By SDCN Staff
Oceanside, CA–The Oceanside City Council approved a new program aimed at getting more help to people living on the streets through a coordinated civilian-led approach.
The Homeless Evaluation, Assistance and Response Team, known as HEART, is a multidisciplinary outreach model focused on connecting unsheltered individuals to housing, supportive services, behavioral health resources, and stabilization support through a street outreach approach.
HEART was developed in response to the direction the Oceanside city council gave during a 2025 Homelessness Workshop, when it called for an approach focused on social services rather than law enforcement for non-criminal concerns.
Approved at the May 20 city council meeting, the team will use social workers and case workers specializing in outreach support. The HEART team will be led by a newly-created city homeless outreach coordinator role that will oversee contracted outreach staff including social workers, behavioral health professionals, and people with lived experience of homelessness. The team will be developed and supervised by the city’s homeless services manager.
Day-to-day work will include proactive direct engagement in high-impact areas, connecting people to behavioral and medical services, helping with ID documents and benefits enrollment, and facilitating access to shelter, safe parking, employment, and housing resources. The HEART team will monitor progress and report outcomes regularly.
“Research tells us that sustained, relationship-based outreach produces measurably better outcomes than models that primarily rely on enforcement. That trust is foundational in getting people off the streets. HEART is an example of Oceanside pivoting towards what works,” said City Manager Jonathan Borrego,
HEART joins a broader network of city programs working to address homelessness in Oceanside:
Navigation Center – 24-hour shelter expanding from 50 to 75 beds on July 1.
Safe Parking Program–Secure overnight option with resources for people living in their vehicles.
Encampment Resolution Funding – Joint effort with the City of Carlsbad to address camps along Buena Vista Creek.
Coast Villas – 56 new homes for low-income adults (15 reserved for veterans experiencing homelessness), supported by $4.25 million in City investment, HUD-VASH Vouchers, and Project-Based Vouchers.
The team will be funded by Measure X revenue, with $400,000 included in the proposed FY 2026/27 budget scheduled to be adopted in June.
