Oceanside to shift homeless outreach away from police in new HEART program

By Gary Warth

May 20, 2026

Oceanside is transitioning its homeless outreach approach away from law enforcement and toward contracted social workers, a move seen as more effective and cost-efficient.

The City Council unanimously approved the change May 20, and the shift has been in the works since February 2025 when council members at a homeless workshop directed staff to expand the city’s outreach and support services.

The council’s direction also called for a more coordinated, multidisciplinary approach that would increase collaboration with social services and behavioral health professionals while reducing the reliance on the police department.

Oceanside Homeless Services Manager Tameka Tates said the newly named Homeless Evaluation, Assistance & Response Team (HEART) would still work closely with the police department, but would be the first to contact homeless people living without shelter.

“The HEART model is intended to transition from primarily a law enforcement-led structure to a more coordinated civilian-led and case-managed focused outreach model while continuing strong collaboration with OPD and crime suppression,” she said.

Council members agreed to appropriate $200,000 from the Measure X reserve to support the startup and operation cost to launch the program, which is projected to cost $400,000 annually.

In comparison, the OPD Homeless Outreach Team costs $660,000 annually and includes two social workers, two police officers and one police sergeant, while HEART will operate with a city homeless outreach coordinator, three contracted outreach workers and two social workers.

The next steps in creating the new program will be hiring a professional to fill the new position of homeless outreach coordinator and contracting with a service provider.

Councilmember Eric Joyce supported the change, but suggested using city staff members for outreach rather than contracted workers because staffers would likely stay on the job long-term, creating the consistency needed to build relationships with homeless people.

Joyce’s proposed amendment wasn’t supported by the council majority, and he joined with his colleagues in supporting the original proposal.

Police Chief Taurino Valdovinos also supported the change from HOT to HEART and said the transition was one of the first conversations he had with City Manager Jonathan Borrego when he was promoted to his position in November 2024.

Valdovinos said the city established OPD’s homeless outreach team about 12 years ago because it was the approach many cities were taking at the time.

“It became apparent to me that there were professionals better-trained to take on the lead.,” he said. “We will never separate ourselves from this issue, but it takes us away from being the lead agency on homelessness.”

Borrego said the city already has budgeted $9.5 million on homeless services, with $5.8 million coming from the state Encampment Resolution Fund to clear encampments and house people .

The balance of $3.7 million funds the Oceanside Navigation Center, a safe parking program, the homeless outreach team and encampment cleanups.

Measure X, which will provide initial funding for the HEART program, is a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2019 and raises about $20 million annually to fund public safety, fix roads, improve infrastructure, provide free youth programs and address homelessness.

Also at the meeting, the council approved a change in how some federal funds are used to address homelessness.

The city receives funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and at the May 20 meeting the council agreed to prioritize residents who are homeless or at risk of homelessness for HUD’s HOME Tenant-Based Rental Assistance Program .

In another action, council agreed to appropriate an additional $300,000 in HUD Community Development Block Grant dollars to complete improvements to the Crown Heights Resource Center, which provides food distributions and application assistance to Medi-Cal, CalFresh and CalWORKs.

The city had previously allocated about $794,000 in CDBG funds for the renovation, but additional funding was needed to complete the work, according to a city staff report. The total cost for the renovation is estimated at $5.3 million.