Homeless Outreach Team
About the Homeless Outreach Team
The City recognizes serving homeless residents is a complex issue that takes time to build relationships and trust with unhoused individuals and families, particularly when interacting with individuals living with severe mental illness. Through the Homeless Outreach Team and in partnership with community organizations, the City has made significant strides in helping unhoused residents find appropriate housing and mental health resources.
Since 2017, Pleasanton has experienced an increase in unhoused residents along with corresponding calls for service to the police department. In response, the City of Pleasanton authorized the police department to establish the Homeless Outreach Team. This team includes two full-time officers dedicated to working closely with Pleasanton’s unhoused residents. Since its inception the Homeless Outreach Team has worked in collaboration with other City staff and local service providers, together helping approximately 20 individuals find permanent or temporary housing.
How We Serve Pleasanton
Recently, the homeless liaison officers identified an encampment beneath a Pleasanton overpass as an area of concern due to human waste, trash, and hazardous chemicals that threatened a nearby waterway. The Homeless Outreach Team partnered with service providers to relocate the occupants and identified alternate housing solutions. Additionally, the City of Pleasanton’s Environmental Services, Code Enforcement, and the Homeless Outreach Team worked together in removing the remaining structures, trash, and debris.
The Homeless Outreach Team’s primary function is not enforcement but rather to serve as advocates for the City’s unhoused residents through local community service agencies to help find appropriate long-term solutions for the residents in need.
When the police department receives a call for service about an unhoused individual, a patrol officer may be first to arrive at the location and proactively assesses the needs of the individual- while the Homeless Outreach Team is in route. This interaction may result in contacting mental health service agencies or agencies that specifically assist the unhoused community. Through a coordinated response, the city’s unhoused residents are provided with needed resources and long-term solutions, all handled with the utmost care and dignity.
As we collaborate with service providers and our fellow City staff in identifying resources and appropriate long-term solutions for the city’s unhoused residents, there are ways the community can help. For more information, contact CityServe of the Tri-Valley, a local organization that serves the unique needs of unhoused individuals. CityServe offers different volunteer opportunities and can connect interested members with other agencies that specialize in similar work.
KRON 4 Spotlight: Homelessness in Pleasanton
