City of Corona
Staff Report
400 S. Vicentia Ave.
Corona, CA 92882
File #: 22-0517
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 06/15/2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: City Manager’s Office
SUBJECT:
Renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Corona and the City of Norco and the homeless services agreements with City Net and Path of Life Ministries.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City Council will consider approving the renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Corona and the City of Norco for collaborative homeless services, the City Net agreement for outreach, engagement, case management, motel shelter and other homelessness program services, and the Path of Life Ministries agreement for emergency shelter services.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council:
a. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to renew and execute the Fiscal Year 2023 Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Corona and the City of Norco for collaborative homeless services for a maximum amount of $615,690, which includes $564,383 for the City Net Norco scope of services and $51,307 for the City of Corona Homeless Programs administrative fee.
b. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to approve non-substantive amendments, including line-item adjustments and hourly compensation rate increases within the approved program budget of Fiscal Year 2023 Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Corona and the City of Norco.
c. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to appropriate a maximum amount of up to $78,679 in additional funding to the homeless program and increase revenue estimates to a maximum amount of up to $78,679 in the General Fund in the Fiscal Year 2023 budget.
City of Corona Page 1 of 8 Printed on 6/9/2022
powered by Legistar™
File #: 22-0517
d. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to renew and execute the Fiscal Year 2023 Professional Services Agreement between the City of Corona and Kingdom Causes, Inc. DBA City Net, a California Domestic Nonprofit Corporation (City Net) to authorize City Net to provide services to the City of Corona in the amount of $1,650,194 and the City of Norco for a maximum amount of up to $564,383 for a total maximum obligation of up to $2,214,577. e. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to approve non-substantive amendments, including line-item adjustments and hourly compensation rate increases within the approved program budgets for the Fiscal Year 2023 Professional Services Agreement between the City of Corona and Kingdom Causes, Inc. DBA City Net, a California Domestic Nonprofit Corporation (City Net) for provision of services to the City of Corona and the City of Norco. f. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to renew and execute the Fiscal Year 2023 License Agreement between the City of Corona and Kingdom Causes, Inc. DBA City Net, a California Domestic Nonprofit Corporation (City Net) to continue the operation of the Make It Cozy Program located at 849 W. Sixth Street in Corona.
g. Authorize the Purchasing Manager to issue a purchase order to the Path of Life Ministries in the amount of $129,000 for emergency shelter services through January 31, 2023.
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
Homeless Strategic Plan
On June 17, 2020, the City Council adopted the Homeless Strategic Plan (the Plan) with the following vision:
· Comprehensive, five-year roadmap that will be implemented in phases over time; · Document that supports a flexible and scalable system of services that can respond to changing needs, issues, and opportunities;
· Requires a Homeless Solutions Annual Action Plan (HSAAP) that is tied to the annual budget process; and
· The HSAAP includes goals, implementing strategies, and specific milestones that guide each phase of Plan implementation.
On August 4, 2021, the City Council approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 HSAAP which guides Phase II of the Homeless Strategic Plan. On November 18, 2020, April 7, 2021, and February 16, 2022, City Council received an update on achievement of goals and milestones in Phase I and II of the Plan. At the time of these updates, the City of Corona had already achieved significant progress towards accomplishment of goals and milestones. The FY 2022 HSSAP includes goals and milestones related to partnerships with neighboring cities. Specifically, Goal 5 of the HSSAP directs staff to “Develop and Participate in Sub-Regional Partnerships and Collaboratives with Neighboring Cities.”
City of Corona Page 2 of 8 Printed on 6/9/2022
powered by Legistar™
File #: 22-0517
City of Corona/City of Norco MOU
In support of Goal 5, on June 16, 2021, the City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Collaborative Homeless Services with the City of Norco and City Net agreements that included the Norco Outreach, Case Management, and Motel Shelter Programs.
The MOU with the City of Norco includes a 10% administrative fee that is paid to the City of Corona for managing Norco’s homeless programs through the City Net contract. The benefits of the Corona/Norco partnership are as follows:
· Corona’s existing contracts with City Net were easily amended to include Norco’s scope of services;
· This model expanded services into the City of Norco so that Norco’s homeless neighbors are served in their city of residence;
· This model benefits the City of Corona as homeless census data and calls for assistance confirm that Norco’s homeless neighbors were previously coming to the City of Corona for services and shelter;
· This model benefits a small City like Norco by coming under the umbrella of Corona’s wellestablished outreach/engagement and motel emergency shelter framework; · This model sets the standard for a mutually beneficial partnership for collaborative homeless services and hopefully inspires other cities to work with each other to develop collaborative homeless services; and
· This partnership results in the achievement of Goal 5 in the City’s Homeless Strategic Plan.
City Net Agreement
When the City Council approved the City Net agreement on June 16, 2021, it also included the scope of services for the City of Corona. Corona’s scope of services included Outreach, Case Management, Motel Shelter, and the Make It Cozy Warehouse Program.
Path of Life Agreement
On October 6, 2021, City Council approved an amendment to the Path of Life Partner Agency Agreement to extend emergency shelter services through June 2022.
The City Net Corona scope of services and the Path of Life shelter services support the HSAAP Goal #2 for emergency shelter and Goal #4 for expanded outreach and engagement.
ANALYSIS:
Partnership with the City of Norco
The partnership with the City of Norco has been extremely successful. During this past fiscal year, Norco’s motel shelter program has been at capacity serving homeless clients with documentable ties to the City of Norco. In addition, City Net continues to actively engage Norco’s homeless neighbors in the Santa Ana Riverbed and on the streets throughout the City of Norco. Because the City of Corona manages the regional Santa Ana Riverbed (SAR) Collaborative for the Corona-Norco region, City of Corona Page 3 of 8 Printed on 6/9/2022
powered by Legistar™
File #: 22-0517
Corona manages the regional Santa Ana Riverbed (SAR) Collaborative for the Corona-Norco region, the two cities were the first in the western region to place 100percent of SAR encampment residents into a motel shelter and to obtain approval from the Army Corps of Engineers for clean-up of fire hazards and debris from the homeless encampments in the area.
Since the Norco City Council will not be taking action on the MOU until July 6, 2022, staff is requesting that City Council authorize the City Manager to renew and execute the FY 2023 MOU with the City of Norco up to the maximum amount of $615,690. The FY 2022 MOU with Norco is attached to this agenda item for reference as the terms and conditions of the FY 2023 MOU will be substantially similar, other than the dates and budgeted amounts. Once the Norco City Council takes action on July 6th, the MOU will be finalized for FY 2023. To ensure continuity of care, the Norco MOU will be retroactive to July 1, 2022, the beginning of the new fiscal year.
City Net Agreement
The existing FY 2022 City Net agreement and amendments are attached to this agenda item for reference as follows:
1. City Net Scope of Services for the City of Corona
2. City Net Scope of Services for the City of Norco
3. City Net License Agreement for the Make It Cozy Warehouse Space The Fiscal Year 2023 City Net services for the City of Corona include continuation of the motel program, which will provide 25 emergency shelter motel rooms per night, 4 full time case managers that provide outreach, engagement and case management services 5 days per week, after-hours motel activation support for Corona PD, and the Make It Cozy Warehouse Program that facilitates community donations of furniture and move-in kits for clients graduating from the shelter program into permanent housing.
The Fiscal year 2023 City Net services for the City of Norco include the continuation of the motel program to provide 8 emergency shelter motel rooms per night, 2 part-time case managers that provide outreach, engagement, and case management services 2 days per week and a partnership with Corona for the Make It Cozy (MIC) Program since community stakeholders from both cities donate resources to support MIC.
Consistent with the Norco MOU, the City Net Agreement will be finalized and executed once both City Councils take action on the budgets associated with the scope of services for each City. As an important note, the terms and conditions of the FY 2023 Norco MOU and City Net agreement will remain the same as FY 2022 with the exception of the following:
1. New Fiscal Year term from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023
2. New Contract Amounts for the Corona and Norco scope of services as outlined in the recommended actions.
3. Align the Norco MOU and City Net Norco Budget Exhibit to the City Net Corona Budget City of Corona Page 4 of 8 Printed on 6/9/2022
powered by Legistar™
File #: 22-0517
3. Align the Norco MOU and City Net Norco Budget Exhibit to the City Net Corona Budget Exhibit approved by City Council on February 16, 2022. The City Net Corona Budget Exhibit removed the hours per week column for City Net funded positions to allow flexibility to address service demands while staying within the approved budget.
4. Authorization for the City Manager to increase hourly compensation rates for City Net: When the City Council approved the 2nd amendment to the City Net Corona scope of services on February 16, 2022, the City Manager was authorized to increase hourly compensation rates so long as the total amount budgeted for labor was not exceeded. City Council approved this request to ensure that City Net could quickly address labor market challenges and thus avoid an interruption in services.
Consistent with Council’s previous action, staff recommends that the City Manager be authorized to increase hourly compensation rates for the City Net Corona and City Net Norco scope of services.
This authorization would also extend to the MOU with Norco so any potential changes are aligned.
Hourly compensation rate increases would not exceed the total amount budgeted for labor; otherwise, staff will return to City Council for approval. The proposed hourly compensation rate ranges for City Net for the Norco scope of services and Corona scope of services are as follows:
City of Corona Page 5 of 8 Printed on 6/9/2022
powered by Legistar™
File #: 22-0517
Path of Life Agreement
On October 6, 2021, the City Council approved the attached First Amended Partner Agency Agreement with the Path of Life Ministries to expand shelter services to 10 beds per night through June 30, 2022. The Harrison Shelter Phase II construction started on June 1, 2022, and the Operator RFP was released on June 1, 2022. The goal is to open the shelter sometime in late December 2022, provided there are no supply chain or labor market challenges affecting construction or the shelter operator.
To meet the emergency shelter needs of Corona homeless neighbors, to support Corona PD in anti -camping enforcement, and to facilitate a smooth transition, staff recommends extending the Path of Life agreement through January 31, 2023 for a total amount of $129,000. The Path of Life City of Corona Page 6 of 8 Printed on 6/9/2022
powered by Legistar™
File #: 22-0517
of Life agreement through January 31, 2023 for a total amount of $129,000. The Path of Life agreement automatically renews with mutual agreement; therefore, staff is requesting City Council to authorize the Purchasing Manager to issue a Purchase Order to Path of Life Ministries for the period of July 1, 2022 through January 31, 2023. The $129,000 allocation includes a cost increase from $50 per bed, per day to $60 per bed, per day for Corona’s ten reserved shelter beds.
Consistency with the Homeless Strategic Plan
All of the programs and services proposed in this agenda staff report are consistent with the goals and implementing strategies in the City of Corona Homeless Strategic Plan.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Costs for the City of Norco MOU, City Net Agreement, and Path of Life Ministries Agreement included in the FY 2023 proposed Homeless Programs budget were based on estimates. Based on approval of the proposed agreements by the City Council, additional funding of $78,679 will be appropriated to the Homeless Programs budget in the General Fund. General Fund revenue estimates will be increased for the same amount in FY 2023.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the common sense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action involves the renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Norco to continue collaborative homeless services and renewal of a City Net agreement to provide homeless services in the City of Corona and the City of Norco as well as an agreement with the Path of Life for emergency shelter services. Approval of these agreements and provision of expanded homeless services will not have a significant effect on the environment.
Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
City of Corona Page 7 of 8 Printed on 6/9/2022
powered by Legistar™
File #: 22-0517
PREPARED BY: KAREN ROPER, HOMELESS SOLUTIONS MANAGER
REVIEWED BY: ROGER BRADLEY, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - FY 2022 Corona/Norco MOU for Collaborative Homeless Programs and Services
2. Exhibit 2 - FY 2022 City Net Agreement for Corona and Norco Scopes of Services
3. Exhibit 3 - FY 2022 City Net First Amendment for Corona Scope of Services
4. Exhibit 4 - FY 2022 City Net Second Amendment for Corona Scope of Services
5. Exhibit 5 - Path of Life First Amended Partner Agency Agreement City of Corona Page 8 of 8 Printed on 6/9/2022
powered by Legistar™