201 S. Anaheim Blvd.
Suite #1003
Anaheim, CA 92805
Tel: (714) 765-4300
Fax: (714) 765-4360
www.anaheim.net
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
City of Anaheim
HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT
DATE: NOVEMBER 7, 2023
FROM: HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: APPROVE THE FILING OF A LETTER OF INTEREST AND
SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION TO COLLABORATE WITH
CALOPTIMA HEALTH ON THE EXPANSION AND
ADMINISTRATION OF ITS STREET MEDICINE PROGRAM IN
ANAHEIM
ATTACHMENT (Y/N): NO ITEM # 05
GOVERNMENT CODE § 84308 APPLIES: NO
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council, by Motion, approve the filing of a letter of interest and submission of an application to collaborate with CalOptima Health in the expansion and administration of its Street Medicine program into Anaheim.
DISCUSSION:
On October 16, 2023, CalOptima Health released a Notice of Interest Opportunity with the intent to partner with two cities on a Street Medicine Program. The application for this opportunity is due November 8, 2023. CalOptima Health initially launched a street medicine pilot program in Garden Grove in April 2023 to meet the unique needs and circumstances of unsheltered people. Street medicine is intended to engage people experiencing homelessness where they are, on their own terms, to reduce the barriers to medical care and other healthcare services. Through this program, the Housing and Community Development Department seeks to enter a partnership and formalize a service component that delivers much-needed health services to one of Anaheim’s most vulnerable populations.
Through this partnership, CalOptima will serve as the lead for the Street Medicine Program while working simultaneously with city staff to implement services in host cities.
The Street Medicine Program provides an opportunity to augment the outreach component of the City of Anaheim’s established homelessness care system. The delivery of street medicine would improve healthcare outcomes for people experiencing homelessness, who have historically been either service-resistant, unable to reach care, or are waiting for temporary shelter or other permanent housing opportunities. Filling this gap in preventative care would alleviate escalated calls for service that encumber already limited medical transportation and emergency services.
CalOptima Health Street Medicine
November 7, 2023
At present, the City of Anaheim renders emergency medical services to unsheltered people through Anaheim Fire and Rescue and a small pilot partnership with Wound Walk focusing on opioid usage and prevention. Wound Walk operates strictly as a medical care provider, tending to the medical and comfort needs of unhoused individuals in community parks, streets, and other public areas. A partnership with CalOptima Health would expand on existing street medicine efforts through linkages to CalOptima Health-sponsored enhanced case management, housing navigation, and community supports which will ultimately provide not just emergency physical care but increased housing opportunities to people living unsheltered.
In support of this collaboration, CalOptima Health is committed to ensuring seamless integration with the City’s current system of care, engaging in the planning and administration of programming, and financially supporting the startup and launch of the program. In return, CalOptima is asking the City to attest the City’s 2022 Point-in-Time Count shows a minimum of 200 unsheltered or sheltered individuals, formal recognition that CalOptima is the lead in the Street Medicine program, collaboration with CalOptima’s selected service provider, ensuring that law enforcement and fire personnel actively engage in the collaborative effort, and in Phase II, assist with locating properties within the City that can serve at the street medicine support center.
Because the City already has a homelessness system of care that includes a network of community outreach teams and light-touch street medicine, implementing the program is a logical progression in the responsive services for the unsheltered population.
Additionally, this service component could be another method used to build trust among the unsheltered population to encourage the acceptance of services and increase the rate at which individuals are connected to housing to resolve their homelessness. It is well documented that it takes upwards of ten unique interactions with one unsheltered person before that individual may accept resources and service offers. CalOptima Health’s street medicine opportunity proposes medical and other social service teams that would provide routine face-to-face visits with 200 unsheltered people in the City of Anaheim. Such frequent visits provide an opportunity to increase services and personnel working directly towards better health outcomes for unhoused residents while helping resolve public concerns regarding health and safety.
Given the short application period, staff is seeking approval to submit the letter of interest and application by the impending deadline. While programmatic services are still being finalized, staff is committed to ensuring that the application and services seamlessly integrate with the City’s established system of care and the resources available for addressing homelessness in Anaheim.
If the application is successful, staff will bring another staff report before the City Council specifically seeking approval to adopt the programmatic services and authorization to enter the necessary collaboration agreements to administer the street medicine program.
CalOptima Health Street Medicine
November 7, 2023
IMPACT ON BUDGET:
There is no fiscal impact.
Respectfully submitted,
Grace Ruiz-Stepter
Director of Housing & Community Development