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HA - ACTION ITEM: (1) Waiver of Competitive Bidding Procedures Pursuant to Culver City Municipal Code Section 3.07.075.F.3; and (2) Approval of an Amendment to the Existing Professional Service Agreement with Saint Joseph Center to Provide Expanded Homeless Outreach Services During Weekdays, Evenings, and Saturdays in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $705,565.
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Meeting Date: June 26, 2023
Contact Person/Dept.: Tevis Barnes/HHS
Christina Stoffers/HHS
Phone Number: (310) 253-5782
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Attachments: Yes [X] No []
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X]
Public Notification: Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness (06/20/2023); Landlord Tenant Mediation Board (06/13/2023); Saint Joseph Center (06/15/2023); (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (06/22/2023)
Department Approval: Tevis Barnes, Housing and Human Services Director (06/12/2023)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Culver City Housing Authority Board (1) waive competitive bidding procedures pursuant to Culver City Municipal Code Section (CCMC) 3.07.075.F.3; and (2) approve an amendment to the existing professional services agreement with Saint Joseph Center to provide expanded homeless outreach services during weekdays, evenings, and Saturdays for the period of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, in an amount not-to-exceed $705,565.
BACKGROUND
On July 26, 2004, the City Council adopted short-term and long-term goals for a comprehensive strategy to address homelessness in Culver City. An integral part of this strategy was to engage an organization to provide homeless outreach, supportive services, data collection regarding the City’s homeless population, and permanent housing placements for the City’s most vulnerable homeless residents.
Since 2005, Culver City has contracted with Saint Joseph Center (SJC) to provide the above referenced services to unhoused neighbors in Culver City. In 2010, the Advisory Committee on Housing and Homelessness (ACOHH), formerly the Committee on Homelessness (COH), made a recommendation to expand the SJC homeless outreach contract to include homeless outreach to four days a week, 70 nights of emergency motel stays, and transportation assistance in the form of bus tokens (TAP cards). Previously, outreach services were only two days per week.
On August 12, 2019, the City Council approved to expand the level of SJC homeless outreach services from four days to six days a week, between the hours of 7:30AM and 4:30PM on Mondays, from 7:30 to 10PM Tuesday - Friday, and from 2PM to 10PM on Saturdays. Expansion of homeless outreach services is also included in the Plan to Prevent and Combat Homeless under Goal 4, “ Enhance Data Tracking and Homeless Outreach Activities Among City Staff and Service Providers”. The updated Culver City Homeless Plan was adopted by Council in July 2018. To accommodate the expansion and additional management and oversight, the creation of two outreach teams were formed. Each team included a Mental Health Specialist, Case Manager, and Peer Specialist. When needed, the Culver City SJC outreach team has leveraged medical team and substance abuse staff support from the SJC E6 Outreach Team.
DISCUSSION
Homeless Outreach and Engagement
Homeless outreach seeks to build a relationship of trust and care with unhoused individuals who face unusual challenges and are the most difficult to serve. This process is an ongoing service and can take days, weeks, months, and even years, depending on the stage of homelessness an individual is currently experiencing. It takes an average of seven attempts from initial contact to connect an unhoused individual to supportive services. Effective homeless outreach reaches those who might not otherwise seek assistance on their own and ensures that people’s basic needs are met while supporting them along pathways towards housing stability.
The Culver City SJC outreach team is a multidisciplinary team of clinical and nonclinical staff that work intensively with each unhoused client, providing assessment, case management and referrals to mental health services, medical services, and temporary and permanent housing placements. The team focuses on meeting clients where they are at and treating clients with dignity, compassion, and respect. This approach helps facilitate client rapport and emphasizes basic human rights, giving unhoused clients agency over their own choices.
Team Statistics
Over the past year, the team has worked diligently to respond to homeless outreach requests from City departments, City Councilmembers, Culver City Fire Department, and Culver City Police Department, as well as the Los Angeles Homeless Outreach Portal (LA-HOP). The SJC outreach team also responds to homeless activity requests made by private citizens and local businesses through the Culver City Government Outreach System, Homeless Hot Line, and direct contact to the Housing Homeless Coordinator. The majority of homeless outreach requests are made for the following areas:
• Venice and 405 FWY
• Washington Blvd. and 405 FWY
• Ballona Creek Bike Path
• Culver City Senior Center
• Veterans Memorial Park
Culver City alone has sent the team over 1,350 outreach requests between July 2022 - April 2023. The team has also responded to 225 LA HOP requests from July 2022 - April 2023.
Under the current SJC contract, the outreach team assisted the following unhoused individuals from April 2022 to May 2023:
• Total of unhoused persons engaged = 118
• Total of unhoused served and referred to housing and/or supportive services = 180
• Total of unhoused placed in permanent housing = 13
o 4 unhoused residents permanently housed with family or friends
o 2 unhoused residents permanent housed with rental subsidy
o 3 unhoused residents permanently housed on own or through program other
o 2 unhoused clients permanent housed at a safe haven
o 1 unhoused resident permanently housed in long-term care facility
Culver City Project Homekey Interim and Permanent Supportive Housing Program
One of the biggest barriers in homeless outreach, particularly for unhoused neighbors in the West Los Angeles area, is not having access to shelter (interim housing) and permanent housing. Often, unhoused individuals are reluctant to accept shelter beds in communities outside the West Los Angeles area because they don’t want to be far from their social and supportive network. Most shelters are located in South Los Angeles and some as far away as the San Fernando or Antelope Valleys, displacing the unhoused residents to communities they are not familiar with.
To address the lack of interim and permanent housing in Culver City, Culver City applied for Project Homekey (PHK) funding and was awarded $26.6M to acquire and convert two local motels into interim housing (IH) and permanent supportive housing (PSH). Increasing shelter beds is reflected in Goal 1 of the Culver City Homeless Plan, “Increase bridge housing options and the number of people served”. Combined, the motel repurpose projects will create 38 interim housing units for people experiencing homelessness and 35 permanent supportive housing units for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. The tenant selection criteria process for both IH and PSH will focus on the highest users of emergency and outreach services and will be developed in collaboration with staff from the SJC outreach team, Department of Health Services (DHS), Exodus Recovery, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), and Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative. The SJC outreach team will support this project by creating a by-name list, otherwise known as a comprehensive list of every person
experiencing homeless in Culver City, updated in real time. Those on the Culver City by-name list and meet the tenant selection criteria, will be matched to a Culver City Project Homekey IH or PSH unit.
Culver City Motel Master Lease Program
Another way the City is expanding its interim housing is through master leasing. Staff will be recommending to City Council at a future meeting entering into master leasing agreements with two local motels (Paradise Inn and Rodeway Inn) to provide safe temporary interim housing for the City’s unhoused neighbors as they transition to other housing opportunities including permanent housing.
Currently, there are 26 persons being temporarily housed at two local motels. Of the 26 persons, 25 persons are on the main By Name List (BNL) to transition to the Culver City PHK Interim and Permanent Supportive Housing Program, and the other remaining person is on the waitlist to transition to the Culver City Safe Sleep Program or other identified housing resources.
The proposed Culver City Motel Master Leasing Program will include:
• Onsite care coordination
• Onsite de-escalation if tension arise
• Weekly removal of trash and debris
• Food/nutrition delivery program
• Training for motel staffing on interaction with our unhoused neighbors
In addition, the master leasing agreements will include provisions for damages and vacancy loss as well provisions for evictions.
Culver City Safe Sleep Program
Culver City will be increasing its available interim housing through Culver City’s first Safe Sleep Program. The City has contracted with Urban Alchemy to provide safe and sanitary transitional housing with wrap around services for unhoused neighbors who are not yet ready for permanent housing. The site will accommodate 20 tents and house a maximum of 40 unhoused persons. The City will provide 24/7 security through de-escalation and supportive services at the site, as well as bathrooms, showers, laundry, recreation, lighting, trash removal, basic life skills, counseling, and social services. The SJC outreach team will support the Culver City Safe Sleep Program by assembling an interest list of unhoused neighbors who would be a good fit for the program.
Outreach Team Staffing Recommendations
Due to the increase of substance use and mental illness in the westside unhoused community, the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 SJC outreach contract will continue to include a Substance Use Specialist to provide direct substance use and case management services to the City’s unhoused population. According to the LAHSA 2022 Homeless Count Service Planning Area (SPA) 5 data, 39% of the unhoused population is white, 75% of the unhoused population are male, 32% suffer from mental health issues, and 30% experience substance abuse disorder. (See Attachment No. 4, LAHSA 2022 County SPA 5 Data Summary for more information).
To support Culver City’s unhoused neighbors in achieving independent lifestyles, SJC has recommended to reclassify the former Mental Health Specialist position to an Occupational Therapist (OT) in the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 outreach contract. An OT has the ability to support clients with a variety of disabilities that can create barriers for employment as well as housing. By providing mental health support, the role of the OT is to work with clients who are reintegrating into the community in a variety of facets providing assistance in life skills such as anger and time management, personal hygiene in addition to other life skills necessary for success. The expertise of the OT can be instrumental in rebuilding the client’s confidence in being able to perform tasks in life and build on them independently.
To support the upcoming interim housing projects, as described above, the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 SJC outreach contract will include a Case Manager “Stabilizer”. The Stabilizer will support the Culver City Project Homekey IH Program, Culver City Motel Master Lease Program, and Culver City Safe Sleep Program clients with individualized case management during their transition from the street to permanent housing.
Waiver of Bidding Procedures
Pursuant to CCMC Section 3.07.045, in the event the same vendor has been utilized for a period of five consecutive years, competitive bidding procedures shall apply. SJC has been providing the City with homeless outreach services since 2005. CCMC Section 3.07.075.F.3, provides the Council may waive, by a majority vote, bidding requirements if it is deemed to be in the City’s best interest and authorize a negotiated contract. SJC is entrenched in and has significant knowledge and history with the City’s unhoused neighbors, as well as long-term established relationships with many of the unhoused. For these reasons, staff recommends it would be in the City’s best interest to waive bidding requirements and continue its contract with SJC.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
To maintain the outreach program current level of services, SJC’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 is $705,565 (see Attachment No. 1, SJC Proposed Budget). This budget includes an overall decrease of $138,861 from the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 budget which was $844,426.00.
The main reason for the overall budget decrease is the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 budget was built out for 15 months whereas the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 budget is for 12 months. Additionally, SJC adjusted the personnel portion of the budget to align with the current employee’s annual salaries, which was higher for some positions for Fiscal Year 2022-2023, due to a specific employee’s work and academic experience. Under the supportive services portion of the budget, SJC removed $26,000 in motel voucher services since Culver City will be absorbing this cost by administering the Culver City Motel Master Lease Program. The operational budget costs adjustment is primarily due to decrease in space usage costs associated with the National Boulevard office, which is where the Culver City SJC Outreach Team is stationed and dispatches from. Shared space costs are allocated by Full Time Equivalent (FTE) per the Cost Allocation Plan. Since there was a significant increase in FTEs in some other outreach teams at the National Boulevard location, the allocation space costs have decreased for the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 budget. Lastly, the Culver City SJC team is utilizing agency vehicles, which decreases the overall projected request for mileage reimbursements.
Fiscal changes to the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 budget include:
• A personnel budget decrease of $77,480
• A supportive services budget decrease of $26,000 (motel vouchers)
• An operational cost decrease of $20,503
• An indirect cost decrease of $14,878
o Total overall decrease = $138,861
Sufficient funding for the agreement with St. Joseph’s Center is included in the Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 in the Low and Moderate Income Housing Asset Fund under Account No. 47635880.619830 (Homeless Program - Other Contractual Services Unhoused).
ATTACHMENTS
1. Attachment No. 1, SJC’s Proposed Budget
2. Attachment No. 2, Housing and Human Services Program Matrix
3. Attachment No. 3, SJC’s April 2022 - May 2023 Report
4. Attachment No. 4, LAHSA 2022 County SPA 5 Data
MOTIONS
That the Housing Authority Board:
1. Waive competitive bidding procedures pursuant to Culver City Municipal Code Section (CCMC) 3.07.075.F.3; and
2. Approve an amendment to the existing professional services agreement with Saint Joseph Center to provide expanded homeless outreach services during weekdays, evenings, and Saturdays for the period of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024 in an amount not-to-exceed $705,565; and
3. Authorize the City Attorney to prepare/review the necessary documents; and
4. Authorize the City Manager to execute such documents on behalf of the City.