call 911.

If you encounter someone in immediate need or have a public safety concern, please call (310) 458-8491 for Santa Monica Police Department's non-emergency line.

For any additional homelessness related support needs or service connections, please call 311 or email 311@santamonica.gov.

See the full list of the city’s homeless services here.

What happens when people refuse services or shelter?

The city funds a variety of homeless street outreach teams that provide a wide range of services for people experiencing homelessness. It is not uncommon for unsheltered individuals to decline services when street outreach teams first offer support. People experiencing homelessness have often experienced traumatic events while sleeping outside and it can take multiple engagements to build trust with an outreach worker. City outreach teams are dedicated to understanding the needs and goals of everyone they encounter and present resource options that attend to those needs to help bring people inside.

What other types of homeless services, sheltering, and housing activities are happening in the other 88 cities in the County of LA?

The best understanding that we have about investments being made in homeless services, sheltering, and housing activities in other cities within LA County is through published information of Measure A Local Solution Funds.

For more information on Measure A investment, please visit LA County's Measure A Resource Hub.

For a detailed breakout of Measure A Location Solution Investments, please visit LA County's Responsive Regional Plan Airtable.