Funding the Frontlines Against Homelessness, the ‘PORT’ Budget Becomes Focal Work During Budget Talks

Several Councilmembers are beginning to ask how the City will continue funding the growing program long term during this season’s budget talks.

Pasadena Outreach Response Team (PORT) started as a small outreach effort has quietly become one of Pasadena’s main frontline responses to homelessness.

PORT sends teams of firefighters, public health workers, nurses and outreach specialists into the field to help connect people living on the streets with shelter, medical care, mental health treatment and housing.

“The reality is that PORT has become part of our frontline response to homelessness,” said Councilmember Justin Jones. “I’ve seen the results of PORT up close. Every time I’ve participated in a ride along with the team, I’ve seen them help someone in need. One experience that stayed with me was when the PORT team and I encountered a former elementary school classmate of mine who had been unhoused for a long time. PORT connected them with a motel voucher and the services they needed. Those are the kinds of moments that show why this work matters.”

The discussion was brought up recently during a Public Safety Committee meeting by Jones and supported by Vice Mayor Jess Rivas and Councilmember Tyron Hampton. Committee members raised concerns about the City’s continued reliance on temporary grants and funding sources to support PORT operations.

Over the past several years, the program has steadily grown and become one of Pasadena’s main field outreach.

City data presented in 2023 showed PORT recorded 4,470 encounters, responded to 1,044 dispatch calls and enrolled 248 individuals into ongoing services. The program also helped secure 71 housing placements, 108 detox or rehabilitation enrollments and 488 transports to medical, dental and mental health appointments.

The City’s FY 2027 Recommended Operating Budget highlights PORT’s growing public health role. According to the budget document, PORT conducted 250 field-based health screenings during FY 2026, connected dozens of people to mental health and primary care services and responded to more than 310 homelessness-related 9-1-1 calls, reducing the need for law enforcement response.

The budget also states PORT distributed more than 80 doses of Narcan during outreach efforts, reflecting the team’s growing role in overdose prevention and behavioral health response.

City officials have repeatedly distinguished PORT from the City’s HOPE Team, a separate partnership involving Pasadena Police and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. While HOPE focuses more on psychiatric evaluations and enforcement-related engagement, PORT focuses on outreach, stabilization and long-term support.

The proposed FY 2027 budget reduces the Public Health Department budget from roughly $20.6 million to approximately $17.7 million, while staffing levels are projected to decline from 104.15 to 82.61 full-time equivalent positions.

The City continues investing in PORT expansion efforts, including a $2 million Proposition 47 grant from the California Board of State and Community Corrections that funds portions of the program through June 30, 2029.

PORT launched in 2019 as a partnership between the Pasadena Public Health Department, Pasadena Fire Department and nonprofit organizations. The program combines Public Health case managers, firefighters, peer outreach workers and healthcare support through Huntington Hospital.

PORT teams work directly with people experiencing homelessness to build relationships and connect them with services. Those services can include motel vouchers, medical care, mental health treatment, substance abuse recovery programs and long-term housing support.

PORT teams also respond to homelessness-related and behavioral health calls that might otherwise involve law enforcement.