Good morning, Chairmen Quinn and Stearns and members of both the Subcommittee on Benefits and the Subcommittee on Health. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share San Diego’s story about mentally-ill veterans, who comprise a great percentage of our urban homeless population.

I am here today as Chairwoman of the Board for the Centre City Development Corporation, the single-purpose public agency created by the City of San Diego in 1975. The Corporation operates under California’s Community Redevelopment Law, and is responsible for planning and redevelopment efforts within the 1,500-acre downtown. For 25 years, we have been in the business of forging successful public/private partnerships.

We have invested $285 million in mostly tax increment funds to further the cause of redefining what -- back in the late 1960s -- was described as a physically, financially and socially blighted downtown. Those dollars have leveraged $2 billion in development value and 20,000 jobs through projects such as the highly successful Horton Plaza retail/entertainment complex and the San Diego Convention Center. In addition, we have facilitated 4,700 homes, 4,000 hotel rooms and four million square feet of Class A office space, and we have spent over $60 million on public improvements and infrastructure. The eight neighborhoods of downtown San Diego are fast becoming desirable family-friendly places.

Yet, day in and day out we are faced with the unacceptable situation of a growing homeless population. The issues related to homelessness are challenging. As a redevelopment agency, CCDC’s responsibility has been to provide the appropriate physical environment for economic growth to occur. It was always our thought that social issues would be solved with those two elements in place. However, that has not been the case.

CCDC, therefore, determined that for our redevelopment strategy to be truly successful, we would also need to focus on social issues such as the homeless. Residents, businesses and homeless people alike could not continue to endure conditions as they existed then. Residents encountered substance abuse and its residual effects of theft and litter daily. Businesses endured vandalism and their storefronts being used as toilets. Homeless individuals suffered despair at the inability to find help, housing and services.

Estimates of the homeless population in San Diego’s urban center vary, but range as high as 3,750. A study of this population, and the services available, indicates that there is a dire need for additional and better coordinated facilities for those with special needs, such as the mentally ill.

About 40 percent of San Diego’s urban single homeless men are veterans. A great many homeless veterans suffer from some form of mental illness. Their average age in our city is 40. Substance abuse is common: 80 percent reportedly have drug and alcohol-related problems. Overall, there are 54 shelter beds in the county directed to serving the special needs of San Diego’s homeless veterans.

San Diego’s transitional shelter for veterans is addressing some of the need for diagnosis, therapy and counseling. It was funded, in part, by downtown tax increment funds. Clients are mostly single veterans, many with mental disorders.

We determined that redevelopment resources alone could not solve the problems of homelessness, but if leveraged properly and used in conjunction with other agencies that already existed and dealt with homeless issues, a tremendous benefit to the community’s residents, businesses and homeless individuals could be realized. To date, we have expended $12 million towards the establishment and growth of programs aiding our urban homeless.

CCDC coordinated the creation of downtown’s Social Issues Strategy, designed by redevelopment professionals, business people, property owners, residents and social service providers. Since its adoption by the San Diego City Council, it has served as the policy direction for dealing with challenging issues. The strategy complements and supports the efforts of social service providers who apply comprehensive 24-hour programs that address the core issues of homelessness.

Mental illness often accompanies homelessness. Not only can homelessness be a consequence of mental illness, but a homeless life may trigger and exacerbate emotional instability. CCDC, in conjunction with Downtown Partnership, has turned it’s attention to the needs of these individuals. The PBID - property owners are taxing themselves to address this issue.

There are about 1,900 severely mentally ill homeless people in San Diego. More than half are white; 70 percent are male veterans. A few head families, but most are single adults. Their average age is 30. Most have completed high school, and many have some college education. Many are episodically homeless. According to local mental health officials, only two-thirds of those suffering from schizophrenia or major depression are receiving treatment. The remaining third have no contact with professionals nor receive prescribed medication.

In order to respond to the needs of the mentally ill homeless population, we initiated a comprehensive continuum of care program in downtown San Diego that we hope to more fully develop this year. Our Special Needs Homeless Program, as it is called, was created following a needs assessment and study of available services. It addresses what we found to be the unmet need of a portion of downtown’s urban homeless population, those individuals suffering from mental illness, chronic inebriation, drug addiction. Most have dually diagnosed conditions.

Approximately 25%, or roughly 950 homeless people – veterans and non-veterans -- in downtown San Diego, suffer from severe mental illness and need medication and a supportive housing environment. There are currently only 63 beds available that offer appropriate housing and treatment programs for the severely mentally ill homeless; they are scattered and the provision of services is not well coordinated.

An even larger number of the homeless – about 40% or roughly 1,500 people – are addicted to or abuse drugs and/or alcohol, or are dually diagnosed with both substance addiction and some form of mental illness. There are currently 440 beds available in treatment programs downtown and nearby for homeless drug and alcohol abusers.

The City’s Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), a successful collaborative program between the city and county, has identified the lack of detoxification and treatment facilities for homeless alcoholics as one of the biggest obstacles to dealing effectively with this highly visible and difficult population.

Costs associated with the development of programs to assist the Special Needs Homeless are staggering. Estimates provided by the HOT program indicate that during a one-year period,10 chronic inebriates required public funding totaling $1.5 million to cover costs associated with law enforcement, hospitalization, incarceration, etc. – dollars that could be better spent to implement fully the Special Needs Homeless Program.

Downtown San Diego’s multi-faceted Special Needs Homeless Program grew from knowledge obtained from data collected by the Homeless Outreach Team as these police officers and social workers daily assisted downtown’s homeless. The teams identified a significant number of veterans among the downtown homeless population.

I cannot stress enough the importance of treating each homeless individual as a patient is treated by doctors and hospitals. We must first establish a case file for each. In San Diego, we want to create these files in a computer data base that is accessible as the patient moves from diagnosis to transitional housing and care, and finally on to independent living or permanent supportive housing.

The immediate need of each of these individuals is a place to go that is off the street, and a clear diagnosis is needed of the mental and/or abuse problems involved. This understanding is necessary in order to properly place the individuals in existing programs that could follow up with the specific care needed. The first element of the Special Needs Homeless Program is the creation of this centralized system of coordinating services that would follow patients across the continuum of care.

State and federal funding is being sought to cover start-up costs, including evaluation, referral, case management and initial critical services. Such a centralized and coordinated system does not now exist, but would greatly improve the opportunity for real assistance to individuals who are not being reached today.

Increasing the number of transitional and permanent supportive housing beds is the second step of the program, and this effort is underway.

Downtown redevelopment efforts would develop four new facilities that could accommodate 25 individuals each for up to two year stays, with the first two to be sited and funded by December 2000 and the second two by December 2001. The City and CCDC are currently working with social service providers to identify sites in the downtown area close to public transit and other needed services.

Increasing permanent supportive housing by 100 units for the severely mentally ill will provide shelter for those who complete the transitional program and are not capable of independent living. This type of housing can be blended with other low income housing or built separately. Case management and other services would be included to assure that these formerly homeless mentally ill people have the chance to lead stable and productive lives. The goal is to site and fund 25 units by December 2000 and 75 additional units by December 2001. The San Diego Housing Commission has accepted the responsibility for this element of the program.

San Diego’s Special Needs Homeless Program goes further than just housing and services. We hope also to improve the application of state and local laws. And we want to facilitate the relocation and expansion of the Volunteers of America Alcohol & Drug Detoxification program, allowing for increased stays and better evaluation of substance abuse and mental conditions. Armed with this knowledge, VOA can move people into comprehensive detox or mental health facilities that already exist. An additional 80 beds would be added by December 2000 in both long and short-term treatment programs, many reserved for the dually diagnosed.

We understand that federal funding of over $1 billion is currently being provided for homeless assistance. However, as all of us in this room know, the homeless population continues to be under served. San Diego’s Special Needs Homeless program is the right approach. It is comprehensive and inclusive, and blends public and private resources, as well as local, state and federal funding. It is needed today to alleviate the suffering that exists, as well as to address the soaring costs to the public of continued neglect.