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CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
City of Anaheim
HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT
DATE: DECEMBER 9, 2025
FROM: HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: COMMUNITY CARE RESPONSE TEAM (CCRT) HOMELESS
SERVICES SUBRECIPIENT AGREEMENT WITH KINGDOM
CAUSES, INC., DOING BUSINESS AS CITY NET TO PROVIDE
STREET OUTREACH AND HOMELESSNESS INTERVENTION
SERVICES
ATTACHMENT (Y/N): YES ITEM # 15
GOVERNMENT CODE § 84308 APPLIES: YES
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council, by Motion, approve the Community Care Response Team (CCRT) Homeless Services Subrecipient Agreement with Kingdom Causes, Inc., doing business as City Net (City Net) to provide street outreach and homeless intervention services for a two-year contract term commencing January 1, 2026, ending on December 31, 2027, with maximum compensation authority in the amount of $6,850,000; and authorize the Housing & Community Development Department Director, or her designee, to execute the agreement and other documents necessary to implement and administer the program on behalf of the City, provided that the maximum compensation authority is not increased.
BACKGROUND:
In January 2021, as part of the City’s ongoing efforts to address homelessness in Anaheim, the City funded the launch of a dedicated street-outreach team. The Community Care Response Team (CCRT) began as a pilot program informed by emerging models in other cities, which showed that relying solely on enforcement was not a best practice. Instead, outreach models—where trained case workers build trust and engage directly with individuals experiencing homelessness—were producing stronger, more lasting results. These approaches recognize that it often takes multiple, consistent contacts before someone is willing to accept help. A balanced strategy, using enforcement only when necessary while prioritizing steady, service-focused outreach, has proven to be more humane, more effective, and often more cost-efficient. It also allows police officers to focus on higher-priority public safety issues.
As the pilot progressed, it became clear that CCRT provided essential support to the Police Department and helped the City respond more effectively to community calls related to homelessness. Because of this early success, staff recommended continuing Community Care Response Team (CCRT) Homeless Services Subrecipient Agreement December 9, 2025
the program. At the end of 2021, the City Council approved an amendment to the initial COVID-19 response.
Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG-CV) agreement to expand the number of CCRT teams and extend operating hours to seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. This extension, funded through the State’s Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Rounds 2 and 3, carried the program through December 2023.
In December 2023, City staff once again returned to City Council—this time seeking approval for a new agreement with City Net funded by HHAP Rounds 1, 4, and 5. This agreement continued CCRT’s outreach services and operating hours from January 2024 through December 2025. It also expanded CCRT’s role within the Anaheim Homelessness System of Care (AHSOC) by adding case management for the City’s new court-diversion program (ACCESS), supporting relocation efforts for City-acquired motels, partnering on cleanup efforts at Caltrans and Union Pacific sites, and tapping into additional resources offered through City Net, such as CalAIM-funded case management and support services.
Overall, City Net’s operation of the CCRT program during the last agreement period resulted in:
• 326 substance use disorder assessments with 75 exiting street level homelessness to treatment facilities
• 243 mental health evaluations with 47 exiting street level homelessness to psychiatric hospitals and facilities
• 39 exits from hospitals and emergency rooms to recuperative care facilities • 36 exits from street-level homelessness to reunifications with family and friends Within the last FY2024-25, the CCRT program saw:
• 3,445 outreach touches, including service to 186 transition-aged youth and 205 minors
• 385 exits from street-level homelessness to shelter
• 64 households linked to permanent housing from the street In quarter 4 of FY2024-25, CCRT alone accounted for 68% of the County of Orange’s entries into homeless shelters, showcasing their adept ability to respond to unsheltered homelessness and their widespread impact on exiting individuals into sheltered situations.
DISCUSSION:
Outreach Model Realignment
The Anaheim Homeless System of Care (AHSOC) is one of the most comprehensive homeless response systems in the county. Likewise, the Anaheim Police Department has produced some of the most skilled homelessness engagement police officers in the region under the umbrella of the Homeless Assessment Liaison Officers (HALO) program. Working in tandem, AHSOC and APD have created a collaborative system Community Care Response Team (CCRT) Homeless Services Subrecipient Agreement December 9, 2025
that is communicative, responsive to urgent needs, and prioritizes progress toward long- term solutions to homelessness in Anaheim.
Under the current system, CCRT and APD work closely together to address the most urgent and visible homelessness-related issues in the community. Their collaboration includes triaging individuals they encounter in the field and responding to community calls for assistance. This coordinated approach ensures that each situation is directed to the most appropriate response—whether that is outreach, services, or enforcement— leading to better outcomes for both the individuals involved and the surrounding community.
A key strength of CCRT is its flexible, client-centered approach, designed to help individuals take realistic steps toward stability. Rather than limiting its work to traditional outreach or case management, City Net adapts its services to remove the practical and emotional barriers that often prevent people from engaging in treatment or housing programs. This includes supporting family reunification when appropriate, connecting clients to pet-care resources so they can enter shelter or treatment, deploying teams during severe weather events, assisting with the lease-up of new supportive- housing units, and responding quickly to encampments on state-owned properties.
To further strengthen this partnership, the new CCRT agreement restructures the outreach model to create two types of teams: one dedicated to working directly with APD-led encampment resolution efforts, and another focused on responding to prioritized calls from the community and City staff. This structure supports both large- scale operations in highly impacted areas and smaller encampments involving individuals frequently encountered by HALO or other City teams. By implementing this approach, Anaheim will ensure a more consistent and timely multidisciplinary response, reducing delays between an initial encounter and the arrival of the appropriate outreach resources.
This model is designed to reduce street-level homelessness by giving HALO immediate access to a social-services team that can provide real-time assessments and transportation to emergency shelter, medical beds, detox and recovery programs, and other wraparound services. It removes the need for first responders to wait for assistance that falls outside traditional law-enforcement roles. Meanwhile, the remaining outreach teams will continue providing proactive services during regular operating hours, responding to Anaheim Anytime requests and addressing situations that do not require a law-enforcement presence.
Under the new contract, a shift in hours of operations is proposed. Based on the experience of the team, call volume data, and feedback from APD, CCRT will conduct outreach Monday through Friday from 7 am to 7:30 pm. This shift allows for greater coordination with the APD HALO team and also reflects the availability of other resource partners in the community. The contract also includes funding for CCRT to work with HALO and/or other City or County partners on encampment resolution efforts on weekends as the need arises.
Community Care Response Team (CCRT) Homeless Services Subrecipient Agreement December 9, 2025
It is noted that while CCRT hours are shifting, community response should remain unimpacted as the APD is the lead agency for community emergency and enforcement needs.
Funding Overview
Funding for the AHSOC is complex and involves the administration of a multitude of local, State, and Federal funding resources. As eligibility and grant amounts shift, HCD staff assesses ongoing needs and recommends changes to maintain an effective, holistic network of services. Several elements of the AHSOC, such as the HALO team and public works crews, are funded completely outside of our grant resource and are a commitment of the general fund.
Historically, the CCRT program has been entirely funded through either federal or state grants. The pilot phase was funded by a COVID-era, federal ESG-CV grant. The renewal contract was supported by a multi-year commitment of HHAP, a State funding resource. New guidance from the State of California for the current funding cycle, HHAP Round 6, and upcoming Round 7 prohibit the use of HHAP funding for street outreach activities. Instead, the State has restricted use of HHAP Round 6 dollars to interim and permanent housing interventions and it is anticipated that Round 7 will have similar restrictions. As a result, staff have reviewed all available funding resources and programmatic needs with the goal of ensuring that all critical elements of the AHSOC can remain in place.
After careful consideration, the staff recommends moving a portion of the general funds currently set aside for the Anaheim Emergency Shelter (AES) to support street outreach services. This change will not reduce services at AES, it simply allows state and federal funds to be used where they are intended.
Based on ongoing need, City staff recommends the approval of a new Community Care Response Team (CCRT) Homeless Services Subrecipient Agreement with City Net to continue street outreach and homelessness intervention services. The proposed contract term for this new agreement is January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027, for the amount of $6,850,000.
The Community Care Response Team (CCRT) Homeless Services Subrecipient Agreement supports the City’s Strategic Plan Goal B: Enhance Livability, Strategy 9:
Maintain and expand services to address homelessness and its impacts.
IMPACT ON BUDGET:
Sufficient funding is available in the Housing and Community Development Department’s FY 2025/26 budget in the General Fund allocation and anticipated HHAP 6 funds. The Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) anticipates $5,947,855 from the Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Program Round 6 (HHAP 6) award. The official award is scheduled to be announced in early 2026.
Community Care Response Team (CCRT) Homeless Services Subrecipient Agreement December 9, 2025
Respectfully submitted,
Grace Ruiz-Stepter
Housing and Community Development Director
Attachment:
1. Community Care Response Team (CCRT) Homeless Services Subrecipient Agreement with Kingdom Causes, Inc., doing business as City Net