Resources

Mental Health Resources

A large number of homeless people in Orange County face mental health challenges. Out of the estimated 8,420 homeless individuals in this report, about 3200 to 4000 (over 45%) individuals are dealing with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia. This means that nearly half of the homeless population is struggling with mental health illness and yet most of them are not getting the help that they need.

* A Note on Mental Health Services: Very few shelters have mental health professionals on site. Big shelters like the Yale Navigation Center offer some mental health help, but not full-time care. Many other shelters don't provide mental health services at all. However, there are mobile teams like Chat-H (run by the county) and SMART (run by Santa Ana) that try to bring hope directly to people on the streets. These teams have nurses, counselors and outreach workers, but their services are limited to certain areas. They are also often short staffed and only available during certain hours. 

This lack of mental health care causes real major problems because people who don't get treatment often stay homeless longer, have trouble keeping jobs, and end up in an emergency room or even jail. Even though mental health is a huge part of the homelessness crisis in Orange County, most reports from the county don't even talk about it at all or include this data. Orange County doesn't have enough mental health services for its homeless population. The system is scattered, underfunded and hard to access, and what's needed is more full-time mental health staff in shelters and more mobile teams across the country because without these changes, thousands of people won't get the support that they need to get off the streets and stay housed.