City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: OCTOBER 11, 2022
FROM: OFFICE OF HOME LESS SOLUTIONS WARDS: ALL
SUBJECT: HOMELESSNESS ACTION PLAN
ISSUE:
Approval of the Homelessness Action Plan.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council approve the Homelessness Action Plan.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
On September 26, 2022, the Office of Home less Solutions presented the updated draft Homelessness Action Plan to the Housing and Homelessness Committee and incorporated recommendations into the final draft for council consideration. Two members of the Housing and Homelessness Committee, Chair Edwards, and Committee Member Cervantes, were present at the meeting each of whom vot ed to move the Five-Year Plan to Reduce Homelessness, HHAP- 3, and HOME-ARP to the City Council for review and approval.
BACKGROUND:
The City of Riverside’s Office of Homeless So lutions, in collaboration with the Housing and Homelessness Committee, have developed a Homelessness Action Plan to reduce homelessness in the City. The Ci ty is building from the Envisi on 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 goals that work to prevent homelessness, increase housing production and affordability, increase shelter beds and services , build a regional infrastructure with other jurisdictions and organizations, expand public awareness about homelessness and housing, and identify funding opportunities.
To ensure the Homelessness Action Plan reflects the needs of Riverside’s stakeholders, the City held three hybrid community engagement meetings (simultaneously in-person and on Zoom) to inform the community, obtain feedback on the proposed goals and the activities within the goals and prioritize activities leveraging HHAP-3, HOME-ARP, Measure Z, and other existing funding streams. These community meetings featured both Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation. The City hosted three Homeless Ta sk Force meetings virtually and one in-person Homelessness Action Plan ● Page 2
where leaders and front-line staff who work with the homeless popul ation and extremely low- to low-income residents had an opportunity to provide input on how to craft a feasible and useful Homelessness Action Plan. Additionally, our part ners were asked to administer an end-user survey to collect valuable feedback from those experiencing homelessness. People experiencing homelessness and those with lived experience were invited to participate in a discussion held in- person to provide their feedback of the Homelessness Action Plan.
The three major themes of these meetings incl uded: (1) the need to prio ritize vulnerable groups experiencing homelessness; (2) supporting creative housing with low-barrier shelter options; and (3) getting all hands-on deck to help with the hom elessness crisis. The meeting attendees also supported the following six goals to address homelessness:
1. Increase housing production wit h a focus on affordability;
2. Availability of services, with a focus on physical and mental health and substance use disorder treatment;
3. Prevent homelessness;
4. Increase availability and effe ctiveness of emergency shelters;
5. Expand public awareness; and
6. Build a coordinated r egional infrastructure.
The Homelessness Action Plan (Attachment 1) includes each goal and the corresponding program policy deliverables, part nerships, city department leads , leveraged city resources, timelines, and goal alignments. To receive the HHAP-3 grant funds, the City had to submit a local homelessness action plan and HHAP-3 application by June 30, 2022. The HHAP-3 application, a component of the formally Five -Year Plan, required regional collaboration with the County and Continuum of Care (CoC) to complete the eight tables included in the application.
On June 28, 2022, the Office of Homeless Soluti ons presented the draft Homelessness Action Plan, HHAP-3, and HOME-ARP to City Council. Over several months the OHS engaged experts in the field, community member s, and end-users to gather quantitat ive and qualitative data that informed the OHS of the importance of i dentifying gaps and the fo cus on addressing subpopulations. Further, data from the 2022 Point-in-Time Count, woven into information collected from stakeholders, s upported the creation of new goals that the City intends to implement intentionally. Recommendations by City Council included coordination between the City and County to provide joint efforts to address homelessnes s across the City, preventing lawlessness and ensuring safety for all, review of the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program, affordable for sale options, and differentia tion between CARE Court and HOME Court.
Additionally, Councilmember Edwards requested that the OHS meet in person with the Task Force to receive feedback and to confirm that the plan incorporates the voice of all stakeholders.
DISCUSSION:
On August 17, 2022, the Office of Homeless So lutions led a meeting with Task Force members to review the draft Homelessness Action Plan pr oblem statement, activities, and measurements to ensure that stakeholders' voices were captured throughout the plan. Feedback from the group included:
Additional measuring tools to strengthen data collection; Individuals with lived ex perience are crucial in implementing the Action Plan; Homelessness Action Plan ● Page 3
Identify what action is being taken toward meeting other goals to contribute to success; and
The Plan aligns closely with the County’s 2022-2027 County of Riverside Homeless Action Plan.
On September 1, 2022, the OHS led a meeting with individuals experiencing homelessness and those with lived experience to discuss the Home lessness Action Plan. Participants shared their struggles with utilizing housing vouchers, the need for compassionate field engagements, clean drinking water, shower utilization, and the importance of frequent safety checks at non-congregate shelters. Those experiencing homelessness and people with lived experience would like to continue meeting with the City throughout the im plementation of the Action Plan to share experiences around gaps and success.
The proposed Homelessness Action Plan incorporates all stakeholder feedback received to date and looks to provide a foundation of goals and objectives to address homelessness. This document should be viewed as a living, breathing document and updated as needed to address the ever-changing needs of the homeless community as well as all residents of the City.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This item contributes to Strategic Priority 2 – Community Well-Being and Goal 2.2 , collaborate with partner agencies to improve household resiliency and reduce the incidence and duration of homelessness.
The item aligns with each of the five Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
1. Community Trust – The City conducted community m eetings and reestablished the Homeless Task Force to assist with drafting the Homelessness Action Plan.
2. Equity – Riverside residents will have equal access to the programs that will be supported through the Homelessness Action Plan.
3. Fiscal Responsibility –The City will ensure that the HHAP 3 and HOME-ARP grant funds are used in accordance with t he state and federal program r egulations including funding evidence-based programs serving people exper iencing homelessness among eligible populations.
4. Innovation – The Homelessness Action Plan provides the City with the ability to support innovative programs that address gaps in our homeless system of care.
5. Sustainability & Resiliency – The HHAP 3 and HOME-ARP grant funds will provide funding to meet the gaps in our homeless system of care and adapt to the needs of our homeless population and service providers.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this staff report.
Prepared by: Lorissa Villareal, Homeless Solutions Officer
Homelessness Action Plan ● Page 4
Availability of funds: Edward Enriquez, Interim Assistant City Manager/Chief Financial Officer/City Treasurer
Approved by: Edward Enriquez, Interim A ssistant City Manager/Chief Financial Officer/City Treasurer
Approved as to form: Phaedr a A. Norton, City Attorney
Concurs with:
___________________________
Erin Edwards, Chair
Housing & Homelessness Committee
Attachments:
1. Homelessness Action Plan
2. Presentation