SR 10-25-2011 9AID
City of City Council Report
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: October 25, 2011
Agenda Item: la
To: Mayor and City Council.
From: Barbara Stinchfield, Community and Cultural Services Director
Andy Agle, Housing and Economic Development Director
Tim Jackman, Chief of Police
Scott Ferguson, Fire Chief
Subject: Public Hearing of the Annual Review of the City's Plan for Homeless
Services
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1) Hold a public hearing and receive public comment on the Annual Review of the
City's Plan for Homeless Services, pursuant to Municipal Code Section 2.69.030.
2) Review and comment on strategies to address homelessness.
3) Direct staff to proceed with next steps.
Executive Summary
This staff report meets the requirements of the City's Public Safety Initiative by providing
the Annual Review of the City's Plan for Homeless Services (Annual Review) for FY
2010 -2011. The public hearing affords the public and the City Council an opportunity to
comment on the Annual Review and provide input on strategies to address
homelessness.
The required Annual Review reports on: (a) local perceptions and impacts of
homelessness; (b) the local capacity to meet the goals of the City's Action Plan to
Address Homelessness, including the cost of services; (c) a progress update on the
implementation of the City's Action Plan to End Homelessness, including the
performance of Santa Monica's homeless service system and outcomes for individuals
who received services; (d) regional coordination and advocacy; and (e) next steps.
1
Background
Public Safety Initiative
In 1994, the City Council adopted the Public Safety Initiative (SMMC Sections 2.69.010
through 2.69.030) calling for the City to adopt a plan for homeless services based on
the following goals:
• Effectively assist the homeless in returning to a self- sufficient status,
• Monitor the progress of individual recipients,
• Eliminate unnecessary duplication of services,
• Emphasize long -term solutions to homelessness by combining housing,
counseling, and job training,
• Provide non - housing services for approximately the same number of homeless
individuals as can be temporarily sheltered in the City,
• Prevent an increase, and wherever feasible, reduce overall City expenditures
relating to homeless services, and
• Impose reasonable time limits on the provision of services to the same
individuals.
The City's plan, required by the Public Safety Initiative, is incorporated into the attached
2011 -2014 Action Plan to Address Homelessness, which reflects and informs current
policies and practices and also establishes goals for addressing homelessness in the
City. Elements of the Public Safety Initiative are also incorporated into two other City
documents — the City's FY2011 – 2015 Human Services Grants Program and the
Consolidated Plan for FY 2010 -2015 required by the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD).
2
The Public Safety Initiative also requires the City Council to conduct an annual review of
the City's progress in meeting the goals established by the Initiative, and hold a public
hearing to assess:
• The impact of the City's homeless population on other residents of the City,
• The effectiveness of the delivery of services to the homeless by the City and
various social service agencies,
• The cost of those services, and
• The changes which should be made in the Plan in order to carry out its primary
goals and objectives.
Notice of a public hearing for October 25, 2011 was placed in the Santa Monica Daily
Press, and posted on www.surfsantamonica.com and the City's website.
Action Plan to Address Homelessness
As noted above, one of the strategic documents designed to address homelessness in
Santa Monica is the Action Plan to Address Homelessness (Action Plan) adopted by the
City Council on February 26 2008. The Action Plan established a vision statement,
guiding principles, and suggested refinements to the City's homeless service system
within six project areas: services, housing, evaluation, community education, public
policy, and regional collaboration.
The Plan was updated in 2009 and again in 2010 to reflect changing local and Federal
priorities and goals. In 2010, the format of the Action Plan changed to become a multi-
year plan to coincide with the City's Human Services Grant Program (HSGP) funding
cycle, providing a longer -term view which emphasizes system changes and
improvements. The Action Plan (see Attachment 1), which spans FY2011 — 2014, was
framed upon the Federal plan to prevent and end homelessness, Opening Doors, and
the goals of the HEARTH Act, for which the Federal government is developing
regulations. In FY2011, these regulations will be used to further enhance the Action
Plan and develop additional benchmarks for measuring success in addressing
homelessness as a community.
3
Discussion
The five sections of this report include: local perceptions and impacts of homelessness;
an analysis of the local capacity to meet the goals of the Action Plan; a progress update
on the implementation of the Action Plan; key regional coordination and advocacy
efforts; and steps staff will be taking in the coming year to continue to advance the goals
of the Action Plan.
Local Perceptions & Impacts of Homelessness
In February 2011, the Santa Monica Resident Satisfaction Survey was conducted,
compiling information from telephone calls to 407 randomly selected residents. This
year, for the first time, the survey documented a nine percent drop from 2009 in the
number of people identifying homelessness as an issue of concern (from 31% to 22 %).
Yet homelessness remains the third issue of concern following the City's budget and
traffic issues. This bi- annual survey represents the best gauge of resident opinion on
the issue and, while the perception has improved, the findings also indicate a need to
bolster public education as well as continue to identify and invest in programs that
rapidly and successfully move people off of the public streets and into appropriate
housing. To address this, the Human Services Division recently launched a new web
portal which provides a user - friendly platform connecting residents in need to local
services, as well as educating community members on local and regional efforts to
address homelessness. As the City reviews the effectiveness of City- funded programs
in quickly moving people off the streets and into housing, the website will soon include a
"community report card" to clearly outline the effect of local providers and the City's
initiatives.
Nationally, the Federal government mandates a bi- annual point -in -time street count as a
tool to measure and track the number of homeless people in any given area. Locally,
the City has implemented annual point -in -time street counts to measure the
effectiveness of City initiatives and the impact of homelessness on the community. In
January 2011, Santa Monica's homeless count identified 740 individuals sleeping on the
4
streets or in shelters within the boundaries of the City. This count maintained the 19%
reduction seen from 2009 to 2010, indicating that the City's safety net was successful in
preventing a rise in homelessness despite the deep economic recession and high
unemployment rate. During the same two year period, the Los Angeles Homeless
Services Authority reported that the Los Angeles region overall (including Santa
Monica) saw a 4.5% reduction, while Long Beach and Pasadena reported increases
(9.7% and 6.9% respectively).
To address the impacts of street homelessness on local first responders, Community
and Cultural Services (CCS), Fire, Police, and City Attorney's Office staff have
increased the number of trainings and deepened collaborative efforts across
departments. The Human Services Division (HSD) collaborated with the Police
Department's Homeless Liaison Program (HLP) Team to conduct multiple trainings for
the Fire Department regarding homeless - related calls, including high - profile incidents
involving people identified as homeless that have generated significant community
concerns. As a result, the Fire Department is actively engaged in modeling a system
after the success of the HLP Team by identifying key personnel within the Fire
Department specialized in the unique needs of the homeless population. In addition, last
year HSD staff and HLP officers trained Police officers during daily roll call trainings.
Due to increased focus on the issue, SMPD enhanced its services in 2010 to include
multi -unit involvement in community livability operations (with increased involvement of
the Crime Impact Unit, patrol officers, and Third Street Bike Personnel), and increased
inclusion of the HLP Team department -wide so information and efforts to address
homelessness crosses a variety of SMPD units. Also, with the addition of a Los Angeles
County Department of Mental Health (DMH) mental health worker on patrol three days a
week, the HLP Team increased from three teams in the field to four.
9
This cross - departmental expansion of trainings and collaboration resulted in increased
outreach and community contacts. In FY 2010 -2011:
• SMPD made 1,540 duplicated arrests of individuals who listed their residence as
transient, homeless, none, or provided an address of a known homeless shelter,
representing a 7% increase from FY 2009 -10.
• SMPD's HLP team made 2,677 duplicated contacts with homeless individuals
and approximately 2,447 periodic checks on property and open space,
representing a 5% and 10% increase respectively as compared to FY 2009 -10.
• Fire Department's paramedics responded to 9,241 incidents, 1,498 of these
incidents (16 %) were to homeless persons needing assistance. The number of
homeless - related calls as a percentage of overall Fire Department calls
increased by 2% since FY2009 -10.
• The City Attorney's Office filed 2,182 cases involving arrests and citations in
which the subjects involved were primarily homeless persons. The number of
filings between FY 2010 -2011 and FY 2009 -2010 remains flat.
To further address the impact of homelessness on residents and businesses, City staff
have collaborated on the best approach to addressing and working with outdoor food
distribution groups on the Third Street Promenade, parks, and locations throughout the
City. Community and Cultural Services (CCS) and the City Attorney's Office staff are
analyzing the impacts of public meal distribution on shared public spaces. In addition,
CCS, SMPD, and the City Attorney's Office are working to educate and train City
employees on current park rules and methods of enforcement. Concurrently, the City
Attorney's Office is reviewing new developments in case law (including a decision
regarding a Florida law that prohibited food distribution in City parks) to assess the
potential for new laws protecting shared use of public space in Santa Monica.
Another issue that may impact the public is the passing of AB 109, also known as the
Public Safety Realignment Program, which went into effect in October 2011. As a result
of this legislation, over 30,000 state prisoners will be released to counties in California.
It is reported that Los Angeles County can expect to see more than 10,000 additional
inmates or people on probation in the first year of the realignment plan. It may be the
case that a portion of these former inmates will become homeless. HSD will work
E
closely with local service providers, the City Attorney's Office, and the Police
Department to monitor the situation.
The slight improvement in resident perceptions of homelessness and the reduction in
street homelessness over the past several years demonstrate progress resulting from
the combined efforts of local service providers, business community, residents, and City
staff. To sustain and build upon this progress, it will be critical to improve
comprehensive homeless prevention efforts to keep people housed with the supportive
services they need to sustain their success. In addition, the work to move those who
remain on the streets into housing becomes more difficult, because many who are yet to
be housed are entrenched individuals with complex co- occurring behavioral health
issues and deteriorating health conditions. Street homelessness continues to place
heavy demands on local first responders, including several high - profile incidents
involving people identified as homeless that have generated significant community
concerns. Therefore, service providers and first responders must continue to develop
creative approaches which are time - intensive and require multi - disciplinary teams with a
high level of skills to comprehensively address the wide range of needs of long -term
chronically homeless individuals.
Local Capacity in a Regional Context
The City has a high concentration of social service agencies that serve clients from
Santa Monica but also from the entire Westside (SPA 5) of Los Angeles County. The
City has a long history of investment of funding and Council support for the
development of services and housing for low- income and homeless people, including
shelters, drop -in centers, and permanent supportive housing.
In FY 2010 -2011, the City provided funding for the seven core agencies in the amount
of $2.6 million through a combination of City General Funds, Federal Community
Development Block Grant funds, Federal Supportive Housing Program funds, and
County Proposition A funds. For these same programs, the core agencies raised an
7
additional $5,695,383 in other public and private funds. To ensure the continuity of
these programs, City staff will work with service providers and funders to anticipate
possible funding reductions due to the current economic climate, pursue funding
opportunities from non -City sources, and when appropriate, realign existing resources
to meet emerging needs.
The City also provided funding to the Westside Food Bank, Venice Family Clinic,
Common Ground, Community Corporation of Santa Monica, Legal Aid Foundation of
Los Angeles, and the Westside Center for Independent Living, all of whom served a
significant number of low- income and homeless individuals. In addition to the City's
HSGP funding, the City expended an additional $472,563 in General Funds for key
activities that support the City's homeless initiatives including: the collaborative
operation between HSD and SMPD of Project Homecoming; direct financial assistance
for individuals moving into permanent housing and to assist them in retaining their
housing; and a clinical consultant who works with both HSD and the Housing Division
on the most chronic and vulnerable individuals on the Service Registry. Additionally, the
City expended $132,800 in General Fund and Federal dollars on Homeless
Management Information System activities, which includes vendor and staffing costs to
support the use of the City's centralized homeless information database.
In the past several years, however, the City has begun to re- evaluate the use of local
resources and infrastructure in an effort to ensure that the City's investments, as well as
non -City resources that are granted to agencies in Santa Monica, are directed to
serving the City's homeless population. This idea of "fair share" — that resources should
be spread throughout the County and each community should contribute to the well-
being of their own residents — is one that is promoted by the United Way of Greater Los
Angeles, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), and the County.
While the concept is universally supported by these regional agencies, the
implementation and the practical application of this philosophy are more difficult to
reconcile, especially when other municipalities do not yet have the infrastructure or
8
policies in place to contribute to the regional system. The City, in its Action Plan,
acknowledges that there are a variety of ways to define "fair share ", such as a per -
capita need, a homeless street count, the capacity to provide housing and services, or
the number of clients accessing services at any given time. When any of these methods
is applied to the actual program activity in Santa Monica, it is clear that the local
infrastructure is predominately used to serve homeless people who are not part of the
City's priority population as defined in the Action Plan.
While the City's 2011 Homeless Count identified 740 individual homeless in the City
during one night, a far greater number of people accessed services from local homeless
providers. In FY2010 -2011, 7,551 individuals accessed services — of the people who
provided a last permanent address, only 20% were living in Santa Monica when they
lost their housing. Of this total number, 1,252 individuals meet the City's priority
population definition. Of the priority population, 281 individuals are on the City's "by
name" Service Registry'.
Within the City, agencies operate 331 emergency and transitional housing units.
However, the majority of clients utilizing those beds are not Santa Monica priority
participants due in part to regional funding sources and requirements supporting these
shelter beds. In order to reach a "fair share" balance of local need to resources, it is
critical that the City work closely with local agencies and funders to direct more of the
existing services and housing resources towards the priority populations identified in the
Action Plan while reuniting and directing others to their home communities.
1 Since 2008, 476 individuals have voluntarily completed the Vulnerability Survey and are ranked according to risk of morbidity on
the streets based on length of homelessness, age, health conditions, and history of substance abuse and mental illness. Over time,
many of these individuals have left the community. As part of the maintenance of the Registry this year, City staff conducted a
thorough review of the individuals on the list, identifying nearly 200 individuals who have not been seen or engaged in the City in
over one year. Those individuals have been removed from this priority list, which has resulted in a new total of 281 individuals.
E
Progress Update on Action Plan
The Action Plan functions as
a roadmap
for targeting
resources, evaluating the
effectiveness of services such
as housing
and special
initiatives, and identifying
opportunities to transform service delivery
Targeting of Resources: The City continues to identify ways to ensure that the limited
resources available are being used to assist the City's identified priority populations. In
2010, the City Council approved a refined definition of "Santa Monica participant ". While
the overall number of people served has remained fairly static, many more people this
year (a 73% increase) met the City's priority participant definition, meaning programs
are actively identifying and prioritizing people from Santa Monica for services. Overall,
this is approximately 17% of the total clients served by City- funded agencies. The
importance of targeting is emphasized in grantee contracts and communications with
City- funded agencies, and this advocacy will be expanded to other funders who provide
grants to local agencies to allow non -City funds to be used to support the City's
priorities. This targeting is designed to manage the capacity of programs and to serve
people who need the most help. The criteria are evenly applied across human service
programs. Like any other set of eligibility criteria, people who do not meet the criteria
are referred to other services.
In addition to clarifying who is served, the City continues to focus funding toward
programs and services that advance additional goals of the Action Plan. In response to
priorities in the HSGP Request for Proposals released during FY2010 -2011, local
agencies redirected their requests from services -only to programs whose primary goal
is to secure permanent housing. While this may result in a reduction in the number of
people served, it is anticipated that the number of people who are permanently housed,
and who retain their housing, will increase.
iL]
Effectiveness of Services, Housing, and Special Initiatives: The Action Plan addresses
the impact of homelessness through funding for services, housing, and special
initiatives.
Services: During FY 2010 -2011, the City funded programs at seven key agencies
providing direct services to homeless residents: Chrysalis, CLARE Foundation, New
Directions, OPCC, St. Joseph Center, Step Up On Second, and Upward Bound
House. To understand the scope of services delivered, the City uses the following
indicators to measure the effectiveness of programs in the community:
• Total Active Clients: Based on data from the City's Homeless Management
Information System (HMIS), agencies provided some level of assistance to
7,5512 persons during FY 2010 -2011. Further analysis of this data has helped
to better understand where individuals originated prior to accessing services
in Santa Monica. Of those individuals served this year who identified a "last
permanent address ", 20% reported living in Santa Monica. The remaining
80% reported becoming homeless outside of Santa Monica:
■ 36% originated from Los Angeles City
15% originated from Los Angeles County (non -LA City)
• 12% originated outside Los Angeles County, within California
■ 17% originated outside of the State of California
• Santa Monica Priority Population: Within the 7,551 Total Active Clients
identified in the HMIS, 1,252 (17 %) meet the City's definition of Priority
Population. The effectiveness of programs is measured by their success in
targeting resources to this population. Of these:
• 137 were placed in permanent housing.
■ 165 received emergency or transitional housing.
2 Assistance may have been one -time or ongoing, including intake, basic services, case management, and temporary and
permanent housing, addiction recovery, mental health services, and employment assistance. While the 7,551 persons in HMIS
represent individuals who received an intake or services from a City- funded agency, these individuals may or may not have become
homeless in Santa Monica and may have only received one service and never returned.
11
Within the Priority Population, there are 281 individuals that comprise the
Service Registry:
■ 208 of the 281 are ranked as vulnerable. Of these individuals, 43 are
vulnerable veterans.
■ 125 individuals (45 %) of the 281 are now in permanent housing. Of
these, 102 were ranked as vulnerable.
■ Of the 125 individuals in permanent housing, 14 are vulnerable
veterans.
Housing: Permanent supportive and affordable housing is the most effective method
of ending homelessness. The Housing Division provides a diversity of housing
options including permanent supportive housing which includes rental subsidy
vouchers and loans to non - profit organizations to develop affordable and supportive
housing. In addition to creating housing for current homeless individuals, the
Division's resources help to keep vulnerable populations who are at risk of
homelessness housed. During FY 2010 -11:
• $17.3 million in Federal and local funds were spent on approximately 1,400
active housing vouchers.
• $7.3 million in loans were made to Step Up on Second to preserve 36 existing
supportive housing apartments and to build a new development for 30
individuals who are homeless and disabled.
• Six HUD permanent supportive housing grants are administered and since
2006, the Division has been awarded funds to provide 73 new permanent
supportive housing rental subsidies through HUD's competitive grant
processes.
• The Housing Division was awarded $3.3 million in Federal funds to provide
permanent housing rental subsidies to approximately 230 formerly homeless
and disabled individuals and families. Supportive services are delivered by
OPCC, St. Joseph Center, and Step Up On Second. Of those served, more
than 88% of program participants remained in permanent housing for at least
six months, and 96% have maintained or increased their income, which
exceed HUD's performance standard requirement.
• Santa Monica Housing Authority (SMHA) administers the HOME Program, a
tenant -based (TBRA) rental assistance program designed for individuals and
families who are disabled and /or homeless. These individuals and families
are otherwise eligible for Shelter + Care (S +C) participation but the programs
12
are already at capacity. Annually, 35 households receive rental subsidies
through this program.
• Recognizing the need for a program to assist homeless adults who are 55
and older, the SMHA administers the Redevelopment Agency (RDA)
Homeless Prevention and Rental Subsidy program. This program provides a
one -time grant of up to $2,000 to Santa Monica residents who are at risk of
eviction for non - payment of rent due to a financial hardship. The rental
subsidy component of the RDA program provides rental assistance to
applicants who are homeless and are part of the City's continuum of care for
the chronically homeless for at least one year prior to receiving assistance. In
FY 2010 -2011, 86 households received rental assistance.
Special Initiatives: While the City continues to focus human service and housing
resources on chronically homeless vulnerable individuals, the City also operates
several special initiatives that target resources to address specific challenges:
• Proiect Homecoming: For individuals who do not meet the priority participant
definition, the City provides opportunities for households to reconnect to
housing and services in their community of origin. In FY 2010 -2011 this
program assisted 254 individuals to relocate and reunite with family or friends
in their community of origin at an average cost of $224 per participant. The
destinations for the participants are as follows:
029% in the South
025% in the Mid -West
016% in the West (excluding California)
013% in the Southeast
o7.5% within California
07.5% in the Northeast
o 2% outside of the country (Mexico and Puerto Rico)
• West Coast Care: This outreach team partnered with the Santa Monica Police
Department's HLP Team, making 1,741 contacts and assisting 140 of the 254
total individuals that utilized the City's Project Homecoming program.
• Homeless Prevention: The City received $553,576 in Federal American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds from HUD for the Eviction
Prevention and Rehousing Assistance (EPRA) program. Since November
2009:
o 990 individuals (652 households) applied for assistance and were
screened for eligibility. Of those:
■ 140 individuals (87 households) were eligible for and received
financial assistance and case management services.
13
■ Approximately 75 additional households met the basic eligibility
criteria but, due to limited funds, were not able to be enrolled in the
program.
■ To date, 104 households have completed the program, with 94
(90 %) of those retaining stable permanent housing.
Due to overwhelming demand, the program fully expended its financial
assistance funds and is closed to new participants. Case management and
financial assistance to those households currently enrolled in the program is
continuing, with the program concluding for all households by early 2012.
HUD will not reallocate unused funds from other communities; therefore, with
no imminent source of additional funding, the City plans to close HPRP in
early 2012. Households who need continued case management, and any new
households needing assistance, will be referred to the Housing Self
Sufficiency program operated by St. Joseph Center, or to other resources in
the community.
• Homeless Community Court (HCC): Developed in February 2007 to support
the efforts of the City, the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office, and
the Los Angeles County Superior Court in addressing quality of life offenses,
the HCC is a powerful tool for moving individuals off the streets into housing
and providing comprehensive services. Since the program began, 219
chronic offenders have participated in the program, 141 (64 %) have
successfully completed the court's requirements and had their cases
successfully adjudicated, and 78 (55 %) have moved into permanent housing
utilizing Shelter + Care, HOME Chronic Homeless Program, RDA, and
Support Intensive Program (SIP) vouchers.
A meeting between the City of Santa Monica's City Attorney's Office, HSD,
and the Los Angeles Superior Court took place in early 2011 to consider the
issues concerning the cost of the program. All parties agreed this specialty
court program adds value to the community and will continue the program as
long as it remains cost neutral for the Court. This is a testament to the
strength of the Homeless Community Court during a time when the Los
Angeles Superior Court continues to experience budget shortfalls. Currently,
the City of Santa Monica provides ongoing General Fund dollars to support
the program. For the second time, the City applied to the U.S. Department of
Justice for funds to expand the program; however, the application was not
selected for funding. City staff will continue to look for opportunities to secure
outside funding for HCC.
14
Transforming Programs: Over the past year, City staff have taken key steps to reshape
resources and enhance effective programs to support the goals of the Action Plan. The
City has supported the transformation of several programs as agencies evolve their
operations to meet the needs of Santa Monica participants.
• Starting in July 2011, the City re- directed existing funding away from emergency
and drop -in services to augment support for OPCC's Safe Haven, a housing
program with intensive case management targeted to the City's most chronic and
vulnerable individuals with severe mental illness, most with co- occurring
substance abuse issues.
• Recognizing the prevalence of chronically homeless, disabled individuals in the
community, OPCC has re- designed Turning Point transitional housing program
from an employment -based self- sufficiency program to a rapid re- housing
program that creates a new environment for high -need individuals who may have
been unwilling or unable to cope in an open congregate shelter setting.
• OPCC has developed plans to use City housing (RDA) funds to transform the
City -owned property at 1616 Ocean Avenue to a permanent supportive housing
project for mentally ill women. This property, which has 14 apartments
(approximately half are currently vacant), has been home to Daybreak, a daytime
drop -in center for mentally ill women, for over twenty years. City staff have asked
OPCC to align the focus and target population of Daybreak with the goals of the
City's Action Plan. The intent is for 1616 Ocean to be a permanent supportive
housing project with Daybreak's primary function to offer onsite resources for
tenants and secondarily, to assist a smaller and targeted group of homeless
mentally ill women using a Housing First approach — rather than a traditional
drop -in center.
• Step Up on Second redirected City funding from drop -in type services to focus on
providing support services for formerly homeless chronically mentally ill
individuals in permanent housing to ensure that they are able to stabilize in their
housing without a return to homelessness. Step Up is thriving thanks in part to
the City's initial and on -going investments, which has allowed the agency to grow
into a nationally recognized model for permanent supportive housing, with
expanded sites in Hollywood and other parts of Los Angeles.
• The CLARE Foundation secured a $975,000 Federal grant from the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) to fund the
implementation of the landmark Bridges to Housing program. Through this
program, CLARE will partner with the City, the Department of Mental Health,
New Directions, St. Joseph Center, Step Up on Second, Venice Community
Housing Corporation, and Venice Family Clinic to place 90 chronically homeless
individuals disabled by mental illness and /or a substance use disorder into
15
permanent supportive housing over the course of three years using the Housing
First model.
• The addition of a DMH worker to the Santa Monica Police Department's HLP
Team this past year has resulted in shorter response times for mental health
services. This collaboration has also allowed for patrol officers to remain in the
field and available for radio - calls. In the past, officers would often have to drive
outside of the City boundaries to hospitalize an individual in need. This can now
be handled by the HLP team when available. In addition, this partnership has
greatly enhanced the Police Department and DMH collaboration with local
hospitals that often call upon the HLP team for assistance with mentally ill
homeless patients.
• The Santa Monica Housing Authority (SMHA) has identified 173 veterans
currently on the waiting list for housing assistance. To address this need, and to
serve a population that is a Federal priority, SMHA submitted a proposal under
the 2011 SuperNOFA for Shelter + Care Vouchers which targets Santa Monica
homeless veterans not eligible for vouchers through the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs. If granted, this new program would provide 25 permanent
supportive housing vouchers for veterans with disabling conditions and build
upon existing Shelter + Care grants and service partnerships.
These organizational and service transformations are complex and challenging as
agencies struggle to balance the need to help the people they are seeing with
sometimes competing Federal and local priorities.
Regional Coordination and Advocacy
FY 2010 -11 was a busy year for regional advocacy efforts which will have a lasting
impact on local and regional homeless services and resources.
• In Fall 2010, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles Business Leaders Task
Force on Homelessness released Home for Good, a five -year plan to end chronic
and veteran homelessness in LA County. The City has been a signature partner
in this effort, and has been recognized by the United Way as a model for the plan
and for leading the way in adopting and implementing the principles of the plan.
• This year, after struggling with several policy issues that negatively impacted the
City, staff began a serious dialogue with HUD regarding the possibility of creating
a Santa Monica Continuum of Care (CoC) that would directly administer
homeless funding from HUD, thus separating the City from the LA CoC which is
administered by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). In
16
coordination with local providers and with support from stakeholders, the City has
been successful in securing key reversals of some of LAHSA's policies related to
resource allocation and the use of the City's HMIS database through aggressive
advocacy on both the local and Federal levels. Discussions and analysis of the
issues continue to ensure that the City's interests are represented and advanced
within context of the region.
• In June 2011, the ACLU and several prominent attorneys filed a lawsuit against
the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Director of the
Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System on behalf of several homeless
veterans and a descendent of an original donor of the property upon which the
VA campus is located. The lawsuit contends the VA's current Master Plan for the
campus falls far short by not committing more resources to developing,
rehabbing and operating housing for veterans. On June 14, 2011 the Santa
Monica City Council unanimously voted to direct City staff to furnish data and /or
records of conversations regarding the VA Campus property to the ACLU, if
requested, to be used as evidence in the lawsuit. The City has advocated for
permanent supportive, therapeutic housing on this VA campus for over six years.
In 2007, the designation of three buildings on the campus was approved for such
use. In September 2011 both the House and Senate passed a bill that includes
approximately $20 million to rehabilitate one of the buildings. At this time, the VA
has not committed funding for the other two buildings, nor has a plan been
developed to operate these buildings for the use of homeless disabled veterans.
• The City's affordable housing development program, including supportive
housing for homeless persons, is presently funded with CDBG, HOME, Section 8
Housing Choice vouchers, and Redevelopment funds. HUD's re- evaluation of
funding priorities and the State of California's budget crisis could potentially
reduce funds available for housing production and rental vouchers from these
sources.
Next Steps
Along with continuing to target and align the City's current funding and resource
allocations, it is also important to consider the long -term fiscal impact of the Housing
First and permanent housing focus of the City's Action Plan, along with the sustainability
of the successes achieved in the past few years. The City's focus on a Housing First
model means that clients now are quickly placed in permanent housing and provided
services to keep them housed indefinitely. Agencies must continue to support those
clients that they have placed in housing during past years while meeting the City's
expectation that they continue to identify and house new clients annually. Without new
17
resources, agencies will soon reach their capacity to serve clients, which will either lead
to no new clients being housed or a need to divert services away from those in
permanent housing; both of these scenarios could deter or turn back local progress in
reducing street homelessness in Santa Monica.
City staff is working on several fronts to ensure that adequate resources are available to
support the growing number of formerly homeless people in permanent housing. These
include:
• Sharing the City's Action Plan with other funders who provide grants to local
agencies (Federal, regional, public, private) and discussing how their funding
might better support the Plan;
• Collaborating with local agencies as they apply for new resources to develop
requests that advance the goals of the Plan;
• Working with agencies to redirect non -Santa Monica participants to other
regional resources in order to target locally designated funding to local priority
populations.
In addition, over the coming year, City staff will:
• Continue to refine and monitor progress of the Action Plan;
• Implement new community outreach and communication strategies, including a
community report card;
• Analyze options and continue discussions with local service providers and others
regarding the City's participation in the LA Continuum of Care; and
• Provide periodic updates to the City Council.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
Council action on this matter has no immediate budgetary or financial impact. Any input
on this report will be considered for financial impact. Budget authority for subsequent
years will be requested in each budget cycle for council approval.
Prepared by: Julie Rusk, Human Services Manager
Setareh Yavari, Human Services Administrator
Approved:
Barbara Stinchfield
Director
Community and Cultural Services
Forwarded to Council:
Rod Gould
City Manager
Attachment I: Action Plan to Address Homelessness (2011 -2014)
19
Attachment I
Action Plan
to Address Homelessness
2011-2014
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2008, the City Council adopted the first Action Plan to Address Homelessness, which identified
key priorities and specific steps that the City would implement with the goal of reducing the impact
of homelessness on the community. The past two years have been marked by significant
improvements in our coordination of care, the re- alignment of our funding to reflect the priorities
established in the Plan, a renewed emphasis on data collection and evaluation, and a strong
Housing First focus. These changes have resulted in successfully housing 90 of our most
vulnerable service registry participants and the reduction of homelessness in our community by
25% from 2007 to 2010.
The intention of this revised Action Plan is to continue the successful strategies of Year 1 and Year
2 while also developing a more long -term approach that is reflective of significant new federal
policies that will impact the resources and program areas in homeless services and homeless
prevention over the next five to ten years.
The first of these new policies is the major overhaul of the federal legislation that authorizes
homeless program funding, the McKinney -Vento Homeless Assistance Act. The McKinney -Vento
Act was amended in 2009 by S.896, The Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to
Housing (HEARTH) Act. The HEARTH Act makes several major changes, including re- defining
who is eligible for homeless assistance, re- configuring existing homeless program funds, placing
new emphasis on homeless prevention, and increasing the emphasis on grantee performance.
The second major change in federal policy occurred in November 2009, when Department of
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki announced the VA's plan to prevent and end
homelessness among veterans within five years. The VA has committed to partnering with state
and local governments as well as private community -based partners to accomplish this goal.
Most recently, in May 2010, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) released the first
federal plan to prevent and end homelessness: Opening Doors. The ICH has laid out four goals: 1)
Finish the job of ending chronic homelessness; 2) Prevent and end homelessness among
Veterans in five years; 3) Prevent and end homelessness for families, youth and children in ten
years; 4) Set a path for ending all types of homelessness.
In an effort to foster synergy and ensure the City's Action Plan supports and affirms the federal
plan, the Action Plan for 2010 has been updated to mirror the five key themes of Opening Doors,
while retaining the unique application of these themes to remain relevant to our City:
• Increase Leadership, Collaboration and Civic Engagement
• Increase Access to Stable and Affordable Housing
• Increase Economic Security
• Improve Health and Stability
• Retool the Homeless Crisis Response System
The City recognizes our community partners in this joint effort, and we appreciate their
compassion, energy and dedication to providing care and housing to our most vulnerable
residents. The City is also grateful for our residents and business owners who continually identify
addressing homelessness as a top priority, and their enthusiasm for volunteering, educating and
reaching out to help those in need.
VISION
We will transform Santa Monica to a place where our effective action and compassion end the
impact of homelessness on our community.
Through collaboration and cooperation, the City of Santa Monica, non - profit agencies, housing
providers, governmental partners, business, and faith communities will focus on intensively serving
the most vulnerable and chronically homeless people — those who have been homeless in Santa
Monica for many years — so that they obtain and sustain housing. The City will also coordinate
services to prevent homelessness by promoting stability in housing, income and family
relationships. We will work with our neighboring communities and partners to form collaborations
that address the regional nature of homelessness and promote the development of housing and
services throughout Los Angeles County.
• Success is measured by reducing street homelessness.
• Santa Monica is committed to doing its "fair share" of providing essential and effective services
to homeless individuals in our community3.
• New and existing resources should be focused on priority populations:
• Individuals that have been homeless in Santa Monica for five or more years
• Homeless individuals and families whose last permanent address is in Santa Monica
• Vulnerable members of Santa Monica's workforce (homeless individuals and families with a
household member who has worked full -time within the City of Santa Monica for over six
consecutive months)
• Homeless individuals on the Santa Monica Service Registry
• Homeless individuals identified by City staff (i.e. Santa Monica Police Department, Santa
Monica Fire Department) as high users of City resources and services
• All services will be directly linked to facilities and programs which are directed to ending
participants' homelessness or that prevent new episodes of homelessness.
• Targeted services should use interdisciplinary teams with low staff to client ratios, including, but
not limited to, clinical mental health and substance abuse support.
• Resources — human and financial — should be re- evaluated, shifted, or expanded to support
program models that are consistent with the Plan and its Vision and recognize the intensity of
services required by the priority populations.
• A range of permanent housing options for homeless persons should be developed, with a focus
on permanent supportive housing linked to services, consistent with fair share.
• Evaluation of services should be data - driven.
• The City's efforts should involve increased communication, education and involvement of the
public.
3 Defining Santa Monica's Fair Share: A series of methodologies can be employed to quantify a fair share for Santa Monica:
• Per Capita: Based on Santa Monica's proportion of the general population of the county area covered by the Los Angeles Homeless Services
Authority's (LAHSA) 2009 Homeless Count, Santa Monica's per capita share of the regional homeless population would be 434 at any point in
time.
• Street Count: The number of people directly enumerated on the streets of Santa Monica during the 2010 Homeless Count was
319.
• Capacity for Temporary Housing: According to the City's HMIS, ServicePoint, in FY2009 -10 there were 256 households placed
into temporary housing placements in Santa Monica.
• In Santa Monica 5+ Years: An analysis of ServicePoint data reveals that in FY2009 -10, 720 individuals met the new definition for
"Santa Monica priority population ". 321 (45 %) of those individuals have been in Santa Monica for 5 years or longer.
2
THE ROAD AHEAD — SHAPING ACTIONS FOR FISCAL YEARS 2011 -2014
In keeping with the themes of Opening Doors, the federal plan to end homelessness, action areas
for FY2011 -2014 have been re- aligned to create synergy and ensure smooth implementation of
federal priorities at a local level. In addition, the outcomes and actions have been developed taking
into consideration the goals of the HEARTH Act — specifically targeting the performance measures
that are used to evaluate "High Performing Communities ", which include reducing the length of
each episode of homelessness, ensuring that households do not return to homelessness, and the
extent to which the community as a whole is pro- active in engaging households who become
homeless. In addition, there is a strong emphasis on evaluating performance, not just of individual
programs, but of the Continuum of Care as a community, and using evaluations as a means of
directing resources towards the most effective solutions.
The City of Santa Monica is part of the Los Angeles County Continuum of Care, which applies
jointly for HUD homeless program funds for most of the county; therefore, it is imperative that the
City work closely with the Continuum of Care lead agency, the Los Angeles Homeless Services
Authority, as well as other regional leaders such as the United Way of Greater Los Angeles and
the Westside Council of Governments, to ensure that other communities are equally committed to
achieving these outcomes.
The Action Plan also focuses on targeting and aligning resources. Beyond funding services or
securing more dollars for our local programs, it is also critical that the City engage other entities
that invest resources locally to ensure they are aware of the City's priorities and secure their help
in aligning their resources to support this Action Plan. This includes federal, state and local
funders, private foundations, faith communities and business partners.
The Action Plan to Address Homelessness has been reframed to provide an over - arching view of
what we intend to accomplish based on the key themes of Opening Doors. More specific outcomes
and benchmarks will be established for each fiscal year starting in FY2011.
Increase Leadership, Collaboration and Civic Engagement
• Increase agency capacity through education and collaboration
• Increase civic engagement through opportunities for positive involvement and education
• Improve collaboration with county and regional cities to promote "fair share" principles and
reduce practices that result in non -Santa Monica residents being referred into City- funded
programs
• Improve City inter - departmental collaboration
Increase Access to Stable and Affordable Housing
• Identify new local, state and federal resources to make housing affordable and service enriched
• Decrease the amount of time between engagement and housing placement
• Improve access to affordable and supportive housing for the priority populations
• Develop protocols and incentives to help people who achieve stability in housing to move into
non- supportive affordable housing if they so choose, in an effort to free up supportive units
3
Increase Economic Security
• Increase access to meaningful and sustainable employment for those experiencing or most at-
risk of homelessness
• Improve access to mainstream programs, such as public benefits, health services, food
assistance and vocational services, to reduce people's vulnerability to homelessness
Improve Health and Stability
• Enhance hospital discharge coordination
• Develop / re -align resources to promote long -term stabilization services for homeless people
placed in permanent housing
• Improve access to primary health care, mental health care, and substance abuse treatment
Retool the Homeless Crisis Response System
• Redesign outreach services to promote improved outcomes and housing placements
• Continued alignment of emergency services and transitional housing to the priority populations
• Expand prevention services, including programs that promote economic stability and housing
retention through short -term assistance
• Establish a baseline and seek to reduce average stay in emergency shelter and transitional
housing by 30% annually using Housing First and Rapid Rehousing strategies
• Develop resources and incentives to promote improved housing retention
• Expand the use of non -City funding for homeless and prevention programs to support the goals
of the Action Plan
• Continue to connect individuals to support systems and permanent housing in their community
of origin
REGIONAL COLLABORATION
The City of Santa Monica will continue to work with key partners to bolster advocacy and regional
coordination to advance the priorities and goals of the Plan.
• The City will remain focused on working closely with the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs
to coordinate care for homeless veterans in Santa Monica and to support resources on the
West LA Campus that will lead to housing and support for our most vulnerable veterans.
• As a partner in the Los Angeles Continuum of Care, the City will continue to generate
support for Santa Monica priorities with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority
(LAHSA), and coordinate regional polices that align with those set forth in this plan. The
effectiveness of our participation in the Continuum and the impact on our local agencies will
be the subject for continued evaluation.
• The City of Santa Monica will participate in national and regional planning efforts that
support the Action Plan, such as the efforts by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles that
would modernize the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) funding
formula and Home for Good, the United Way plan to end chronic and veteran
homelessness in Los Angeles County.
• The City will continue to work with service providers, regional partners, SMMUSD and
others to connect non -Santa Monica residents to services, family, and resources in their
community of origin.
12
ACCOUNTABILITY
A recurring theme of the HEARTH Act is greater accountability through frequent evaluation and
meaningful data collection. Measuring the effectiveness of our activities and sharing the results of
our evaluations with the public will be critical to ensuring our limited resources are directed to
programs and services that achieve results.
In order to measure effectiveness in a fair and transparent way, the City has begun to streamline
program outcomes to create consistency and target specific activities that will help us accomplish
the goals of this Plan. When this consistency is achieved, we will identify key benchmarks against
which future improvements can be measured. Consistency will also allow the City to begin to
analyze costs for services based on the outcomes achieved and provide reports on program
efficiencies and cost avoidance benefits in order to evaluate the City's "return on investment'.
These benchmarks will be made available to the public on a semi - annual basis through "report
cards" of our accomplishments to date overall as a community and the accomplishments of City -
funded programs. These report cards will be available through the monthly "Bringing it Home" e-
newsletter and on the City's website, as well as presented at public meetings.
The overall community indicator of success is a sustainable reduction in street homelessness. This
will be measured each year through the annual city -wide Homeless Count, conducted during the
last week of January each year. The City will publicly report upon and post the results of each
year's Homeless Count.
5
9 44
25% Decrease in Homelessness Since 2007
Homelessness Dropped as an Issue of Concern to
Third Place, Behind the Economy and Traffic
Impact on residents, businesses, first responders
C"
Santa of
Monica
Regional Impact on Local Capacity
tnr of
Santa Monica,
serving Veterans
ID
C,,r Of
Santa Moniea@
Key Regional
Project 6o
New Sources of Regional Funding
e) Home for Good
Westside COG
LAHSA
ID
Santa llonieW
ID
„Y Of
Santa monica�
"'Daniel". Fall 2011
u
C, of
Santa Monica
'O%tay Informed
www.smgov.net /homelessness
Sign up for our monthly newsletter, Bringing It Home
Volunteer for Homeless Count 2012, January 25th
ID
9aata Dtoo:ea