A staff report on San Diego County's homelessness governance is set for review Monday. It concerns the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, a private nonprofit, and is scheduled for presentation to the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that a staff report on the region's homelessness governance is scheduled for presentation Monday.
That nonprofit is the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, which serves as the Continuum of Care lead agency for San Diego County. The task force says it administers many of the core federal requirements tied to its HUD designation, according to the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.
The Task Force's Role
The task force is a private nonprofit that serves as the region's Continuum of Care lead agency.
In January's count, volunteers Carmen Jimenez and Ruth Clerico interviewed people experiencing homelessness along 17th Street in East Village, a scene documented in photographs by Nelvin C. Cepeda.
Three Paths Forward, No Verdict Yet
The Union-Tribune reports that staff have outlined three options for changing the framework of the region's homelessness response.
San Diego LAFCO is scheduled to meet Monday in Room 302 of the County Administration Center.
Task Force Pushes Back on the Draft
The Regional Task Force on Homelessness has not stayed quiet about the findings. A spokesperson for the organization told the Union-Tribune that it has asked LAFCO to resolve factual issues in the paper before it is finalized. Spokesperson Tony Manolatos said in an email cited by the Union-Tribune that the organization welcomes a thorough and fair look at the region's homelessness efforts.
CEO Tamera Kohler struck a similarly measured tone, saying in a statement that the organization appreciates the commission's interest and looks forward to answering its questions on Monday. Kohler has also said the organization's focus is on getting fewer people to become homeless while helping more people get housed, according to the Union-Tribune's account of the report.
What the Latest Numbers Show
The governance debate arrives alongside mixed data on the ground. Unsheltered homelessness across San Diego County fell 11%, from 5,714 people in 2025 to 5,108 in 2026, according to the task force. Sheltered homelessness moved the other direction, climbing 12% from 4,191 to 4,695 people over the same period, the task force reported.
Figures on overall homelessness carry some ambiguity in the available reporting. The task force says overall homelessness decreased 1%, from 9,905 people in 2025 to 9,803 in 2026, while the County News Center describes that same figure, 9,803, as the number of people counted as unsheltered regionwide. The county's count did show sharp local swings, with unsheltered homelessness dropping 50% in Lemon Grove, 64% in Santee and 76% in San Marcos following coordinated local efforts, per County News Center.
Other trends paint a system under strain even as some outcomes improve. Older adults age 55 and up made up 33% of the unsheltered population in 2026, up from 29% the year before, the task force reported. A separate analysis covering fiscal years 2023 through 2025, reported by NBC San Diego, found the rate of people exiting to permanent housing rose from 23% to 29% over that span.
How Other Counties Handle the Same Problem
San Diego isn't the only California region wrestling with how to structure homelessness governance. In Sacramento, a proposed joint powers authority called the Housing and Homelessness Agency is pitched as a way to centralize decision-making and accountability, according to a legislative analysis. A related bill would require Sacramento County, the city of Sacramento, Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights and Folsom to establish that joint powers authority by January 1, 2028, and fold the Sacramento City and County Continuum of Care's oversight into it, per the bill text published by the California Legislature.
Sonoma County offers a different template, where the Continuum of Care itself is empowered to lead local homelessness policy and determine key administrative roles, including the collaborative applicant, the Homeless Management Information Systems provider, the coordinated-entry operator and the lead administrative agency, according to Sonoma County's government. Whether San Diego moves toward a public agency, a joint powers authority, or leaves the current structure intact will depend on the direction commissioners choose to give staff when the item comes up Monday.
