CITY OF COMMERCEAGENDA REPORTCITY OF COMMERCEAGENDA REPORT
CITY OF COMMERCE
AGENDA REPORT
CITY OF COMMERCE
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Honorable City Council
FROM: City Manager
SUBJECT: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Commerce, California Approving the Reimbursement Agreement between the Member Cities in LCA1 for Shelter Beds within the Salvation Army Bell Shelter in an amount not to exceed $31,379 for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 MEETING DATE: June 27, 2023
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Council approve the Reimbursement Agreement between the member cities of LCA1 for shelter beds within the Salvation Army Bell Shelter in an amount not to exceed $31,379 in the final form approved by the City Attorney and City Manager.
BACKGROUND:
On March 23, 2022, the City Council approved a reimbursement agreement with the City of Bell and the Salvation Army as collaborative partners in the Local Coordinating Alliance 1 (LCA1) pilot program for shelter beds. Thirty-six (36) crisis housing beds were allocated as inventory per the agreement, with ten percent (10%) designated as public safety priority beds for emergency use by all LCA1 members. Ninety percent (90%), or thirty-two (32) beds, are prioritized for each LCA1 member as four (4) general inventory beds. The Shelter Bed Pilot Program initiated services with its first client intake in July 2022. The City allocated just under $55,000 on May 10, 2022 to reimburse the Salvation Army Bell Shelter for shelter beds, personnel costs, and administration/reporting. Before the adoption of the program, the only option for providing services to unhoused individuals was to rely on the overburdened Continuum of Care (CoC) system, which restricted the City's ability to address local homelessness issues directly.
The City of Commerce is a participant in the regional Continuum of Care (CoC) system that provides shelter beds for all of Los Angeles County under LAHSA’s Coordinated Entry System (County CES). For unhoused individuals to receive a shelter bed and the attendant services that accompany temporary shelter housing, such as: drug and alcohol counseling, health care and mental health services, employment services, benefits advocacy, and permanent housing placement, the shared Homeless Services Liaison of the cities of Bell, Commerce, Cudahy, and Maywood must request assistance and be assigned an available shelter bed from the County CES system. Without an available bed in the County CES system, unhoused individuals are not able to receive services or shelter. The CoC system faces a demand level for shelter beds that are not met with the existing inventory, as many cities do not provide shelter beds within their city limits.
The Salvation Army Bell Shelter is located adjacent to the City, in the City of Bell and the shelter receives unhoused residents from the regional CoC system. The Bell Shelter is one of the largest shelters in the nation, and the shelter provides a significant portion of the region’s shelter beds. The Salvation Army Bell Shelter complex provides a variety of supportive services and housing options. Shelter beds are only one segment of the critical regional resources that the Salvation Army provides within the City of Bell. The shelter beds at the Salvation Army Bell Shelter are funded through contracts with agencies such as LAHSA, the Veterans Administration, and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (DMH). Existing contracts provide most of the operations revenue for the Salvation Army Bell Shelter, and without these contracts, the shelter would not be able to operate. The City of Maywood does not currently have a separate contract for shelter beds at the Bell Shelter. Therefore, the City’s only available resource to serve unhoused individuals is the overburdened CoC system, which limits the City’s ability to directly address local homelessness issues.
DISCUSSION:
The LCA1 cities and unincorporated areas (Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, East Los Angeles, Huntington Park, Maywood, South Gate, Vernon, and Walnut Park) surrounding the Salvation Army Bell Shelter face a disproportionate homelessness impact.
The City of Bell applied for and received $500,000 in Measure H Innovation Funds from the Gateway COG to support this pilot program through June 30, 2024, and it is proposed that the same equal 1/8th share of costs be contributed by each LCA1 city ($31,379 for each LCA1 city in FY 23-24) after the $500k COG grant is reimbursed to the City of Bell in FY 2023-2024.
As part of the LCA1 Shelter Bed Pilot Program, thirty-six (36) shelter beds have been provided (either low barrier beds or bridge beds, depending on the level of service required by the unhoused individual) to the participating cities to address the unique impacts of homelessness in the SELA area around the Salvation Army Bell Shelter in addition to the services provided by the CoC System.
Existing Pilot Program Data
A total of 151 clients have been supported by the 36 beds in the LCA1 Shelter Bed Pilot Program as of March 27, 2023 (111% of the target of 100 clients). The LCA1 cities have provided 257 shelter bed service days to clients since July 13, 2022, with an average stay of 64 days. There is a maximum stay of 270 days allowed under the pilot program.
As of December 22, 2022, there were thirty-one (31) clients in the thirty-six (36) LCA1 shelter beds (86% of capacity, 90% of target population due to a public safety reserve of 10%). As a result, the city's shelter system was overcapacity with six (6) clients and no more beds could be allocated. As LCA1 cities consistently fill the shelter beds, there have been no issues maintaining the program at close to 90% capacity. No additional beds have been offered to other SPA 7 cities.
There have been two (2) clients that have exited the program into housing. One client left Interim Housing after an average of eighty-one (81) days, and one client transferred to Temporary Housing after an average of thirteen (13) days. Additionally, four (4) clients have exited the program for other reasons. There were (3) three clients who left the program due to AWOL for an average of a total of two hundred (200) days, and (1) clients due to threats of violence.
The City of Commerce has referred twenty (20, 17 male and 3 female) clients since the adoption of the program in July 2022. As of June 7, 2023, of the twenty clients referred by Commerce, (3) clients are currently housed at the shelter, (5) clients have gone AWOL, (4) clients have reportedly exited due to threats of violence, (2) clients have received Interim Housing, (1) client was unable to get an extension, (2) clients were exited due to violation of program rules, (2) clients voluntarily checked out, and (1) client has entered into a sober living home. A city referring a client does not determine a client's success. However, the LCA1 Shelter Bed Program provides a stable and supportive environment for individuals experiencing homelessness to identify needs and connect with other services or resources that can assist in obtaining permanent housing, medical resources, job training, financial assistance, mental health support, etc.
Distribution of Shelter Bed Inventory and Shelter Bed Availability The Agreement provides for four (4) shelter beds per LCA1 city, and four (4) shared public safety shelter beds. However, it is impossible to predict exactly how long a specific shelter bed will be occupied, how many unhoused individuals will accept shelter, and what the various demands will be from each of the LCA1 cities.
The LCA1 cities understand that this is a pilot program, and a high degree of flexibility, coordination, and analysis will be necessary to manage the shelter bed inventory in a manner that satisfies every LCA1 party. The Agreement clearly states the need for coordination and flexibility that is required of all participants for the pilot program to be successful.
It is expected that a high level of city, county and agency communication will result from this pilot program. The LCA1 cities will have to work cooperatively to balance their individual needs and ensure that each LCA1 city has access to shelter beds. There is also a risk that the LCA1 cities may not be able to achieve ninety percent (90%) occupancy of the shelter beds, as many unhoused individuals may choose not to accept shelter. If the LCA1 cities cannot maintain the desired shelter bed occupancy, the available shelter beds may be used by other SPA 7 cities. This will be an incentive for the LCA1 cities to coordinate the shelter bed inventory so that this valuable resource is not underutilized or wasted.
FISCAL IMPACT:
If the City Council has a desire to continue with this coordinated alliance regarding The Shelter Bed Project, an appropriation of $31,379 would need to be approved. Staff is recommending the allocation come from FY 2022/23 Surplus Funds for a term beginning July 1, 2023, and ending on June 30, 2024.
Recommended by: Vilko Domic, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form by: Noel Tapia, City Attorney
Respectfully submitted: Edgar P. Cisneros, City Manager
ATTACHMENT(S)
Resolution
Shelter Bed Agreement
Agreement between the Salvation Army and the City of Bell