Homelessness remains a persistent challenge in Santa Barbara. Shelters and outreach organizations work tirelessly, day and night, to assist unhoused neighbors. Many people who find themselves homeless due to relationship breakdowns or financial hardship can be helped with general case management. This type of “light touch” assistance is offered by all shelters and outreach workers, providing support to those who just need a temporary hand to get back on their feet.
However, there is another group of people experiencing homelessness in Santa Barbara who are much harder to serve — those referred to as high acuity individuals. These are people struggling with persistent mental health issues or co-occurring substance use disorders, making it difficult for them to obtain or maintain housing without intensive support. Their needs go beyond the bottle of water and service referral that outreach workers typically provide. What they truly require is help from trained mental health professionals.
This begs the question: where is Santa Barbara County’s Department of Behavioral Wellness (BeWell) in all of this?
For years, BeWell has given the excuse that it is difficult to hire staff. Meanwhile, there has been little interdepartmental collaboration between the housing and behavioral health departments. This is unacceptable. The current system leaves local shelters to manage severe mental health crises on their own, a responsibility that should not fall under their purview. Shelters are not mental health clinics, and expecting them to act as such does a disservice to both shelter staff and the individuals they are trying to help.
With California shifting its homelessness response dollars toward mental and physical healthcare, it is time for BeWell to step up and begin serving those who need their help the most. High acuity individuals are not just “hard to serve”—they are being neglected by a system that has the resources but refuses to allocate them properly.
Santa Barbara has long prided itself on its commitment to community wellness. But until BeWell starts addressing the glaring mental health needs within our unhoused population, that commitment rings hollow. Our shelters are doing everything they can, but they need backup.