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SR-11-25-2014-4AAgenda Item: A. To: Mayor and City Council From: Karen Ginsberg, Director of Community and Cultural Services Subject: Homeless Initiatives Status Update Recommended Action Staff recommends that the City Council review and comment on the status of regional and local homeless initiatives. Executive Summary In 2008, Council adopted the Action Plan to Address Homelessness. The current version of that plan, 2011- 2074Ac ion F On to Address . Homelessness, reflects and informs the City's policies and practices and also establishes goals for addressing homelessness in Santa Monica. This status update highlights recent regional and local activities towards achieving those goals. A full report on the status of homeless initiatives, including results of the 2015 Homeless Count, will be presented to Council at a public hearing in the spring of 2015, as required by the Public Safety Initiative (SMMC Sections 2.69.010 through 2.69.030). Discussion The City's homeless strategies are guided by the Council adopted Action Plan to Address Homelessness (Action Plan). The Action Plan identifies the reduction of street homelessness in Santa Monica as a key measure of the success of the City's efforts, as well as defining the City's "priority population" as individuals who have been homeless in the city for five years or more, are high users of Fire and Police services, whose last permanent address was in Santa Monica, or who are vulnerable members of the city's local workforce. The Action Plan also affirms the City's policies of prioritizing the most chronic and vulnerable individuals for housing and services, utilizing a Housing First model that quickly re- houses individuals, and working to promote a "fair share" approach that encourages other communities to address homelessness within their own 1 boundaries while continuing to invest in local efforts that are commensurate with our local population and capacity. Regional Update: The number of people experiencing homelessness in the City is directly impacted by the policies and practices of regional partners. Santa Monica is part of the Los Angeles Continuum of Care (CoC), the federally recognized entity for homeless planning for Los Angeles County. The lead agency for the CoC, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), recently announced that a new Executive Director has been hired. Peter Lynn, formerly of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, will be replacing Mike Arnold as the Executive Director of LAHSA. Mr. Lynn will begin his new position on December 1, 2014. He is already familiar with the City's homeless initiatives from his work at the Housing Authority. Staff will be meeting with him to ensure a smooth transition in the City's partnership with LAHSA. A continued topic for discussion with LAHSA is the issue of 'fair share" and ways to encourage all communities to invest in their locally developed social service infrastructure in order to reduce the burden on areas such as Santa Monica, Venice, Skid Row and Hollywood. The issue of `lair share" has become more urgent due to the federally mandated adoption of a "coordinated assessment" system through which all homeless individuals in the CoC are assessed using the same survey tool, and those individuals ranked as having the most acute conditions are prioritized for housing. While this system has been in place in Santa Monica since the adoption of the Service Registry and Housing First model in 2008, the county -wide roll -out of this coordinated assessment model, called the Coordinated Entry System (CES), is underway in each of the county's eight Service Planning Areas (SPA) with funding from the United Way. The challenge with CES is that currently, efforts are focused on expanding outreach to identify and assess as many homeless individuals as possible without providing additional housing resources, and it relies on the existing service delivery infrastructure rather than expanding capacity throughout the CoC. pip Within the Westside SPA (which covers Santa Monica, Venice, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Culver City, Playa del Rey and West LA), there is concern that the expectation of surveying every homeless person in the SPA will overwhelm existing service centers in Venice and Santa Monica which are already at capacity, and will divert housing and services from individuals already identified as priority by the City, such as those on the Service Registry. To address these concerns, the Westside SPA will continue to prioritize Service Registry participants, with new CES clients added as program capacity allows. Assessments will be completed on the streets using an enhanced outreach approach, rather than directing people to local Access Centers. In order to effectively redirect and re- connect individuals to services in their communities of origin, staff is also working with local agencies and regional partners to offer capacity building for neighboring communities so they can successfully serve the complex needs of highly acute individuals. Helping other communities develop effective homeless strategies promotes a 'fair share" approach to the expansion of CES, whereby people can be assessed and cared for in their home communities. Staff is deeply involved in the implementation of CES to ensure that this regional process does not undermine local progress, that Santa Monica Service Registry participants continue to be prioritized for housing, and that additional regional outreach does not result in more people being referred into Santa Monica for care. However, federal mandates and regional policy may dictate changes to Santa Monica's prioritization in the future. While the Westside has been highly effective in housing the most highly acute individuals, a critical loss to local capacity came in August when Exodus Recovery Inc. (Exodus), lost their lease from Southern California Hospital in Culver City, forcing the closure of the Westside Urgent Care Center (UCC). The UCC provided emergency psychiatric medication, fast -track access to county mental health services, and short - term psychiatric holds, in addition to facilitating hospitalization for individuals needing a 3 higher level of care. Without this resource, local agencies, hospital emergency rooms and first responders are transporting or referring individuals with urgent mental health needs to the nearest alternate UCC's in South and East LA. However, the distance to these facilities is a barrier to access for many individuals in crisis, which is putting pressure on local hospitals who must triage more of these cases. In addition, transports to the alternate UCC's are taking first responders out of the field for up to 3 -4 hours per incident. Exodus, in partnership with the LA County Department of Mental Health, is committed to finding a new location to re- establish a UCC on the Westside. During siting discussions, the possibility was raised of co- locating a small -scale sobering center into the UCC, if it could be done without creating siting issues or significantly delaying the re- opening of a Westside UCC. VA Update: President Obama remains committed to seeing an end to veteran homelessness by the end of 2015. The dedication of resources, including investments in permanent housing subsidies through HUD's Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program (VASH) has contributed to a national decrease in veteran homelessness of 24% since 2010. In LA County, the Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS) has partnered with the United Way of Greater LA and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) to coordinate an accelerated effort to remove barriers to housing and treatment for homeless veterans. To improve access and service coordination, the VAGLAHS opened the one -stop Integrated Community Care Center on the West LA VA campus in August. The Center offers basic services such as laundry and showers, as well as co- located mental, physical and behavioral health care options and intake for veteran - designated emergency, transitional and permanent housing. The VAGLAHS is also nearing completion of the renovations to Building 209, which will provide 55 permanent residential units for chronically homeless veterans with chronic mental health or other medical needs. The building is anticipated to open in early 2015. Local Update: The City continues to advance the goals of the Action Plan to Address Homelessness through interdepartmental coordination and community collaboration. lIn Preliminary numbers indicate that these efforts moved 124 Santa Monica priority individuals from the streets into permanent housing in FY2013 -14, including 32 of the most acute and vulnerable individuals from the City's Service Registry. In addition, 147 individuals were housed with family and friends through Project Homecoming. Another key element of interdepartmental partnership is sharing of expertise through collaborative training opportunities. During Fall 2013, as previously reported to Council, Community and Cultural Services (CCS), City Attorney's Office (CAO) and local homeless service providers partnered with Santa Monica Police Department's (SMPD) Homeless Liaison Program (HLP) to conduct a series of capacity- building trainings over 11 weeks for all SMPD patrol officers covering enforcement tools and strategies, City homeless policies, and available services. CAO, CCS and HLP also provided training for Public Works in response to continued concerns from park and beach maintenance staff that an increasingly aggressive homeless presence impedes their work and damages City property. In addition to internal trainings, City staff has shared their expertise with other communities including Hollywood, Orange County, Beverly Hills, the LA County Sheriff's Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Building capacity in other communities is consistent with the goals of the Action Plan to promote a fair share approach to addressing homelessness regionally. This coming year presents the unique opportunity to align the City's federally required Consolidated Plan with the Human Services Grants Program (HSGP) and an update of the City's Action Plan to Address Homelessness. Staff is collecting community input to identify the highest priorities for the use of both federal and local dollars, as well as outcomes for the City's homeless strategies. Staff will ask the Council to affirm a focus on identifying and engaging the hardest to reach, including individuals and households that have historically refused services, and provide comprehensive and coordinated services to promote economic and housing stability as measured by data - driven, high - impact outcomes. Updates in FY2015 -16 include enhanced services to identify 5 precariously housed, or severely overcrowded, households and prevent homelessness through eviction prevention and increased protection from tenant harassment. The Human Services Grants Program Request for Proposals for the next four year cycle (FY2015 -19) will be issued in early 2015. The update to the Action Plan will be included in the Annual Homeless Review in spring 2015. The five year Consolidated Plan (FY2015 -2020) will be released for public comment in April, and submitted to HUD in May 2015. Each of these documents will be submitted to Council and available to the public for input prior to being finalized. In addition, staff is preparing for the annual Homeless Count, which will take place on January 28, 2015 and will be generously hosted by St. Monica's Catholic Community. Next Steps: Staff will return to Council with the Annual Homeless Report and public hearing in spring 2015. The Annual Report will include a detailed account of local actions to reduce the impact of homelessness, including updates from interdepartmental partners, an analysis of the results of the 2015 Homeless Count and an update to the Action Plan to Address Homelessness in Santa Monica for 2015 — 2019. Financial Impacts & Budget Actions There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended actions. Staff will return to Council if specific budget actions are required in the future. Prepared by: Margaret Willis, Human Services Administrator Approved: Forwarded to Council: Karen Ginsberg Rod Gould Director, Communi & Culltura Services City Manager n.