City Council
July18, 2023
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: LaTonda Simmons
City Administrator Assistant City Administrator
SUBJECT: Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The
City Administrator To Amend And
Increase The Grant Agreement With
Operation Dignity To Provide
Homeless Intervention Services
DATE: July 11, 2023
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Amend The Professional Services Agreement With Operation Dignity To Increase The Amount Up To $750,000 For Fiscal Year 2022-2023 And To Extend the Term Through June 30, 2024 In An Amount Up to $750,000 For Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Using $1,500,000 In Measure Q Funds To Provide Homeless Intervention Services
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Adoption of the proposed resolution will authorize the City Administrator to use budgeted Measure Q funds to fully fund professional services contracts with Operation Dignity for the Fiscal Years ending June 30, 2023, and June 30, 2024. The amendment continues clinical and coordinated entry assessment, crises response, and coordinated intake for homeless in response to homelessness service requests.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Measure Q (Fund 2244)
In March of 2020, Oakland Parks and Recreation Preservation, Litter Reduction, and Homeless Support Act (Measure Q) was passed approving a parcel tax to support parks and recreation, water quality and homelessness services in Oakland. These funds were allocated during the budget process through Resolution No. 88717 C.M.S., passed on June 24, 2021.
On April 20, 2021, the City Council approved Resolution No. 88602 which authorized the City Administrator to amend several existing professional service agreements with Operation Dignity and other homeless intervention service providers to extend their contract terms through fiscal year (FY) 2021-22 and increase their contract awards using Measure Q Funds appropriated in the 2021-23 Biennial Budget. As a result of that action, Operation Dignity’s contract for homeless intervention services was increased by $750,000 for a total contract of $1,174,503 to expand its encampment response. Please see attachment B, Operation Dignity Scope of Work for a detailed description of contracted services Operation Dignity provides the City of Oakland.
Jestin Johnson (Jul 14, 2023 08:50 PDT)
7/14/2023
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Amend And Increase The Grant Agreement With Operation Dignity To Provide Homeless Intervention Services Date: July 11, 2023 Page 2
City Council
July 18, 2023
On June 7, 2022, the City Council approved Resolution No. 89247 awarding a Professional Services Agreements to Operation Dignity for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2023 using local Measure Q Funding in the amount not to exceed $425,000 which excluded full funding for encampment support services and continued to be supported. The report for that item may be accessed here:
https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5655816&GUID=1BEB36B2-A90C- 44BC-93AB-5379C8FACA97&Options=&Search=.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Adoption of this legislation is aligned with the policy priority adopted by Council under the Permanent Access to Housing (PATH) Framework which advances the priorities of housing and economic security and holistic community safety. Measure Q prioritizes ongoing, long-term strategies aligned with the PATH framework and funding obligations of continued funding versus one-time funding. Approval of this resolution advances the citywide priority of housing, economic, and cultural security.
Additionally, the recommended funding aligns with the California Interagency Council on Homelessness’ priorities such as “Capacity building and workforce development for service providers within the jurisdiction, including removing barriers to contracting with culturally specific service providers and building capacity of providers to administer culturally specific services. ”1
This funding recommendation supports the continuation of program support homelessness response in the Office of the City Administrator and the Human Services Department.
Across race and ethnicity, the 2022 “point in time” (PIT) count continues to show a disproportionate impact that reflects that 60 percent of the sheltered homeless population in Oakland identifies as Black or African American; however, the United States Census recorded this demographic at only 22 percent of the general population in Oakland2 which signifies a huge disparity as the Black population in Oakland comprises a disproportionate number of the homeless population in Oakland compared to their overall numbers in the city.
FISCAL IMPACT
This contract provides essential support to the City of Oakland of homeless response and outreach assessment work for the Encampment Management Policy, which focuses on the citywide goal of addressing the emergency needs of our unhoused residents and serves as one part of the City's overall response to prevent, stabilize and house our homeless residents.
The funds discussed in this report are appropriated in the funding codes shown below and will be allocated for homeless outreach services. They include funding from Measure Q that has
1 Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program -Round 3 -NOFA 2 U.S. Census Bureau quickfacts: Oakland City, California. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/oaklandcitycalifornia Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Amend And Increase The Grant Agreement With Operation Dignity To Provide Homeless Intervention Services Date: July 11, 2023 Page 3
City Council
July 18, 2023
been allocated as a part of the Midcycle FY 2022-23 Budget and the Adopted FY 2023-2025 Budget. These funds are broken down in the following table. Approval of this resolution would not impact to the City’s General Purpose Fund, Fund 1010.
Fund
Source
Org Fund Program Project FY22-23 FY23-24
Measure Q 02141 2244 NB41 1005349 $750,000 $750,000
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
No outreach was necessary for the proposed policy action.
COORDINATION
There has been coordination between the City Administrator’s Office’s Homelessness Division, Human Services Department, Office of the City Attorney, and Budget Bureau for preparation of this Staff Report.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
Operation Dignity has contracted with the City of Oakland for over two decades providing several services from mobile outreach to operating Drop-in Centers, Community Cabins, Housing Navigation Centers, Temporary Winter and Emergency Shelters, Warming sites, a Safe RV Parking site, Permanent Affordable Housing sites, and Transitional Housing sites.
The team works closely with the City’s Encampment Management Team (EMT) which includes the Public Works Department, the Oakland Police Department, the Human Services Department, The Department of Transportation, and led by the City Administrator’s Homelessness Administration Division to coordinate encampment operations. They are critical to EMT operations as one of the first to be deployed to encampments upon report.
Operation Dignity Outreach Teams have provided field outreach and harm reduction services to homeless persons living in encampments. Attachment A, Operation Dignity Scope of Work, outlines the work Operation Dignity performs in alignment with the EMT engaging the City’s unsheltered homeless populations providing client intake and field case management, crisis intervention, referrals to shelter, medical care and other wrap around services, and by connecting them to additional resources to help them end their unsheltered status with the goal of placement into temporary, emergency, and/or permanent housing.
More specifically, Operation Dignity:
• Educates, informs and problem solves with encampment residents around the 2020 Encampment Management Policy (EMP)
• Collects data in real-time on all clients served in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) or database system
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Amend And Increase The Grant Agreement With Operation Dignity To Provide Homeless Intervention Services Date: July 11, 2023 Page 4
City Council
July 18, 2023
• Provides the City with reports around site assessments for health and safety concerns, census and demographic data, postings, harm reduction activities and interventions, and progress with unhoused individuals
• Strategizes to implement the engagement of unsheltered residents by use of a progressive engagement model and supportive actions to increase the health and welfare of encampments and the surrounding areas and community
• Assists in helping the unsheltered homeless individuals to compliance in maintaining and/or increasing health and safety in current living environments whether it be a structure, tent, curbside encampment, vehicle or an RV and provides support to achieve corrective actions as identified by the EMT
• Provides critical clinical higher level social services of the following:
o Medically assisted substance abuse treatment and interventions o Diagnosis for benefit eligibility and advocacy
o Referral and warm handoff to appropriate treatment
o 51/50 assessment and reporting mandated hospitalizations
• Meets weekly with the City’s Homelessness Administration and Human Services staff to discuss outreach activities, including debriefing recent actions, case conferencing and problem-solving concerns, and to plan future outreach tactics
• Posts notices, communications and engage encampment residents ahead of encampment operations by clearly communicating the date and scope of the operation (i.e., debris removal, deep cleaning, or closure), and provides clear timelines, parameters, and expectations of residents for the operation (e.g., relocation to one side of the street, reducing footprint, etc.).
• Provides on-site support and alternative shelter and housing options to encampment residents before and through the day of scheduled operations
• Provides harm reduction outreach items as available, including but not limited to cleaning supplies such as bags and brooms and survival items such as, hygiene kits, organizing bins, blankets and ponchos
• Completes extensive site service assessment and site profiles to inform the appropriate interventions for residents and inform/coordinate with appropriate partner providers to support residents with relocation
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: All funds proposed in this report will provide outreach services to prevent, address and end homelessness. Outreach service providers help the City’s homeless population by providing stability and resources for homeless persons to gain access to employment opportunities.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Amend And Increase The Grant Agreement With Operation Dignity To Provide Homeless Intervention Services Date: July 11, 2023 Page 5
City Council
July 18, 2023
Environmental: The Homeless Mobile Outreach Program facilitates the cleanup and maintenance of homeless encampments, city streets and right of ways, and mitigates the adverse effects of environmental degradation caused by litter, debris, human waste and other harmful environmental impacts.
Access to outreach services that offer housing and shelter options and provide wrap around services for homeless persons addresses the environmental degradation caused by homeless individuals who increase the blight in neighborhoods, cause hazards such as fires, and obstruct access of roadways and leave behind clutter on city streets, parks and waterways. The services provided by Operation Dignity’s Outreach Teams provide for cleaner and safer city streets for all residents.
Race & Equity: 68% to 70% of Oakland's unhoused population is Black, while only 24% to 28% of the city’s population is Black. Racial injustice and inequality coupled with past and current institutional, structural and systemic practices and policies like redlining, inadequate controls of the rental housing market, sub-prime loans, and employment discrimination by banks and local, state and federal governments have created many of the root causes of homelessness. As a result, African Americans have become the most vulnerable residents in Oakland leading to their loss of housing and eventual displacement to the streets or out of the city.
To address the issue of Race and Equity, the City of Oakland should continue to support BIPOC led organizations like Operation Dignity by providing contracting opportunities to homeless service providers who can connect and build trust with the city’s most vulnerable homeless populations.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA)
This report is not for a project under CEQA.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Amend And Increase The Grant Agreement With Operation Dignity To Provide Homeless Intervention Services Date: July 11, 2023 Page 6
City Council
July 18, 2023
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends The Adoption Of The Attached Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Amend And Increase The Professional Services Agreement With Operation Dignity To Provide Homeless Intervention Services In The Amount Not To Exceed ($750,000) Using Local Measure Q Funding.
For questions regarding this report, please contact LATONDA SIMMONS, ASSISTANT CITY ADMINISTRATOR, at (510) 238-6903
Respectfully submitted,
LaTonda Simmons
Assistant City Administrator,
City Administrator’s Office
Prepared by: Chantal Reynolds
Program Analyst
Homelessness Administration
Attachments (2):
A. Operation Dignity Scope of Work
B. Grant Agreement Between the City of Oakland and Operation Dignity