In its most recent study, the Santa Barbara Grand Jury took a look at the mental health services available to the homeless, and the cycle of the homeless in and out of jail. While many of the facts and numbers contained in the report have been thrown around in the past, the Grand Jury notes the jail is Santa Barbara’s de facto mental health facility. It states that better overall management of resources could reduce the problem, but also that inadequate resources are a big reason for the problem. The county spends half of the funds it allocates to the homeless on the chronically homeless, who make up only 15 percent of the total homeless population.
