City Council Meeting: February 26, 2008

Agenda Item: 8-A

To: Mayor and City Council

From: Barbara Stinchfield, Community and Cultural Services Director

Subject: Annual Review of the City’s Plan for Homeless Services and Proposed Action Plan to Address Homelessness in Santa Monica; and Award of a Professional Services Agreement for a City-wide Panhandling Education Campaign

Recommended Action

Staff recommends that the City Council:

1) Hold a public hearing on the Plan pursuant to Municipal Code Section 2.69.030;

2) Receive and approve the proposed Action Plan to Address Homelessness in Santa Monica, including its vision statement, guiding principles and action steps; and

3) Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a professional services agreement in the amount of $100,000 with GMMB for a City-wide panhandling education campaign.

Executive Summary

This staff report meets the requirements of the City’s Public Safety Initiative by providing an “Annual Review of the City’s Plan for Homeless Services” for FY 2006-07 (Attachment I); a proposed “Action Plan for Addressing Homelessness in Santa Monica” (Attachment II); and a summary of elements of the proposed Action Plan that are underway (Attachment III). In addition, the public hearing affords the public and the City Council with an opportunity to comment on the attached documents and provide input on the impact of homelessness in Santa Monica.

The required Annual Review reports on the performance of the homeless service system, detailing outcomes for the over 2,700 homeless persons who received assistance. Programs initiated or expanded in the prior year are summarized. In FY 2006-07 City-funded programs at the seven core agencies served a total of 2,743 homeless individuals who self-identified as Santa Monica residents. Of those, 772 persons (28%) received emergency or transitional housing, and 344 people (13%) transitioned into permanent housing during the year. In addition, 502 adults (18%) found and maintained jobs leading to self-sufficiency.

The attached proposed Action Plan (“Plan”) was developed in collaboration with local service providers and City staff from the City Attorney’s Office, the City Manager’s Office, Police, Fire, Community Maintenance, Housing and Economic Development, and Community and Cultural Services. The Plan proposes refinements and changes to the current service delivery system based on the FY 2006-07 Annual Review, the recommendations of the 2006 Urban Institute evaluation of homeless services, new data, best practices, initiatives elsewhere in the region, and the success of Santa Monica’s current initiatives. The Plan presents a vision statement, guiding principles and specific short-, medium- and long-term actions in the areas of social services, housing, community education, evaluation, public policy and regional collaboration. The Plan proposes that Santa Monica’s continuum of care prioritize services to the most vulnerable and long-term of Santa Monica’s homeless and employ a service registry and intensive case management model that have been successfully implemented in New York City.

After receiving public comment, City staff requests that the City Council approve the proposed Plan including its vision statement, guiding principles and action steps. There are no immediate fiscal and budgetary impacts resulting from this staff report.

Public education is one component of the Plan. Therefore, City staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a professional services agreement in the amount of $100,000 with GMMB for a community education, anti-panhandling and alternative giving campaign, with the anti-panhandling and alternative giving as the initial focus of the campaign. GMMB was unanimously recommended based on their understanding of the unique and sensitive aspects of the project and their experience with social marketing and behavior change campaigns.

Funds in the amount of $100,000 were budgeted in FY 2007-08 for this purpose.

Background

Public Safety Initiative

In 1994, the City Council adopted the Public Safety Initiative (SMMC Sections 2.69.010 through 2.69.030) calling for the City to adopt a plan for homeless services, based on the following goals:

· Effectively assist the homeless in returning to a self-sufficient status;

· Monitor the progress of individual recipients;

· Eliminate unnecessary duplication of services;

· Emphasize long-term solutions to homelessness by combining housing, counseling and job training;

· Provide non-housing services for approximately the same number of homeless individuals as can be temporarily sheltered in the City;

· Prevent an increase, and wherever feasible, reduce, overall City expenditures relating to homeless services; and

· Impose reasonable time limits on the provision of services to the same individuals.

The Public Safety Initiative also requires the City Council to conduct an annual review of the City’s progress in meeting the goals established by the Initiative, and hold a public hearing to assess:

· The impact of the City’s homeless population on other residents of the City;

• The effectiveness of the delivery of services to the homeless by the City and various social service agencies;
• The cost of those services; and

· The changes which should be made in the Plan in order to carry out its primary goals and objectives.

Attachment I of this staff report, entitled “Annual Review of the City’s Plan for Homeless Services,” summarizes the accomplishments and the costs of the service delivery system for FY 2006-07 and discusses the impact of the homeless population on the community.

Attachment II, entitled “Action Plan to Address Homelessness in Santa Monica” (“Plan”), details those refinements and changes which should be made to the City’s current approach to homelessness. This set of proposals is based on the annual review, the recently completed Urban Institute report evaluating Santa Monica’s homeless services, new data, best practices, initiatives elsewhere in the region, and the success of Santa Monica’s current initiatives and is consistent with the goals of the Public Safety Initiative. The Plan proposes a vision statement, guiding principles and specific future actions for focusing efforts to address homelessness in Santa Monica. Attachment III provides a summary of elements of the proposed Action Plan that are underway, including information regarding the recently conducted service registry.

Discussion

Annual Review – FY 2006-07 Outcomes and Accomplishments

Based on the data in ClientTrack, City-funded programs at the seven core agencies served a total of 3,097 homeless persons, 2,743 (87%) of whom identified themselves as Santa Monica residents. Over half (61%) were male and 39% were female. Thirty-eight percent (38%) were identified as chronically homeless[1] and 12% were veterans. Through the support of the City-funded services, 772 persons (28%) received emergency or transitional housing, and 344 people (13%) transitioned into permanent housing during the year. In addition, 502 adults (18%) found and maintained jobs leading to self-sufficiency.

In addition, the following best-practice initiatives recommended in the Urban Institute Report were implemented or continued in FY 2006-07. Details regarding the progress and outcomes for these initiatives can be found in Attachment I.

· Chronic Homeless Project (CHP)

· Serial Inebriate Outreach Program (SIOP)

· Santa Monica Homeless Community Court

· Relocation of Meal Program Providers to Indoor Locations

· Project Homecoming

· Community Education and Stakeholder Input

· Increased Supportive Housing

· Designation of Buildings on West Los Angeles VA Campus

· Regional Planning

· Improved Data Management

Proposed Action Plan

The attached proposed Action Plan was developed through an iterative process which gathered input from City Departments, the Chronic Homeless Project (CHP) Executive Committee and City Commissions. A series of discussions was held with Department Directors and key staff from the City Attorney’s Office, the City Manager’s Office, Police, Fire, Community Maintenance, Housing and Economic Development, and Community and Cultural Services. Concurrently, a series of facilitated discussions with the CHP Executive Committee (formed in 2004 to oversee the direction of the CHP) began in November 2007. City staff and the CHP Executive Committee reviewed and commented, over several months, on successive versions of the proposed Plan. The Social Services, Disability and Housing Commissions, the Commission for the Senior Community and the Commission on the Status of Women received presentations on the proposed Plan, as did the Bayside District Corporation Board of Directors and the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce’s Homeless Committee. These groups will continue to advise and assist City staff and the CHP Executive Committee in implementation of the Plan, once approved by Council.

The Plan contains the following elements:

Vision Statement:

We will transform Santa Monica to a place where our effective action and compassion end the impact of homelessness on our community.

Through collaboration and cooperation, the City of Santa Monica, non-profit agencies, housing providers, governmental partners, business and faith communities – will focus on intensively serving the most vulnerable and chronically homeless people, who have been homeless in Santa Monica for many years, so that they obtain and sustain housing. We will work with our neighboring communities and partners to form collaborations that address the regional nature of homelessness and promote the development of housing and services throughout Los Angeles County.

Guiding Principles:

• Success is measured by reducing street homelessness.
• Santa Monica is committed to doing its “fair share” of providing essential and effective services to homeless individuals in our community.

• New and existing resources (housing and services) should be focused on priority populations:

§ Santa Monica’s chronically homeless

§ Santa Monica residents whose last permanent address is in Santa Monica

§ Vulnerable members of Santa Monica’s workforce

• Limited housing and service resources should be matched with the needs of priority populations.

• Targeted services should use interdisciplinary teams with low staff to client ratios, including, but not limited to, clinical mental health and substance abuse support.

• Resources – human and financial—should be shifted and expanded to support program models that are consistent with the Plan and its Vision and recognize the intensity of services required by the priority populations.

• A range of permanent housing options should be developed, with a focus on permanent supportive housing, within and outside of Santa Monica.

• Evaluation of services should be data-driven.

• The City’s efforts should involve increased communication, education and involvement of the public.

A key principle addresses the issue of “fair share” and the capacity of Santa Monica’s service delivery system to serve the region’s homeless population. As a basis for discussion, several methodologies were used to estimate what Santa Monica’s service commitment should be -- including both point-in-time and annual numbers. Interestingly, all estimates fell within a range of 550 – 700 people, a number much smaller than the 2,700 unduplicated persons currently receiving services at City-funded programs in FY 2006-07.

This significant imbalance between demand and service capacity points to the need to prioritize and target services to yield the greatest positive benefit – for homeless persons as well as the community at large.

Action Steps: This year’s annual review gave greater attention to the development of action steps to be taken in the coming year(s) to realize the Action Plan’s guiding principles. These action steps cover a broad spectrum of areas including Social Services, Housing, Evaluation, Community Education, Public Policy and Regional Collaboration. Attachment II describes these action steps in greater detail, and Attachment III provides a summary of elements of the proposed Action Plan that are underway, including:

· Develop a service registry to identify the most vulnerable, long-term chronically homeless individuals for prioritized services and housing;

· Link outreach and mental health services to the efforts of the Santa Monica Police Department’s Homeless Liaison Program (HLP Team);

· Align existing bed capacity to service priority populations, starting with the bed capacity at Samoshel;

· Streamline access to housing subsidies and continue to develop a range of permanent housing options, with a focus on permanent supportive housing;

· Develop a proposal to Los Angeles County for health, mental health and substance abuse treatment and supportive housing for the most vulnerable long term homeless people identified in the service registry;

· Participate in a national “Hospital to Home” pilot project;

· Review City policies and practices that may contribute to homelessness, for example, regulating the use of facilities such as public showers and the recycling buy-back center;

· Implement a panhandling education and alternative giving campaign which also incorporates public education elements; and

· Work with the Westside Cities Council of Governments to further a regional approach on the Westside, including setting sub-regional goals and targets beyond Santa Monica’s efforts.

Finally, the recommendations of this report include award of funding to GMMB, a social marketing and communications firm selected as a result of a competitive process to lead the effort to develop a panhandling education and alternative giving campaign in Santa Monica. GMMB’s approach will combine research, including 1-on-1 stakeholder interviews, intercept interviews and group interviews to determine people’s perceptions of panhandling and homelessness and their motivations for giving, with the testing of sample messages among target audiences to gauge which messages are most persuasive. Based on research, testing and stakeholder input, the campaign will be developed, including creative concepts and messaging, strategic planning, and alternative giving methods. A campaign launch event will also be developed and produced.

Because of the costs of the proposed anti-panhandling and alternative giving component of the campaign, the initial phase of a broader community education campaign will build on efforts using the resources of City staff. These efforts currently include:

• It’s Your Call: Homelessness in Our Community, a call-in show about regional homeless issues broadcast on CityTV and LA36;
• Bringing It Home, a monthly e-newsletter about local and regional efforts to address homelessness; and
• Training materials to increase City staff’s knowledge about homelessness and ability to address the public’s concerns about the issue are in development.

If desired by the City in FY 2008-09, the GMMB Scope of Services may be extended to include activities such as design, printing and distribution of marketing, advertising and collateral materials as well as implementation of alternative giving methods and broader public education regarding homelessness. The fiscal impacts associated with an increase in the scope of services will be brought to Council for consideration.

Commission Input

The Social Services and Housing Commissions, and the Commission for the Senior Community, elected to hear staff presentations on the report. The Social Services Commission and the Commission on the Status of Women have each assigned a sub-committee to review this report, once it is released in full to the public and comment at the February 26 public hearing. The Housing Commission requested a follow-up presentation from staff on the progress of the Plan.

The Bayside District Corporation Board of Directors in its letter dates January 28, 2008 indicated that it “supports the new approach to homeless services in downtown and encourages the City Council to adequately fund these programs.”

Financial Impacts & Budget Actions

Reviewing this report and holding the public hearing do not have budgetary or financial impacts, however the report does provide information for consideration in the context of the City’s FY 2008-09 or subsequent years’ budget processes.

Funds in the amount of $100,000 for the city-wide panhandling education campaign are available in account 012628.555060.

Prepared by:

Stacy Rowe, Human Services Administrator

Approved:	Forwarded to Council:
Barbara Stinchfield Director, Department	P. Lamont Ewell City Manager

Attachment I: Annual Review Of The City’s Plan For Homeless Services

Attachment II: Action Plan To Address Homelessness In Santa Monica

Attachment III: What’s Underway? Action Plan to Address Homelessness

ATTACHMENT I

ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE CITY’S PLAN FOR HOMELESS SERVICES

Public Safety Initiative

In 1994, the City Council adopted the Public Safety Initiative (now Municipal Code Sections 2.69.010 through 2.69.030) calling for the City to adopt a plan for homeless services. The City’s plan required by the Public Safety Initiative is incorporated into the City’s FY 2007-10 Community Development Plan and in the Consolidated Plan for FY 2005 -10 required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The Public Safety Initiative also requires the City Council to conduct an annual review of the City’s progress in meeting the goals established by the Initiative, and hold a public hearing to assess the effectiveness of the City’s plan. Notice of a public hearing for February 26, 2008, was placed in the Santa Monica Daily Press, www.surfsantamonica.com, and posted on the City’s website.

Effectiveness of the Service Delivery System

The City of Santa Monica funds a comprehensive range of homeless services that assists homeless people in transitioning from the streets to self-sufficient status through permanent housing and employment; eliminates unnecessary duplication of services; and emphasizes long-term solutions to homelessness. This continuum of care model begins with outreach and emergency services, includes intake and assessment (which encompasses case management and supportive services), and leads to emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent housing.

In FY 2006-07 the City funded seven core homeless agencies: Chrysalis, the CLARE Foundation, New Directions, OPCC, St. Joseph Center, Step Up on Second, and Upward Bound House to provide services that are consistent with the continuum of care approach to homeless service delivery. Funding for the seven core programs for FY 2006-07 totaled $2,223,426, including $75,000 in one-time funding to assist St. Joseph Center in the relocation of their Homeless Services Center.

In addition to the seven core homeless agencies, the City provides funding to the Westside Food Bank, Common Ground, Community Corporation of Santa Monica, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and the Westside Center for Independent Living, all of whom serve a significant number of homeless individuals.

As a condition of receiving City funding, these agencies develop Grantee Program Plans that specify services to be provided to assist homeless individuals in obtaining greater self-sufficiency and housing stability. City staff monitors the delivery of services and client progress through site visits and the regular review of reports including program outcomes. The seven core agencies use ClientTrack, the City’s computerized case management system which tracks clients’ progress at the individual, program and aggregate levels; monitors unnecessary duplication of services; measures the unduplicated number of persons served; and tracks outcomes across programs to determine aggregate benchmarks of self-sufficiency, e.g., permanent housing and employment placements.

FY 2006-07 Outcomes for the Continuum of Care

Based on the data in ClientTrack, results from City-funded programs at the seven core agencies can be measured and compared over time. In FY 2006-07, a total of 3,097 homeless persons were provided with case management, temporary housing, addiction recovery, mental health services, and employment assistance through the homeless programs funded by the City. Of those, 2,743 (87%) self-declared themselves to be Santa Monica residents. These numbers are consistent with those reported in FY 2005-06, with a total of 3,088 persons served, 2,575 (83%) of whom self-declared themselves to be Santa Monica residents.

Of those who received services in FY 2006-07, over half (61%) were male and 39% were female. Thirty-eight percent (38%) were identified as chronically homeless[2] and 12% were veterans. Through the support of the City-funded services, 772 homeless persons (28%) received emergency or transitional housing, and 344 people (13%) transitioned into permanent housing during the year. In addition, 502 adults (18%) found and maintained jobs leading to self-sufficiency.

Homeless Services Outcomes

FY 2003-04 through FY 2006-07

	FY 2006-07		FY 2005-06		FY 2004-05		FY 2003-04
	No. Served	% Placed	No. Served	% Placed	No. Served	% Placed	% Placed	% Placed
Total SM-funded Program Participants (A participant is an adult who self-identifies as a Santa Monica resident)	2,743	N/A	2,575	N/A	2,248	N/A	2,188	N/A
Placements in permanent housing	344	13%	352	14%	309	14%	339	15%
Placements in transitional housing	291	11%	367	14%	342	15%	405	19%
Placements in emergency shelter	481	18%	384	15%	532	24%	626