TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Talyn Mirzakhanian, Acting City Manager
FROM:
George Gabriel, Assistant to the City Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of the City’s Participation in the South Bay Cities Council of Government’s Functional Zero Street Homelessness Commendation Program (Acting City Manager Mirzakhanian).
APPROVE
Body
_________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the City’s participation in the South Bay Cities Council of Government’s (SBCCOG) Functional Zero Street Homelessness Commendation Program.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There are no hard costs associated with the recommended action with the exception of staff time needed to assist the SBCCOG with providing data related to homelessness. The staff time needed for this project is included in the discussion section of the report. However, the fully burdened cost related to staff time amounts to $195.46 each month of the City’s participation in the program.
BACKGROUND:
At the September 3, 2024, meeting, City Council received a quarterly update on the City’s homelessness initiatives and then directed staff to assess the amount of staff time involved in participating in the South Bay Cities Council of Governments Functional Zero Commendation Program.
DISCUSSION:
Recently, the SBCCOG has been working closely with the City of Redondo Beach on a program titled, “Functional Zero Street Homelessness.” The program aims to supplement the annual homeless count data to actively monitor homelessness and ensure that a community’s homeless services system is able to prevent homelessness whenever possible and ensure that when homelessness does occur, it is rare, brief and one-time.
In doing so, the Functional Zero Street Homelessness program proposes to set a goal that the number of people exiting street homelessness remains greater than the number of people entering street homelessness, and the median duration of the current street population is less than 90 days.
Participating in the program would allow the SBCCOG to collaborate with staff and track, monitor, and report on a City’s progress towards the goal of “Functional Zero Street Homelessness.” Following the SBCCOG’s success with the City of Redondo Beach, the SBCCOG is attempting to expand the program across the beach cities of Hermosa Beach, El Segundo and Manhattan Beach and would like to announce this on October 30. The SBCCOG has provided a presentation on the program, which is attached to the report.
Following Council direction, staff received information from the City of Redondo Beach to assess staff time involved in participating in the program. Based on information provided by the City of Redondo Beach, staff has determined the following positions, and staff time is needed monthly to assist the SBCCOG’s data collection efforts.
Homeless Outreach Navigator (Contract Employee) - 2 Hours
Assistant to the City Manager/Management Analyst - 1 Hour
Given the minimal staff time needed to participate in the project, value of collaborating with partner agencies and insightful data the program may offer, staff views the program as beneficial to the City’s homeless response.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the City’s participation in the South Bay Cities Council of Government’s (SBCCOG) Functional Zero Street Homelessness Commendation Program.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City Council's consideration of participating in the South Bay Cities Council of Government’s Functional Zero Street Homelessness Commendation Program is not a “project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines because it does not have a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. Therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines, the activity is not subject to CEQA, and no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENT:
1. PowerPoint Presentation (SBCCOG)