BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A Kern County advocate who spent 24 hours talking with homeless individuals says California needs to focus more on addiction recovery and mental health services rather than building additional shelters.
Carlos Baldovinos, executive director with the Mission at Kern County, conducted his "Conversations on a Bench" initiative more than two weeks ago to better understand the homeless crisis. His main takeaway: the state's approach needs a fundamental shift.
"What conversations on the bench really showed me was okay we need to be putting in more effort into addiction recovery," Baldovinos said.
He believes mental health issues worsened significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people became isolated from normal routines.
"People got in a whole different state of mind during COVID, right? Where they were isolated. You know, whether kids are not going to school every day, to people working from home, you know, it just really, it really, it exploded," Baldovinos said.
Baldovinos argues that California's legislative decisions contributed to the current crisis. He pointed to AB 109 in 2011 and Proposition 47 in 2014, which aimed to reduce prison populations by reclassifying certain crimes, as policies that inadvertently worsened homelessness.
"So this problem was a legislative problem that just got created. I mean, you don't have other states really dealing with a lot of this stuff. You don't, not on this, not at this level. This is, is off the charts level," Baldovinos said.
Despite billions of dollars spent on the issue, including local measures like Bakersfield's Measure N in 2018, the problem persists. Baldovinos believes the solution requires patience and a different approach.
"I mean, you've got to give it time. You have to give it a cycle. And I think that's where the frustration goes. Because people start saying, the city passed Measure N in 2018, you know, all this money given to shelters and all these facilities, and the problem is still horrible," Baldovinos said.
Rather than more shelters, Baldovinos suggests using jail space as temporary stabilization centers for homeless individuals struggling with addiction or mental health issues.
"I think law enforcement is part of helping us deal with this stuff, too. I mean, you got, you know, jail space. I mean, that's been a constant topic of conversation, having enough jail space to help these individuals," Baldovinos said.
He envisions short-term jail stays functioning more like halfway houses, focused on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
"We have to stabilize them. But maybe, and I'm kind of thinking through this, maybe getting them to, like, a short-term stay at a jail to get them stabilized and rehab them. That could be something too, almost, like a halfway house sort of country," Baldovinos said.
Baldovinos believes both homeless individuals and state legislators need to reach a breaking point before meaningful change occurs.
"We have to take care of people, but we have to continue to be in front of our legislators. Because our legislators are looking to us for solutions," Baldovinos said.
The Mission at Kern County continues expanding its services, recently opening transitional housing and expanding its kitchen and dining room facilities.
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