Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Holly Joshi
City Administrator Chief of Violence Prevention
SUBJECT: Emergency Shelter Grant DATE: August 12, 2024
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Amend An Existing Grant Agreement With Ruby’s Place For Violence Prevention And Intervention Services For The Period Of October 1, 2023, To June 30, 2025, To Add One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000) That Was Originally Awarded To Covenant House California For October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, For A Total Grant Amount Not To Exceed Five Hundred Eighty- Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($587,500), With The Ability To Extend The Agreement For An Additional Three Months In An Amount Not To Exceed One Hundred Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($112,500) Contingent On Available Funds.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proposed resolution authorizes the City Administrator to add $150,000 to an existing grant between the Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) and Ruby’s Place to fund housing services for commercially sexually exploited youth under 18 from October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. This funding was originally awarded through Resolution 89899 C.M.S. to Covenant House California, but Covenant House California has notified the DVP that it will no longer serve youth under 18 effective July 1, 2024, and will transfer operation of its youth housing facility to Ruby’s Place effective October 1, 2024.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
FY23-25 Grant Agreements. In September 2023, the City Council approved Resolution 89899 C.M.S. and authorized grants to 23 community-based organizations (CBOs) to deliver violence prevention and intervention services from October 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025, with the ability to extend grants through September 30, 2025, if Oakland’s Safety and Services Act, also known as Measure Z, is reauthorized during the November 2024 election. Grantees were selected through request for qualifications (RFQ) #267700,4, which was released in December 2021 and received applications from 70 agencies. Resolution 89899 C.M.S. included funding for three agencies to provide emergency shelter services for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), with each agency serving specific populations (Table 1). Of the three agencies funded, Covenant House California was the only agency funded to provide shelter services for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation who are under 18 years old.
Jestin Johnson (Aug 29, 2024 17:06 PDT)
Aug 29, 2024
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Emergency Shelter Grant
Date: August 12, 2024 Page 2
Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
Table 1. Emergency shelter services funded through Resolution 89899 C.M.S. by agency.
Agency Funds awarded
for 10/1/23 to
6/30/25
Type of emergency
shelter service provided
Population served
Covenant House
California
$700,000 Emergency shelter
facility
Survivors of commercial
sexual exploitation ages
13 to 24
Family Violence Law
Center
$350,000 Hotel vouchers
Funding for rent
payments, relocation,
and transportation
Survivors of commercial
sexual exploitation or
intimate partner
violence ages 18 and
over
Sister to Sister $350,000 Hotel placement Survivors of intimate partner violence ages
21-55
Resolution 89899 C.M.S. also awarded $437,000 to Ruby’s Place to deliver bedside advocacy and accompaniment services to GBV survivors from October 1, 2023, through June 30, 2025, with the ability to extend the agreement for three months through September 30, 2025, at an additional cost of $62,500 if Measure Z is reauthorized.
Notification of Service Changes. In May 2024, Covenant House California notified the DVP that it had elected to cease operation of its housing facility for youth under 18 effective June 30, 2024, and lease its youth shelter facility to Ruby’s Place to continue operations starting October 1, 2024.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The proposed resolution authorizes the City Administrator to add $150,000 to an existing grant between the DVP and Ruby’s Place to fund emergency housing services for commercially sexually exploited youth under 18 from October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, with the ability to extend services for three months through September 30, 2025, at an additional cost of $50,000 if Measure Z is reauthorized. Covenant House California’s current grant includes $300,000 for services delivered from October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, but they have agreed to reduce their grant funding for this period by $150,000 so funding can be reallocated to Ruby’s Place for youth shelter services. Covenant House will continue to provide emergency shelter services for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation ages 18-24 years old with the remaining $150,000 that they will receive from October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025.
Emergency housing services for youth survivors of commercial sexual exploitation are urgently needed in Oakland, and the DVP desires to continue funding this critical service from October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, despite Covenant House California’s inability to provide the service.
Failure to reallocate funds to Ruby’s Place to continue operation of a youth shelter facility would create a critical void in services for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation, as Covenant House California was previously the only provider of shelter services for youth under 18 in Oakland. Although Ruby’s Place did not apply to RFQ #267700,4 for emergency shelter Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Emergency Shelter Grant
Date: August 12, 2024 Page 3
Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
services, Ruby’s Place is the entity that has been selected by Covenant House to assume operations of their youth shelter, and Ruby’s Place already operates various shelters in Alameda County serving youth impacted by commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking through other funding sources. Additionally, Ruby’s Place was funded through RFQ #267700,4 to deliver bedside advocacy and accompaniment services to survivors of GBV and thus already has direct access to survivors of commercial sexual exploitation who are in crisis and may need housing support.
Citywide priorities. The proposed funding reallocations for FY23-25 community grants support the citywide priority of holistic community safety by ensuring that Oakland residents under 18 who are impacted by commercial sexual exploitation have access to emergency shelter services that provide immediate safety from ongoing violence and access to stabilization services.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this resolution will authorize the City Administrator to relocate $150,000 that was approved through Resolution 89899 C.M.S.
from Covenant House California to Ruby’s Place
due to Covenant House California’s inability to deliver the required services for the duration of the grant period. The required $150,000 is available in the Measure Z – Violence Prevention and Public Safety Act Fund (2252), Oakland Unite Organization (70211), Measure Z Program (PS37), and Measure Z, Project (1007246). The proposed change in recipient agency will not involve allocating funds beyond what was already approved through Resolution 89899 C.M.S.
If a new ballot measure is authorized by voters in November 2024 and additional funds are appropriated to the DVP for grant agreements in the 2025-2027 Biennial Budget, the proposed resolution authorizes the City Administrator to award an additional $50,000 to Ruby’s Place to continue emergency shelter services for youth under 18 through September 30, 2025.
As in previous years, staff recommends that any unexpended balances due to grantees not meeting their deliverables be placed in the Measure Z – Violence Prevention and Public Safety Act Fund (2252), Oakland Unite Organization (70211), Measure Z Program (PS37), and Measure Z Service Prior Year Reserve Project (1004313).
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
DVP staff conducted an extensive public input and planning process to develop the DVP’s 2022- 24 Strategic Spending Plan, which directly informed the RFQ solicitation for violence prevention and intervention services funded from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2025. The DVP hosted four virtual community town halls from mid-February to mid-April 2021 to solicit input from Oakland residents impacted by violence, stakeholders, and community-based providers. These town halls averaged 92 attendees per event. In addition, DVP conducted 11 focus groups and 41 interviews with stakeholders, including family members who have lost loved ones to violence, DVP service providers and participants (by service strategy), local and national public health and violence prevention experts, members of the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, and representatives from public partner agencies such as the Alameda County Probation Department and OUSD.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Emergency Shelter Grant
Date: August 12, 2024 Page 4
Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
DVP staff have heard directly from numerous community-based organizations and other stakeholders about the critical need to fund emergency shelter services for youth survivors of commercial sexual exploitation from October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025.
COORDINATION
The City Attorney’s Office, Budget Bureau, and City Administrator’s Office were consulted during the preparation of this agenda report and resolution.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION, AND FOLLOW-UP
Performance Monitoring. During contract negotiations, the DVP establishes metrics for pre- identified deliverables that grantees are expected to meet during the grant award period (number of participants served, number of groups held, etc.). At least monthly, grantees must enter data on services rendered into the DVP’s data management system. DVP program officers and planners review these data on a regular basis and work with grantee staff to identify strategies for improving performance metrics, when needed.
From October 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, Covenant House California served 39 individuals through their emergency shelter services and delivered 656 hours of case management support. From October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, Ruby’s Place will be expected to serve at least 40 individuals and deliver at least 600 hours of case management support.
Impact Evaluation. Measure Z requires the regular evaluation of funded services by an external evaluator. In 2022, the City Administrator’s Office selected Urban Institute to evaluate DVP services funded by Measure Z from July 1, 2022, to December 31, 2024. The first Urban Institute evaluation report will be available in August 2024, and the final report will be produced by September 2025.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: There are no economic opportunities associated with this report.
Environmental: There are no environmental benefits associated with this report.
Race and Equity: All DVP-funded services are intended for Oakland’s most vulnerable residents who are impacted by group violence, intimate partner violence, or commercial sexual exploitation.
Of those served by DVP-funded services in 2023, 62% identified as African American, 24% identified as Latino, and 4% identified as multiracial. Continuing to fully fund emergency shelter services for youth survivors of commercial sexual exploitation will reduce trauma and violence impacting these priority populations.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Emergency Shelter Grant
Date: August 12, 2024 Page 5
Public Safety Committee
September 10, 2024
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Amend An Existing Grant Agreement With Ruby’s Place For Violence Prevention And Intervention Services For The Period Of October 1, 2023, To June 30, 2025, To Add One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000) That Was Originally Awarded To Covenant House California For October 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, For A Total Grant Amount Not To Exceed Five Hundred Eighty-Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($587,500), With The Ability To Extend The Agreement For An Additional Three Months In An Amount Not To Exceed One Hundred Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($112,500) Contingent On Available Funds.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Holly Joshi, Chief of Violence Prevention, at 510-920-6272.
Respectfully submitted,
Holly Joshi (Aug 20, 2024 11:32 PDT)
Holly Joshi
Chief of Violence Prevention
Department of Violence Prevention
Reviewed by: Mailee Wang
Deputy Chief of Administration
Department of Violence Prevention
Prepared by: Sara Serin-Christ
Program Planner, Gender-Based Violence
Department of Violence Prevention