DATE: June 28, 2022
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Acting Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: City of Hayward Homelessness Update: 1) Receive Results of 2022 Point-in-Time Count Results; 2) Receive an Update on City of Hayward Homelessness Efforts; 3) Adopt Resolutions for FY2023 Homelessness Related Professional Services Agreements
RECOMMENDATION
That the City Council:
Receives the results of the 2022 Homeless Population Point in Time Counts for Alameda County and Hayward (Attachments II and III, respectively); Receives an update on the Let’s House Hayward! plan (Attachment IV); Adopts a resolution (Attachment V) authorizing the City Manager to amend the agreement with First Presbyterian Church of Hayward to Increase the Winter Warming Shelter Contract by $405,868 for a total amount Not-to-Exceed $2,050,000; Receives an update on the Hayward Navigation Center and Hotel Annex programs (Attachment VI); Adopts a resolution (Attachment VII) authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and Execute an Agreement with Bay Area Community Services (BACS) for Hayward Navigation Center FY 2023 Operations in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $2,465,604; and Adopts a resolution (Attachment VIII) authorizing the City Manager to extend and amend the agreement with BACS to increase the Hayward Navigation Center Hotel Annex Contract by $338,365 for a total amount Not-to-Exceed $1,838,365.
SUMMARY
The data contained in the 2022 Point-in-Time Count (PIT) is an essential tool to understanding the scope, trends, and causes of homelessness in our community and throughout the region. The data is the result of a coordinated regional effort that includes every jurisdiction in Alameda County. This report summarizes the findings of the 2022 Point-in-Time Count and Survey of homeless persons in Alameda County and Hayward that was conducted and led by EveryOne Home in January 2022 (Attachment II and Attachment III, respectively).
Council has long identified homelessness and housing affordability as key issues in the community and has supported local efforts to address these issues in conjunction with the larger regional efforts. In the past several years, the City has taken several aggressive local measures to address this growing humanitarian crisis. This report contains updates on these initiatives, including the year one report out on Let’s House Hayward! Homelessness reduction strategic plan, the two- and half-year progress report on the Hayward Housing Navigation Center and Hotel Annex, and the City’s ongoing partnership with Alameda County.
BACKGROUND
Every two years, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires communities to conduct a Point-in-Time (PIT) Count of individuals, youth, and families experiencing homelessness and provide accompanying data. The PIT count provides a “snapshot” of homelessness (both sheltered and unsheltered) in the community and nationally. Locally, the data helps to inform program, policy, funding, and system design decisions; measure progress in decreasing homelessness; increase public awareness; and advocate for additional resources in the effort to end homelessness nationwide.
On Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022, Alameda County held the 2022 Homeless Point in Time (PIT) Count, the first count since 2019. The 2021 PIT count was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data is collected through four primary components:
General street count: an observation-based enumeration of unsheltered individuals between the hours of approximately 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.; Youth count: a targeted enumeration of unsheltered youth under the age of 25 between the hours of approximately 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Sheltered count: an enumeration of individuals residing in emergency shelter, safe haven, and transitional housing facilities on the night before the street count; and Survey: an in-person survey of a randomized sample of unsheltered and sheltered individuals conducted by trained peer surveyors and program staff in the weeks following the general street count.
County-wide data was released on June 17, 2022 through a publicly available online dashboard: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/asr1451/viz/TableauAlamedaCounty-HDXandSurveyData/ExecSum?publish=yes.
DISCUSSION
Homelessness is an extraordinarily difficult and persistent regional issue. The scope and intractability of the homelessness issue are such that no individual jurisdiction can hope to address - much less end it - alone with the limited resources at hand. A coordinated county-wide effort to address homelessness is paramount. 2022 Point-in-Time Count and Survey – Key Findings
Key county-wide findings from the survey data include:
Total count: 9,474 homeless persons were counted county-wide in 2022. This represents a 22% increase since the previous 2019 count, which recorded 8,308 homeless persons county-wide.
Unsheltered homelessness: 73% of homeless persons are unsheltered – meaning that they dwell in tents, parks, vehicles, vacant buildings, underpasses, and other locations not intended nor fit for human habitation. This is a decrease from 79% in 2019.
Prior residency: 82% of survey respondents were living in Alameda County when they most recently became homelessness. 68% of survey respondents have resided in Alameda County for 10 or more years.
Race and ethnicity: Alameda County continues to see disproportionately higher rates of homelessness among Black/African American compared to the total population.
The majority (43%) of all survey respondents are Black/African American, followed by white (39%).
Whereas 43% of all surveyed homeless individuals in Alameda County are Black or African American, compared to just 10% of their total County population, 39% of all survey homeless individuals in Alameda County are white, compared to 34% of their total County population.
Prevention: Among survey respondents, the top three primary causes of homelessness were 1) dispute/argument with family/friend/roommate; 2) eviction/foreclosure; and 3) job loss. When asked what may have prevented their homelessness, 49% of respondents cited rental assistance, 37% cited employment assistance, 27% cited mental health assistance, and 26% cited benefits/income.
The executive summary of the Alameda County 2022 PIT count and survey data are provided in Attachment II.
Key Hayward findings from the survey data include:
Total Count: According to the 2022 PIT count, from 2019 and 2022, there was a 22% decrease in homelessness in Hayward, with 487 total homeless in 2019 to 381 total homeless in 2022.
Unsheltered homelessness: 70% of homeless persons are unsheltered – meaning that they dwell in tents, parks, vehicles, vacant buildings, underpasses, and other locations not intended nor fit for human habitation. This is decrease from 76% in 2019.
Prior residency: 89% of Hayward survey respondents were living in Alameda County when they most recently became homelessness. 75% of Hayward survey respondents (n=86) have resided in Alameda County for 10 or more years. 64% of Hayward survey respondents (n=83) consider Hayward their home.
Race and ethnicity: Hayward continues to see disproportionately higher rates of homelessness among Black/African American individuals compared to the total population. 29% of all surveyed homeless individuals in Hayward are Black or African American, compared to just 11% of their total County population.
A majority of all Hayward survey individuals are white (62%) followed by Black/African American (29%).
Prevention: Among Hayward survey respondents, the top three primary causes of homelessness were 1) dispute/argument with family/friend/roommate; 2) job loss; and 3) eviction/foreclosure. When asked what may have prevented their homelessness, 52% of respondents cited rental assistance, 25% cited mental health assistance, 21% cited employment assistance, 21% cited benefits/income, and 21% cited family counseling.
The executive summary of the Hayward 2022 PIT count and survey data are provided in Attachment III.
Local Efforts to Address Homelessness
Council has long identified homelessness and housing affordability as key issues in the community and has supported local efforts to address these issues in conjunction with the larger regional efforts. Outlined below are updates on several of the City’s key homelessness prevention and response initiatives, including the Let’s House Hayward! Strategic Plan, the Hayward Housing Navigation Center and Hotel Annex, and the City’s ongoing partnership with Alameda County.
Let’s House Hayward! Update
In July 2021, Council approved the City’s Let’s House Hayward! Plan (LHH Plan), a local homelessness reduction strategic plan. The plan uses a racial equity lens, aligns with existing regional plans, centers individuals with lived experience, leverages Hayward’s strengths and previous efforts, addresses Hayward’s unique needs, and establishes a pipeline of projects and programs that are community-driven to set the City up to quickly respond to upcoming funding and partnership opportunities. The LHH Plan contains three over-arching goals:
Formalize a Coordinated and Compassionate Citywide Response to Homelessness and Develop Wider Community Understanding and Engagement Increase Availability of and Reduce Barriers to Homeless Crisis Response Services Ensure Access to and Retention of Affordable Permanent Housing At the same time as adopting the LHH Plan, Council also approved the City’s Federal Stimulus Expenditure Plan, which outlines how the City will spend approximately $38 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. As detailed in Attachment IV, several LHH activities were funded through the City’s ARPA allocation.
Attachment VI also provides a detailed update on the implementation status of each LHH activity. Key implementation highlights include:
Enhanced interdepartmental collaboration efforts across City departments, including improved referral infrastructure allowing Maintenance Services, Hayward Fire, and Hayward Police Departments the ability to refer individuals to the HNC and Annex Ongoing collaboration and partnership with the County, including participation in bi-weekly meetings, the Home Together planning committee, Alameda County Mayors Technical Working Group, and homeless outreach coordination meetings Allocated funding to transition the winter warming shelter into a year-round facility with day-time hours Issued a RFI and selected two projects for submission for State Homekey grant funding Began operation of Hayward Evaluation and Response Team (HEART) program, an innovative new program serving community members experiencing mental illness, substance abuse, and homelessness and linking them to mobile services while reducing the need for police intervention Concluded City-funded COVID-19 emergency rental assistance program, providing grants of up to $2,500 to 670 households Identified ARPA funding for a Shallow Rental Subsidy program to provide partial rent payments to households at risk of homelessness, reducing their household rent burden and increasing their available income Of the 43 activities in the LHH plan, three are behind schedule for implementation due to staff capacity and funding limitations. Another three are ahead of schedule and one has been completed.
South Hayward Parish Winter Warming Shelter Update
Annually, the City allocates $25,000 in General Fund monies to First Presbyterian Church of Hayward for Winter Warming Shelter services. On July 13th, 2021, the City approved its federal stimulus expenditure plan and allocated $2 million in funding to expand winter warming shelter at South Hayward Parish into a year-round facility with day-time hours. As discussed above, expanding Winter Warming Shelter to a nightly shelter was identified as an activity within the LHH plan.
The expanded shelter opened in October 2021 and will be open on a nightly basis through winter of 2023. The shelter is open from 7pm until 7am and provides dinner and breakfast to guests. First Presbyterian receives funding from the County to provide flexible funding in the form of direct client support to assist clients in moving towards permanent housing. Since opening in October 2021, 229 individuals have received nightly shelter services.
The City received and appropriated its stimulus funding in two tranches. As such, the City executed an agreement with First Presbyterian Church of Hayward for $1,644,314 of the $2 million allocated stimulus funding to cover FY21-22 expenditures. There remains $355,686 in ARPA funding to extend the Winter Warming Shelter at South Hayward Parish.
Staff recommends that Council authorize the City Manager to amend the professional services Agreement with First Presbyterian Church of Hayward to increase the Winter Warming Shelter contract amount by $405,686 for a not-to-exceed amount of $2,050,000 through FY 2023 (Attachment V). A complete breakdown of the contract funding can be found in Table 1.
Table 1: FY21-23 Winter Warming Shelter Services Contract Funding Original Agreement
Amount
FY 2022 General Fund Allocation
$25,000
FY 2022 ARPA Year 1 Allocation
$1,619,314
Subtotal
$1,644,314
Recommended Amendment
FY 2023 General Fund Allocation
$25,000
FY 2023 ARPA Year 2 Allocation
$380,686
Subtotal
$405,686
Revised Total
$2,050,000
Staff are working with South Hayward Parish and Alameda County to identify funding to continue the shelter as a nightly service once the City’s ARPA allocation is expended in full.
Hayward Navigation Center and Hayward Navigation Center Hotel Annex Update On January 22, 2019, the City Council approved emergency actions to implement a Hayward Housing Navigation Center. The Hayward Navigation Center (HNC) opened less than a year later in November 2019. Four months after opening, in March 2020, Alameda County and the State of California issued mandatory stay-at-home orders and recommended social distancing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In accordance with County public health guidelines, the Navigation Center capacity was dramatically reduced from 45 beds to 22 beds to accommodate social distancing requirements.
In response to capacity restrictions at the HNC and to provide isolation shelter to those with increased vulnerabilities, Council authorized opening a non-congregate Navigation Center out of a local hotel for a six-month pilot period. Approved in December 2020, the Hayward Navigation Center Hotel Annex (Annex) opened in February 2021. Using a portion of the City’s federal ARPA funding, the Annex was extended to operate through January 2023.
In addition to opening the Annex, in June 2021, the City purchased a third residential dormitory unit to safely increase the capacity at the HNC. As of April 2022, Alameda County has lifted its social distancing requirements in congregate settings. As such, the current capacity at the HNC is 15 beds per residential dormitory for a total capacity of 45 beds. Pending current surges and trends in COVID-19 transmission, by July 1, 2022, the HNC will have a total capacity of 20 beds per residential dormitory for a total capacity of 60 beds.
Despite the many unknowns and challenges in the nascency of these programs, collectively the HNC and the Annex have served and exited a total of 306 individuals experiencing homelessness. Of these 306 exits, the majority (n=207 or 68%) have been exited to permanent housing. Additional demographic and exit data can be found in Attachment VI.
Hayward Navigation Center FY 2023 Agreement for Services BACS has been operating the Hayward Navigation Center since November 2019 and was selected through a competitive process. Staff recommends that Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with BACS for FY 2023 Hayward Navigation Center operations for an amount not-to-exceed $2.465 million (Attachment VII). As authorized by Council through the City’s annual FY 2023 budget, Council has allocated $1,127,260 in General Fund monies for the FY 2023 Hayward Navigation Center operations. Staff have identified Hayward Navigation Center contract savings due to decompression at the Navigation Center and recommend allocating a portion of these contract savings to the FY2023 Hayward Navigation Center agreement.
Outlined below in Table 2 are the sources of funding for BACS’ FY 2023 agreement.
Table 2: FY22-23 Hayward Navigation Center Contract Funding Source
Amount
FY2023 General Fund Allocation
$1,127,260
Permanent Local Housing Allocation
$1,303,470
Contract Savings (General Funds)
$34,874
Total
$2,465,604
Additionally, the City anticipates receiving Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Round 3 (HHAP-3) made available through the County of Alameda. Once HHAP-3 is made available to the City, staff will return to Council to authorize and appropriate the funds accordingly.
Hayward Navigation Center Hotel Annex FY 2023 Agreement for Services On July 13, 2021, Council authorized allocation of up to $3 million to extend the Annex program. Using this funding, the City allocated $1,466,450 to Vagabond Inn DBA Paar Hospitality for hotel services from August 23, 2021 through January 31, 2023. Additionally, under this authorization, the City allocated $1,209,380 to BACS for FY 2022 Annex operations. Under this authorization, there remains $324,170 in ARPA funding to extend the Hayward Navigation Center Hotel Annex program. Staff have identified Hayward Navigation Center contract savings due to decompression at the Navigation Center and recommends allocating a portion of these contract savings to the FY2023 Annex agreement.
Staff recommends that Council authorize the City Manager to amend the professional services agreement with BACS to increase the Annex operations contract by $628,975 for a not-to-exceed amount of $1,838,365 and extend services through January 31, 2023 (Attachment VII). A complete breakdown of the contract funding can be found in Table 3.
Table 3: FY21-23 Annex Contract Funding
Original Agreement
Amount
ARPA
$1,209,380
Subtotal
$1,209,380
Recommended Amendment
Available and Allocated ARPA Funds
$324,170
Contract Savings (General Funds)
$304,815
Subtotal
$628,985
Recommended Amendment
Revised Total
$1,838,365
ECONOMIC IMPACT
There is a positive economic impact from reducing homelessness and poverty and moving individuals into permanent housing as part of the Hayward Navigation Center operations.
FISCAL IMPACT
This item has no associated fiscal impact. All funds associated with the referenced agreements have been previously appropriated.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority of Preserve, Protect, and Produce Housing, under Project H1: Sustain the Navigation Center to House and Support People Experiencing Homelessness Project H2: Implement the Homelessness Reduction Strategic Plan
PUBLIC CONTACT
This item is related to the Let’s House Hayward (LHH) Strategic Plan, under Strategy 2.1, to Expand Housing-Focused Shelter Capacity through continued oversight and management of the Hayward Navigation Center. Through the LHH process, Homebase, City staff, and partners throughout the Hayward community have worked together to engage a diverse set of stakeholders to inform the plan and strategy for Hayward moving forward.
NEXT STEPS
Prepared by: Jessica Lobedan, Management Analyst II
Amy Cole-Bloom, Management Analyst II
Approved by: Monica Davis, Community Services Manager
Dustin Claussen, Acting Assistant City Manager
Recommended by:
____________________________________
Kelly McAdoo, City Manager
July 13th, 2021, City Council Meeting Agenda and Materials (LHH Plan): https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5028014&GUID=E5369F11-C504-413E-B317-E2797DF45328&Options=&Search= July 13, 2021, City Council Meeting Agenda and Materials (Federal Expenditure Plan): https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5028015&GUID=E0215022-6A47-486F-81C4-9BFB2583AE10&Options=&Search= January 22nd, 2019 City Council Meeting Agenda and Materials, https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3838800&GUID=89EC3945-8050-428A-881C-6180A91CBA9A&Options=&Search= December 8th, 2020 City Council Meeting Agenda and Materials, https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4711813&GUID=0A99378E-4B2D-4ED2-A971-1C744D5D3E4D&Options=&Search= July 13th, 2021 City Council Meeting Agenda and Materials, https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5028017&GUID=2E0ED151-4A35-4637-A60D-2C0205B396F7&Options=&Search= July 13, 2021 Meeting of the Hayward City Council: https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5028015&GUID=E0215022-6A47-486F-81C4-9BFB2583AE10&Options=&Search= For more information on the Let’s House Hayward! Strategic Plan process, please visit https://www.haywardca.gov/lets-house-hayward