Fort Bragg Mayor Bernie Norvell’s Plan To Address Homelessness County-Wide

Fort Bragg Mayor Bernie Norvell, recently elected by over 81% of the vote in District 4 to serve on the County Board of Supervisors, will take office on January 1, 2025. Coming to county government with him is his plan to replicate the success of the City of Fort Bragg’s Care Response Unit (CRU) for the entire county of Mendocino.

Norvell’s proposal is an adaptation of the city’s two-year-old program that so far has successfully served over 300 people in need of help. He can point to lower arrest numbers via proactive assistance for the homeless, drug and alcohol victims, and the mentally unstable.

The program he helped develop operates with the cooperation of social service agencies, including behavioral health, the county Sheriff’s Department, the county justice system of judges, district attorneys, defense attorneys, probation department, and juvenile hall.

The Care Response Unit operates under the auspices of the Fort Bragg Police Department under the leadership of Chief Neil Cervenka and management by Captain O’Neal. The unit is composed of three highly trained counselors who work directly with people on the street who are willing to accept help.

The city’s model was derived from a 2018 report delivered to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors at their request by Robert Marbut, who was then the Executive Director for the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. The homeless problem, particularly in the Ukiah Valley, had continued to grow.

After thorough research, including living on the street, Marbut’s report offered 28 recommendations. The supervisors opted to adopt a few of the recommendations, but according to Bernie Norvell, the County CoC at the time, “pushed back on that report pretty heavily.”

The board, he added, “thought the report was too harsh, but it was clear that what they were doing and had been doing wasn’t producing strong enough results.” However, despite local resistance, the Fort Bragg City Council opted to adopt 14 of Marbut’s recommendations.

“I took a big beating for trying to bring this to Fort Bragg,” recalled Norvell. “Nobody told me it wasn’t going to be successful, but everybody told me why I shouldn’t be doing it.” He continued, “For me, it was, what we’re doing now is more inhumane than trying to do better.”

Marbut’s “tough love” approach to those who live on the street brings discomfort to some people. The counseling crew asks each person they approach if they would like some help getting off the street. Those who refuse help are approached again until a solution is worked out.

Norvell commented, “I learned over these two years that the people who didn’t want to be helped realized they weren’t going to be able to live that lifestyle in the City of Fort Bragg anymore, certainly not camping and certainly not being a nuisance at night.”

Norvell acknowledges that the city’s program has pushed the homeless problem into the Ukiah Valley. He said, “We created a bigger problem for them. The sheriff told me point blank, ‘Yeah, you’re making it my problem now’.”

Norvell continued, “Sheriff Matt Kendall is a supporter. He sees the results, and he sees these people ending up in his jurisdiction. He’s going to be part of the first meeting we have in October.”

At an early point in the city’s program, Norvell had reached out to county officials. “I sent a letter to every elected official, city council member, and supervisor here in the county, telling them what we were doing, telling them the fear I had that our success would push these people to you.”

He continued, “I asked them to reach out and let us help them build their program. I got a response from a council member in Ukiah, but no follow-up. That’s what it turned out to be.”

The 2024 Point in Time count (PIT) of the homeless in the county provides current data showing a 22% increase. Of the county, a total of 774 persons were counted on the morning of January 24, 2024, and 22% were located along the coast.

20% of all those counted were experiencing “chronic homelessness,” meaning “multi-episodic or yearlong homelessness with a disabling health condition that prevents independent living.”

The report suggests that the count increase is most likely due to significant improvements in counting methods and the continuing upheavals triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, by law, the county’s count method must include “people in shelters or transitional housing.”

Norvell also acknowledged that “no one ever sees when families move from transitional to permanent housing.” What people can actually see is street-level homelessness. Norvell notes how this burdens the taxpayers and businesses.

“If people don’t want to be downtown,” he said, “businesses are affected. If they leave, there will be nobody left to pay the taxes to clean this up.”

He added, “ I’ve spent enough time in Ukiah to know their problem is not getting any better. I think we’d be fools to pretend what we’re doing is working and just stay the course.”

What Fort Bragg’s program pro-actively offers are any services that can improve the lives of those who struggle with daily life due to economic social, and personal issues. “A lot of what we do is handholding,” said Norvell. “We build relationships. I’m willing to bet any of our three CRU crew members can go downtown and talk to somebody, and that person already knows who they are.”

Those accepting help are housed, offered counseling, put into rehabilitation centers, assisted with charged crimes triggered by alcohol or drug use, provided with medical treatment as necessary, and monitored on a regular basis.

Norvell points to a success story of a mentally unstable woman who slept on the streets for more than a year. “The CRU crew stuck with her. It was a year to two years of handholding and building relationships, and that’s the part I think is not going on on a regular basis county-wide,” said Norvell.

With new Proposition 47 funds applied for, the plan to expand the Care Response Unit to serve the entire coast has already begun. The CRU crew team will work under a county deputy sheriff, and Norvell hopes to see Hospitality House become more mobile.

“What we want to do,” said Norvell, “is prove it can work in that rural area.” He sees possible failure as an opportunity to adjust the program. “We’re always going to fail forward,” he said.

He cautioned, “Know you might fail; don’t fear failure. Captain O’Neal is all in on this. He’s the one who has to deal with it every day, and he asked for help. We’ll make it work.”

Norvell does not think staffing a county-wide program will be a problem. He believes there are many county social workers who are frustrated with the current system.

“The county puts a lot of state funds into solving this issue, but they’re bound by the guidelines the state sets,” he said. “Help is voluntary. You can’t force someone into help.”

He explained, “The system isn’t set up to easily help people. A lot of what we’re doing is helping people who are willing to be helped. That’s where we’re making our most progress. We’re doing that be being pro-active. We’re going to them”

Norvell is relying upon county employees who “may recognize that they’re not helping people as well as they could.” He added, “I have always believed that we were already spending enough money to solve the problem. We’re not doing it right or well.”

Norvell also believes that, like the Fort Bragg Police Department, the Sheriff’s Department will discover that they have more time available for other law enforcement responsibilities. He also knows none of this will happen unless he can get three county supervisor votes.”

Norvell predicted, “There will be a lot of pushback. Once we get rolling, that tune will change just as it did in our own city.” In light of pushback, Norvell has a few pushbacks of his own.

After establishing the city’s program, Norvell invited Robert Marbut to come and take a look. “He was super impressed with what we did and the results,” recalls Norvell. “He thought our program could be scaled up to a city of a million.”

Norvell noted that Marbut still analyzes homeless problems in cities, and his reports “use the city of Fort Bragg as an example.”

UCLA is another highly respected entity interested in Fort Bragg’s success. According to Chief Neil Cervenka, given a federal grant to study the homeless problem, the UCLA research team plans to come to Fort Bragg to evaluate the program and its success.

Norvell’s belief in the city program led him to offer this challenge to any naysayers. “I challenge anyone to find and report an encampment in the city, and in three days tell me if it’s still there. I don’t think you could do that in Ukiah Valley.”

Norvell also noted, “The public needs to be patient. It won’t happen overnight, but I’m not going to rest on it.” He added, “It’s dear to my heart, and it’s important. I’m going to run with it as fast as I can.”

(Ukiah Daily Journal)