Orange County Homeless Deaths To Get Scrutinized By New Committee

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Don Barnes announced Wednesday the creation of a committee that will review homeless deaths in the area and determine if any of them were preventable.

The Homeless Death Review Committee will be commissioned through the Orange County Coroner's Office and made up of "technical experts from both the public and private sectors," the Orange County Sheriff's Department said in a statement. Experts include representatives from the Orange County Health Care Agency, Hospital Association of Southern California and the coroner's office.

"[The committee] will explore the root causes of the reviewed deaths and determine what, if any, factors contributing to their deaths were preventable," the statement said.

The committee will then provide county officials with a list of recommendations meant to help reduce the number of preventable deaths among Orange County's homeless population.

At least 321 people in Orange County suffering from homelessness died in 2021, according to a report from The Daily Pilot. Many of the deaths were drug overdoses, with 106 caused by the drug fentanyl.

The pandemic led to more people living and dying on the streets, the Pilot reported. Just over 200 homeless people died in the county in 2019.

"Addressing the impacts of homelessness remains a top priority for the sheriff’s department and our county partners," Barnes said in a statement. "The Review Committee presents an opportunity to make data-driven policy decisions that will ultimately result in lives saved and an enhanced quality of life for our community."

Committee members will hold their first meeting sometime this spring.