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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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