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CC:ACOHH - ACTION ITEM: (1) Status Update on the 2018 Plan to Prevent and Combat Homelessness; and (2) City Council Authorization to Release a Request for Proposals to Prepare and Update Culver City’s 2018 Plan to Prevent and Combat Homelessness by Re-evaluating Existing Short-Term and Long-Term Strategies to Address Homelessness in Culver City as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness.
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Meeting Date: March 10, 2025
Contact Person/Dept.: Tevis Barnes/Housing and Human Services Department Christina Stoffers/ Housing and Human Services Department
Phone Number: (310) 253-5780
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Attachments: Yes [X] No []
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (03/06/25) Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness (01/28/2025)
Department Approval: Tevis Barnes, Housing and Human Services Director, (02/17/2025) _____________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends (1) the City Council and Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness receive a status update on the 2018 Plan to Prevent and Combat Homelessness; and (2) the City Council authorize the release of a Request for Proposals (RFP) to prepare and update Culver City’s 2018 Plan to Prevent and Combat Homelessness (Homeless Plan) by re-evaluating existing short-term and long-term strategies to address homelessness in Culver City as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness.
BACKGROUND
Culver City is leading with care and service to address homelessness. The Culver City 2024 Homeless Point-In-Time (PIT) Count revealed that 115 persons were unhoused on the streets of Culver City, a 32% decrease from the 158 persons counted in 2023 and a 66% decrease from the 229 unhoused persons counted on the street in 2022. Since Culver City declared a homelessness emergency in January 2023, the City has taken unprecedented steps towards solving homelessness by proactively implementing the goals listed in the Culver City 2018 Homeless Plan.
Culver City’s 2018 Homeless Plan is a three-year roadmap that describes the City’s long-term approach to addressing homelessness. The following are some of the major Homeless Plan goals that Culver City has accomplished:
• Culver City has increased its affordable housing inventory for its unhoused residents:
o The City completed a temporary shelter and motel reuse feasibility study to locate areas within the City to create interim housing and permanent supportive housing for its unhoused residents.
o In January 2022, the City applied for Project Homekey Round 2 funding and was awarded $26.6 million to purchase two local motels and convert them into interim and permanent supportive housing, which is now called Culver City Project Homekey Interim and Permanent Supportive Housing Program. This program has a total of 38 interim housing units and 35 permanent supportive housing units.
o Late 2023 and mid-2024, the City has entered into a long-term lease with two local motels to provide a total of 45 interim housing units to its most chronically unhoused residents.
o In August 2023, Culver City opened an interim housing community of 20 tents for its chronically unhoused clients who are not yet ready to go indoors.
• Culver City has increased its health, mental health, and homeless outreach services for its unhoused residents:
o In March 2023, Culver City launched a Mobile Crisis Team to ensure the mental well-being and quality of life of all Culver City residents, both housed and unhoused.
o In 2023, Culver City partnered with Healthcare in Action street-based healthcare team to provide mobile healthcare and mental health care to its unhoused population.
o In 2024, Culver City partnered with Urban Alchemy to provide extensive homeless outreach services within the community from Monday - Sunday.
• Culver City expanded homeless prevention programming by implementing rent control and tenant protection measures on September 29, 2020.
• Culver City increased community education efforts around homelessness and raised awareness about available resources and best practices by hiring a homeless coordinator in October 2018.
• Culver City has enhanced data tracking and homeless outreach activities among City staff and service providers by launching a Homeless Dashboard 1.0 in August 2024. The City will also be launching its own Homeless Outreach Portal in March 2025.
Now that it has been over five years since the Homeless Plan’s inception, HHS suggests releasing an RFP to obtain a consultant to review and update the Homeless Plan by exploring the City’s existing resources as well as input from a variety of stakeholders to understand how the City can continue its efforts in addressing homelessness holistically.
DISCUSSION
Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness
At the regular meetings of the Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness (ACOHH) on 12/17/2024 and 01/28/2025, staff presented the draft RFP to solicit a consultant to update the 2018 Homeless Plan. The ACOHH assisted staff with framing vendor selection criteria as well as refining the vendor scope of work for the RFP.
Update Homeless Plan Proposal Scope of Work
If approved by the City Council, the Culver City Housing and Human Services (HHS) Department anticipates the release of the Updated Homeless Plan RFP March 13, 2025, with a selection of a vendor on April 10, 2025.
The Scope of Work for the proposal should contain the following:
• Project Management and Coordination
o Manage project and coordination activities, including coordination of subconsultants, if any, and administrative tasks. Establish project management and communication protocols.
• Prepare Implementation Plan to Update the Culver City 2018 Homeless Plan that addresses the below phases:
o Phase 0: Postmortem of the Culver City 2018 Homeless Plan
o Phase 1: Initial Research, Kick-off Meeting and Planning
o Phase 2: Stakeholder Outreach, Input, and Summarization of Key Themes
o Phase 3: Draft Updated Strategies, Review Process and Submission of Final Plan
o Phase 4: Presentation to Key Stakeholders
• Hearings and Meetings:
o Two community meetings to explain the draft updated Homeless Plan, including goals, actions, policy changes, metrics, ownership, as it connects to the Countywide Homeless Initiative
o One public outreach presentation to the Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness to explain the draft updated Homeless Plan, including goals, actions, policy changes, metrics, ownership, as it connects to the Countywide Homeless Initiative.
o One City Council presentation to explain the draft updated Homeless Plan, including goals, actions, policy changes, metrics, ownership, as it connects to the Countywide Homeless Initiative.
o One City Council presentation of final updated Homeless Plan, including goals, actions, policy changes, metrics, ownership, as it connects to the Countywide Homeless Initiative.
Evaluation Criteria
In order for a consultant to be considered under this RFP, the proposal must meet all of the following eligibility requirements:
• Experience in Developing Plans: The firm should have experience in writing strategic plans, particularly those that involve complex social issues. They should know how to structure the plan to include measurable goals, timelines, resources, funding, and evaluation methods.
• Technical Expertise: Demonstrated understanding of homelessness and homeless policy issues and effective intervention strategies. Knowledge of strategies like Housing First, interim housing, permanent supportive housing.
• Community Engagement: Ability to effectively engage diverse stakeholders and incorporate community input.
• Data-Driven Approach: Commitment to using data to inform decision-making and measure outcomes.
• Implementation Plan: Clear and feasible plan for executing the homeless strategy.
• Understanding Funding Allocation: Experience in identifying and securing funding sources for homelessness initiatives (e.g., government grants, philanthropic funding, local government budgets, etc.).
• Cost-Effectiveness: Proposed budget that aligns with the project scope and potential funding sources.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
The Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 includes $60,000 to complete the Homeless Plan update in Account No. 47635870.618400 (Housing Protections - Rehab Grants Fee) in the Housing and Human Services section of the budget book on page 317. Additionally, HHS has received grant funds through the Westside Cities of Councils of Government (WSCCOG) Local Solutions Fund (LSF) grant program in the amount of $65,000 to supplement the cost of this project. The LSF funds should be disbursed to WSCCOG cities by end of April 2025.
ATTACHMENTS
2025-03-10 -- ATT 2018 Plan to Prevent and Combat Homelessness
MOTION
That the City Council and Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness:
Receive a status update on the 2018 Plan to Prevent and Combat Homelessness; and
That Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness:
Recommend the City Council authorize to release a Request for Proposals (RFP) to prepare and update Culver City’s 2018 Plan to Prevent and Combat Homelessness (Homeless Plan) by re-evaluating existing short-term and long-term strategies to address homelessness in Culver City; and
That the City Council:
Authorize the release of a Request for Proposals (RFP) to prepare and update Culver City’s 2018 Plan to Prevent and Combat Homelessness (Homeless Plan) by re-evaluating existing short-term and long-term strategies to address homelessness in Culver City as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness.