The City has also provided support to SB ACT for facilitation of a Homelessness Collaborative since Fiscal Year 2020 and for coordination of three Neighborhood Navigation Centers. Renewal of this agreement would ensure the completion of SB ACT’s work in implementing a three-year Strategic Plan to Address Homelessness and its Impacts in the City of Santa Barbara, including new strategies to strengthen coordination with mental health service providers and establish more collaboration among south county municipalities to address homelessness on a regional level.
DISCUSSION:
People Assisting the Homeless (PATH)
PATH operates a 100-bed interim-housing program for persons experiencing homelessness. PATH reduces barriers to permanent housing through provision of interim housing and support services such as three meals per day, access to electricity, showers, bathrooms, and hygiene products. Beyond basic needs resources, individuals receive case management and on-site resources such as physical and behavioral healthcare, harm reduction–based substance use counseling, housing location assistance, veteran services, and employment and benefits assistance. The goal for all PATH residents is to obtain permanent housing.
Each year since 1999, PATH has received funding from the City to help support operations. The amount of assistance has been $202,100 annually since Fiscal Year 2015. In addition to the funding agreement recommended in this report, PATH received a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $18,351 for Fiscal Year 2023, for a total City contribution to PATH of $220,451.
As part of ongoing operations, PATH anticipates the agency will serve 350 unduplicated homeless individuals in Fiscal Year 2023, at least 60 of whom will work with a case manager to establish an Individual Service Plan. Of the 60 clients with individual service plans, PATH anticipates placing half (30) into permanent housing. Other performance outcomes include increasing clients’ earned income and/or increasing their non-cash benefits.
Previous City funds have been provided to PATH for general operating support. This year, for the first time, PATH and City staff have negotiated the agreement to use City funding to reserve up to seven beds for homeless persons specifically referred by the City’s contracted street outreach service providers, including City Net, City staff, and the Santa Barbara Police Department. PATH has similar agreements with the Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness, Cottage Population Health’s Medical Recuperative Care Program, and the City of Goleta.
City staff and PATH are also working continuously to respond to needs in the surrounding neighborhood. In accordance with the terms of PATH’s Conditional Use Permit (CUP), PATH staff members attend bimonthly Regional Action Plan meetings on the Eastside to Council Agenda Report
Agreements for Fiscal Year 2023 with People Assisting the Homeless ($202,100) and Santa Barbara Alliance for Community Transformation ($200,000) [Agreements] October 11, 2022
discuss operations and hear from concerned residents. Most recently, after a nearly a year-long search, an outreach worker began working at PATH last month. This staff person is tasked with engaging individuals who are not shelter residents but spend time in the surrounding neighborhood, per the CUP requirements. This outreach worker is also developing an outreach plan with City Net, Good Samaritan, and SB ACT to ensure there are regular street outreach services available in the Eastside neighborhood where PATH is located.
Moreover, City staff is negotiating additional terms of PATH’s agreement to ensure that the presence of a shelter is not detrimental to the public peace, health, safety, comfort, and general welfare of the surrounding neighborhood, as set forth in PATH’s CUP. The CUP conditions being incorporated into the agreement dictate the terms for neighborhood communication and outreach, as well as neighborhood watch/patrol. Staff will also require PATH to submit quarterly reports documenting compliance with these specific provisions, in addition to facilitating biennial PATH presentations before the City Planning Commission.
The City’s Neighborhood Improvement Taskforce has also recently completed a series of improvements in the surrounding area impacted by litter and debris. Those improvements include the addition of trash cans on Alisos, Cacique, and Milpas streets; tree trimming and landscape improvements on Cacique and Milpas; and replacement of a pedestrian light. The City also coordinated with CalTrans on the debris removal, fencing and vegetation management conducted on the Milpas on and off-ramps. Other planned improvements include additional street sweeping and vegetation management, among others. The Police Department has also increased presence in the surrounding area.
Santa Barbara Alliance for Community Transformation (SB ACT) Founded in 2005, SB ACT builds partnerships by serving as a “backbone organization” that provides a structure for stakeholders to develop strategies and coordinate operations in response to social needs. SB ACT provides administrative oversight and coordination of the ACT on Homelessness Collaborative (AOH Collaborative) in Santa Barbara, and fosters mutual accountability among local government agencies, nonprofit organizations, community members, individuals with the lived-experience of homelessness, and others engaged in responding to the homelessness crisis.
Beginning in Fiscal Year 2020, in partnership with the Santa Barbara Foundation, Council allocated funding to SB ACT to develop a unified, strategic response to address homelessness and its impacts, and to ensure that personnel and financial resources are deployed more efficiently, and with quantifiable results. SB ACT also leads smaller working groups of housing agencies, service providers, and individuals with lived experience to increase coordination and collaboration. Additionally, SB ACT coordinates neighborhood-centered groups known as Regional Action Plans (RAPs) that focus on neighborhoods where homeless numbers are highest or where localized issues need to be addressed.
Council Agenda Report
Agreements for Fiscal Year 2023 with People Assisting the Homeless ($202,100) and Santa Barbara Alliance for Community Transformation ($200,000) [Agreements] October 11, 2022
SB ACT has facilitated the development of a Common Agenda/Strategic Plan to address homelessness and impacts in the City of Santa Barbara to be achieved by the end of 2023. The plan identifies four main goals: 1) increase the number of affordable housing units by 20 percent, 2) increase the rate of housing retention by five percent, 3) reduce the percentage of people entering homelessness from a housed situation by 10 percent, and 4) strengthen the coordination and availability of outreach and case management services by 25 percent. At its April 19, 2022, meeting Council received an update from SB ACT staff on the Strategic Plan.
SB ACT operates three Neighborhood Navigation Centers, (NNCs) whereby service organizations provide services in a “one-stop-shop” location. Services include case management, food distribution, medical and veterinary care, sanitation services, and more. NNCs operate Tuesdays at the Carrillo Commuter Lot, Wednesdays at the Rescue Mission, and Thursdays at Alameda Park.
SB ACT has secured private foundation support equal to the City’s funding for continued operations. This coming year, SB ACT will continue its coordination of the AOH Collaborative, including facilitation of the Steering Committee and execution of the Common Agenda/Strategic Plan. SB ACT will also continue to enhance service delivery and access; operate the NNCs; launch targeted initiatives to address the impacts of homelessness; and implement the Regional Action Plans, with a focus on prioritizing outreach strategies in those neighborhoods.
New Strategies and Initiatives
With the County of Santa Barbara now facilitating regular collaborative work groups with service providers specific to street outreach, encampment response, housing, and homelessness prevention, SB ACT and City staff developed new initiatives for Fiscal Year 2023.
SB ACT will shift from hosting their own Homelessness Prevention, Housing and Shelter, and Housing Retention work groups to co-facilitating the County-led work group meetings.
Additionally, SB ACT will develop a new Behavioral Health Working Group that will engage mental health service providers who have not traditionally been included in collaborative conversations regarding people experiencing homelessness (e.g., staff from treatment centers, crisis response volunteers, and advocacy groups). The goal of this group will be to develop strategies to address the increased mental health and substanceuse needs of persons experiencing homelessness. As part of this work group, SB ACT will facilitate more action-oriented response to individuals with behavioral health needs, as well as provide trainings on crisis de-escalation, trauma-informed care, and harmreduction principles to expand our volunteer cadre for these purposes Recognizing that homelessness is not isolated to a single community and requires broader coordination across the region, SB ACT will also create a new monthly South Council Agenda Report
Agreements for Fiscal Year 2023 with People Assisting the Homeless ($202,100) and Santa Barbara Alliance for Community Transformation ($200,000) [Agreements] October 11, 2022
County Collaboration Regional Action Plan to address homelessness and its impacts more regionally. These meetings will connect staff across Carpinteria, Montecito, Santa Barbara and Goleta to share updates on city-level efforts, discuss shared concerns and priority individuals in need, and coordinate city-level strategies to address homelessness and its impacts regionally.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL INFORMATION:
There are sufficient expenditure appropriations available in the Community Development Department’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget to cover the three recommended funding agreements. The Fiscal Year 2023 Affordable Housing Fund budget includes $202,100 in expenditure appropriations to support the PATH agreement, the Fiscal Year 2023 General Fund budget includes $100,000 in expenditure appropriations for collaborative services to be provided by SB ACT, and the Fiscal Year 2023 Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) Fund budget includes $100,000 in expenditure appropriations for operation of the Neighborhood Navigation Centers. A summarized funding table is included below for reference.
City Funding Source Agency Description of Service Amount Affordable Housing Fund PATH Outreach Shelter Beds $202,100 General Fund SB ACT Homelessness Collaborative $100,000 PLHA Fund SB ACT Neighborhood Navigation Centers $100,000 Copies of the agreements are available from the Community Development Department for public review; please contact Liz Stotts, Homelessness Programs Analyst, at [email protected] or (805) 564-5461.
PREPARED BY: Liz Stotts, Homelessness Programs Analyst
SUBMITTED BY: Eli Isaacson, Community Development Director APPROVED BY: City Administrator’s Office