TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
George Gabriel, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Report on the City’s Homelessness Efforts and Initiatives (City Manager Moe).
RECEIVE REPORT
Line
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council receive the update on the City’s homelessness and initiatives.
Body
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There are no fiscal implications associated with the recommended action.
BACKGROUND:
On March 7, 2017, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors obtained voter approval for a 10-year, ¼ cent sales tax increase to help fund housing and support services for the homeless population throughout the County. Since the passage of Measure H, various cities have taken an active role in addressing homelessness. In October 2017, 47 cities were awarded homelessness planning grants. Manhattan Beach was one of the cities to apply for, receive this funding, and subsequently develop a homelessness plan.
On August 21, 2018, the City Council adopted the City’s “Five-Year Plan to Address Homelessness in Our Community.” The plan contains seven goals aligned with Manhattan Beach’s and Los Angeles County’s objectives to address homelessness. Each goal contains supplemental information and includes: 1) Supported actions to achieve those goals; 2) Associated policy changes and requirements to move forward; 3) How progress will be measured; 4) Who is responsible for each goal and its progress; 5) What City resources will be leveraged; and 6) Timeline to complete each goal.
While the cities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach (collectively the South Bay Beach Cities) each developed its own independent Homelessness Plan, all three cities began to explore joint efforts to address homelessness. 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.
Pursuant to City Council authorization in November 2018, and at the recommendation of the homelessness task force, the City submitted a multi-jurisdictional proposal Homelessness Plan Implementation Grant with the cities of Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach.
In April 2019, the Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative announced the award of Measure H grant funding to the South Bay Beach Cities totaling $330,666 towards homeless coordination, training and housing navigation services.
At the September 4, 2019, City Council meeting, the City Council approved a City Homelessness Plan Implementation Grant contract with the County of Los Angeles.
Thereafter, the South Bay 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.
At the October 15, 2019, meeting, City Council awarded a subcontract to a qualified homeless services firm, Harbor Interfaith Services (HIS), to provide the services described above, until February 2021.
DISCUSSION:
The City of Manhattan Beach continues to take an active role in addressing homelessness, strategically and regionally, in a humane fashion. Below is a list of updates and efforts the City’s is currently undertaking on homelessness.
Homelessness Count
For the second consecutive year, the City will host a deployment site for the 2020 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count (conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority) at the Joslyn Community Center at 1601 N. Valley Drive on Wednesday, January 22, 2020, from approximately 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM.
The City hosted a deployment site for the county-wide 2019 Homelessness Count to assist with understanding the size and scope of homelessness. Within the count, 22 individuals were counted in Manhattan Beach, down from 41 individuals in 2018.
Harbor Interfaith Services Outreach
As part of the agreement with HIS, one coordinator and two case managers (i.e. housing navigators) were to be dedicated to the South Bay Beach Cities. Within 60 days, HIS recruited and fully staffed those three positions, and outreach is ongoing.
For community reference, the South Bay Beach Cities Homelessness Coordinator position has been filled by Karli Dreizler; she will be the primary point of contact for outreach services and regional efforts in the Beach Cities. Karli’s previous experience includes Mental Health America’s Homeless Full Service Partnership, and assisting with a food rescue program in South L.A., Food Forward.
Another aspect of the agreement with HIS is monthly reporting on contract deliverables. Staff has attached the December 2019 report for City Council reference. Being that HIS became fully staffed recently, the future reports will show outreach success at higher rates.
Consistent with the City’s grant funding agreement, HIS is currently working with all three beach cities to coordinate a community/stakeholder meeting on homelessness in March 2020.
Homelessness Plan
Staff is continuing to make strides toward accomplishing the ambitious goals set forth in the City’s Homelessness plan. Of the seven goals presented in the City’s Homelessness Plan, 17 measurements and supporting actions are present in the document to measure progress and success. Within the measurements and supporting actions, 10 are completed and 7 are in progress. Most recently, the City accomplished the following actions:
• Completion of mental health first aid training by 10 staff members in the Police Department;
• Reports on homelessness plan implementation, prepared by the City Manager’s Office; and
• Report tracking City resources expended to address homelessness.
Attached to the staff report is a breakdown of all goals related to the City’s Homelessness Plan. Of note, four goals that are currently in progress, are past the intended deadline but are currently being evaluated by the newly hired South Bay Beach Cities Homelessness Coordinator. Staff will now work with the coordinator and accomplish these goals as soon as possible.
Memorandum of Understanding with Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach
In order to formalize the grant agreement and regional approach the cities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach are making toward homelessness, staff in all three cities are finalizing a Memorandum of Understanding. While staff has sought to expedite the MOU, County requirements have delayed the process., Staff has recently obtained an MOU template provided by another multi-jurisdictional grant awardee (Cities of Pomona, Claremont and La Verne) and will present it to the City Council at the March 3, 2020, meeting.
South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) Funding
In November 2019, the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors approved a motion to allocate $6 million to Council of Governments (COG) to provide “Innovation Funds” for homeless services. The money for each COG was determined by the numbers from the 2019 homeless count, and as a result, the SBCCOG expects to receive $739,685 in funding (12.33%).
The innovation funds allocated to the COGs are specifically to support the County’s two priority areas: 1) increasing the supply of permanent and interim housing, and 2) enhancing County service systems as well as for “innovation” toward region-wide collaboration, with a focus on interim and permanent supportive housing.
Each COG is conducting its own process to determine how to utilize this funding and will have the flexibility to determine how the funding will be distributed to member cities or to use for regional programs. At the time staff provided this report, the SBCCOG had proposed to utilize $295,287 for two City specific proposals (Redondo Beach and Torrance) and $444,398 for region-wide programs that include education and training, safe parking, client aid, and shelter/housing feasibility measures. For additional details, staff has attached the SBCCOG staff report.
Staff will monitor funding opportunities and determine if the City can utilize funding toward addressing homelessness.
Legislative Initiatives
In light of recent court decisions, cities are urging the state legislature to clarify the tools available for addressing homeless issues Additionally, legislative advocacy efforts are being pursued to revise the Welfare and Institutions Code of California (i.e. “5150”) to give the City more tools in helping individuals, including those without shelter, who may pose a danger to themselves and others due to mental illness, or who are gravely disabled. Staff will keep City Council apprised of these efforts should an opportunity arise that supports or opposes potential legislation.
Homeless Resources Fair
On December 11, 2019, a Homeless Resources Fair was held at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center by a variety of homeless service providers in the South Bay, and 55 individuals were assisted. Law enforcement in the beach cities regularly participate by referring homeless residents they contact and connect them to services. For context, the event has been held in the South Bay since October 2017 on a quarterly basis throughout the South Bay (Service Planning Area 8). Whenever the event is held, transportation is provided to and from the event to the original location they were picked up from. The event was promoted primarily through various homeless service providers, health care providers, mental health providers, and some faith-based organizations.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council receive the update on the City’s homelessness and initiatives.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Harbor Interfaith Services Report (December 2019)
2. Homelessness Count Flyer
3. Homelessness Plan Goals Breakdown
4. South Bay Cities Council of Governments Innovation Funds Report
5. LAHSA Homelessness City Statistics (July - September 2019)