July 2, 2024
Community Development
DATE: July 2, 2024
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Lina Velasco, Director of Community Development
Jesus Morales, Housing Manager
Subject:
Sole-Source Contract with Contra Costa County to
Provide Project Management & Services Support for
Encampment Resolution Funding 2 (ERF-2R)
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The contract amendment would be funded via the City’s ERF-2R grant received from Cal ICH.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
July 11, 2023
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
On May 15, 2024, the City was notified by Way2Love,
Inc. that they would be terminating their Encampment
Resolution Funding 2 (ERF-2R) contract with the City to refocus their work around their mission, vision, and
CORE values, and that all their services, including those provided by subcontractors, would cease on July 31,
2024. City staff have been researching alternative
service delivery models and have asked Contra Costa
Health Services to partner with the City by providing
project management and interim housing solutions
support for ERF-2R. The City is looking for new ways to partner with the County and sees this as an opportunity to learn from their vast experience to build City and
service provider capacity to do this work in a more
sustainable and efficient manner.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
AUTHORIZE the city manager or designee to negotiate
and execute a sole-source contract with Contra Costa
County Health, Housing & Homeless to provide Project
Management, Care Management, and Interim Housing
Solutions for the Encampment Resolution Funding
AGENDA
REPORT
July 2, 2024
Round 2 project for an amount not to exceed $1,238,102, for a term beginning July 15, 2024, through July 15,
2025; and DIRECT staff to return in September to report to the Council and community regarding the contract
scope and project activities – Community Development
Department (Lina Velasco/Jesus Morales 510-620-6649).
DISCUSSION:
On May 15, 2024, the City was notified by Way2Love, Inc. that they would be terminating their Encampment Resolution Funding 2 (ERF-2R) contract with the City to refocus their work around their mission, vision, and CORE values, and that all their services, including those provided by subcontractors, would cease on July 31, 2024.
City staff has been researching alternative service delivery models and has requested Contra Costa Health Services to provide support to the City by helping do project management, care management services, and provide interim housing solutions support for ERF-2R for a 12-month term. The City is looking for new ways to partner with the County and sees this as an opportunity to learn from their vast experience to build City capacity to do this work in a more sustainable and efficient manner.
This partnership will provide the City an opportunity to 1) leverage County staff expertise and experience in project management related to homelessness services; 2) leverage County resources by having County staff embedded in project activities; 3) potentially serve as a model for City and County partnership in tackling homelessness problem by blending funds to reduce the per person costs and fill serve gaps; and 4) enhance data tracking and reporting.
Staff is requesting the City Council authorize the City Manager and Director of Community Development to negotiate and execute a sole source contract with Contra Costa County to be able to continue to provide unhoused residents in the ERF-2R project with services. The parameters for the contract will be to align with state funding requirements, a 12-month service term, and contract amount would not exceed $1,238,102.
Current discussions with County staff are centered around providing the following services under this contract:
One ERF-2 project manager;
An additional 2-person CORE team to support ERF-2 clients at navigation facility;
5 dedicated beds at Brookside Shelter for ERF-2 clients – ERF-2 clients would be provided with case management and housing navigation services provided by the County at no additional cost; and,
15 Pallet units co-located @ Brookside Shelter to expand interim housing solutions that will serve couples and provide extra storage capacity for clients.
July 2, 2024
Below is a preliminary budget breakdown of anticipated costs:
In short, staff is seeking Council authorization to be able to partner with the County to learn from their vast experience in creating sustainable housing solutions for the unhoused. The City’s funding will be leveraged by an additional $1,009,952 in County resources.
City staff, along with its service providers, have done its best to administer these programs in thoughtful and effective ways; however, the city continues to be challenged by the available housing options for clients and the limited resources available. This partnership will leverage resources each organization has in hopes that the outcomes will be greater and more sustainable for the unhoused residents served.
City and County staff would propose to present in September when the City Council is back in session on the contract scope and project activities to garner approval to move forward with the bigger pieces of the plan developed by staff.
Staff is also proposing an additional contract amendment with RCF Connects to provide hotel rooms, case management support, and rental assistance payments.
POLICY SYNERGIES
On May 23, 2023, the City Council adopted the Homelessness Strategic Plan to provide short-term and long-term steps to address homelessness. Within these Goals, the following immediate action step was recommended:
Funding source(s)
Funding Amount
Salaries FTE Salaries FTE
ERF CORE Team - 12 months 286,131 2.38 652,854 5.13 Contract Administrator - 1.0 FTE 12
moths 162,391 1.00
Admin Staff 83,466 0.40
Pallet Project 500,000 -
Brookside Shelter Beds 177,025 -
Subtotal 1,125,547 736,320
Subtotal Direct Expenses 1,125,547 736,320
Admin Indirect Expense 10% 112,555 10% 73,632
200,000
1,238,102 1,009,952
Housing Security Fund (HSF)
TOTAL PROGRAM EXPENSES
1,238,102 1,009,952
Richmond County Leveragaged
funding
July 2, 2024
Priority Action Step 6 - Strengthen collaboration between the City, County and community-based organizations to improve data collection, implement this Strategic Plan, provide services in the city, and apply for funding opportunities.
The dedicated City staff person would determine frequency and format of interagency collaboration, which could include systems level partner meetings, a local data workgroup, or direct service coordination. (Action Step 5.2).
The proposal to partner with the County and other project service providers working on ERF-2 are aligned with the Priority Action Step above and would strengthen our collective efforts and build the City’s and service providers capacity to do this work.
CONCLUSION
Both City and County staff are excited at the opportunity to partner in new ways to reduce homelessness in the City and County as a whole. We have made great progress in this work over the last two years and believe through new and innovative collaborations, we’ll have an even greater impact.