TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
George Gabriel, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Consider: a) Awarding RFP #1216-20 to Harbor Interfaith Services for Homelessness Training, Coordination and Case Management Services and Adopting Resolution No. 19-0096 Approving an Agreement with Harbor Interfaith Services in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $324,053; b) Appropriating Funds of $330,666 toward Homelessness Services and c) Dissolving the Homelessness Task Force (City Manager Moe).
a) ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 19-0096
b) APPROPRIATE FUNDS
c) APPROVE
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) Award RFP #1216-20 to Harbor Interfaith Services to provide homelessness training, coordination and case management services.
b) Adopt Resolution No. 19-0096 approving an agreement with Harbor Interfaith Services to provide homelessness training, coordination and case management services in an amount not to exceed $324,053 and directing the City Manager to execute the agreement substantially in the form attached to the report;
c) Appropriate $330,666 from the General Fund unreserved fund balance, which will later be reimbursed by grant funds; and
d) Dissolve the Homelessness Task Force.
Body
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There is no net fiscal impact associated with the recommended action. The $330,666 appropriation from the General Fund unreserved fund balance will be fully reimbursed by the County of Los Angeles for these services. Accordingly, budgeted revenues will also be adjusted in the amount of $330,666. The grant does not require a match of City funds.
BACKGROUND:
The cities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach (South Bay Beach Cities) each developed its own independent Homelessness Plan. There were common elements including creation of detailed internal city protocols in response to homelessness, creation of consistent system-level response, training for first responders and city staff who have frequent contact with the homeless, strengthening ties with available resources and educating the general public.
Through the $330,666 City Homelessness Plan Implementation Grant provided by the County of Los Angeles and approved by the Manhattan Beach City Council on September 4, 2019, the City (along with regional partners in Redondo and Hermosa Beach) solicited proposals from a qualified homeless service provider. Consistent with the agreement with the County of Los Angeles the City sought to subcontract three full-time equivalent positions to assist homeless individuals and families in the Beach Cities community.
The Beach Cities developed specifications in order to obtain proposals from qualified service providers to assist in moving people off the streets into interim and permanent housing. These specifications and tasks included but were not limited to:
• Providing a full-time Homeless Coordinator/City Liaison to leverage the cities’ fiscal and administrative resources to systematize, coordinate and help oversee multi-sectoral homeless efforts to enhance and expand regional access to services.
• Developing and implementing internal city-level homelessness response protocols and beach city regional response;
• Tailoring training material and lead training sessions with staff;
• Planning and holding an annual homelessness stakeholder roundtable/community meeting;
• Providing two full-time Homeless Case Managers to assist homeless individuals and families by completing Coordinated Entry System (CES) Assessments, maintaining case notes in Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s (LAHSA) Homeless Management Information System (HMIS); and
• Getting participants “document ready”; and make successful referrals to interim housing, treatment centers, and permanent housing.
DISCUSSION:
The City issued Request for Proposal (RFP) #1216-20 and received two proposals from the following contractors:
• Harbor Interfaith Services (HIS) $324,450.00
• People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) $343,092.50
While both firms were qualified to provide the necessary services requested, Harbor Interfaith Services provided the lowest cost proposal and had an existing working relationship working within the Beach Cities communities. As the Service Planning Area (SPA) 8 lead for CES, Harbor Interfaith Services has experience navigating the housing system, demonstrated success with housing the toughest and vulnerable chronic homeless populations and has collaborated with multiple organizations that provide homelessness resources and services. For these reasons, City staff along with representatives from the cities of Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, are recommending that City Council award RFP #1216-20 to Harbor Interfaith Services to provide homelessness training, coordination and case management services. While HIS requested $324,450.00 to provide the requested services, HIS has agreed to reduce their proposal amount by $397 to ensure it is consistent with the maximum subcontract amount ($324,053) allowed by the City’s agreement with the County of Los Angeles. The remaining amount in the grant award ($6,613) is provided to the City for costs related to grant administration.
Upon execution of the contract, the City has created targeted outcomes that set forth expected deliverables with HIS. Over the 16-month contract, at least 200 Beach Cities’ homeless residents will receive case management and will be documented per LAHSA’s standards. Out of that number, at least 24 will be referred to Interim Housing, 32 clients will be referred to CES and other permanent housing components (e.g. Rapid Re-Housing, Permanent Supportive Housing), and at least 50 will be referred to treatment programs.
Next Steps
To further formalize the regional approach the cities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach are taking on homelessness, City staff is working with both cities to prepare a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for each respective City Council approval. Staff will return to the City Council with a draft MOU for consideration and approval.
Homelessness Task Force
Given the regional approach the City is undertaking with the Beach Cities and the Task Force’s completed goal (Measure H grant award), the work of the Homelessness Task Force is now complete. As is true with other City task forces and ad-hoc committees (e.g., the Ad Hoc Sepulveda Initiatives Working Group, the Downtown Specific Plan Task Force) such bodies are dissolved after their work is completed. Accordingly, staff recommends that the City Council thank the Homelessness Task Force for its services to the community, including its work and efforts in obtaining the grant award, and dissolve the task force. Going forward, the subcontracted Beach Cities Liaison/Coordinator will work with various stakeholders in each City to engage and gather input from the community.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) Award RFP #1216-20 to Harbor Interfaith Services to provide homelessness training, coordination and case management services.
b) Adopt Resolution No. 19-0096 approving an agreement with Harbor Interfaith Services to provide homelessness training, coordination and case management services in an amount not to exceed $324,053 and directing the City Manager to execute the agreement substantially in the form attached to the report;
c) Appropriate $330,666 from the General Fund unreserved fund balance, which will later be reimbursed by grant funds; and
d) Dissolve the Homelessness Task Force.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
Staff determined that additional public outreach was not required for this issue.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed project for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the project qualifies for a Class 1- categorical exemption pursuant to Section 15301- Existing Facilities, of the State CEQA Guidelines, since the project is a minor alteration of existing public structures and equipment involving negligible expansion of use. Thus, no further environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney will review the final agreement as to legal form.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 19-0096
2. Agreement - Harbor Interfaith Services Inc.
3. Harbor Interfaith Services Inc. Proposal