Emergency Proclamation to Address Homelessness
Update 4
City Council Meeting – March 7, 2023
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, and improving overall public safety for the entire community.
2 Homelessness Strategic Plan
Everyone Home Long Beach
In 2017, 100+ community stakeholders met to
produce a Statement of Possibility, which guides
and defines the success of the City’s strategies
and initiatives to achieve its mission to end
homelessness.
Everyone Home Long Beach Taskforce was
comprised of 31 leaders, including leadership
from major institutions, a diverse group of Long
Beach organizations, community members and
those with lived experience.
Taskforce met five times to define goals and
recommendations, which were presented to the
City Council in December 2018.
3 Statement of Possibility:
The experience of homelessness in Long Beach is
rare and brief when it occurs.
Homelessness Strategic Plan
1. Strengthen Governance and Increase Funding
2. Increase Housing Access
• Emergency Shelter
• Permanent Supportive Housing
• Low and Very Low-income Housing
3. Reduce Homelessness
• Prevention
• Immediate Intervention
• Chronic Homelessness
4. Employ People (Adult and Transition-Age Youth)
5. Support Families
6. Connect to Health
• Substance Use and Mental Health Services
• Physical Health and Hospital Discharge
7. Develop Population Based Service Models
• Older adults
• Transition-Aged Youth (TAY)
• LGTBQ+
• Reentry
4 Existing Efforts
5 Homelessness Emergency Response Efforts
66 • Attended community meeting to discuss
proposed second Winter Shelter at
Silverado Park
• After community input, determined to
explore alternative solutions to address
the homelessness crisis, and City staff has
committed to community engagement
prior to proceeding with any future plans
• Set up 60 overnight warming beds at MSC
to offer shelter during inclement weather
from 2/26 - 3/5, potential for extension if
cold night temperatures remain
Everyone Home Goal 2
Homelessness Emergency Response Efforts
77 • Announced new locations for the
Mobile Access Center (MAC) in North
and East Long Beach
• Launched applications for Visual
Improvement Program (VIP) Grant
• Finalized the first iteration of the
public facing dashboard
Everyone Home Goal 1
• Convened summit with legislative delegation office
staff and local partners, where we provided
updates on City’s homeless services, outreach, and
advocacy priorities
• Met with LA Voice on February 21 to discuss faith-
based collaboration opportunities
• Added Scherer Park Community Center to list of
locations accepting donations for people
experiencing homelessness during operating
hours
• Launched Community Partnerships Interest Form
in Spanish, Tagalog and Khmer to elicit support
from community partners in our efforts to address
homelessness across Long Beach
Partnership Efforts
88 Everyone Home Goal 1
• Hosted public forum with Mayor to
encourage housing providers to lease to
people assisted through Housing Voucher
and Emergency Housing Voucher programs
o Approximately 50 owner/property managers
attended
Partnership Efforts
99 Everyone Home Goal 2
• City leadership alongside the Mayor’s Office is working on opportunities to connect with partners to engage and support the City’s efforts to address sheltering needs. This includes a recent meeting on March 3rd at Century Villages at Cabrillo.
Through these efforts, the following critical commitments to the community include four key focus areas:
1. Going forward, the City will conduct community engagement prior to making decisions about program specifics that have potential impacts, even for temporary operations.
2. The City will not program at locations that are providing existing community services.
3. The City commits to leaving locations in a better state than how they were found, making a net enhancement to the community.
4. Programs and projects will be spread across Long Beach and not concentrated only in one area.
Partnership Efforts
1010
Everyone Home Goal 2
Education Efforts
1111
• Livestreamed updates with Mayor
Richardson and special guests
o Held sixth livestream update with Parks,
Recreation and Marine Director Brent Dennis
and Public Works Director Eric Lopez
o Held seventh livestream update with
Homeless Outreach team member Joel
Reynoza
• Launched Housing Authority Information
Line
• Received 994 calls, sent 740 emails since
February 10
Everyone Home Goal 1
• Met with neighboring Continuum of Care
(CoC) Cities – Glendale and Pasadena – to
brainstorm a plan that would make Measure
H funding more equitable for CoC cities
• Developed potential grants and funding
tracker available to entire team
• Submitted proposal for the second round of
the State Encampment Resolution Funding
Financial Support
1212
Everyone Home Goal 1
• Participated in meeting with the Gateway Cities Mayors and City Managers to discuss a coordinated response to address homelessness throughout region • Met with LA County Chair Hahn and CEO Davenport to discuss the City’s priorities for the homelessness emergency
• Metro moved to initiate a discussion with Long Beach and County homeless service providers to create a homeless service hub in the city along with the agency’s A Line route
Intergovernmental Efforts
1313
Everyone Home Goal 1
Response to Question from Previous Meeting
14 Question for Follow Up
• Can the homeless resources listed on the website be listed in the reference in the Go Long Beach app?
• A banner will be placed atop Go Long Beach with a link to the homelessness page. The verbiage is currently undergoing translation to all of the language access languages before the banner and link are published.
15 Focus Areas in Next Two Weeks
16 Forthcoming Actions
• Launch the text notification system to provide real-time information and connection to service locations such as the daily location on the Mobile Access Center (MAC)
• Complete design of extensive community outreach and engagement process for homeless services locations and launch engagement efforts • Plan a drive-thru donation drop-off event to support people experiencing homelessness
• Continue identifying partners who will offer after-hours bed availability, mental health support and shelter resources
• Continue to staff up the Homeless Services Bureau to address case management and public health nursing needs
17 Everyone Home Goals 2, 3, 6
Forthcoming Actions
• Host series of community round table sessions with every council district represented, to have conversations about how partners can collaborate within the emergency response efforts and support short-term and long- term solutions to addressing homelessness
• Plan Interfaith convening of faith organizations from across the City who are committed to supporting the efforts of not only the emergency response, but ongoing efforts after the emergency has been lifted • Continue researching all grants with homelessness connection that City has received in the last several fiscal years, to identify if those grants are available to pursue again
• Follow-up with LA County on request to support emergency 18 Everyone Home Goal 1
Forthcoming Actions
• Continue evaluating other properties citywide (both public and private) that could be temporarily used or acquired to further support the local emergency
• Work to identify potential emergency shelter locations as well as locations available for when the winter shelter program ends
• Perform outreach, announce location of next Safe Parking Program, and begin installation
• Complete RV Dump Station installation
• Continue evaluating potential Airport and Port of Long Beach properties that can support additional homeless services, including but not limited to a Safe Parking Site or Safe RV Parking Site
19 Everyone Home Goal 2
Forthcoming Actions
• Finalize reporting metrics to track, as well as those metrics for ending the emergency.
• Begin second iteration of dashboard to capture operational and outcomes metrics attached to the emergency.
20 Everyone Home Goal 2
Thank you
Kelly Colopy, Director
Department of Health and Human
Services
Eric Lopez, Director
Department of Public Works
21