SR-301-004 (4)
Attachment I
FY1999-00 Annual Review
City's Coordinated Plan for Homeless Services and Related Issues
Overview
This report provides an overview of the effectiveness and cost of service delivery to homeless
persons by City-funded social services. Additionally, the report discusses the homeless census
and computerized case management tracking system. Attachment I of this report summarizes
how the City complies with the stated goals of Municipal Code Section 2.69.010. Attachment II
provides an overview of homeless funding since FY1993-94. Attachment III includes com-
ments submitted by Santa Monica homeless service providers regarding the City's Coordinated
Plan.
Effectiveness and Cost of Delivery of Services
Homeless services in Santa Monica are based on a "continuum of care" model characterized by
the following components: outreach, emergency assistance (Le., food, clothing, showers, laun-
dry, lockers, mailing address), intake and assessment, emergency shelter, case management
and employment services, transitional housing, permanent housing and aftercare. These com-
ponents work together to assist a homeless individual or family in moving off the streets and into
permanent housing and employment. Case management and other supportive services are
provided throughout the continuum of care as depicted below:
CONTINUUM OF CARE MODEL
Out- Emergency/ Intake & Emergency Transitional Permanent Aftercare
reach -~ Day Services -~ Assessment -~ Shelter -~ Housing -~ Housing -~ Services
~ Food I I I
~ Clothing I I
~ Showers Coordinated Case Management ~Job Retention
~ Lockers ~Intake and Assessment ~Support Groups
~ Mailing Address ~Benefits Advocacy (e.g., GR, SSI) ~Counseling
~ Crisis Intervention ~Mental Health Services J;>Mentoring
~ Information/Referrals J;>Health Services
J;>Drug/Alcohollntervention
~Money Management
~Job/Skilis Training
~Employment Search Assistance
~Employment Placement
~Housing Search Assistance
In FY1999-00 the City supported ten agencies including Chrysalis, CLARE Foundation, New
Directions, Ocean Park Community Center, Salvation Army, S1. Joseph Center, Step Up on
Second, Upward Bound/Family Place, the Westside Food Bank and the YWCA. Each agency's
Program Plan, included in the City's Grantee Agreement, specifies how delivered services will
address this continuum and effectively assist homeless individuals to obtain greater self-
sufficiency. Each agency is required to monitor the effectiveness of service delivery by gener-
ating regular progress reports from a computerized case management system and evaluating
client outcomes. City staff monitors the delivery of services and clients' progress toward self-
sufficiency through site visits and regular review of reports.
The following table summarizes homeless participant and program outcomes during FY1998-99
and FY1999-00:
%
FY98.99 % Placed FY99.00 increase!
# Served # Served % Placed <decrease>
Total SM Program Partici- 1,942 - 2,953 - 52%
pants
Placements in permanent 344 (18%) 471 (16%) 37%
housing
Placements in transitional 547 (28%) 743 (25%) 36%
housing
Placements in emergency 605 (28%) 931 (32%) 54%
shelter
Placements in permanent 367 (19%) 384 (13%) 5%
employment
Placements in temporary 176 (9%) 213 (7%) 21%
employment
;. In FY1999-00, of the 2,953 persons enrolled in City-funded programs, the number of place-
ments in transitional and permanent housing (1,214) substantially increased over the previous
year (891), and the number of placements in temporary and permanent employment also in-
creased (597 as compared to 543 last year). Because of the low percentage of those who at-
tained jobs last year despite the strong economy, agencies suggested tracking those who al-
ready had jobs at the time of enrollment. This amounted to 339 people. When added to those
who found employment after intake, 936 (or 32%) were employed during the fiscal year. These
figures are particularly significant when considering that 57% of the total clientele seen in FY99-
00 had one or more disabilities.
;. More homeless people with multiple disabilities seemed willing to enter the coordinated case
management network this year, after historically resisting long-term services and structured
programs. While this population requires intensive case management, advocacy and supportive
services, they are more prone to drop out of services when the client feels unready to take the
next step. However, because of their positive early contacts with case managers, they fre-
quently reappear when they sense they are more ready for services. Measuring successful
program outcomes with this group cannot consider housing and job placements solely. Bench-
marks of success (e.g., maintaining sobriety, complying with medications) must be measured
and recognized as incremental outcomes and successes.
;. In FY1999-00, a total of 931 homeless persons received emergency or temporary shelter.
Of these placements, 639 (69%) were placed at SAMOSHEL, the City-funded shelter. Of those
2
who were sheltered there, 86 (13%) successfully obtained permanent housing while in the pro-
gram.
)>- An additional 385 homeless persons obtained permanent housing through other agencies in
the coordinated case management network. Thus, while the percentage of homeless people
served who were able to obtain permanent housing decreased slightly from 18% of the total last
year to 16% this year, the actual number of people permanently housed this year rose by 37%.
The percentages present a skewed snapshot, since the base number of homeless people
served is so much higher this year.
Impact on the Public
As Santa Monica has continued to attract high-end tourism and leading technology industries,
the visible contrast of the homeless against such settings as the Third Street Promenade or the
ocean front has heightened public awareness of homelessness. For example, in the annual
City Resident Survey conducted by phone last November, the "Homeless Problem" received the
highest number of responses as the City's most important issue (40% of respondents)-far
ahead of the next highest issues, "Growth" (21.2%) and "Traffic" (16.4%). Yet there have been
fewer written or e-mail complaints about the homeless during the past year, and a couple of fa-
vorable letters were received commenting on an improvement regarding the homeless on the
streets.
Homeless Census
Until this year, the most recent figures concerning homelessness in the Santa MonicalWestside
area were based on a statistical sampling conducted by the RAND Corporation in 1989. This
year, as part of the Human Services Division's Community Voices profile of Santa Monicans, a
single-point-in-time census of the homeless within Santa Monica's boundaries was conducted
on October 27, 1999. With eight teams composed of paid homeless people and outreach work-
ers, supported by volunteers from the community and students at Santa Monica College, the
census enumerators counted 1,037 homeless people during the course of the afternoon and
night (adjusting for under-counting and duplications).' While these figures were comparable to
the count of a decade ago,2 this year 36% of the population that evening were sleeping in
emergency shelters or other residential programs. A decade ago the City lacked the capacity to
house that high a percentage of its homeless population, no less address their long-term stabili-
zation needs. Furthermore, as of last year only Daybreak Shelter (for mentally ill homeless
women) of the residential programs offered daytime programming. This year SAMOSHEL,
Turning Point Transitional Shelter and Upward Bound/Family Place all provide daytime inde-
pendent living workshops and support group activities.
Computerized Case Manaqement Proqram
1 It should be noted that during the course of a year, a substantial number of people stabilize and another segment of
the population falls into homelessness, so that the annual homeless population of Santa Monica is likely to be several
times those counted on any single day and night.
2 The RAND study did not include all of Santa Monica but did include parts of Venice and West Los Angeles, so the
geographic parameters were different. Also the RAND study involved statistical sampling over a period of time,
rather than a literal "head counf during a single point in time. For further information on the 1999 census, please see
Special Census: City of Santa Monica Homeless Residents (Economic Roundtable, December 1999), by Daniel
Flaming, Mark and Rebecca Drayse, and Peter Force.
3
In FY1999-00 the City completed the expansion of its computerized case management system
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demographics and services delivered. Since its initial implementation in January of 1996, City
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the need for extensive user training of a DOS-based system. A working group composed of
staff from all the network agencies met monthly to evaluate more user-friendly software and
recommended a change to a Windows- and Web-based system called ClientTrack. On June
22, 1999, the City Council authorized staff to proceed with that recommendation. The installa-
tion of a 64-workstation ClientTrack Wide Area Network (WAN) is presently underway at twelve
program sites. Funding for this system upgrade has been provided by HUD.
Cost of Services
In FY1999-00, the City budgeted $1,761,993 to fund homeless services. In addition, the City
administered $430,780 in HUD funds for the last year of a three-year Supportive Housing Pro-
gram grant, which has since been renewed for two more years and was recommended for
funding for an additional two years beyond that (for FY2001-03). For every dollar the City pro-
vides to its grantees for homeless services, the City leverages $3.08 of non-City funding.
Consistent with Municipal Code Section 2.69.010, and to promote a continuum of care that ad-
dresses the divergent needs of Santa Monica's homeless population, City funds have increas-
ingly supported longer-term employment services, including retention and aftercare programs,
'!:IIn~ I"'~CO n"'l!:lln!:lt""lomont linlr.on tn hl"\llcinn In ~V1 aaO_(lfl ("'it\( fllnrfinrt fAr omnlr\\/n"'l.o.nt con,it"oc
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and case management linked to housing represented 79% of all City funding for homeless
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funding since FY1993-94.
AQency Comments
As the attached comments by the service providers indicate, the issue of increased service de-
Iivery-especially to the mentally ill and the dually diagnosed-without the benefits of additional
staffing has been targeted as the most pressing concern among homeless service providers. In
addition, threatened cutbacks of HUD funding to the entire Westside from the Los Angeles
Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) has been an ongoing issue throughout the year. Since
the agencies themselves are among the first to feel the gaps in the existing system, their at-
tached comments provide some insight into the areas where more work is needed to help the
homeless achieve stability. (See Attachment III, Agency Comments.)
Conclusion
Program outcomes for FY1999-00 indicate a significant increase in the number of homeless
people seeking services, yet also show high levels of achievement through a complex but coor-
dinated network of multi-agency staff working with limited resources. City staff will continue to
assess service delivery effectiveness, the impact of the City's homeless population on other
residents, and the threat of funding cuts. The Los Angeles HUD Regional Office's bestowing of
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quality of work being achieved, and technical assistance calls from cities around the country
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