July 11, 2023
Police Department
DATE: July 11, 2023
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Bisa French, Chief of Police
Michelle Milam, Crime Prevention Manager
Lina Velasco, Director of Community Development
Jesus Morales, Housing Manager
Subject:
Contra Costa County Health, Housing, and Human
Services Contract for Coordinated Outreach Referral and Engagement (CORE) Homeless Outreach Services
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Funding for the contract between the City and County for CORE will not exceed the following annual limits:
FY 2023-2024 – $456,519
FY 2024-2025 – $476,546
FY 2025-2026 – $497,574
Funding for the shared San Pablo/Richmond CORE team
will come from the approved Police Department’s budget
for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 in the amount of $161,837
(Account string 01193021-400201). This amount will
increase annually by 5%. The remaining contract
balance of $923,651 will come from the Round 2
Encampment Resolution Funding received from the
Interagency Council on Homelessness by the City to
assist in resolving encampments citywide. The account
string for this grant project has not been assigned yet.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
N/A
AGENDA
REPORT
July 11, 2023
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Approve a sole-source contract with Contra Costa
County (“County”) for Coordinated Outreach Referral and Engagement (CORE) services for Fiscal Years 2023-
2026.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
RATIFY and APPROVE a three-year sole-source
contract with Contra Costa County for Coordinated
Outreach Referral Engagement (CORE) services for the
period July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2026, for a total contract compensation amount not to exceed $1,430,639
– Police Department (Chief Bisa French 510-621-1802).
DISCUSSION:
Contra Costa County (“County”), through its Coordinated Outreach Referral and Engagement (CORE) service has been utilized to support existing efforts at homeless encampment sites. The CORE program provides direct access for unhoused individuals and facilitates access to the County’s various programs and other nonprofit systems of care. The CORE Homeless Outreach team provides onsite case management, coordinated entry and housing navigation, health care referrals, shelter placement, assessments, mental health, alcohol, and other drug treatment referrals and placements for the City’s unhoused population.
This proposed contract will add a full-time, Richmond only, CORE Homeless Outreach team to add to the services already provided by the City’s part time CORE Homeless Outreach team. In-depth social services delivery and behavioral health support will be facilitated by the addition of a professional Care Coordinator to the team.
During our efforts over the past several years, it has become evident that the high rate of chronically homeless individuals in the City of Richmond cannot be addressed without the additional case management support necessary to access housing and services. The proposed expansion of the CORE team will enhance the benefits of the additional behavioral health support and housing subsidies for the chronically homeless provided by the award of the recent Encampment Resolution Grant. The funding will be used to support the full-time team, in addition to the current split with the City of San Pablo.
The coordinated outreach and response team will use CORE as an entry point to the Contra Costa Continuum of Care. Their role is to locate, engage, stabilize, and house chronically homeless individuals. Richmond has the highest rate of homelessness in the county, and is in need of a larger team.
July 11, 2023
Prior contractual services for the Richmond/San Pablo CORE team were split between the City of Richmond and the City of San Pablo (60/40, respectively). However, as of June 2023, the City of Richmond was recently awarded a second round of State Encampment Resolution Funding to assist in providing housing, outreach, and mental health services to encampments city-wide. The total amount of the funding is $8,602,587. State funding will be allocated to fund a full-time Richmond CORE team that will provide outreach services including mental and behavioral health services. This award, once accepted by City Council, is anticipated to support the additional CORE full-time team. Proposed teams will be composed of the following:
RICHMOND & SAN PABLO TEAM
(2) 0.6 FTE Outreach Specialists (shared with the City Of San Pablo)
RICHMOND ONLY TEAM
(1) 1.0 FTE Outreach Specialist
(1) 1.0 FTE Care Coordinator
(1) 0.38 FTE Program Management and Data Analysis
During the January 2, 2022, through December 31, 2022, reporting period, CORE provided the following services:
1. POINT IN TIME COUNT DATA
Point In Time Count Data is meant to be a snapshot in time of the unhoused population.
Contra Costa County captures Point in Time Count Data annually and reports the statistics to the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) in alternate years. This is part of a national effort performed by local jurisdictions to develop information on the number of unhoused individuals. In 2023, the weeklong Point In Time Count (“PIT”) conducted by Contra Costa County revealed that between 2020 and 2023, the number of unhoused individuals in the City Richmond increased from 280 to 487.
2. HOMELESS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM DATA (HMIS)
HMIS data is collected daily from contacts that CORE makes in the field with unhoused individuals. In 2022, CORE documented a total of 3,198 contacts with unhoused individuals. Of that amount, 1,094 had not been previously counted. 681 or 62.25 percent reported losing their housing in the City of Richmond. 81.08 percent indicated the last city they slept in was Richmond. 53.84 percent indicated that they grew up in Richmond, and 34.55 percent indicated that they have friends and family here.
July 11, 2023
3. OTHER HOUSING LOSS LOCATIONS
23.76 percent reported losing housing in another city within Contra Costa, 13.9 percent reported losing their housing outside of Contra Costa County, and one client .09 percent refused to provide an answer. The remaining 62.25 percent lost their housing in Richmond.
4. PRIOR LIVING SITUATION
The highest percentage of clients (93.33 percent), responded that their prior living situation was a place not meant for habitation (e.g., vehicle, abandoned building, anywhere outside.)
5. HEALTH INDICATORS
70.20 percent indicated that they have a disabling condition. Those disabilities are (Chronic Health Condition, Developmental Condition, HIV/AIDS, Mental Health Problem, or physical disability.) The most common disability listed was a mental health disorder, followed by a physical health disorder.
6. RACE/GENDER/ETHNICITY/STATUS – Notable figures
32.99 percent were families, 69.74 percent were single 55.58 percent identified as male, 44.15 percent identified as female, and .18 percent identified as multi-gender
18.28 percent were domestic violence survivors
54.84 percent were African-American followed by 23.95 percent white 21.94 percent were Hispanic/Latin(a)(o)(x)
CORE serves as a nexus to the Contra Costa System of Care which includes county shelters, residential treatment facilities, rapid rehousing, independent living, COVID-19 testing and treatment, transportation, mental health and AOD services, identification services, shelter and housing placement, and health and basic needs.
CORE works in tandem with other services that the City has invested in within the City and provides additional support and connection for the unhoused. CORE also assists in emergencies such as severe weather and the pandemic.
The CORE team is available to City staff to provide services directly to the population and works closely with police, fire, planning, code enforcement, public works, the City Manager’s office, and others, to provide outreach services to individuals who are unhoused. They also collaborate with other unhoused city service contractors.
July 11, 2023
BENEFITS OF AN ADDITIONAL TEAM
Adding additional services would:
Allow the City to expand CORE hours
Provide clinical mental health and behavioral health services within the framework of the team. The City could perform in-depth analysis in partnership with the county of when services are needed and adjust hours accordingly. Equip the team to respond to inclement weather incidents by increasing the ability to deploy additional staff.
Increase the ability of CORE to shuttle clients to appointments. Assist with housing document readiness.
EQUITY MEASUREMENTS
The County has developed detailed Racial, Ethnic and Gender Equity measures to help determine outcomes for populations by race and gender. As part of this updated contract, the County will work with the City to create measurable outreach and service goals for populations highly impacted by homelessness using a race equity framework.
This is in alignment with the current strategic plan. This data will be shared with the City to inform policy decisions.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Three-year Contract Between the City and CORE Attachment 2 – Sole Source Agreement
Attachment 3 – CORE Budget
Attachment 4 – Equity Measures