Oceanside’s City Council received a presentation earlier this month on its efforts to end homelessness — giving insight into how tens of millions of dollars were spent on its housing-first approach.
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The city’s efforts are handled by its Housing and Neighborhood Services department. It had a budget of $42.6 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which ended in June. Over half of that budget, about $26.6 million, goes toward Section 8 rental assistance.
“At its core, fundamentally, the issue of homelessness is a housing issue,” said Salvador Roman, senior management analyst for the city. “And I think it’s important to recognize that whether they have other needs or require other stability, the core issue will always remain addressing the housing need.”
Housing-first vs. treatment-first is a debate that’s been going on for years. Treatment-first approaches generally believe a person should be rehabbed into sobriety before any other services, such as housing, are given.
Housing-first is a research-backed approach that shows services, such as rehab, are more effective when someone has a consistent place to call home. Many housing-first models, such as Oceanside’s, also incorporate prevention and diversion. This aims to block paths to homelessness before it happens.
Oceanside’s 2026 found 569 people experiencing homelessness. There were 362 unsheltered people counted and 207 sheltered. This year’s unsheltered number was a nearly 14% increase from last year. The number of sheltered people also increased, by 19.7%.
The city’s largest shelter is the 75-bed Oceanside Navigation Center, operated by local non-profit Interfaith Community Services, which is “focused on moving people into permanent housing,” according to the presentation.
Of the 190 people served at the Navigation Center during this past fiscal year, just 10% exited the shelter with permanent housing. A little more than 12% left the shelter with access to temporary housing.
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Terry Brown, spokesperson for the city, said this “doesn’t reflect the full range of positive outcomes” of people who use the Navigation Center. Brown said in a statement the 90% of people who move through the shelter who aren’t placed into permanent housing could have been reunited with family, entered rehab, received mental health treatment or moved into temporary housing.
“Exiting the shelter system into stability takes different forms depending on each person’s circumstances, and permanent housing is one outcome among several the City tracks and supports.”
Oceanside’s safe parking program saw similar numbers. Of 130 people served, 11 were transitioned into permanent housing with 13 going to emergency shelter. Measure X — a half-cent sales tax passed by Oceanside voters in 2024 — provides $1.5 million to the Navigation Center and $330,000 to safe parking.
In August 2024, Oceanside and Carlsbad shared an $11.3 million grant from the California Department of Housing and Community Development. From January 2025 until June 2027, a 3.6-mile stretch along State Route 78 has been, and will be, targeted for clearing.
Oceanside puts the creation of low-income housing, financial assistance and rental assistance first, with $3 million spent on tenant-based assistance and $373,000 for rapid, short-term assistance. The latter goes towards things like security deposits, first-month’s rent and credit-check fees typically associated with beginning a lease. For those already on the streets, it provides outreach, shelter, supportive housing and other resources.
Of the city’s nearly 1,400 Section 8 vouchers, 44% are 62-years-old or older, with 64% having to rely on Social Security, SSI or a pension for income. Seniors are among the fastest-growing demographic of people falling into homelessness.
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