Police Seek to Move Last of River Dwellers

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies and police officers from Oxnard and Ventura combed through the Santa Clara and Ventura river bottoms Friday morning to clear out any homeless people remaining in encampments.

Officers ordered at least five people to leave the riverbeds, said Karol Schulkin, coordinator for the county’s homeless services program. They were then referred to social workers and will be relocated to dorms at the now-vacant Camarillo State Hospital, Schulkin said.

“We expect they will find a few more over the next couple of days,” she said. Occasional patrols will continue through the winter.

Schulkin’s agency is one of about a dozen that make up the River-Dweller’s Aid Intercity Network--or RAIN. The group has spent several weeks coordinating the movement of homeless from the river bottoms, hoping to clear the riverbeds of people before the winter flooding. Weather forecasters said Ventura County may get its first winter rains next week.

County officials are spending about $225,000 on the effort, which will house the homeless in dorms until March.

Over that time social workers will help the river dwellers find jobs and permanent living arraignments, Schulkin said.

The dorms are equipped with kennels for pets of the relocated people, and dorms for single men, single women, couples and families.

County flood control crews plan to clear out the makeshift structures that the homeless have built in the river bottoms, Schulkin said.