Emergency Proclamation to Address Homelessness
City Council, January 10, 2023
2022 Point in Time Count at a Glance
2022 Point in Time: Sheltered and Unsheltered
21%
of unsheltered
people are living in a
vehicle
2022 Point in Time: Underlying Conditions Continued
Nearly 44%
said they became
homeless due to
unemployment or
financial resources,
an increase from
35% in 2020
Experiences of
Violence/Trauma
Race & Homelessness
26%
reduction in the number of people
experiencing homelessness in
Long Beach if the disproportional
experiences of homelessness
among Black, Indigenous, and
Pacific Islander communities were
eliminated
The Emergency Proclamation for Homelessness
Emergency Proclamation
• Recommendation to adopt resolution proclaiming the existence of a local emergency caused by conditions or threatened conditions of homelessness within the City of Long Beach, which if not corrected, constitutes an imminent and proximate threat to the safety of persons and property within the City.
• Allows for relief and streamlining of City procurement process, designating City employees as disaster workers, and streamlining hiring practices and project delivery.
• Decrease number of persons experiencing unsheltered homelessness • Increase housing placements
• Increase starts on new affordable housing options
• Increase temporary and permanent housing units (including utilization of Housing Choice Vouchers)
• Increase outside aid through access to mental health and substance use beds • Decrease disproportionality in which Black, Indigenous and Pacific Islander persons experience homelessness
• Decrease number of persons that die in unsheltered situations • Decrease number of persons falling into homelessness
• Increase regional partnerships to address the homeless crisis • Increase multi-departmental efforts to address violence on or perpetuated by people experiencing homelessness
• Increase speed of delivering critical projects addressing homelessness Metrics
Emergency Proclamation
Emergency Proclamation
Human Resources
Human Resources & Staffing
• Under California Government Code Section 3100-3109 all Public Employees, including City of Long Beach employees, are designated Disaster Service Workers and may be called upon to help serve during an emergency, including a local emergency.
• The emergency proclamation will allow greater flexibility to reassign staff resources to specific focus areas as needed.
• Goal will be to seek volunteers from work areas with specific expertise necessary to serve in the emergency response.
• Afford the City the ability to utilize contracts to supplement specific staffing needs.
Emergency Proclamation
Human Resources
Onboarding & Hiring
• The emergency proclamation will help expedite the recruitment and selection process for unclassified positions and shorten the normal hiring and onboarding timeframe.
• Collaborate with the Civil Service Department and Civil Service Commission to review and modify recruitment and selection processes for classified positions, as needed.
• Engage with the City’s labor partners, as needed, on any items subject to the meet and confer process.
Emergency Proclamation
Procurement
• Increase staff purchasing authorization during emergency • Purchasing Agent increased from $100,000 to $500,000
• City Manager increased from $200,000 to $1,000,000
• Increase City Council approval threshold from $200,000 (normally) to $1,000,000 during emergency • Notification to City Council of all purchases between $200,000 and $1,000,000 can occur after the fact
• Procurement processes will be streamlined to expedite homeless related purchasing and contracts, including for required construction activities associated with this proclamation Finance
• This is a local emergency, so there is no FEMA reimbursement opportunity • Staff will identify unspent previous appropriations that City Council could choose to redirect to this emergency
Emergency Proclamation
Examples of Opportunities
• As the City identifies locations for additional emergency shelters or Safe Parking sites, the Public Works Department will be able to construct the required site improvements and the Homeless Services Bureau would be able to move quickly to contract a provider to operate the location.
• Allows Homeless Services Bureau to quickly fill vacant positions to conduct outreach and provide mental health services as well as to manage additional funding sources. • Allows other City staff to support housing access by participating as a calling team to request landlords partner with the Housing Authority to accept housing vouchers. • Builds a cross-departmental team to establish strategies and outreach to surrounding jurisdictions to determine how they also work to reduce homelessness. • Allows for faster contracting, procurement of supplies, and construction to improve interim and permanent housing opportunities – including improvements to the Luxury Inn, construction of new shelters and tiny homes.
Emergency Ordinance
Streamlining City Process
• Provides flexibility for property-owners to install adequate fencing to secure vacant buildings and lots.
• Provides for expedited approval of shelters, safe parking, mental health care and other regulated land uses.
• Keeps tenants in place when unpermitted units are discovered, coordinates Code, Planning and Building activities to legalize units when safe and possible. • Accelerates processing of permanent supportive housing to provide longer-term solutions.
• Assures that homeless-related capital improvement projects are given priority in permitting and inspections.
Structure of the Emergency Response
Incident Command System
Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications
What is the Incident Command System (ICS)?
• The Incident Command System is a FEMA-approved standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response • The Incident Command System allows organizations and personnel from a variety of departments and agencies to work collaboratively to respond to the incident • Provides a framework to manage Federal, State, and Regional assets assigned to the incident over a widespread geographic area for a prolonged period of time • Provides logistical and administrative support to ensure that operational staff, such as Health, Police, Public Works, Fire etc., can meet the overall objectives Mission and Organizational Structure
EOC Command
Health &
Public Works
Intergovernmental
Work Group
Business, Faith-
Based,
Educational, and
Nonprofit
Work Group
Public Health &
Safety
Work Group
Communications
Work Group
Data and
Technology
Work Group
Housing and
Land Access
Work Group
Procurement
and Finance
Work Group
Human
Resources and
Staffing
Work Group
Logistics
Work Group
Public
Information
Officer
City Attorney
Equity Officer
City Manager Group
Mission Statement: To reduce the number of persons experiencing homelessness in the City and the region by increasing housing opportunities and by enhancing current initiatives that provide field-based outreach, engagement, and supportive services; while maintaining the safety and security of the people experiencing homelessness, the general public and staff.
Next Steps
• Emergency structure to begin tomorrow – will be a top priority and as such other projects and priorities may experience some delays as we rapid shift more resources to homelessness • Over the next week we will roll out a series of actions as outlined in the attached letter, as we build the emergency structure and increase urgency
• We will be increasing communications on each step taken to inform the community about actions taken
• We will return to the Council in 2 weeks to review the steps taken and the steps planned, to request financial resources, and to provide a chance for additional Council input and direction and answer questions that arise tonight.
Thank you
Thomas B. Modica, City Manager
Kelly Colopy, Director
Department of Health and Human
Services
Eric Lopez, Director
Department of Public Works