September 12, 2023
Community Development
DATE: September 12, 2023
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Lina Velasco, Director of Community Development
Jesus M. Morales, Housing Manager
Subject:
Encampment Resolution Funding Round 2 Award
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The City was awarded a $8,602,587 grant to provide services to connect at least 115 unhoused city residents with urgently needed services and pathways to housing.
The City will be required to expend 50 percent of its
allocation by June 30, 2024 and expend 100 percent of
grant funds by June 30, 2026. A project specific account string will be created for this grant once the funds are appropriated by the City Council.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The City of Richmond was awarded an Encampment
Resolution Funding Round 2 award to connect at least
115 unhoused city residents with urgently needed
services and pathways to housing to resolve
encampments along Interstates 80 and 580 and the
Richmond Greenway. City Staff is seeking City Council
authorization to accept and appropriate the $8,602,587 in grant funds.
AGENDA
REPORT
September 12, 2023
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ACCEPT and APPROPRIATE a $8,602,587
Encampment Resolution Funding Round 2 award from
the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency’s
(BCSH) California Interagency Council on Homelessness
(Cal ICH) to connect at least 115 unhoused city residents with urgently needed services and pathways to housing
to resolve encampments in the City, including those
located along Interstates 80 and 580 – Community
Development Department (Lina Velasco 510-620-
6841/Jesus Morales 510-620-6649).
DISCUSSION:
In February 2023, the Community Development Department submitted an Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) Round 2 application seeking resources from the State of California to fund a second local demonstration project to connect at least 115 unhoused city residents, living in encampments, along Interstates 80 and 580 and the Richmond Greenway, with urgently needed services and pathways to housing.
Richmond is one of six cities that received a second ERF award (ERF-R-2). The use of the City’s first ERF award was focused at resolving the Castro Vehicle Encampment and restoring the site to its original Bay Trail use. City staff is seeking City Council authorization to accept and appropriate the $8,602,587 ERF-R-2 award (Attachment 2).
Summary of Richmond’s ERF Round 2 Project
Richmond’s plan is designed to help an especially vulnerable and transient population— people living in tents, lean-tos, and on the ground along the city’s major transit corridors, including Interstates 80 and 580. Staff from Richmond’s Housing Division worked with Caltrans to identify eight critical locations beneath overpasses and in the land patches formed by curving freeway entrances and exits where people return again and again.
The City will focus its efforts to support people now living in these dangerous locations to stabilize their lives and move into safe housing. The target encampments are along Central Avenue, Marina Bay Pkwy., Cutting Blvd., Macdonald Ave., San Pablo Dam Rd., and Castro Street, where people living in vehicles are already receiving support services through a previous grant.
The project is designed to achieve real change for individuals experiencing homelessness in Richmond, not to just “clear sites.” It was selected for funding by the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) because of its commitment to provide people in encampments with holistic, compassionate case management to address long-term health and housing needs. A nine-person Rapid Rehousing Team with expertise in street outreach, clinical care, housing navigation, social services, and employment will go to the sites, meet the people living in them, learn about their needs, and work to connect the residents to life-changing resources. Encampment residents
September 12, 2023
will develop plans to move from the streets onto durable paths to stability, with support over three years.
Alignment with Homelessness Strategic Plan
The proposed project will assist in implementing certain short-term action steps identified in the City’s recently adopted Homelessness Strategic Plan. Specifically, the following short-term action steps will be implemented through this project:
1.4 Expand case management and other care-related individualized services directly in encampments to build connections for unsheltered individuals to have access to an expanded array of opportunities and resources for personal development, wellness and health, financial means to secure and sustain housing, and ongoing supports for long- term stabilization; and,
3.1 Establish a flexible fund for financial assistance for diversion and housing focused problem solving, including time-limited or one-off expenses.
This project will provide resources to hire a project specific Coordinated Outreach and Referral Engagement (CORE) Team to connect unhoused residents to the Continuum of Care services. The ERF-R-2 award will also help fund other services such as case managers and housing navigators to connect unhoused residents to stable housing.
The grant award also includes flex funds that could be used to provide unhoused program participants to obtain assistance in getting document-ready (e.g., obtaining copies of birth certificates, identification cards, social security cards, etc.) for housing, completing vehicle repairs, food support, and rental assistance.
CONCLUSION:
The ERF-R-2 funds are needed to help address the myriad needs of people living in various encampments, along Interstates 80 and 580 and the City. Acceptance and appropriation of this award will assist the City in connecting at least 115 unhoused city residents, living in encampments, with urgently needed services and pathways to housing.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – Award Letter