MALIBU—The Malibu Task Force on Homelessness has recently introduced The Malibu Homeless Outreach team to the Malibu community to assist unsheltered individuals.
The newly assembled team consists of a male and a female full–time social worker, who were originally hired and trained by the Santa Monica based nonprofit organization, The People Concern. The outreach team, which includes Turner Vail and Alex Michael will spend most of their time outdoors and cover areas where unsheltered individuals need their assistance.
They will be responsible for interacting, establishing a rapport with homeless individuals, helping them to gain access to temporary or permanent housing, and provide social services that they may need. Their current task includes building connections with individuals from the community, as well as the sheriff’s department who are familiar with the homeless population in the region.
The goal of The People Concern is to help homeless individuals in Malibu to match housing that will suit their individual needs, while providing mental health and substance abuse services. The outreach team will first embark on surveying homeless individuals and places where they usually cluster, and evaluating their physical and mental condition.
The outreach team will refer those suffering from mental illness or substance abuse issues to The People Concern’s integrated system of care that includes clinical psychologists, marriage and family therapists, nurses and other clinicians who will provide psychological assessment and medication reviews.
