Addressing Homelessness in Oakland

One week after Daryel R. Dunston (MPA ‘18) accepted his job as homelessness administrator for the City of Oakland, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Northern California. Given his public safety background (he used to be a firefighter and an EMT), he was appointed the emergency operations section chief and tasked with coordinating the response from law enforcement, fire and rescue, health and human services, and those overseeing community resilience. Needless to say, it was an all-consuming experience.

Approximately one month ago, Daryel handed off much of the day-to-day responsibilities of COVID response to his deputy and turned his attention to a different, though intersecting, crisis: homelessness. 

Between 2015-2017, the unsheltered population in Oakland increased by 26%, a dramatic and alarming development. Between 2017-2019, the population increased by an additional 46%. 

Appointing an administrator is an effort by the City of Oakland to centralize the myriad departments and agencies that intersect homelessness. Like his role coordinating COVID-19 response, Daryel works with human services, housing and community development, public works, fire, and police, and others. At weekly task force meetings, he oversees the entire system and coordinates between departments, making sure they’re keeping lines of communication open and not duplicating efforts.

The biggest contributor to the homelessness crisis has been the steeply rising cost of living. According to Daryel, more than half of the homeless population in Oakland is homeless primarily for financial reasons.

“When you start conducting interviews with people that are sleeping in cars or in tents or who are couch surfing, you find many who are making the conscious decision to stretch their dollar,” says Daryel.” So it's not that they don't have any income. Rather, they might have $2500 a month and they can't afford to spend $2000 of it on rent. And so they're making the decision to spend those dollars on things other than a roof over their head.”

And the problem is not getting better. 

“For every person we move out of homelessness, three more people become homeless,” says Daryel. He notes that homelessness manifests differently in different geographic locations, that homelessness in his native Philadelphia is different than in New York or San Francisco or Berkeley. “85% of our unsheltered population are native Oaklanders and 70% are African Americans. Our programs have to be catered to that specific population.”

About 10-15% of the unsheltered population also suffer from mental health issues, substance abuse, and alcohol addiction, but the intersection of these issues with homelessness is complicated. 

“For many, substance abuse and alcohol use may not have been the primary driver that led to the street,” says Daryel. “But once you’re on the street, when you're in survival mode and traumatized, what are you doing to cope with your situation or to numb that reality? That’s where things may get conflated. You may not have fallen into homelessness because of addiction. But once you did fall into homelessness, you may end up needing support for substance abuse or mental illness. 

In many ways, Daryel admits, his work as homelessness administrator harkens back to his days as an EMT.

“We don't have the resources at the local level to truly ameliorate this crisis,” he continues. “The best we can do is triage it. That is unsettling. But I also know that there are efforts being made at the county and state level to lobby for real change.”

Because Oakland relies on Alameda County for public health services, the need for good coordination is critical.

“We need to acknowledge gaps in service [between the City and the County] without reinventing the wheel,” he says. “How can we address some of those gaps? For example, do we bring in a nonprofit that specializes in mental health support at the City level? Or as we reimagine law enforcement's role in the City’s homelessness response, do we consider an ambassador program to encourage compliance instead of using uniformed officers?”

In the midst of these challenges, Daryel draws on his lessons from the Goldman School. 

“The Goldman School community was built around the vision of everyone using their skill set to create policies that make this a better world. That has stayed with me. I try not to lose that spirit as I approach this difficult work.”