A handoff closes on confirmation
A referral is not finished when it is sent. It is finished when the receiving organization confirms the person arrived.
For Chula Vista organizations
Chula Vista referrals should get through
Operation Iron Gate is referral tracking and accountability for homeless services, from Pathfinders for Hope. It is built so every case, every handoff and every outcome can be seen and proven. The first pilot is being prepared in Vallejo, and Chula Vista organizations can follow it in the open and ask to be briefed.
What Operation Iron Gate is
What a Chula Vista referral would prove
Homelessness solutions stop at the referral. Operation Iron Gate closes the gap they leave open. It strengthens continuity after the intake and assessment that the Regional Task Force on Homelessness and Chula Vista providers already run, with documented handoffs and follow-up.
Nothing closes into “unknown”
There is no exit state in the record that can hold an unknown destination. A case cannot be closed into nothing.
Consent comes before the record
A record cannot exist without a consent step recorded first. Saying no to part of it does not close the door.
What it can do
Four rules the pilot is built on
No ID at the door
An identification barrier should not end an authorized handoff. The proposed Iron Gate Access Credential does not promise same-day eligibility, housing or availability.
Yes by default
The proposed workflow requires a documented decision basis before an authorized denial is recorded.
No dead ends
“Unknown” is not a completed outcome. A handoff stays open until a responsible role records a known next action or an authorized closure.
Tracked handoff
Sending is not closure. The receiving organization’s confirmation is its own status, because sent is not the same as served.
Why it matters
Where Chula Vista referrals break
Shelter beds that are 94 percent full
Chula Vista's sheltered count more than doubled in a year, and its emergency shelter beds were 94 percent full. When beds are that full, knowing whether each referred person actually arrived decides who gets the next bed.
One in three exits to “unknown”
California spent $24 billion on homelessness from 2018 to 2023. Its State Auditor found that nearly one in three people left programs for a destination nobody recorded. Report 2023-102.1.
A shelter reached through one team
The Village at Otay bridge shelter offers stays of 90 to 120 days and takes no walk-ins or drop-offs from outside agencies; referrals come only through the city's Homeless Outreach Team and its contracted operator. Every placement starts as a handoff.
Get involved
How Chula Vista organizations can get involved
The North Bay Pilot is recruiting organizations that send referrals, receive referrals, provide a resource, or carry public responsibility for homeless services. Chula Vista organizations in any of those roles can watch it now and ask to be briefed.
Follow the North Bay Pilot
The measurement standard is published before the pilot begins, with housing held at 90 days as the lead measure. Results go on The Glass, a public view with no names or case identifiers, whether they are good or bad. See the pilot.
Request a briefing
Tell us your role in Chula Vista: whether you send referrals, receive them, provide a resource or oversee public outcomes. Request a briefing.
Your work stays yours
Your services, clients, funding and data stay yours. Read what Operation Iron Gate is and the questions directors ask.
The questions
Operation Iron Gate in Chula Vista: questions
Is Operation Iron Gate running in Chula Vista?
No. It has not launched anywhere. The first pilot is being prepared in Vallejo, and no Chula Vista launch has been announced.
What did the latest count find in Chula Vista?
The January 2026 count for the City of Chula Vista recorded 695 people homeless in Chula Vista. Up from 614 in 2025. Unsheltered homelessness fell 24.5 percent, to 355 people, while the sheltered count more than doubled, to 340. Of the 340 people in shelter, 295 were in emergency shelter and 45 in transitional housing.
What else is happening in Chula Vista?
Emergency shelter capacity is 315 beds, at 94 percent use, and rapid rehousing capacity was fully used. In September 2024 the City Council voted 5 to 0 to ban camping within 1,000 feet of schools, city shelters, parks and major transit stops. Palomar Point, a motel conversion with 27 studios, 7 of them reserved for veterans, is backed by $8.61 million in state Homekey+ funding.
Can a Chula Vista organization take part?
Cohort 01 is recruiting in Vallejo. A Chula Vista organization can request a briefing now. The first conversation is exploratory, and nothing is signed in it.
Does this replace the Regional Task Force's work or the city's outreach team?
No. Operation Iron Gate is not a replacement for the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, Chula Vista's Homeless Outreach Team or any provider's own records. It is built to confirm that a referral between organizations reached the person.
I need help myself. Where do I go?
Call 211 for current local referral information. For food, the San Diego Food Bank lists distribution sites across the area. Operation Iron Gate is not open for public intake yet. GATEHOUSE, our community platform and a smaller version of Operation Iron Gate, is open now: register on GATEHOUSE to ask questions and follow the build. Joining GATEHOUSE does not put you in the North Bay Pilot, which runs only in Vallejo and Solano County.
The evidence
Every figure is cited
Where these figures come from. Chula Vista: Regional Task Force on Homelessness, 2026 Chula Vista breakdown. City of Chula Vista, Housing Services. City of Chula Vista, September 2024. Regional Task Force on Homelessness, Chula Vista housing. Statewide findings: California State Auditor, Report 2023-102.1 (April 2024). Operation Iron Gate has not been tested in the field. No results are claimed on this page or anywhere on this site, and the North Bay Pilot numbers will be published whether they are good or bad.
Nearby cities. Read the pages for San Diego, Oceanside and Irvine.
The inside track
Don’t wait for the pilot. Walk in now.
Operation Iron Gate starts in Vallejo. Its community platform, GATEHOUSE, is open today. Chula Vista agencies, nonprofits and neighbors can join to watch the North Bay Pilot get built, ask our team anything, and help decide what the full system becomes.
Already a member? Log in
GATEHOUSEMember pass
OPEN NOW- Follow the pilotAnnouncements and Pilot Updates as it is built, the good and the bad.
- Ask the teamOpen Q&A with our team and members who know the referral system.
- Report a dead endSent someone for help and nothing happened? Report it and follow the fix.
- Shape the buildTell us what to add, change or remove before it reaches more cities.
Direct intake · projected Jan 2027