City of Riverside Homeless Plan 0
CITY OF RIVERSIDE
FIVE-YEAR PLAN TO REDUCE
HOMELESSNESS
DRAFT
ATTACHMENT 1
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Table of Contents
I.PURSUIT OF A CITY PLAN TO REDUCE HOMELESSNESS ................................ ........................... 1 II. STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ................................ .................. 3 III.HOMELESS HOUSING AND PREVENTION PROGRAM FUNDING—ROUND 3 ........................... 4 IV.CITY OF RIVERSIDE HHAP-3 DRAFT APPLICATION ................................ ................................ . 5 A. Table 1: Landscape Analysis of Needs and Demographics ............................................................................ 5 B. Table 2: Landscape Analysis of People Being Served ................................................................................... 5 C. Table 3: Landscape Analysis of State, Federal and Local Funding ................................................................. 5 D. Table 4: Outcome Goals ............................................................................................................................... 5 E. Table 5: Strategies to Achieve Outcome Goals............................................................................................. 7 F: Table 6: Funding Plans ................................................................................................................................. 8 G: Table 7: Demonstrated Need for Non-congregate shelter/Interim Housing ................................................. 8 H: Narrative Responses .................................................................................................................................... 9 V. HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM-ARP…………………………………………………………….16 VII. FIVE-YEAR PLAN TO REDUCE HOMELESSNESS ACTION STEPS……………………………………………….17 DRAFT
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City of Riverside Five-Year Plan
to Reduce Homelessness
I. PURSUIT OF A CITY PLAN TO REDUCE HOMELESSNESS
The City of Riverside’s Office of Homeless Solutions in collaboration with the Housing and Homelessness Committee are working toward a Five-Year Plan to Reduce Homelessness (Five-Year Plan) in the City. The City is building from the Envision Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan, the Housing & Homelessness Committee’s FY 2021/22 goals, and the City’s Housing First Policy. The plan will center around a set of pillars that work to prevent homelessness, increase housing production and affordability, increase shelter beds and health services, build a regional infrastructure with other jurisdictions and organizations, expand public awareness about homelessness and housing, and identify funding opportunities.
Pillars included in the draft planning process include:
Pillar 1: Prevent Homelessness
• Exploring options for permanent affordability and wealth-building. • Analyzing landlord incentives and rental assistance programs. • Exploring workforce development resources.
• Understand post-release procedure from jails and hospitals.
Pillar 2: Increase housing production with a focus on affordability • Receiving updates on the Housing Element.
• Inclusionary Housing feasibility study.
• Reviewing effectiveness of Riverside’s current housing voucher system. • Reviewing effectiveness of Riverside’s Housing First plan. • Exploring different types of housing to help reach Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) goals.
Pillar 3: Increase availability and effectiveness of shelter beds • Analyzing existing beds/reviewing AB 2553 Shelter Crisis Plan. • Performing future shelter site analysis.
• Completing a Riverside-specific point-in-time count.
• Analyzing specific needs of the hardest to reach populations, such as youth, seniors, LGBTQ folks, veterans, and those struggling with mental illness and addiction.
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• Mapping encampments throughout the city and in the Santa Ana River bottom.
Pillar 4: Build a coordinated regional coordinated infrastructure • Receiving presentations from surrounding cities to understand current landscape/gaps.
• Analyzing effectiveness of the Continuum of Care.
• Hearing directly from County Supervisors and the County Housing, Homelessness Prevention and Workforce Service about plans/needs/gaps.
Pillar 5: Increase the availability of services, with a focus on physical and mental health and substance use treatment
• Analyzing services & partnership with Riverside University Health Systems—Behavioral Health.
• Analyzing hours of greatest need (ex: overnight, early morning) and corresponding resources.
• Analyzing gaps and opportunities by reviewing:
o Public Safety and Engagement Team/Parks and Neighborhoods Safety Specialist/Street Nurse Program.
o Office of Homelessness Solutions outcomes and data.
o Existing community organizations/programs (Love Your Neighbor Collaborative, Salvation Army First Impressions, Path of Life Ministries, etc.) o Riverside Police Department and Riverside Fire Department response to homelessness.
o The Be Well OC model
Pillar 6: Expand public awareness and education about Homelessness and Housing • Sharing updates and stories to highlight needs, gaps, and successes
Pillar 7: Funding Opportunities
• Identify permanent funding streams for affordable housing and homeless programs
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II. STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION AND PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION
In order to ensure the 5-Year Plan reflects the needs of Riverside’s residents, the City held three hybrid community meetings (simultaneously in-person and on Zoom) to inform the community about the 5-Year Plan, obtain feedback on the proposed pillars and the activities within the pillars and prioritize activities for HHAP3 and HOME Investment Partnerships Program-ARP funding. These community meetings featured both Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation. The City also hosted three Homeless Task Force meetings via Zoom and invited leaders and front-line staff who work with the homeless population and extremely low to low-income residents to provide input on how to craft a feasible and useful 5-Year Plan.
The three major themes of the community meetings and the task force meetings were: (1) the need to prioritize vulnerable groups experiencing homelessness; (2) supporting creative housing and low barrier shelter options; and (3) getting all hands-on deck to help with the homelessness crisis.
The task force members and community were asked to prioritize the seven pillars. The following is the outcome of the prioritization activity.
*Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
24%
28%
12%
0%
25%
8%
1 – Prevent
homelessness
2 – Increase
housing
production with a
focus on
affordability
3 – Increase
availability and
effectiveness of
shelter beds
4 – Build a
coordinated
regional
infrastructure
5 – Increase the
availability of
services, with a
focus on physical
and mental health
and substance
treatment
6 – Expand public
awareness and
education about
homelessness and
housing
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
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III. HOMELESS HOUSING AND PREVENTION PROGRAM
FUNDING—ROUND 3
The State of California’s Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) released the availability of the third round of Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program (HHAP) funds. The third round of HHAP funds is a 1-billion-dollar block grant authorized by AB 140 which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on July 19, 2021. HHAP Round 3 is designed to build on regional coordination developed through previous rounds of funding including the Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP), HHAP rounds 1 and 2 and COVID-19 funding. Round 3 funds should be used to continue to build regional coordination and a unified regional response to reduce and end homelessness informed by a best-practices framework focused on moving individuals and families experiencing homelessness into permanent housing and supporting efforts to help those households maintain their permanent housing. The State expects applicants to:
• Strategically pair these funds with other local, state, and federal funds to reduce and end homelessness.
• Demonstrate a commitment to address racial disproportionality in homeless populations and achieve equitable provision of services and outcomes for Black, Native, and Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islanders and other People of Color who are disproportionately impacted by homelessness.
• Establish a mechanism for people with lived experience of homelessness to have meaningful and purposeful opportunities to inform and shape all levels of planning and implementation, including through opportunities to hire people with lived experience.
• Fund projects that provide housing and services that are Housing First compliant and delivered in a low barrier, trauma informed, and culturally responsive manner.
The City of Riverside is eligible to apply for $8,433,288.22 in HHAP-3 funds.
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IV. CITY OF RIVERSIDE HHAP-3 DRAFT APPLICATION
The HHAP-3 Application includes eight tables to be completed with regional partners including the County of Riverside and the Continuum of Care as overlapping jurisdictions.
A. Table 1: Landscape Analysis of Needs and Demographics The Landscape Analysis of Needs and Demographics requires applicants to provide data on the number of people experiencing homelessness including demographic breakdowns and sub-population data. Data to support the completion of these tables includes the 2020 Point in Time Count data for the unsheltered population in the City of Riverside. Draft tables will be updated with 2022 data once the data is officially released in mid-May. Data on the sheltered populations is from the shelter programs within the city of Riverside. Unlike the Point-in-Time data, this data reflects the population served in calendar year 2021.
B. Table 2: Landscape Analysis of People Being Served
The Landscape Analysis of People Being Served within the City will be completed in partnership with the County of Riverside and the Continuum of Care. City specific data on programs and services is difficult to obtain from the Homeless Management Information System since persons are served within regional programs.
C. Table 3: Landscape Analysis of State, Federal and Local Funding
The Landscape Analysis of State, Federal and Local funding includes all funding allocated to the city to provide outreach and engagement, non-congregate shelter/interim housing, diversion and homelessness prevention, rental assistance, permanent supportive and service- enriched housing programs, systems support activities and administrative activities.
D. Table 4: Draft Outcome Goals
The HHAP-3 program requires applicants to develop outcome goals with regional partners.
Regions that achieve outcome goals will be eligible for bonus funding from the State. City staff have collaborated with County and CoC partners to evaluate the baseline data received by the State to establish draft outcome goals for community input. The outcome goals listed below are in draft form. Applicants will also be required to establish equity focused goals for serving underserved or disproportionately impacted populations for each Outcome Goal.
Equity goals will not be evaluated in relation to the bonus funding.
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Outcome Goal #1a: Reducing the number of persons experiencing homelessness.
Baseline Data:
Annual estimate of number of
people accessing services who
are experiencing homelessness
Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Decrease/Increase in # of
People
Decrease/Increase as %
Change from Baseline
8385 10,481 25% increase
Outcome Goal #1b: Reducing the number of persons experiencing homelessness on a daily basis
Baseline Data:
Daily Estimate of # of people
experiencing unsheltered
homelessness
Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Reduction in # of
People
Reduction as % Change from
Baseline
2155 1939 10%
Outcome Goal #2: Reducing the number of persons who become homeless for the first time.
Baseline Data:
Annual Estimate of # of people
who become homeless for the
first time
Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Reduction in # of
People
Reduction as % Change from
Baseline
4714 4,478 5%
Outcome Goal #3: Increasing the number of people exiting homelessness into permanent housing.
Baseline Data:
Annual Estimate of # of people
exiting homelessness into
permanent housing
Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Increase in # of
People
Increase as % Change from
Baseline
2358 2830 20%
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Outcome Goal #4: Reducing the length of time persons remain homeless.
Baseline Data:
Average length of time (in # of days)
persons enrolled in street outreach,
emergency shelter, transitional
housing, safe haven projects and time
prior to move-in for persons enrolled in
rapid rehousing and permanent
housing programs"
Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Decrease in
Average # of Days
Decrease as % Change
from Baseline
109 108 -1%
Outcome Goal #5: Reducing the number of persons who return to homelessness after exiting homelessness to permanent housing.
Baseline Data:
% of people who return to
homelessness after having exited
homelessness to permanent housing
Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Decrease in % of
People who return
to Homelessness
Decrease as % Change
from Baseline
8% 5% -3%
Outcome Goal #6: Increasing successful placements from street outreach.
Baseline Data:
Annual # of people served in street
outreach projects who exit to
emergency shelter, safe haven,
transitional housing, or permanent
housing destinations.
Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Increase in # of
People Successfully
Placed from Street
Outreach
Increase as % of Baseline
353 10%
E. Table 5: Strategies to Achieve Outcome Goals
Table 5 includes the strategies each HHAP-3 applicant will deploy to achieve regional outcome goals. Strategies leveraged may impact multiple outcome goals. It is important to approach strategic investments of HHAP and other funding considering how those investments will assist the City in achieving outcome goals. Strategies presently identified including the following:
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• Enhanced Outreach and Engagement Services
• Expanding Interim Housing/Emergency Shelter availability • Enhancing Interim Housing/Emergency Shelter to have all programs be “housing-focused”
• Development of Permanent Supportive Housing
• Diversion and Homelessness Prevention programs
F: Table 6: Funding Plans
Funding plans will be developed for strategic HHAP-3 investments in collaboration with regional partners and with input from City leaders and stakeholders including persons with lived experience of homelessness.
G: Table 7: Demonstrated Need for Non-congregate
shelter/Interim Housing
Applicants that choose to invest HHAP-3 in non-congregate shelter/interim housing are required to demonstrate need for expanded capacity in the table below.
Demonstrated Need
# Of available shelter beds 237
# Of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the homeless point-in-time count
587
Shelter vacancy rate (%) in the summer months 10%
Shelter vacancy rate (%) in the winter months 12%
% Of exits from emergency shelters to permanent housing solutions 15% Describe plan to connect residents to permanent housing.
Emergency shelter staff will intentionally link people to permanent housing resources without assessing housing “readiness,” so that they can move through the system quickly. Throughout an emergency shelter stay, staff will emphasize and maintain focus on assisting shelter guests to identify and connect to permanent housing. This focus includes: prominently displaying information about how to access housing; linking people rapidly to local coordinated entry processes that can further assess their strengths, needs, and preferences; ensuring easy and rapid access to housing navigation services; and providing assistance with collecting documentation necessary for determining program eligibility.
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H: Narrative Responses
The following questions are included in the HHAP-3 application. Draft answers are included below each question.
1) A demonstration of how the jurisdiction has coordinated, and will continue to coordinate, with other jurisdictions, including the specific role of each applicant in relation to other applicants in the region.
The City of Riverside actively partners with the County of Riverside and the Continuum of Care by participating in planning and coordination calls focused on the strategic planning and strategic investments of HHAP and other funding within Riverside County. The three jurisdictions hold monthly check-in calls focused on continuity of care in funded programs and services. The check-in calls also serve to ensure that jurisdictions are strategically investing resources and not duplicating services. The three jurisdictions continue to meet to identify system gaps and needs within the regional service system and plan to close those gaps to support reducing homelessness throughout the region. The jurisdictions recognize that there are different gaps and needs within each subregion of the county and have committed to communicating when funding plans shift or change to meet those needs.
2) A demonstration of the applicant’s partnership with, or plans to use funding to increase partnership with:
• Local health care and managed care plans
• Public health systems
• Behavioral Health
• Social Services
• Justice entities
• People with lived experience of homelessness
• Other (workforce, services for older adults and people with disabilities, child welfare, education system)
The City of Riverside values and understands that collaboration across systems is essential to meeting the needs of people experiencing homelessness within the City and throughout the region. The City actively participates in the Riverside County Continuum of Care and collaborates with partner agencies including county social service agencies to improve outcomes for people experiencing homelessness. These efforts include providing meaningful opportunities for people with lived experience of homelessness to provide input on program design, policy development, funding decisions, and program evaluation.
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The Riverside County Continuum of Care has designated a seat on the Board of Governance for a transitional-aged-youth with lived experience of homelessness.
The Board of Governance is responsible for producing policies that impact services throughout the region and within the City. The City also integrates people with lived experiences of homelessness into city-sponsored programs including the Homeless Service Campus and other residential programs.
The City of Riverside Homeless Program was established to connect persons experiencing homelessness with social services and housing. The City has taken a pro-active approach to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness through partnerships with a wide-range of non-profit organizations, social services agencies, and faith-based institutions. The Homeless Service Campus on Hulen Place includes an Access Center, Emergency Shelter, Bridge Housing and Permanent Supportive Housing. Within this campus the City has integrated a person with lived experience into the team to provide input on programs and services. The Hulen Campus provides a range of services including twenty-eight recuperative care beds through partnerships with healthcare partner agencies.
Patient-centered medical care is integrated into the menu of services at the Hulen campus including behavioral health services.
The City of Riverside recognizes that supporting income growth and employment opportunities of people experiencing homelessness can facilitate positive outcomes for persons and promote housing stability. The Riverside at Work (RAW) Program integrates employment services within the Hulen Campus. The program objective is to provide housing, supportive services, and on-the-job training to unemployed and residents experiencing homelessness within the City of Riverside. Six program participants are supported during an 18-month program cycle. The City partners with Goodwill of Southern California to provide pre- employment training to assist program participants with enhancing soft skills to obtain and maintain employment.
The County and City partnered to create the Homeless Outreach Mediation and Education Program, which is an alternative sentencing program developed for those who are facing criminal prosecution for low-level crimes and are suffering from homelessness. The program promotes community-based treatment to assist homeless individuals with underlying issues and the transition to a stable environment of health, family and employment. The program operates to promote a therapeutic approach to sentencing in lieu of incarceration and additional fines and fees. Agency partners include the Riverside County Superior Court, Office of the District Attorney, Sheriff’s Department, Probation Department, Riverside University Health System – Behavioral Health, Office of the Public Defender, Criminal Defense Lawyers, Criminal Defense Lawyers, Desert Conflict Panel, City of Riverside City Attorney, Riverside Police Department, and Attorneys working on behalf of the Law Office of Virginia M. Blumenthal.
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INSERT INFORMATION ON THE HOME COURT PROGRAM
The City through partnerships with the County and non-profit partners leverages resources to support the health, behavioral health and social service needs of people experiencing homelessness.
3) A description of the specific actions the applicant will take to ensure racial and gender equity in service delivery, housing placements and housing retention and changes to procurement or other means of affirming racial and ethnic groups that are overrepresented among residents experiencing homelessness have equitable access to housing and services.
The City of Riverside has engaged with the local chapter Inland Empire NAACP to integrate racial equity into gaps assessment and analysis. The City collaborates with the Center for Social Justice and Civil Liberties Union in conducting a needs assessment on opportunities to better serve communities of color within the homeless response system. The City is an active participant in the regional work to assess and address racial and gender disparities within the Riverside Continuum of Care.
Riverside County has hired a Racial and Ethnic Disparities Coordinator to evaluate the CoC programs for any racial and gender equity disparities.
The City follows state and federal procurement processes and has incorporated the following actions into the local process to select qualified providers that meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness including persons in groups that are overrepresented and underserved.
• The City procures new subcontracts through a transparent and equitable process and emphasizes the importance of racial and gender equity. • The City encourages new partners and providers to apply for funding by marketing funding opportunities and conducting outreach to organizations that serve communities of color, LGBTQ populations, youth, and other underserved populations.
• The City incorporates people experiencing homelessness including youth and adult individuals into the selection process and funding decisions by integrating them into the reviewing and scoring of proposals received. • The City incorporates scoring criteria for applicants to include in their proposals their plans for integrating culturally responsive approaches to ensure racial and gender equity.
4) A description of how the applicant will make progress in preventing exits to homelessness from institutional settings, including plans to leverage funding from mainstream systems for evidence-based housing and housing-based solutions to homelessness.
Note: such mainstream systems could include:
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• Physical and behavioral health care systems and managed care plan organizations
• Public health system
• Criminal legal system and system for supporting re-entry from incarceration
• Child welfare system
• Affordable housing funders and providers
• Income support programs
• Education system
• Workforce and employment systems
• Other social services and human service systems
The City in partnership with the County and CoC is striving to reduce exits to homelessness from institutional settings.
The City is partnering with a faith-based organization who will capture individuals being released from the local jail, Robert Presley Detention Center. The faith-based organization has lived experienced mentors and a background working with justice-involved and previously justice-involved individuals in reentry. The intent is to intercept individuals as they are being released to provide support in navigating available resources and connecting them to shelter and housing placement.
The Office of Homeless Solutions has met with Kaiser Permanente, Riverside Community Hospital, and Hospital Association of Southern California to understand their discharge protocol for individuals experiencing homelessness. We will continue to have conversations around how to best partner to provide in reach services for those being released back into the City in need of supportive services. Outreach teams will conduct intake with those interested in housing to complete required documentation.
Riverside University Health Systems - Behavioral Health (RUHS-BH) works in partnership with the City to ensure critical documentation is collected from individuals experiencing homelessness. When a person is identified as eligible for behavioral health services, the outreach team associated with RUHS-BH will complete a VI-SPDAT and collect other critical information to ensure the individual is on track to access housing. The City will encounter a person experiencing homelessness and begin the intake process with a referral to the Crisis Team. When this occurs, there is a warm hand-off to our RUHS-BH partner to take over support services.
The Office of Homeless Solutions has also met with the Alvord and Riverside Unified School Districts and representatives from the County and Path of Life Ministries family shelter program to provide resources available to students and families experiencing homelessness. Once we are contacted by the school or student/family, we will work to enter them in the Coordinated Entry System for services.
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5) Specific and quantifiable improvements that the applicant will take to improve the delivery of housing and services to people experiencing homelessness or at- risk of homelessness, including but not limited to, the following:
a. Capacity building and workforce development for service providers within the jurisdiction, including removing barriers to contracting with culturally specific service providers and building the capacity of providers to administer culturally specific services.
b. Strengthening the data qualify of the recipient’s Homeless Management Information System.
c. Increasing capacity for pooling and aligning housing and services funding from existing, mainstream, and new funding.
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V. HOME Investment Partnerships Program-ARP
The City of Riverside has been allocated $4,335,583 of HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program - American Recovery Plan Act (HOME-ARP) funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). To receive the HOME-ARP allocation, the City must develop a HOME-ARP Allocation Plan that will become part of the City’s FY 2021 HUD Annual Action Plan by substantial amendment.
HOME-ARP funds can be used for four eligible activities:
• Production or preservation of affordable housing
• Tenant-Based Rental Assistance
• Supportive Services, including services defined at 24 CFR 578.53(e), Homeless Prevention Services, and Housing Counseling
• Purchase and Development of Non-Congregate Shelter. These structures can remain in use as non-congregate shelter or can be converted to: 1) emergency shelter under the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program; 2) permanent housing under the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program; or 3) affordable housing under the HOME Program.
HOME-ARP funds must be used to primarily benefit individuals or families from the following qualifying populations:
• Homeless, as defined in section 103(a) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302(a));
• At-risk of homelessness, as defined in section 401(1) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360(1));
• Fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary;
• In other populations where providing supportive services or assistance under section 212(a) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 12742(a)) would prevent the family’s homelessness or would serve those with the greatest risk of housing instability; • Veterans and families that include a veteran family member that meet one of the preceding criteria.
To ensure broad input into the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan from stakeholders and the public, the City is conducting the following: engaging in consultation with stakeholders and the public, including in person and virtual consultation sessions, the homeless task force, a 15-day public comment period, and a public hearing.
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VI. 5-Year Plan to Reduce Homelessness Action Items
The City of Riverside is committed to expanding its current operations available to the homeless and those at -risk while partnering with new and existing agencies and resources to solidify a unique community system of dignified supportive housing, prevention programs and supportive services.
Priority #1, Pillar 2: Increase Housing Production with a Focus on Affordability, Supports Outcome Goal #3 and 6
Objective: Develop permanent housing “pipeline” that will provide a clear equitable path to permanent housing recognizing that everyone is unique
Strategy: Increase housing production with a focus on affordability • Create affordable housing for extremely low income to middle income households for subpopulations such as seniors, individuals with developmental disabilities, families, youth, veterans, LGBTQ, etc.
• Conduct an inventory of underutilized commercial properties that could be converted into affordable housing
• Create housing options for middle income households
• Assist seniors with aging in place by participating in a shared housing program or the Riverside County In-Home Supportive Services Program IHSS program
• Continue to develop affordable housing units on Housing Authority properties
• Continue operating a rental assistance program coupled with case management to tailor individualized case plans (implementation of Critical Time Intervention an evidence-based practice that produces positive outcomes when implemented with fidelity)
• Explore different housing types to assist in addressing the RHNA goals
Objective: Opportunities to increase affordable housing resources
Strategy: Address the shortage of resources for the development of affordable housing
• Conduct a feasibility study on Inclusionary Housing
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• Analyze Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFDs) • Partner with developers to pursue the State’s Housing & Community Development Department Multifamily Finance Super NOFA, Project Homekey, and any other federal and state available resources
• Obtain the State’s Prohousing Designation
• Share the County’s Project Based Section 8 Vouchers and No Place Like Home Notice of Funding Availability with affordable housing developers
Target date: Five years from the Plan’s adoption date.
Priority #2, Pillar 5 – Increase the Availability of Services, with a Focus on Physical and Mental Health Substance Use Disorder Treatment
Objective: Increase the Availability of Services, with a Focus on Physical and Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment
Strategy: Evaluate current systems and identify gaps and opportunities
• Analyze services and partnership with Riverside University Health Systems – Behavioral Health (RUHS-BH) and Public Health • Analyzing hours of greatest need (ex: overnight, early morning) and corresponding resources
• Analyzing gaps and opportunities by reviewing: (1) Public Safety and Engagement Team/Parks and Neighborhoods Safety
Specialist/Street Nurse Program, (2) Office of Homelessness Solutions outcomes and data, (3) existing community
organizations/programs (Love Your Neighbor Collaborative (LYNC), Salvation Army First Impressions, Path of Life Ministries, etc.), (4) Riverside Police Department and Riverside Fire Department response to homelessness and (5) Be Well OC
• Expand the LYNC to provide social worker interns in the City’s libraries and community center
• Work with the RUHS – BH to provide mental health related training to organizations serving the homeless population
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• Pursue a clinical therapist internship program that would operate in the same manner as the LYNC
Strategy: Advocacy
• Support Senate Bill 1338 – CARES Court
• Advocate for mental health and substance abuse treatment programs and facilities through the Riverside County region
Target Date: Two years from the Plan’s adoption date.
Priority #3, Pillar 1 – Prevent Homelessness
Objective: Enhance existing homeless prevention services
Strategy: Ways to prevent homelessness
• Focus on preventative care and development principals (vs. relief) both pre- and post-homelessness
• Ensure that resources for threatened (at-risk) families are accessible and known
• Invest in the prevention of homelessness by coordinating and streamlining efforts to address the causes of households losing their housing
• Increase the communication and collaboration between agencies serving people experiencing homelessness and those entities and agencies that can most effectively provide for the prevention of homelessness
• Explore workforce development resources
• Outreach services to connect homeless individuals released from jail to shelter and transitional housing and other resources • Explore a shared housing program
• Continue to operate the Reunification Program to reunite homeless individuals with their family or friends willing to provide the necessary support in achieving housing stability and self-sufficiency
Objective: Identify employment opportunities that would assist households in becoming self-sufficient
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Strategy: Connect homeless individuals with employment opportunities • Advertise links to employment resources on the City’s website • Assist businesses to capitalize on incentives for hiring the “hard to employ” through Riverside County Workforce Development
• Collaborate with Goodwill Industries and Riverside County Workforce Development to host job fairs within the City of Riverside • Continue to refer emergency shelter, rental assistance and permanent supportive housing program participants to employment assistance programs and report outcomes
• Link individuals with a lived experience mentor to offer support in navigating the workforce
Strategy: Advocacy
• Support Assembly Bill No. 2383 to “Ban-the-Box” eliminating the unlawful practice of discrimination against individuals with justice-involved backgrounds
• Support Assembly Bill No. 1816 to support homeless individuals with justice-involved backgrounds to access workforce development interventions and obtain stable housing
Target Date: Three years from the Plan’s adoption date.
Priority #4, Pillar 3 – Increase Availability and Effectiveness of Emergency Shelter Beds
Objective: Increase number of low barrier shelter beds and evaluate effectiveness of current shelter bed programs
Strategy: Identify shelter bed needs
• Analyze emergency shelter bed needs
• Release Request for Proposals for an alternative emergency housing product for a non-congregate shelter to be established on a City-owned DRAFT
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vacant lot to expand the diversity of shelter types to provide wrap-around services specific to unique needs
• Evaluate the cost of acquiring a vacant commercial building to be converted into an emergency shelter program
• Provide adequate storage for program participant’s belongings • Analyze the effectiveness of existing emergency shelter programs • Programming to address individuals who are justice-involved or previously justice-involved and/or working through addiction
Target Date: Two years from the Plan’s adoption date.
Priority #5, Pillar 6 – Expand Public Awareness
Objective: Expand public awareness of housing and homeless programs and program outcomes
Strategy: Community awareness
• Create a new Marketing Campaign to increase awareness and share resources with the community through libraries, schools, hospitals, and other social services entities
• Finalize a “Who to Call” flyer for residents and businesses needing assistance with homeless related issues
• Create a reporting dashboard on housing and homeless programs, regulatory track data
• Develop education campaigns on how the data influences City decision- making
• Continue/increase participation in networking and collaborative meetings with service organizations, churches, businesses, police and other city/county officials
• Reduce the amount of PD calls for service regarding the homeless • Sharing updates and stories to highlight needs, gaps, and successes
Strategy: Alternatives to providing to panhandlers
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• Launch Marketing Campaign to include campaign against panhandling • Inform community about how to volunteer to assist homeless, donate in lieu of giving to panhandlers
• Work with local businesses to inform patrons of alternatives to panhandling
• Explore options of giving stations/centers to drop off contributions to the homeless
Target Date: Two years from the Plan’s adoption date.
Priority #6, Pillar 4 – Build a Coordinated Regional Infrastructure
Objective: Build a coordinated regional infrastructure to address shelter, housing, mental health and substance use disorder programming needs
Strategy: Identify programming needs by subregions through the Riverside County Continuum of Care
• Identify subregion areas
• Create a Homeless Programming Needs Committee made up of elected officials from each City and County Board of Supervisors • Analyze shelter bed needs and how to establish these programs in the subregions based on need
• Analyze housing needs and identify opportunities for the creation of transitional, permanent supportive housing and permanent housing • Analyze mental health and substance use disorder programs and how to establish these programs in the subregions based on need
Strategy: Identify programming needs by subregions
• Identify permanent funding opportunities to address subregion needs for affordable housing and homelessness programs
Target Date: Two years from the Plan’s adoption date.
DRAFT