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~;yof City Council Report
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: June 22, 2010
Agenda Item: 1 _D
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Timothy J. Jackman, Chief of Police
Subject: Second Modification of Professional Services Agreement with The West
Coast Care Foundation, Inc.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a second modification to Professional Services Agreement 8938 (CCS) with
The West Coast Care Foundation, Inc. to provide homeless outreach services to extend
the term to June 30, 2011 and increase the total contact amount to $746,250. This will
result in a FY10-11 contract in the amount of $246,250.
Executive Summary
The Santa Monica Police Department has established a joint outreach program in which
the Police Department works in conjunction with The West Coast Care Foundation to
administer direct intervention and outreach services to homeless persons in order to
help them into housing, shelter facilities, medical facilities, return them to their families
or other care givers, and to help them rebuild their lives. Immediate intervention efforts
have been focused on new arrivals and those people that have been homeless in Santa
Monica for relatively shorter periods of time to provide alternatives before they take up
permanent residency on the streets of Santa Monica. This intervention includes, but is
not limited to, relocation and transportation assistance, working with the person's
previous service providers, and other resources outside the City of Santa Monica.
The current professional agreement of $250,000 with The West Coast Care Foundation,
Inc. expires on June 30, 2010. A second modification to extend the term to June 30,
2011 and increase the contract amount to $746,250 is requested to continue services.
The FY10-11 contract amount will be $246,250; which is a 1.5% reduction.
Background
The West Coast Care Foundation, Inc. arrived in Santa Monica in 2006 with experience
that demonstrated that social service providers could successfully break through the
resistance to change associated with homelessness by bringing consistent and
continual outreach directly to the streets where homeless people were living. West
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Coast Care's philosophy is that intervention which delivers objective, honest, and
compassionate feedback to help homeless persons -better understand their situation,
could eventually overcome the self-defeating mindset that develops while living on the
streets without resources, hope, or strategies for success.
Using its own private funding sources West Coast Care began applying this philosophy
in October 2006. West Coast Care conducted hundreds of face-to-face interventions
with Santa Monica's homeless each week, ultimately attracting the attention of the
Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) Homeless Liaison Program (HLP) Team.
The HLP Team began delegating outreach tasks to West Coast Care, allowing the HLP
Team to concentrate on necessary enforcement activities. Increased enforcement led
to an associated increase in outreach, and a symbiotic relationship developed between
the HLP Team and West Coast Care in which each was able to augment the other's
mission. In March 2008, after an RFO process, the City entered into a professional
services agreement with West Coast Care for the period March 18, 2008 through June
30, 2008, at a cost of $70,000.
On June 24, 2008, after an RFP process, staff recommended The West -Coast Care
Foundation, Inc. for an annual homeless outreach contract. Council then authorized
professional services agreement no. 8938 (CCS) with The West Coast Care
Foundation, Inc. for one year of homeless outreach services in an amount not to exceed
$250,000. In July 2009 a first modification extended the agreement until June 30, 2010.
Discussion
SMPD participates in cooperative efforts with other City departments, government
agencies, private service providers, and community-based groups to address
homelessness and community concerns regarding homelessness in Santa Monica. The
Department, through its HLP Team, contributes to this collaborative process by
conducting appropriate law enforcement actions, while at the same time connecting
homeless individuals with local service providers that offer homeless clients with a
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variety of housing, rehabilitation, medical, psychiatric, and employment resources.
While this collaborative model has produced many successes through the years, overall
effectiveness had been limited by the fact that the HLP Team had been the City's
primary source of contact with homeless people on the street, requiring the team to
perform both enforcement and outreach functions. This changed when the West Coast
Care Foundation began operating in Santa Monica.
Unlike other providers, West Coast Care does not provide long-term counseling,
housing, and other supportive services. Instead, West Coast Care performs daily
outreach and intervention services, responds to calls for services, collaborates with the
HLP Team, coordinates transportation or other relocation resources, uses the City's
Project Homecoming Program, a transportation assistance program that utilizes
Greyhound bus tickets to reunify individuals with their family members and return home,
and provides referrals to local service providers. In FY08-09 and FY09-10, The West
Coast Care Foundation, Inc. was compensated $250,000 annually. A 1.5% decrease to
the FY10-11 contract is recommended which matches the decrease in funding to other
city-funded homeless service providers in the Santa Monica Continuum of Care.
Since March 2008, The West Coast Care Foundation has made 33,498 (293 per week)
contacts with homeless people on the streets of Santa Monica, in the Santa Monica Jail,
and at the request of other city-funded homeless service providers in the Santa Monica
Continuum of Care. During this period, West Coast Care helped 570 homeless people
find alternatives to living on Santa Monica's streets.
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Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The contract amount to be awarded to The West Coast Care Foundation, Inc. is
$246,250. Funds are included in the FY10-11 budget at account number 01306.555010.
Prepared by: Neela Patel -Senior Administrative Analyst -Police Budget.
Forwarded to Council:
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Rod Gould
City Manager
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Reference Amendment to
Contract No. 8938 (CCS).