City of Sacramento Page 1
HOUSING AUTHORITY / CITY COUNCIL
Darrell Steinberg, Chair/Mayor D2
Lisa Kaplan, Board Member/Councilmember D1
Karina Talamantes, Board Member/ Mayor Pro Tem D3
Katie Valenzuela, Board Member/Councilmember D4
Caity Maple, Board Member/ Vice Mayor D5
Eric Guerra, Board Member/ Councilmember D6
Rick Jennings, II, Board Member/Councilmember D7
Mai Vang, Board Member/ Councilmember D8
STAFF
La Shelle Dozier, Executive Director
Sarah O’Daniel, Deputy Executive Director
James Shields, Deputy Executive Director
Brad Nakano, General Counsel
Mindy Cuppy, City Clerk
Agenda
Housing Authority
City Council
City Hall Complex
Council Chamber, 915 I Street, 1st Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Published by the Office of the City Clerk
(916) 80
8-7200
SU
PPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Description: Attached is supplemental material received after publishing the agenda for Item 4, adding Attachment 2 and 3. The attached staff report replaces the original staff report in its entirety.
For the Meeting of: Tuesday, March 12, 2024 at 2:00 p.m.
A
genda Item: Discussion Item 4
4. City County Partnership Agreement to Address Homeless Crisis Update [Oral Report]
F
ile ID: 2024-00493
Loc
ation: Citywide
R
ecommendation: Receive and file.
C
ontact: Howard Chan, City Manager, (916) 808-7488, [email protected], Office of the City Manager
City of Sacramento
City Council - 2PM Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2024-00493 3/12/2024 Discussion Item 4.
City County Partnership Agreement to Address Homeless Crisis Update [Oral Report] File ID: 2024-00493
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Receive and file.
Contact: Howard Chan, City Manager, (916) 808-7488, [email protected], Office of the City Manager
Presenter: Mario Lara, Assistant City Manager, (916) 808-8526, [email protected], Office of the City Manager; Brian Pedro, Interim Director, (916) 808-7816, [email protected], Department of Community Response.
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: The crisis of unsheltered homelessness is one that impacts our entire community, both those experiencing homelessness and the broader community of housed residents, businesses, and neighborhoods. Over the past several years, the City and County have made significant investments to increase the availability of shelter, services and permanent housing for people and families experiencing homelessness.
On Dec 6, 2022, the City and County entered into a legally binding partnership agreement memorializing the respective roles of each agency to address the homelessness crisis. This oral report provides an update on efforts in accordance with the partnership agreement.
Policy Considerations: The City County Partnership Agreement furthers local coordination in response to homelessness, enhances existing sheltering and navigation efforts, is in alignment with the Local Homeless Action Plan, and fulfills key requirements of the Emergency Shelter and Enforcement Act of 2022.
2-City and County PA Report
3-Partnership Agreement Report
File ID: 2024-00493 3/12/2024 Discussion Item 4.
Environmental Considerations: This report is not a project pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This report is an informational item only to provide a status update on the City County Partnership Agreement. No action is being taken in connection with this status update. As there is no potential for this oral report to result in a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change, this report does not qualify as a “project” under CEQA. (See CEQA Guidelines 15378(a).)
Sustainability: Not applicable.
Commission/Committee Action: None.
Rationale for Recommendation: This status update is in accordance with the Council approved City County Partnership Agreement.
Financial Considerations: Not applicable.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.
Economic Impacts: Not applicable.
Sheltering and
Housing
County Behavioral
Health Services
Homeless Services Partnership Agreement
Status Report: June 1 through December 31, 2023
City of Sacramento and Sacramento County
15 CalAIM-funded outreach staff, funded by Managed Care Plans and contracted through Community HealthWorks 12 Behavioral Health Services (BHS) staff, through the County's Homeless Engagement and Assistance Team (HEART) 28 Encampment Workers, through DCR staff and contract with Hope Cooperative's Homeless Outreach Program Services Provided Consist of:
10,012 ....... General Case Management
1,585 ....... Clothing and Hygiene Care
1,211 ....... Transportation
1,204 ....... Food Services
1,203 ....... Community Resources Referrals
1,063 ....... Behavioral Health Services
918 ....... Coordinated Access System Referrals
825 ....... Care Coordination
746 ....... Vital Documents
525 ....... Housing Search/Placement
760 ....... All Other Services
Encampment Outreach
The Department of Community Response (DCR) is the City's lead for the identification and assessment of encampment locations and the deployment of outreach teams. Outreach teams are dispatched under a combination of multi- disciplinary teams and agency specific teams.
On December 6, 2022, the City and County executed the Homeless Services Partnership Agreement to improve the coordination and combining of efforts to meet the needs of the unhoused and to move individuals out of homelessness, specifically within the City of Sacramento.
Encampment
Outreach
Coordinated Access
System
This report provides updates on key commitments of the Partnership Agreement County Behavioral Health Services:
129 individuals received a screening from the HEART
program
194 individuals enrolled/referred to a specialty mental health Outpatient Program (OP), Full-Service Partnership (FSP), or Substance Use and Prevention Treatment
(SUPT)*
OP: 134 | FSP: 31 | SUPT: 29
138 individuals were linked to a specialty mental health OP, FSP, or SUPT program and received their first service* OP: 93 | FSP: 26 | SUPT: 19
Summary of Outreach Activies
CalAIM: California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal1 Individuals who are enrolled in services may have been screened during a previous reporting period or
by another program
June 1 through December 31, 2023 January 1 through December 31, 2023 City outreach efforts responded to 3,903 unique
locations, provided 20,052 services to 2,372 unduplicated individuals and supported 214 unduplicated individuals
with transitioning out of unsheltered homelessness.
Services Provided Consist of:
13,953 ........ General Case Management
2,015 ........ Clothing and Hygiene Care
1,736 ........ Community Resources Referrals
1,656 ........ Transportation
1,452 ........ Behavioral Health Services
1,412 ........ Food Services
1,309 ........ Care Coordination
1,060 ........ Vital Documents
933 ........ Coordinated Access System Referrals
777 ........ Housing Search/Placement
1,013 ........ All Other Services
County Behavioral Health Services:
255 individuals received a screening from the HEART
program
380 individuals were enrolled/referred in one or more of the following specialty mental health programs:
Outpatient Program (OP), Full-Service Partnership (FSP), or Substance Use and Prevention Treatment (SUPT)*
OP: 299 | FSP: 63 | SUPT: 55
261 individuals were linked to a specialty mental health OP, FSP, or SUPT program and received their first
service*
OP: 183 | FSP: 60 | SUPT: 43
1 City outreach efforts responded to 5,192 unique
locations, provided 27,316 services to 3,855 unduplicated individuals and supported 373 unduplicated individuals
with transitioning out of unsheltered homelessness.
Outreach teams in the City currently consist of the following:
Second Reporting Period Year to Date
2 Data includes all outreach efforts within the City and reflects improvements in data collection/reporting during year one 2 3
3 CalAIM funded outreach staff were onboarded between
October and December 2023
*
The Affordable Housing Plan (Plan) required in the partnership agreement was adopted by both the Sacramento City Council and the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on October 24, 2023.
The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) led the Plan development effort which included community outreach and workshops to solicit feedback at the Board, Council and at the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Commission. The Plan includes information on current activities as well as activity and policy initiatives planned to facilitate the development of new permanent supportive housing units and rehousing opportunities. The Plan includes action steps for the City, County, SHRA and Sacramento Steps Forward.
SHRA will report back on an annual basis on the Plan in conjunction with its annual Affordable Housing Reports to the Board and Council. Updates will also be included in reports from Sacramento Steps Forward in conjunction with the Local Homeless Action Plan.
The County has opened two Safe Stay non-congregate community shelters, which will be funded and operated by the County and available to people who are unhoused within the City. In addition, the County has two more projects announced and others that are in process:
The County and City of Sacramento are jointly working on a Safe Stay with the State of California on Stockton Blvd that will shelter 175 people and is expected to start construction early 2024.
The Safe Stay at Florin and Power Inn Road opened in August 2023 and serves up to 125 adults.The Safe Stay at East Parkway opened December 2023 and serves up to 56 adults.The Safe Stay at Watt Ave will serve more than 200 people. The programming and design phase is in process.
Affordable Housing Plan
Coordinated Access System
Sacramento Steps Forward (SSF), is leading the effort to enhance our local Coordinated Access System (CAS), and has engaged the City, County, 2-1-1, and other community partners throughout the process. The City of Sacramento has integrated 83% of their shelter beds. This includes:
The County of Sacramento has integrated 66% of their shelter beds. This includes:
The Florin Safe Stay and East Parkway Safe Stay became operational late 2023 and County staff will continue to work with SSF in the planning process to integrate these beds by Summer 2024.
All youth shelters (The Grove, The Village, Common Ground, and STEP) All adult shelters (North 5th Shelter, X Street Navigation Center and Meadowview Navigation Center)All family shelters (City's non-congregate shelters at 6 motels throughout the City) Two congregate family shelters (Bannon Street and Next Move Family Shelter)Three adults shelters (The Center of Hope, North A Street Campus, and Mather Singles Interim Housing) Behavioral Health Services
Sheltering and Housing
New Sheltering
Homeless Services Partnership Agreement
Status Report: June 1 through December 31, 2023
City of Sacramento and Sacramento County
In October 2023, the County opened its fourth CORE Wellness Center within the City limits. This CORE Center is located on 1400 X Street. The County now operates 11 CORE Centers throughout the County and all offer walk-in hours for individuals to self-refer to receive a mental health assessment.
The County continues to support the Crisis Receiving for Behavioral Health (CRBH) program, operated by WellSpace, located within City limits on 7 Street and H Street. The County is continuing to explore additional locations for these services as well.
The City and the County have determined that is more prudent to use HEART, 988 Community Wellness Response Team (CWRT), and Law Enforcement to issue 5150 holds, if necessary. ** Access to select City/County-funded shelter beds is managed outside of CAS due to specific program eligibility criteria and to allow for direct placement by the City/County in urgent response situations. **
**
1 Homeless Services
Partnership Agreement
City of Sacramento and
County of Sacramento
Six-month Status Report: June 1 – December 31, 2023
City-County Partnership Agreement
2 This report is to provide City Council and County Board of Supervisors an accountability and progress report on metrics of the City-County partnership agreement with the understanding this agreement was created to coordinate strategies, enhance programs, and improve efforts to prevent and address homelessness in the City of Sacramento.
Each category in the agreement is rated with a red, yellow, or green symbol to determine its progress. A red circle indicates the section has not been initiated or addressed, a yellow circle indicates the section is in progress and has not yet met the requirement language of the agreement, and lastly a green circle indicates the requirement has been met.
The following categories and their subcategories were reviewed for this report. • Outreach
• Services
• Shelter and Housing
• Training and Information
INTRODUCTION
City-County Partnership Agreement
3 AKEN TO ADVREGIONAL REPRESENTATION.
OUTREACH
• Within six months of the effective date of this Agreement, the CITY and COUNTY (Along with its Medi-Cal Managed Care Plan partners) shall provide 10 encampment engagement teams to engage in intensive outreach, assessment, navigation, service delivery, and housing to as many people as possible in encampments within the City limits. We have restructured the teams and service delivery which allows engaging a minimum of 10 encampment engagement teams providing these services.
• CITY will provide 25 encampment workers (either Department of Community Response staff or contracted providers) to provide encampment assessment, coordination of outreach and mitigation services (debris removal, etc.), and linkages to sheltering and housing supports. City is staffed with 28 encampment workers, 14 from DCR and 14 from Hope Cooperative.
• COUNTY will provide 10 mental health workers with the ability and qualifications to provide a behavioral health assessment and enroll or link persons to an appropriate level of mental health and substance use services, based on the individuals’ level of need. The County has 6 behavioral health workers and 6 peer specialists for a total of 12. SB 803 expanded behavioral health workforce core competencies and certification of Peer Support Specialists allowing the assessing, enrolling, and linking of people into Behavioral Health Services.
• The COUNTY will work assertively to hire additional mental health workers sufficient to serve persons experiencing homelessness within the City limits and will deploy 67% (based on the unsheltered PIT Count) of all its behavioral health outreach team members to work within the City limits. An agreed upon schedule provides at least 67% of all County field-based behavioral health specialists and peer specialists are deploying to encampments within the City limits.
• COUNTY shall provide 15 Homeless Engagement Workers, who are contracted with and funded by the Medi-Cal Managed Care Plans, to provide assessments and referrals to ECM/CS services as well as to provide the services themselves for a period of one year. The County currently has 12 Homeless Engagement Workers in the field and 3 who are in training.
• The COUNTY’s staff in the encampment engagement teams shall conduct behavioral health assessments for willing people in encampments and city-run shelters and, if eligible, enroll them in county-funded services and programs, regardless of whether they are insured or uninsured.
City-County Partnership Agreement
4 • The COUNTY shall continue to fund and operate at least three CORE Wellness Centers within the City limits. A fourth CORE center shall be opened by the COUNTY in the Central Business District within nine months of the effective date of this Agreement, provided a reasonable and appropriate location has been identified. The CITY shall assist the COUNTY and any of its contracted providers with identifying appropriate properties for these facilities.
There are four CORE centers operating within the City limits.
The County teams are conducting behavioral health assessments in encampments and City-run shelters.
OUTREACH CONTINUED
• The CITY staff shall be responsible for determining which sites the encampment engagement team will be deployed to each day, conducting initial outreach, and coordinating CITY services, such as solid waste removal, code enforcement, and public safety services. Roles and responsibilities within encampments will be developed through the Coordination Protocol. The City determines sites to deploy teams daily using heat maps and 311 call data.
Coordination Protocols were created and continue to be updated.
• Each encampment engagement team shall engage and provide services to people experiencing homelessness in at least two large encampments within the City limits each month. The intent of this Agreement is to have the encampment engagement teams actively intervening in at least 20 large encampments within the City limits per month. Based on geographical data, the equivalent of 20 large encampments per month are actively engaged and provided services.
• If a person has travelled into the City limits from another jurisdiction, the encampment engagement teams will endeavor to navigate them back to the other jurisdiction when appropriate arrangements can be made. “Return to home” bus tickets have been made available when appropriate.
SERVICES
City-County Partnership Agreement
5 • The COUNTY shall continue to support a sobering center operating within the City limits to meet the needs of those who are detoxing from substances. Crisis Receiving Behavioral Health (CRBH) is operated by WellSpace on 7 St./H St. and another expansion location being considered.
• The COUNTY and CITY shall work through the encampment engagement teams to refer all persons experiencing homelessness to programs that provide care coordination for the unhoused. In some cases, the most appropriate level of care will be through a Full-Service Partnership (FSP) which utilizes a “whatever it takes” approach for individuals with a severe mental illness who qualify for Specialty Mental Health services. Individuals are being enrolled in FSPs.
• Other individuals who do not qualify for an FSP may be referred to a slightly lower level of care through CORE Centers. Individuals are assessed for a lower level of care and referred.
• Individuals who do not meet criteria for Specialty Mental Health treatment may be referred to CalAIM Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports, which will ensure that each individual who is willing, is linked to a program that provides care management. This service has recently become available, and capacity is improving as staff are hired and trained.
• If the County’s FSP program reaches full capacity, the COUNTY will add slots to accommodate the need. Enrollment into CalAIM ECM or CS is based on approval by the Managed Care Plans and is not a COUNTY funded, operated, or controlled program. This is currently being achieved and is reported monthly through a public facing dashboard.
• The COUNTY shall meet the State standards for access to the continuum of substance use disorder services and supports as identified in the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System Waiver. Approved in December 2021.
• Some individuals may qualify for involuntary behavioral health treatment or diversion programs through a variety of programs funded by or operated by the COUNTY when engagement is neither successful, nor appropriate (Laura’s Law/Assisted Outpatient Treatment, Public Conservatorship/Guardianships, Care Courts upon implementation, etc.).
The COUNTY Encampment Engagement Team members will be responsible for assisting with referrals and coordination with the most appropriate Program to meet the needs of the individuals. The County is referring into involuntary care as needed.
City-County Partnership Agreement
6 SHELTER AND HOUSING
• Within 12 months of the effective date of this Agreement, the COUNTY shall open emergency shelter sites within the County limits with a minimum of 200 shelter bed. As of December, 2023, the County has added an additional 191 beds.
• Within 36 months of the effective date of this Agreement, the COUNTY shall open additional emergency shelter sites within the County limits with a minimum of 200 shelter beds. On track – Watt Avenue scheduled to open in 2025, and will contain 200+ beds
• If the CITY provides shovel-ready sites or existing buildings within the City limits that can support non-congregate sheltering, for this purpose, the COUNTY shall open and operate an additional emergency shelter site or sites at those locations with a minimum total of 200 beds between those sites. However, if the COUNTY provides a site or sites within the City limits and opens and operates an emergency shelter site at that location, the number of beds on that site or sites shall be counted toward the aforementioned 200-bed requirement. 175 beds being built by the State at Stockton; 25 of the beds at Watt will complete this requirement.
• In order to ensure the most efficient use of resources, within 60 days of the effective date of this Agreement, the CITY and COUNTY shall fully integrate all of their emergency shelter beds into the coordinated access system to the extent possible, including all new beds. We are currently at 83% of City and 66% of County emergency shelters fully integrated.
Both County Safe Stays at Florin and East Parkway will be integrated by the end of second quarter 2024, however, referrals through DHSH from the City are currently being taken. Once the last two County sites are entered, to the extent possible, the City and County will have integrated all emergency shelter beds into CAS.
• The CITY and COUNTY shall work aggressively to meet the permanent supportive and affordable housing needs identified in the Local Homelessness Action Plan. Within 180 days of the effective date of this Agreement, the CITY and COUNTY will finalize an affordable housing plan that follows the strategies outlined in the Local Homeless Action Plan to increase permanent housing opportunities. The Affordable Housing Plan was approved on October 24th, 2023.
City-County Partnership Agreement
7 • The County agrees to use all reasonable efforts to seek additional funding that will either directly fund or provide reimbursement to the County. The sources of this funding may include, but are not limited to, Federal sources such as FEMA, and COVID-relief grants and programs; and State sources such as Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention (“HHAP”) funds (Cal. Health & Saf. Code, § 50216 et seq.), Investment in Mental Health Wellness Act 2013 funds (Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code, § 5848.5), and Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission grants relating to the Mental Health Services Act. CITY agrees to commit dedicated homeless funding for the purposes of carrying out this agreement and agrees to cooperate and assist COUNTY in additional funding pursuits. Both partners are committing the necessary dedicated homeless funding to carry out this agreement and the City is cooperating and assisting the County in additional funding pursuits including the Encampment Resolution Funding Program.
TRAINING AND INFORMATION
• The COUNTY shall provide Mental Health First Aid training to CITY-designated community partners and providers that serve individuals within the City limits. This training has been provided.
• The COUNTY shall provide County Public Health education and relevant communicable disease screening tools to shelter operators contracted by the CITY. These screening tools have been provided.
• The COUNTY shall advise CITY-designated staff of all the processes by which people experiencing homelessness within the City limits will have direct access to COUNTY- administered programs and benefits, including through encampments outreach teams. City and County staff have determined areas needing further education and training will be initiated by April 2024.
• To the extent allowed by law, CITY and COUNTY shall track and share customer information and aggregate data on program participation and outcomes for purposes of services improvement and trends analysis. This includes the CITY’s and COUNTY’s use of the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and Coordinated Access System (CAS).
The CITY and COUNTY shall facilitate the execution of customary data sharing agreements or releases of information as needed. The City and County are inputting information into the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and using the Coordinated Access System (CAS).
Tracking and sharing of customer information and outcomes continues to be built and
City-County Partnership Agreement
8 is an area needing improvement. The County is continuing to invest in building out a Social Health Information Exchange (SHIE), which will further our efforts in data integration.
• The COUNTY shall provide training and authorization for CITY-designated staff to write and issue 5150 holds (pursuant to California Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150). The City initially delayed requesting the 5150 training but has determined its use necessary in specific cases. The County will initate the training, by June 2024.
ACCOUNTABILITY
• Every six months following the effective date of this Agreement, the CITY and COUNTY shall present a joint report for discussion (i.e. not on the consent calendar) at the meetings of both the Sacramento City Council and Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. The report must include metrics on all the conditions of this Agreement.