NORTH COUNTY -- With the growing pains of their first year behind them, organizers of North County's new regional network of homeless shelters say they plan to increase collaboration among shelters and moderately expand services when the network begins its second year next week.

Among the changes will be more comprehensive training for case managers and security guards, free bus passes so homeless people can travel to job interviews and expanded testing for tuberculosis and diabetes, said Mel Takahara, a Salvation Army employee who helped create the network.

The shelters will also strive to regionalize some of their programs by sharing them with partner shelters, improve record keeping for analysis purposes and provide shelter residents more extensive medical and psychiatric care, Takahara said last week.

The changes will not require larger financial contributions from the nine cities participating in the network, said Takahara. Shelter officials plan to pay for the programs with a small fundraising campaign and savings from more efficient methods they discovered during their first year operating as a network, he said.

Takahara described the changes as incremental, explaining that North County leaders have repeatedly urged homeless advocates "not to bite off more than we can chew" with the new network.

Another hurdle to dramatically expanding programs this year has been the badly faltering economy, said Takahara. Donations are down, social service agencies are strapped for cash and many cities have been slashing their budgets, he said.

In previous winters, the shelters operated independently and with limited collaboration. But they came together to form a network last winter, with cities contributing money on a per-capita basis for the first time.

The shelters include the Salvation Army in Escondido with 40 beds, Operation Hope in Vista with 50 beds, Bread of Life in Oceanside with 50 beds and Catholic Charities in Carlsbad with 75 beds.

Those shelters won't open until Dec. 1, but a few dozen beds provided by churches and the Interfaith Shelter Network will begin operating Oct. 12. Network officials will conduct employee training sessions this week in preparation for the shelter season, said Takahara.

A successful approach

Local officials have praised the new network, which had a budget of about $440,000 and served more than 700 homeless people during its first year.

"It's been cost-effective and it has led to a much fairer distribution of costs among the cities and agencies," Escondido Councilman Sam Abed, one of the early proponents of the network, said last week. "It was a real challenge to have nine cities and the county work well together without something like this."

Oceanside Councilman Rocky Chavez said last week that establishing a network was a "no-brainer" because it was good for business, good for tourism and better for the homeless.

But Abed and Chavez both warned that a rapid expansion of services would be a mistake.

"The goal is not to expand the program, but to reduce homelessness," said Abed. "Now that we will be more efficient in the second year, we should get even better results with the same budget."

Chavez said the changes planned by Takahara seem just right.

"They're basically just refining what they did last year, which is the right approach," said Chavez.

Officials from some cities balked at the network concept when it was first proposed last year, but Takahara said attitudes improved dramatically when they saw the network in action.

Each of the nine cities has agreed to contribute at least the same amount this year, he said. And the United Way, the federal government and various other funding sources have also agreed to continue financial support, he said.

New innovations

Takahara said another innovation this year is an increased effort to deal with the "chronically" homeless.

Last year, the network focused only on the "situationally" homeless, people who have been homeless for a short time because of financial problems. This year, they plan to also tackle the "chronically" homeless, people with disabilities or drug problems who have either been homeless for a long time or intermittently homeless over a number of years.

Takahara said such people will be assigned case managers trained in the "wraparound" approach, which encourages shelter employees to focus on the person's strengths instead of weaknesses as a confidence-building rehabilitation tool. For example, someone could be defined as a guitarist instead of an alcoholic, said Takahara.

Rosemary Johnston, program director for the Interfaith Shelter Network, said last week that aggressive case management can make a huge difference.

"They will be meeting with someone who can give them advice that will help them get back on their feet," said Johnston. "That can go a lot further than just giving them three hots and a cot."

About $7,000 has been budgeted for the bus passes, but organizers will have to raise another $20,000 for that program, said Takahara. In addition to job interviews, the passes will help homeless people reach part-time jobs and visit their doctors, he said.

The diabetes and tuberculosis testing will be handled by the county and the improved data collection will receive a boost from hand-held data collection devices donated by the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless.

Contact staff writer David Garrick at (760) 740-5468 or dgarrick@nctimes.com.