Armory Shelter Plans Called Cold Comfort : Homelessness: Critics say guidelines needlessly lock out the needy. Orange County’s policy has come in for special criticism.

California’s armory shelter program, once hailed as an innovative response to the plight of the needy, is coming under increasing criticism this winter for employing guidelines that leave thousands of homeless needlessly out in the cold.

Moreover, Orange County has come in for special criticism from some local homeless advocates who say it has failed to follow the lead of other counties that have aggressively pursued armories as a cold weather option.

Critics charge that Orange County has made its National Guard armories available to the homeless far less often than other areas, in part because officials rely on a strict interpretation of state guidelines and make no direct financial contribution to the program.

“The armories in Orange County were open 14 nights last winter while those in the San Fernando Valley were open an average of 50 nights the last three years; there are a number of areas in which Orange County lags behind other communities,” said Jere Witter, a spokesman for the Legal Aid Society of Orange County.

Orange County armories were not scheduled to open Friday night, but are expected to open tonight and Sunday, when forecasters predict the county will feel another blast of Arctic air.

Homeless advocates are willing to admit that having the armory program is better than having no statewide winter shelter plan. But they argue that because of restrictive guidelines it has not lived up to its potential as a shield against harsh weather conditions.

There is also concern that resources for the program vary widely. Some counties provide significant funding, others do not.

Indeed, many homeless advocates fear local support may be the greatest barrier to wider use: The more days the armories are open, the greater the costs of running the program.

Under the plan approved by Gov. George Deukmejian in 1987, armories can open when the temperature is forecast by the National Weather Service to drop to 40 degrees or below, or 50 degrees or below with a 50% chance of rain.

But many homeless advocates say the criteria are arbitrary and expose the homeless to life-threatening conditions. They argue that the armory program should be seasonal rather than temperature-driven, contending there is little difference between 39 degrees and 45 degrees for a person forced to bed down on bone-chilling concrete.

Indeed medical experts say hypothermia, a condition related to subnormal body temperature, can occur in even mild weather.

More important than temperature is duration of exposure, exacerbated by such factors as drug or alcohol consumption, disease and malnourishment--conditions likely to beset many homeless.

“It’s extremely variable as to what conditions are life threatening, but it’s not uncommon to have hypothermia when temperatures are in the 50s,” said Dr. Sandy Gordon, an assistant clinical professor of emergency medicine at UCI Medical Center in Orange. “And it doesn’t take very long--minutes to hours. You don’t have to be out in the cold for two days.”

Orange County homeless advocates, with others statewide, are mounting an effort to get the standards eased.

“We are going to ask that they be made available to the fullest extent possible when not in use by the National Guard,” said Kay Knepprath, program manager for the California Homeless and Housing Coalition.

Bev Passorello, who coordinates the armory program for the state Office of Emergency Services, said the program has experienced some problems but has generally been successful. So far this winter, armories statewide have logged more than 27,000 shelter nights, she said.

“I am sympathetic to their concerns, but I also think the armories should be a last resort,” said Passorello. “They are great for temporary overflow, but they are not a long-term solution.”

Although the guidelines for use of National Guard armories apply statewide, many communities have used wide latitude in interpreting them. The result is a patchwork of programs up and down the state.

For example, the guidelines state that use of armories can be based on five- or seven-day weather forecasts. Many communities use the provision to keep armories open the entire week if even only one day meets the temperature standard.

“We opened our armories on Thanksgiving and project that they will be open continually until March 31,” said James McAteer, director of the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission, which oversees that county’s armory program.

However, in other areas, including Orange County, the forecast is checked each day to determine if the armory will open that night. Officials must make a decision to open by 10 a.m. and in order to complete dozens of procedures to insure that volunteers, food, blankets, security and other arrangements are lined up.

Critics claim that system is highly inefficient, more costly and also confusing for homeless clientele who never know from day to day if shelters will be available.

Orange County’s armory coordinator, Dianne Edwards, said the local program is being used as effectively as state law allows, but she conceded that some counties may operate differently.

“It is difficult to comment on what other areas are doing but our program is based on our interpretation of the state guidelines,” she said.

Local homeless advocates who work closely with county officials in coordinating the local armory program also defend it as an emergency measure that was not intended to be a final solution to the problems of homelessness.

They also argue that other communities may benefit from greater funding resources, thus allowing greater use of armories.

Orange County provides no direct funding of the armory program, relying instead on volunteers, federal homeless- and emergency-assistance funds and a trust fund set up for the program.

By contrast, Santa Clara County provided $250,000 for its armory program, San Mateo County provided $25,000 and San Diego County $35,000 this year. “We don’t have the resources to provide services all the time,” said Susan Oakson, a coordinator with the Orange County Homeless Issues Task Force.

But Witter, a community education specialist for Legal Aid, and others complain that county officials simply have not been as aggressive as they could be and that the homeless are suffering because of it.

They point to Los Angeles, where city officials this winter lobbied the state to keep armories open for 60 continuous nights, regardless of the weather. When state officials disapproved, the city ultimately discontinued use of the armories in favor of an expanded winter shelter program using other shelters.

But Los Angeles’ mistake may have been in asking for permission. Officials in several counties said they simply decided to keep armories open continuously during the winter months on the grounds that the space was being wasted when not being used by the guard.

“The governor said the armories could be open from December through March so we are going to give people in the county a place to go” during that time, said Bill Petitt, a manager for the San Mateo County armory program. “The only time they close is when the guard is active.”

Sacramento County officials said they also ran the armory program continuously from October through March during the first year they were made available. The winter shelter program is now housed in larger quarters at a 4-H building on the California Exposition fairgrounds.

“From a practical point of view I think it’s reasonable to run the program in a way that keeps people in a decent situation rather than leaving them out in conditions where they end up in the hospital,” said Santa Clara County’s McAteer.

In San Diego, county officials have also put a local stamp on the program, but one that homeless activists are fighting to have changed. Officials there decided that temperatures must dip to 35 degrees or 40 degrees with a forecast of a half-inch of rain. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider bringing the standards more in line with those of the state.

Even with the stricter guidelines, however, San Diego armories opened more often than Orange County’s--with the El Cajon armory open 54 nights last year and the Vista armory, 31 nights.

Passorello admitted that although armory programs are supposed to be uniform, interpretations vary widely.

“We are seeing some liberal interpretation of rules, but unless there is flagrant abuse we kind of give them leeway,” she said. “If you look at California weather patterns between December and March, most cities are within the criteria 90% of the time anyway, so we are not going to ask them to move in and out of the armories.”

Homeless advocates suggest that local areas should be given more authority to decide when to open armories, that weather conditions such as wind chill factor and wet ground be considered and that they be available more hours during the day when not being used by the guard.

They are also lobbying the state to improve shower and restroom facilities.

But nearly all concede that use of the armories remains at best a stop-gap measure. “Certainly expanded use of the armories would be cheaper than building more shelters,” Knepprath said. “But it is not the homeless program of choice. It’s a big Band-Aid when what we need is a tourniquet.”