EL CAJON, Calif. (KGTV) — San Diego County has spent $58.3 million on a homeless program over the past five years resulting in minimal success in finding those involved permanent homes, a Team 10 investigation has found.
Team 10 found nearly one-fifth of the funding, or $11.2 million, went to Equus, an out-of-state contractor for San Diego County, that only helped 39% of the 2,400 participants find permanent homes.
That's the program's goal after getting someone off the streets and into a hotel room.
Meanwhile, El Cajon, a conservative East County community, has been the epicenter of the regional homeless assistance program.
On most nights, the city's low-budget hotels house 103 of the 250 households involved in the program, records show. Mayor Bill Wells said the program has taxed the city's police department with calls for drug overdoses, sex offenders and car thefts.
We Follow Through
The examination into Equus is part of Team 10's effort to follow through on an earlier investigation into widespread problems over how the company used tax dollars to lodge victims of the historic Jan. 22 floods.
That Team 10 investigation resulted in county supervisors last month approving a financial audit of how Equus handled tax dollars.
Equus declined repeated requests for comment and referred questions to the county.
Nonelected county officials have repeatedly stood behind Equus, with one county spokesman telling Team 10 the company helped thousands of San Dieagans find respite during the flood, and it has the skillset to "find people in crisis available housing."
Yet, those in the regional hotel-to-home assistance program say tax dollars are being wasted.
'Where is all the money going?'
“Where is all the money going?" said Kelly Pickenpaugh, who has been in the program about a year and a half. "Through this program, I signed documents that I was going to get permanent, stable housing, and have not gotten it.”
The 60-year-old former businesswoman said she became homeless following a spinal cord injury and entered the program in late May 2023.
Team 10, through a public records request, obtained documents showing the county — through Equus — pays $140 a night or roughly $4,000 a month for her to stay in low-cost hotels in El Cajon.
The median rent in El Cajon for a one-bedroom place goes for about $1,800 a month, according to real estate service Zillow.
Zillow also says there are more than 40 such apartments to rent in El Cajon for that price or less.
“It’s unbelievable to me because of the rent being so much cheaper," Pickenpaugh said. "And to say there’s no housing, there’s all kind of housing out there. All kinds of apartments for rent.”
Team 10 checks the prices
Nader Shaba, 53, has been a neighbor of Pickenpaugh's. And he's been in the program for about the same amount of time.
He said typical hotel guests pay approximately $800 less a month than those in the Equus program.
“An old lady, she pays $3,200 to stay in this motel every month," Shaba said. "Equus pays $4,000.”
Team 10 checked the prices and found nightly rates of $75 to $107, including taxes and fees, at seven different hotels that Equus has used in El Cajon.
That is significantly less than the $140 a night the county pays.
A county spokesman said the $140 nightly rate is the agreed-upon price in a contract with Equus, and it includes taxes and fees. In addition, the spokesman said there are 30 participating hotels in the program across the county, where costs may vary.
But Shaba said the amount spent on hotels could put him and others in stable housing.
"That $4,000. I mean, I can rent a house with that money instead of being in those hotels, moving around every 28 days," he said.
Moving every 28 days
If Equus can't find a permanent residency for those in the program, the county requires the residents to pack and move after 28 days, so the hotel is not considered a permanent residency.
Pickenpaugh said she's bounced around five different El Cajon hotels over the last year and one half.
She said she's grateful not to be on the streets but adds the moving has taken a toll.
"It has been a struggle on my body. I have come down with diabetes because you don’t get to cook," she said. "So, it’s a struggle because you live in your car for a few hours, and then you go to your next hotel.”
Other rules
Pickenpaugh said there are other rules: No unauthorized guests, no illegal activities and no illegal drug use.
She said she follows those regulations to a tee.
However, Pickenpaugh said that's not the norm.
“There’s a lot of addiction going on in this program, and I’ve watched it. It’s very hard for me. I’ve had to deal with people O-Ding," she said."I’ve seen a lot of ambulances and them coming and taking people out of their rooms.”
Police activity
El Cajon records show the program's hotels have had large amounts of police activity.
El Cajon Police during six months last year responded to at least seven incidents involving people in the Equus program at various hotels.
The police reports detail drugs, overdoses, illegal weapons, sex offenders, child endangerment and car theft.
Mayor Bill Wells, who has worked in psychiatric medicine, is livid with the county program.
“I think it’s incredibly unfair to the city of El Cajon that we have to deal with sex offenders and drug addicts and people that would have never been in El Cajon, but they were shipped here," he said.
Wells said the city had no say in the program, and the county and Equus are taking advantage of El Cajon.
“We have an area of El Cajon that has a lot of low-budget hotels. So, they went to these hotels; they offer them more money than they could get just on the market. And, they basically fill up these hotels with homeless people," he said. “My complaint always was the equity of this. We, at one point, had about 55% of the people in this program living in El Cajon motels, whereas El Cajon only represents 3% of the (homeless) community.”
A county spokesman said people who enter the program agree to a code of conduct.
He added there have been a few bad outcomes, but the overwhelming number of participants do not fit the profile of people who have caused problems in El Cajon.
That spokesman also said affordable housing options are limited across San Diego County.
Meanwhile, Pickenpaugh and Shaba last week told Team 10 they were given vouchers for permanent housing after Team 10 began its investigation
into the hotel-to-home program.
Shaba said Team 10's investigation was "100%" the reason he got a voucher.
