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 $31,087 for Fiscal Year 2024-25 MEETING DATE: June 25, 2024
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 $31,087 in the final form approved by the City Attorney and City Manager.
BACKGROUND:
Initially, 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 on March 23, 2022. Subsequently, the City Council approved follow up agreement on June 27, 2023. 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). 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.
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 $500,000 in Measure H Innovation Funds from the Gateway COG to support this pilot program through June 30, 2025. (an additional $20,000 to supplement the new rates for beds for FY 2024-25) in Measure H Innovation Grant Funding to continue the Shelter bed program through June 30, 2025.
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.
Existing Pilot Program Data
As of April 29, 2024, 81 LCA1 (95 including District 1 Four Beds) clients have been supported by the 40 beds in the LCA1 Shelter Bed Pilot Program (80% of target of 120 clients served in Year 2). The number of clients served by city is not a metric that accurately measures the program, as cities refer the clients that are present in their communities, and the individual needs of any one client can skew the data in a way that misrepresents program use This is intended to show that the data provided has its limitations, as the challenges in any individual client successfully navigating the process towards housing security is complicated, and the city referring a client has no bearing on the success of any one individual client.
LCA1 ELA Total
Total Clients served as of 4/29/2024 81 14 95
Current Residents as of 4/29/2024 29 7 36
There have been seventeen (23) clients that have exited the program into housing.
LCA1 Housed Exits #Clients Housed by Type % of LCA1 Total Interim Housing 5 6.17%
Permanent Housing 13 16.05%
Temporary Housing 4 4.94%
Sober Living Home 0 0.00%
DMH Bed Exit 1 1.23%
LCA1 Total Housed Exits 23 28.40%
There have been sixty-nine (69) clients that have exited the program for other reasons.
LCA1 Other Exits Clients Exited by Type % of Exits Total AWOL 27 33.33%
Threats/acts of violence 5 6.17%
Voluntary Check out 12 14.81%
Violating Program Rules 12 14.81%
No longer Eligible for Extension 1 1.23%
Jail 1 1.23%
X/Z (Banned for 2 years) 4 4.94%
Deceased 1 1.23%
Needs higher level of care 4 4.94%
UADC 2 2.47%
FISCAL IMPACT:
FY 2024-2025
Total Cost of beds for FY24/2025 $768,690
Measure H Grant Amount FY 24/25 $520,000
Remaining Cost (to be divided equally by 8 cities) $248,690 Allocation for each City for FY 24-25 $31, 086.25
If the City Council has a desire to continue with this coordinated alliance regarding The Shelter Bed Project, an appropriation of $31,087 would need to be approved. Staff is recommending the allocation come from FY 2023/24 Surplus Funds for a term beginning July 1, 2024, and ending on June 30, 2025.
Recommended by: Vilko Domic, Assistant City Manager Approved as to form by: Noel Tapia, City Attorney Respectfully Submitted: Ernie Hernandez, City Manager
ATTACHMENT(S)
Resolution
Shelter Bed Agreement
Agreement between the Salvation Army and the City of Bell