Berkeley Cleared to Run Homeless Outreach Teams

What the new law changes

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 479 on Sept. 30, giving Berkeley, Pasadena and Long Beach clear authority to establish multidisciplinary teams serving homeless adults and families. The three cities operate their own local health jurisdictions rather than relying solely on the counties surrounding them, a structure that had left their authority unclear under state law.

The law allows designated team members to receive and disclose relevant information and records while following confidentiality requirements. That coordination can help staff from different fields assess a person’s needs and connect them with housing, medical care, mental health care or substance-use treatment.

State Sen. Jesse Arreguín, a Berkeley Democrat, authored SB 479. Newsom signed it alongside Senate Bill 692. Both measures passed the state Senate and Assembly without a dissenting vote.

How outreach works locally

Berkeley already has outreach programs that could use the new authority. Its Homeless Response Team receives encampment concerns from residents, councilmembers, businesses and city employees, then evaluates conditions at a site. Imminent dangers or growing problems can prompt a faster response.

A separate evaluation of Berkeley’s Homeless Outreach and Treatment Team recorded 1,506 outreach and engagement contacts involving 319 people. Its work covered shelters, encampments, the Berkeley Public Library, Civic Center Park, People’s Park, the Dorothy Day Breakfast and the Women’s Drop-In Clinic.

Pasadena’s Outreach Response Team offers another model. It brings together the city’s public health and fire departments with Union Station Homeless Services to conduct field outreach and connect unhoused residents with housing, health care, mental health services and substance-use services.