From: Chuck Flacks
To: Melissa Cure
Cc: Leonel Mendoza-Diaz; Jaime Valdez
Subject: Fw: Public Comment: 9/25/23 Homelessness Issues Standing Committee Date: Monday, September 25, 2023 12:00:19 PM
Attachments: image001.png
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From PATH - public comment on the Hedges Item II.
Chuck Flacks
Homelessness Services Coordinator
[email protected]
805.690.5125
From: Zeke Sandoval <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, September 25, 2023 11:55 AM
To: Chuck Flacks <[email protected]>
Subject: Public Comment: 9/25/23 Homelessness Issues Standing Committee CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Hi Chuck!
Happy Monday! I hope you’re well. Please find a written public comment by Liz Adams, Regional Director for PATH Santa Barbara, regarding Item II at today’s Homelessness Issues Standing Committee. We will also attend the meeting in person this afternoon to comment, but I wanted to be sure the written version was on record too.
Thank you!
+++
Good afternoon, Madam Mayor, Councilmember Kasdin, and Committee members. My name is Liz Adams. I’m the Regional Director for PATH Santa Barbara, and a 10-year resident of Santa Barbara County.
We greatly value our partnership with the City of Goleta. I began my role here at PATH this past spring, and was saddened to only hear of the City’s concerns last month, in the same email from our former coworker where he informed us he would recommend terminating our contract. We of course have enormous respect for our colleagues at Good Sam, and would hope we are given the opportunity to work alongside them in collaboration, not competition, to improve service delivery for people experiencing homelessness in Goleta.
After reviewing the agenda item, proposed contract, and scope of work, we wanted to provide some additional context about our services. For the last several years, PATH’s Santa Barbara shelter has been the only low-barrier shelter in the region that allows guests to stay during the day. As a natural result, the clients that PATH serves tend to be of much more acute vulnerability than the general population of people experiencing homelessness. The percentage of PATH clients who come to us from chronic homelessness, meaning homeless for a year or more, has increased from 18% in 2017 to 61% in 2023. The percentage of clients who self-report serious mental illness - itself an undercount - increased from 34% to 51%. It is challenging to deliver meaningful results for that population, but it is our calling.
We are proud to be a safe harbor for our region’s most vulnerable neighbors, and we are beginning to see the tide turn. The usage rate for our two Goleta beds has increased from just 47 bed nights in Fiscal Year 2019-2020, to 348 bed nights in Fiscal Year 2022-2023. Based on current figures, we expect that figure to rise, as I and my new team improve our referral coordination with CityNet and other public and nonprofit agencies. Most importantly, because of PATH’s investments in our staff capacity, we are moving people into positive permanent destinations at a much higher rate. Since July of this year, 10 PATH residents have moved into permanent housing of their own, and several more have been reunited with families or loved ones elsewhere.
Like you, we are resolutely focused on improving outcomes for Goleta residents experiencing homelessness. That job is harder if interim housing beds are removed from the continuum. All we ask for is open dialogue with City staff about how we can work together to improve our results, before limiting the options for Goleta residents experiencing homelessness. To leave space for that dialogue, we ask that you delay a vote on this recommendation today. +++
Zeke Sandoval (he/him)
Public Policy Manager
C: 310-754-9702
epath.org
Help someone make it home today!
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