City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: March 11, 2025
Agenda Item: 11.A
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Heather Averick, Director, Housing and Human Services Department Subject: Receive Homelessness Strategic Plan and Renters' Protections Program, Approval of Human Services Division Reorganization Plan and Adoption of Classification and Salary Resolution
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Receive the City of Santa Monica Homelessness Strategic Plan 2025-2030. (Attachment A)
2. Receive the Renters’ Protections Program: Analysis, Key Findings, and Recommendations. (Attachment B)
3. Approve the Human Services Division Reorganization Plan.
4. Adopt a Resolution of the City of Santa Monica establishing new classifications and adopting salary rates for various listed positions (Attachment C) and approve the position and classification changes (Attachment D).
5. Adopt the 2025 Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency on Homelessness through 12/31/2026 (Attachment E), unless repealed or extended by Council, due to the ongoing crisis of homelessness exacerbated by the recent wildfires.
6. Authorize budget amendment as outlined in the Financial Impacts & Budget Actions section of this report (requires 5 votes).
7. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines.
Executive Summary
Santa Monica has a long history of comprehensive, coordinated, and interdisciplinary approaches to addressing and preventing homelessness and its impact on the broader community. Since last year’s Annual Homelessness Report to Council, a major accomplishment is the development of a five-year Homelessness Strategic Plan, which was identified as a need in the 2023 City of Santa Monica Homelessness Study 2 of 24
conducted by Moss Adams LLP (Attachment F). The City contracted with BerryDunn Accounting and Consulting Firm to develop a citywide strategic plan that builds on the City’s Four Pillars framework to address homelessness - and the Moss Adams study recommendations - to set clear policy direction, promote alignment across City stakeholders, and support regional efforts. The completed plan is the City of Santa Monica Homelessness Strategic Plan 2025-2030.
One of the plans pillars is Prevention. A key component of preventing homelessness and ensuring residents remain stably housed is a Renters’ Protection Program (RPP).
To develop a robust RPP, the City contracted with Fetterman Dunn Consulting, after City Council direction in August 2023 to evaluate renter protection and financial assistance programs. The resulting report is the City of Santa Monica Renters’ Protections Program: Analysis, Key Findings and Recommendations. The recommendations of this report will build upon the foundation of the existing Right to Counsel Program and add a critical new Flexible Financial Assistance Program for Santa Monica renters at risk of eviction due to legal issues and/or inability to pay rent.
While some of the strategic plan objectives can be achieved with existing funding and staff resources, new and enhanced investments are required to successfully meet the goals outlined in the strategic plan. The Moss Adams study also recommended increased staffing to advance the work surrounding homelessness. To this end, a separate and new division is needed within the Housing and Human Services Department that focuses solely on Homeless Prevention and Intervention. The addition of three new staffing positions is requested to advance the work across the Department.
The positions would be funded by Measure GS revenue, with no impact to the General Fund. The development of a new division will enable staff to focus solely on homelessness intervention and prevention among Santa Monica’s most vulnerable populations. In addition, the current Human Services Division will be able to focus resources on the City’s after-school time direct service programs at the Police Activities League (PAL), CREST, and Virginia Avenue Park (VAP), as well as continue efforts to advance other services for youth and families, including efforts to expand models being 3 of 24
done elsewhere for youth services, and oversee the advancement of other community programs such as the VAP Commercial Kitchen.
Finally, this report outlines the history of Santa Monica’s Proclamation of Declaring a Local Emergency on Homelessness and key initiatives advanced under this order since 2023. Staff is asking Council to extend this proclamation to December 31, 2026.
Background
While homelessness is a complex regional issue that cannot be solved by any single community, Santa Monica has an extensive history of significant investments in a local safety net, affordable housing, and coordinated efforts to prevent and address homelessness. Within the state, 40% of the homeless population live in Los Angeles County. As a result, Santa Monica’s location poses an inherent challenge to addressing homelessness. The City is surrounded by Los Angeles City Council District 11 and is easily accessible by bus and train lines. As a result, many of the people experiencing homelessness in the City did not become homeless here.
In 2022, the City commissioned a homelessness study from the City’s Auditor, Moss Adams, which evaluated Santa Monica’s homelessness intervention and prevention efforts. As part of the recommendations, in 2023, Council authorized the development of a citywide homelessness strategic plan.
The City entered into a contract with BerryDunn in September 2023 to develop a fiveyear Homelessness Strategic Plan (HSP). The first step was conducting individual and intradepartmental interviews and facilitating interdepartmental policy and strategic planning sessions with directors and key staff from various City departments. In January 2024, a day-long planning session was held during which the City Manager and Department Heads developed the key components of the HSP, including the Mission, Vision, Values, Goals, and a modified Four Pillar framework. These were brought back to the larger interdepartmental groups, where the Objectives and Performance Measures were developed.
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The outcome of these efforts was the draft HSP, which was presented to the City Manager and Department Head team, various Boards and Commissions, and to local nonprofit service providers in early fall 2024.
While work on the HSP was underway, the City was also evaluating options to address the increasing need for legal support for Santa Monica residents facing eviction.
Keeping residents housed is a key strategy of preventing homelessness. The U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shows that more than 20.5% of all City renter households are severely housing cost burdened, meaning these households spend more than 50% or more of their income on rent and utilities.
Additionally, HUD data shows that 32% of Santa Monica renters are ‘housing at-risk’ as they make less than 80% of the area median income (AMI) and spend more than 30% of their income on housing. The leading cause for evictions for all renters in Santa Monica is non-payment of rent.
Eviction proceedings take place in the courts and research has consistently shown tenants without legal representation almost always lose their cases. To protect renters, ensure housing stability and prevent homelessness for the City's most vulnerable tenants, expanded legal services and financial assistance programs are necessary. Launched in 2021, the City contracts with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) to provide full scope eviction defense services under a program called Right to Counsel (RTC).
In August 2023, Council directed staff to develop recommendations to protect all renters involved in Unlawful Detainer (UD) proceedings and estimate the funding required to protect all vulnerable renters facing rent increases or eviction for non-payment of rent.
Council directed staff to return with recommendations for flexible financial assistance programs and a tenant’s right to counsel ordinance. The staff recommendations for Renters' Protections do not need Council to pass an ordinance to implement. However, if Council wishes to pass an ordinance, staff recommends Council direct the CAO to draft an ordinance establishing a program that, subject to funding availability, ensures by 2030:
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• All Santa Monica tenants have access to some legal services when facing an eviction, and those who have received a UD and whose incomes do not exceed 80% Area Median Income (AMI) have access to eviction prevention financial assistance not to exceed $20,000;
• All Santa Monica households facing housing unaffordability whose incomes do not exceed 80% AMI have access to receive one-time financial assistance not to exceed $5,000 per fiscal year, ongoing subsidies not to exceed $10,000 per fiscal year, and case management services;
• When service providers are not able to provide full scope legal or financial services due to funding or service capacity limitations, that services be prioritized based on vulnerability factors including but not limited to the presence of minor children, seniors, and disabled tenants, and the length of tenancy; and
• The Director of Housing and Human Services (HHS) may adopt further regulations to implement the program.
A 5-year implementation will allow staff to develop a greater understanding of ongoing funding needs and assess program performance.
Discussion
The HSP sets clearly defined goals for the City. The core focus is to set clear policy direction, promote alignment across stakeholders, and lay out a coordinated vision for the expansion of the homelessness response system, including measurable outcomes, goals, and strategies which focus interdepartmental efforts where they can make the biggest impact. The Objectives outlined in the HSP are investments in keeping all Santa Monica residents safe.
The Moss Adams study identified 19 recommendations, with five categorized as the most critical. All critical priorities are included in the HSP and, despite being resource 6 of 24
constrained, the City has made progress on many of the other recommendations as indicated in the following table.
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OBSERVATION
CATEGORY RECOMMENDATION PRIORITY STATUS
Unifying
Strategic Plan
a. Develop a comprehensive homelessness strategic
plan that builds on the Four Pillars framework to set
clear policy direction, promote alignment across City
stakeholders, and support regional efforts.
b. In the short-term, if resources to create a full
strategic plan are not available, develop specific
objectives for each of the Four Pillars and align City
workplans. Critical Complete
Regional and
Policy-Level
Advocacy
City Council should enhance regional and
intergovernmental partnerships by actively engaging
other regional agencies to support coordination and
access to services that support people experiencing
homelessness. Critical
In
Progress
Authority and
DecisionMaking
Designate an executive sponsor of homelessness
prevention and response with the requisite crossdepartmental authority to drive programs forward, monitor success, lead collaboration efforts, and
support enhanced communication. Critical Complete
Affordable
Housing
To increase housing stock in the City and support
achievement of the City’s Regional Housing Needs
allocation over the next eight years, the City should
continue implementing the Housing Element and
evaluate potential obstacles to housing development. Critical In
Progress
Permanent
Supportive
Housing
Continue to prioritize the development of permanent
housing, including permanent supportive housing, to
enable service providers to institute rapid re-housing
and provide appropriate supports, thereby increasing
the cost-effectiveness of services and the rate at
which individuals can exit homelessness. Critical
In
Progress
Performance
Measurement
Framework
a. Develop community-level performance measures to
track major outcomes and keep leadership, staff, and
stakeholders informed of progress.
b. Continue efforts to develop consistent programlevel performance measures to enable comparative monitoring and continuous improvement.
c. Take steps to ensure that program participant
feedback is consistently collected, analyzed, and used
to inform operational and strategic decisions.
d. Implement consistent monitoring and oversight
processes over all City contracts for programs that
directly serve people experiencing homelessness to
enable consistent performance measurement and
validation practices.
e. Develop a plan to restore key staff positions to
support data collection, coordination, analysis, and High Complete 8 of 24
reporting.
Employee
Morale
Take meaningful steps to improve employee morale
by:
a. Supporting employees through clear leadership
direction, delegation of authority, and the ability to hold teams accountable to decisions.
b. Setting division-wide goals and celebrating
successes in team meetings and community settings
to provide meaningful employee recognition.
c. Appropriately matching staff capacity and resources
with community expectations related to homelessness
prevention and response. High
In
Progress
Service Gaps
and Limitations
Continue efforts to evaluate benefits/costs and identify solutions for assessed resource gaps (psychiatric
beds, sobering center, and multidisciplinary outreach
teams), including investing in infrastructure at the local level, advocacy with regional partners, public-private
partnerships, and other opportunities. High Complete
Program
Operating
Hours
a. In support of providing enhanced service hours to
people experiencing homelessness, implement the
City’s proposal to expand access to SAMOSHEL and
expand the Homeless Liaison Program (HLP) team.
b. Using available data, evaluate trends in the demand
for homelessness-related service requests and
determine whether there is a need for expanded
program operating hours. If data indicate that there is a need for expanded program operating hours,
collaborate with service agencies to identify needs and resources to support this expansion. High Complete
Public Works
Continue to explore staffing options that ensure City
employees are provided appropriate resources and
training to safely complete required work. High Complete External
Coordination
Continue pursuing technology solutions that provide
up-to-date, comprehensive, consolidated, and
integrated information with push and pull
functionalities to enable the City and other service
providers to receive notifications and enter data to
optimize coordination and referrals. High
In
Progress
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Data-Collection
and Access
a. In the short term, pursue options to integrate data
from first responders and the Homelessness
Management information System (HMIS) to enable
improved reporting and/or pursue mechanisms that
support accuracy and expand communication across
teams.
b. In the long term, evaluate the appropriate
mechanism to integrate first responder data into the
HMIS to enhance data accuracy, completeness, and
performance reporting. Medium
Partially
Complete
City Council
Annual Review
a. Reinstitute a consistent timeline for the annual
review of homelessness services and re-evaluate its
format to articulate community-level and program-level
data.
b. In alignment with municipal code, adopt a
methodology to track citywide costs related to
homelessness for inclusion in the annual report.
c. Following the development of a Homelessness
Strategic Plan, review the existing municipal code for
consistency and necessity. Medium Complete
Community
Reporting
a. Continue to develop the homelessness webpage to
provide a centralized repository for community
resources, key reports, and relevant articles.
b. To better communicate the outcomes of the City’s
homelessness services, develop a dashboard to
regularly report community-level performance
measures. Medium
In
Progress
Community
Resources
Continue to develop and strategically distribute
community resources related to homelessness to
enhance understanding of desired behaviors,
opportunities to contribute, and appropriate referrals
for needed services. Medium
In
Progress
Temporary
Housing
In partnership with other community organizations and
service providers across the west side of Los Angeles,
evaluate benefits/costs and identify potential shortterm solutions for emergency and transitional housing needs. Medium
In
Progress
Transportation
a. Continue efforts to adjust the Big Blue Bus’s free
fare program to better support the transportation
needs of people who are at risk of, experiencing, or
exiting homelessness.
b. Communicate the County’s Low-Income Fare is
Easy (LIFE) program as an interim solution to free
fares for those who require access to public
transportation but cannot afford it. Medium
In
Progress
Public Safety
a. As part of the City’s efforts to develop a
homelessness strategic plan, the City and the Santa Medium Partially
Complete
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Monica Police Department (SMPD) should clearly
define SMPD’s role and the approach to enforcement
that should be used when interacting with people
experiencing homelessness. These efforts should be
done in collaboration with the community.
b. After the strategic plan has been developed, SMPD
should evaluate its policies, programs, and services to ensure alignment with the strategic plan.
In 2019, the City Council implemented a Four Pillar Strategy:
1) Preventing housed Santa Monicans from becoming homeless and increasing the supply of affordable housing
2) Addressing behavioral health needs of vulnerable residents 3) Maintaining equitable access to safe and healthy open spaces 4) Strengthening regional capacity to address homelessness.
Through the HSP engagement process, these pillars were revised and modified to the following, which will be used moving forward to guide the work of the HSP:
Pillar 1: Prevention
Goal: Help prevent housed Santa Monicans from becoming homeless through responsive service provision and increasing diverse housing supply so every resident can afford to remain in Santa Monica.
Pillar 2: Intervention
Goal: Minimize the length and severity of homelessness and its impacts on the community by providing effective supportive services.
Pillar 3: Coordination
Goal: Collaborate with key partners in the region and advocate for policies at the local, state, and federal levels to advance strategic goals and help ensure equitable allocation of services and resources.
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Pillar 4: Communication
Goal: Coordinate communication to clearly convey the City’s homelessness response and outcomes and promote community input.
While moving forward with the creation of the HSP, staff have continued to advance efforts and programs outlined to further our ongoing efforts to address and prevent homelessness.
Progress Updates
The HSP provides details beyond what is summarized in this staff report. Below are high level programs already underway, as well as new or expanded programs which will advance the HSP.
Pillar 1: Prevention
1) Preserving Our Diversity (POD): Sustain and expand existing eligibility of POD, which provides cash-based assistance to seniors who are low-income, long-term residents in rent-controlled apartments, to enable more seniors to age in place.
Budget Impacts: Existing funding from the Housing Trust Fund, totaling $3M annually; current staff resources are sufficient to advance this initiative. 2) Affordable Housing Development: Leverage city and other publicly owned underutilized properties for development of affordable housing, including permanent supportive housing. Two developments are underway on city-owned sites.
Budget Impacts: Currently, existing funding and staff resources are sufficient to advance this initiative.
3) Renters’ Protections Programs: RTC and Flexible Financial Assistance (FFA):
Expand, promote, and enforce eviction-prevention regulations and residentprotection resources, including a FFA program.
Budgetary Impacts: Up to $8 Million initially. $7 Million is available from Year 1 Measure GS funds and $1 Million from a one-time grant from the state’s Prohousing Incentive Program. Measure GS funding amounts are not fixed and will vary on an 12 of 24
annual basis due to external market factors. The prioritized implementation approach recommended by staff allows for flexibility in scaling the programs based on available resources and demand year-to-year, while ensuring the most vulnerable renters are prioritized. Staff recommend allocating $2 Million of the combined funds to the expanded RTC, and $6 Million to FFA. Appropriations will be incorporated into the FY 2025-27 Biennial Budget. The City currently funds two RTC attorneys under a contract with Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), these additional funds will pay for an additional five RTC attorneys. Dedicated funding will also go to community outreach and education for both RTC and FFA.
The Renters’ Protections Program outlines the process by which staff will expand services to protect 70% of Santa Monica residents who are renters. The plan is a two-pronged program approach: expand the existing RTC Program (legal assistance) and create a new FFA program for Santa Monica’s most vulnerable tenants in danger of eviction.
Framework for a Comprehensive Renters’ Protection Program City staff will manage oversight of the two Renters’ Protection Programs: RTC and FFA. Staff will work with partner agencies (once identified and selected) to establish program parameters, set performance metrics, and perform quarterly program performance evaluations.
Community outreach and renter education efforts are part of both programs, and will be conducted by the partner agencies, once selected, in tandem with City staff support and involvement. Ongoing community engagement and feedback through a small advisory group comprised of Santa Monica renters and other stakeholders is a component of the outreach design. With Council approval, staff anticipates implementation of the RTC expansion and the launch of FFA within 12-18 months. A likely initial challenge for both programs is partner agencies abilities to hire staff to support the programs. FFA is an innovative program that may also require additional 13 of 24
training for staff and partners and therefore will not launch concurrently with the RTC expansion.
Program performance metrics will be collected and reported out at the same frequency as the other HSP Objectives and will follow the data collection recommendations in Exhibits C and D of the Fetterman Dunn report.
Overall Program Design
Eligibility for RTC and FFA
1) Santa Monica Resident
2) Household income at or below 80% AMI
3) Prioritization based on vulnerability factors such as minor children in the home, age, length of tenancy, and disability status
Additional requirements for the FFA program:
1) Evidence that a household's rent going forward is financially sustainable 2) For those requiring one-time (emergency) financial assistance, verification of financial emergency within previous 12 months
RTC Services
All eligible Santa Monica renters, regardless of legal status, would be able to utilize some form of legal services to help prevent evictions. Full scope legal representation would be available for tenants facing eviction. Limited legal services - including legal advice, assistance with filing court documents, or completing fee waivers - would be offered for tenants that do not need full scope representation or when program funding limitations or capacity issues do not enable full scope representation to be offered. These services would be made available through the expansion of the current RTC program and would allow for the program to take up to 200 additional full scope legal representation cases. An external lead partner will be responsible for administering the program.
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FFA Program
The purpose of the FFA program is to help at-risk households remain housed and prevent them from: receiving a 3-day notice to pay or quit from their landlord; having a UD case filed against them; or if they are involved in a UD case and receiving RTC services, to help settle the UD case. An external lead partner will be responsible for administering the program, which will also offer housing stability and case management services to participating households that have a need for these services. The goal of these services is to address other factors, outside of financial pressures, that can increase the risk of housing instability. There are three categories of financial assistance:
• Immediate one-time assistance up to a maximum of $5,000 per household, per year, that are at-risk of losing housing due to a financial emergency. • Ongoing monthly assistance, totaling no more than $10,000 per household, annually, to help the household maintain housing.
• Up to $20,000 in eviction-prevention financial assistance for UD-involved households that are receiving legal services from the RTC program to support tenants in maintaining their housing or, for those who lose their case, support relocation expenses.
Prioritized Implementation
Based on its analysis of the needs, and an evaluation of services currently available, Fetterman Dunn Consulting developed “full scope” recommendations. However, staff recommend a prioritized implementation for the RTC expansion and new FFA program over the next five years. Moving forward with a prioritized implementation for the most housing vulnerable households will allow the City to deploy financial resources as funding is available to meet the demands for services. At recommended initial funding levels for prioritized implementation, staff anticipate serving up to 582 households in the FFA program (through one-time, intermediate, and eviction prevention financial assistance) and offering full scope legal services for up to 200 additional tenants in RTC. With City Council direction and approval, staff will move forward with identifying organizations to serve as the lead partner(s) for 15 of 24
the RTC and FFA programs. Qualifying organizations must demonstrate at least three years of successful experience providing rental assistance or legal services (depending on which program they are applying for) in Los Angeles County.
Preference will be given to those organizations that have specific experience providing these services to renters in Santa Monica, per SMMC 2.24.200.
Pillar 2: Intervention
1) SaMo Bridge: In April 2025, the City Attorney’s Office will launch SaMo Bridge, a diversion program designed to focus on rehabilitation in place of incarceration. This ‘respite hub’, funded by an $8 Million Prop 47 grant to the City and operated by Exodus Recovery, Inc., will allow law enforcement to offer low-level offenders services and resources in lieu of entering the criminal justice system. At its December 17, 2024 meeting, Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate and execute agreements with four vendors participating in implementation of SaMo Bridge, and adopted Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance 2796 (CCS) (IZO 2796) to exempt temporary uses on City-owned property or that utilize City funds during a declared local or state of emergency, to ensure that temporary uses, such as the ‘respite hub’, could operate in the City in a manner consistent with the Zoning Ordinance. Since then, in response to feedback from several community engagement meetings, the parking lot on the corner of Pico Boulevard and Main Street has been determined as the preferred location for operations rather than the cement patio adjacent to the Civic Center East Wing, as previously reported.
Budget Impacts: The Prop 47 grant will support SaMo Bridge operations for approximately 3 years. After that term, new funding must be secured to continue operations.
2) 24/7 Homelessness Response: Establish and maintain a network of 24/7 resources that include outreach, enforcement of laws, and connection to an appropriate level of care to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness. This includes expanding street outreach teams to operate seven days a week and the development of a long-term plan for the conversion of SAMOSHEL shelter into a permanent structure at an alternate location in the City. 16 of 24
Budget Impacts: Ongoing funding for current outreach teams and SAMOSHEL operational costs is budgeted and available. Costs to develop and relocate SAMOSHEL are currently unknown. SAMOSHEL initiative will move forward if sufficient Housing Trust Funds are available, or other additional funds are identified and appropriated by Council.
3) Behavioral Healthcare Services: Staff presented the Strengthening the System of Intensive Behavioral Healthcare Services for Adults in Santa Monica and Service Planning Area 5 report to Council on February 25, 2025, which outlines how the City can work both locally and regionally to build out adult crisis behavioral health care services. One of many street-based teams, the Therapeutic Transport Team (TTT) assists first responders with 911 and non-emergency calls for service for someone experiencing a mental health crisis. The program is supported with one-time funds through the current agreement period which ends on June 30, 2026.
Budget Impacts: Existing funding and staff resources are available to begin implementation of select initiatives. Additional initiatives would only move forward if funding is identified, available and appropriated by Council.
Pillar 3: Coordination
1) Caltrans Coordination: Advocate for Caltrans to effectively maintain its jurisdiction, including appropriate regional outreach, to mitigate costs to the City. Recently, the City was able to coordinate with Caltrans and expedite the installation of fencing and shrubbery removal at hot spots along the embankments in Santa Monica.
Budget Impacts: Existing staff resources are sufficient to advance this initiative. 2) LA METRO Coordination: Advocate for LA METRO to coordinate regional solutions that mitigate the varied impacts of its End-Of-Line (EOL) policy, including Metro contracting with a regional homelessness provider to staff outreach workers/case managers to assist people experiencing homelessness both on the train and on the platform. Currently, the outreach teams provide coverage at the EOL in the daytime and evening and has commenced limited overnight outreach to connect people to resources prior to them leaving the station. Additionally, in August 2024, the City 17 of 24
successfully advocated with METRO to pilot a TAP-TO-EXIT strategy (only the second city throughout the County to have this policy) which has already resulted in a significant increase in citations.
Budget Impacts: Existing staff resources are sufficient to advance this initiative.
Pillar 4: Communication
1) Citywide Communications Strategy: Implement a citywide Communications Strategy that educates and informs the public about the City’s homelessness initiatives, their impact, and how residents and businesses can participate in the City’s response to homelessness.
2) Enhanced 311 Utilization: Establish an integrated and robust process for community members to use 311 for triaging requests and concerns related to homelessness.
Budget Impacts: Existing funding and staff resources are available to begin implementation of the initiatives above. Additional expansion will move forward when required resources are identified, available and appropriated by Council.
Human Services Division Reorganization
The Moss Adams Report Recommendations highlighted the need of the City to appropriately match staff capacity and resources with community expectations related to homelessness response and prevention. This recommendation led to the creation of the Housing and Human Services Department, as well as the addition of a Director to oversee the Department. Now, in furtherance of matching staff to the needs, and to advance the execution and oversight of the HSP, as well as implement future programs which are anticipated, HHS seeks a targeted division reorganization, moving the current Homelessness Prevention and Intervention (HPI) unit out of the Human Services Division and establish the standalone HPI Division. This will allow for more focused management and oversight of homelessness intervention and prevention efforts and allow for more focus in the Human Services Division on advancing services that support youth and families. As part of this reorganization, there are key staffing needs, summarized below.
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The HPI Division will be led by a new HPI Manager, who will supervise the existing staff that work on HPI priorities and goals. The HPI Division will also bring on an additional Sr. Analyst devoted to oversight and coordination of the City’s ongoing homeless outreach programs. While existing staff regularly collaborate with SMPD and the City’s contracted outreach providers, HHS lacks a staff position committed to owning coordination, assessing gaps in outreach based on data, and pivoting resources to where trends evidence need. This new position will fill a critical need and ensure any outreach gaps are identified quickly and addressed nimbly.
HHS also seeks to add a new Sr. Housing Specialist to address an existing gap in the ability to connect individuals at-risk of losing housing, or already unhoused in our community, to existing vouchers. Ensuring people at-risk of losing housing are quickly connected to existing vouchers, or that unhoused individuals who meet our Santa Monica Priority Program eligibility requirements can quickly move into housing with onsite supportive services, is crucial to addressing the needs of the community. This new position will support individuals in navigating the entirety of the voucher process - providing guidance regarding program procedures and processes to applicants and community partners, assist in matching individuals to available vouchers by working with partners, stakeholders, and community members, and support individuals after their voucher is approved to ensure they are able to find a home and utilize their voucher in a timely manner.
The work of addressing homelessness is one of the City’s top priorities, as such, separating this work within its own Division and with its own Manager to provide oversight and direction is a necessary advancement of the important work already underway, and ensures the City will be able to advance the HSP and future efforts to both address and prevent homelessness, while ensuring the important work of the Human Services Division can continue with its own separate focused management.
Both the Division reorganization and the addition of these key staff will support our efforts in advancing the objectives of the HSP, meeting milestones, further engaging the 19 of 24
community in our work, and provide a more organized, focused, and disciplined pathway forward for HPI work.
Budget Impacts: Ongoing costs for 3 FTE additional staff, total $509K annually.
Funding for all changes is available from Measure GS ($497K) and Housing Trust Funds ($12K), with no impact to the General Fund. Due to the limited historical data upon which to project future GS funds, these staffing changes use less than 50% of Year 1 GS funding that is available for administrative expenses, which effectively establishes a reserve that could be used to mitigate funding gaps should GS revenues trend down in future years. Once the Measure GS committee is in place and the City gains a better understanding of the availability of GS funds based on multiple years of revenues, future staffing needs will be brought forward for Council approval. For now, we can forecast having sufficient ongoing funding for all staffing changes with no future impacts to the General Fund.
Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency on Homelessness The City Council adopted a Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency Order on Homelessness (2023 Proclamation) on February 14, 2023 (Attachment G), which Council extended on May 9, 2023, through May 31, 2024 (Attachment H) and then extended again on May 14, 2024, through May 31, 2025 (Attachment I). In the last year, the City used the 2024 Proclamation to fast-track the critical efforts outlined in the tables below. In addition, the Proclamation now makes clear that the Director of the Community Development Department, or designee, has authority to approve temporary uses located on City property or utilizing City funds that support people who are at-risk of or experiencing homelessness or to address local impacts of homelessness.
Pursuant to SMMC 9.46.090(C), IZO 2796 expired on February 15, 2025. Staff did not return to Council with an extension prior to the expiration in order to ensure a complete community outreach process related to the Prop 47 grant, particularly the location of the SaMo Bridge respite hub. It is anticipated that staff will return with interim zoning regulations related to temporary uses during a declared local or state of emergency at the March 25, 2025 meeting. The Proclamation and the interim zoning regulations will 20 of 24
allow flexibility in location of the SaMo Bridge respite hub should the need for alternate locations arise.
Key Initiatives Advanced Under The Homelessness Emergency Order Key Initiatives
Organization /
Department
Extending the term of an existing acquisition and
predevelopment loan with Community Corporation of Santa Monica (CCSM) and making a loan commitment to CCSM for
the rehabilitation and development of affordable housing at 2033-2101 Virginia Avenue CCSM/HHS
Making a loan commitment to CCSM for the development of affordable housing at 1342 Berkeley Street. CCSM/HHS
Contracts Executed As Exception To Competitive Bidding Process Under The Homelessness Emergency Order
Program Services
Organization /
Department
Amount and Time
Period
SaMo Bridge Operator/Service
Provider
Exodus Recovery/CAO $5.6 million over 3
years
SaMo Bridge Mobile Trailer Lease Willscot/CAO $650K over 3 years
SaMo Bridge Grant Administration Elizabeth Anderson
Consulting/CAO
$225K over 3
years
SaMo Bridge Evaluation and Audit
Services
Moss Adams/CAO $350K over 3
years
Affordable
Housing
Programs
Compliance
Monitoring Software
Main Street
Computing/HHS
$124K over 2
years
SMHA Programs Employment
Verification Software
Carahsoft Technology
Corp./HHS
$100K over 3
years
Behavioral
Health Strategy
Consulting Capstone
Solutions/HHS
$100K over 3
years
Westside Mental
Health Urgent
Crisis Beds Exodus Recovery/HSS $400K onetime for
access in
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Care Center
(UCC)
perpetuity
Therapeutic
Transport Team
(TTT)
Operator/Service
Provider
County of Los
Angeles/HHS
$464K over 2.5
years
Given the many contracts and key initiatives advanced by leveraging the 2024 Proclamation, staff recommends the City Council adopt a new 2025 Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency on Homelessness (2025 Proclamation) through December 31, 2026, to maintain the momentum and achieve the objectives of the HSP as homelessness continues to increase at the local, regional, and state level and is now exacerbated by the recent wildfires.
The 2025 Proclamation will allow the City to continue to address the crisis in a nimble way, including allowing for enforcement of laws that support homelessness prevention, such as Penal Code 396 (e), which limits annual rent increases to no more than 10% during a Proclamation, and streamline, accelerate, and expedite processes to advance development of affordable housing infrastructure and programs. By leveraging the flexibility provided by the emergency order, we can adapt our hiring practices to ensure we have the necessary workforce to effectively address homelessness.
Past Council Actions
Date Description
11/14/22 (Attachment F) 2022 Moss Adams Homelessness Study 02/14/23 (Attachment G)
2023 Proclamation of a Local Homelessness
Emergency
05/09/23 (Attachment H)
2023 Proclamation of a Local Homelessness
Emergency Extension
06/27/23 (Attachment I) Authorization for Agreement with BerryDunn 08/22/23 (Attachment J)
Protecting Santa Monica’s Most Vulnerable Renters
(16 Item - I)
05/14/24 (Attachment K) 2024 Proclamation of a Local Homelessness Extension 05/14/24 (Attachment L)
2024 Annual Interdepartmental Update on Addressing
Homelessness
22 of 24
Environmental Review
Approval of the Human Services Division Reorganization Plan and the 2025 Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency on Homelessness would have no effect on the environment, and therefore, is categorically exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the CEQA Guidelines, which states that CEQA does not apply, “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.” Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to appropriate available Measure GS funds which were received in Year 1 for the period March 2023 through February 2024 to expenditure accounts in accordance with allowable allocations to the Homelessness Prevention and Affordable Housing (HPAH) Fund, as defined in Section 4.90.040 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code. These resources will be used to fund proposed staffing changes, Right to Counsel services, and the Flexible Financial Assistance program.
FY 2024-25 Budget Amendment
Appropriate Budget
Account Description FY 2024-25
29800001.55XXXX MEASURE GS - AFFORDABLE HOUSING $8,998,739 29800001.55XXXX MEASURE GS - INCOME ASSISTANCE $5,399,243 29800001.55XXXX MEASURE GS - TENANCY PRESERVATION $2,519,647 Once complete, the appropriations detailed above will leave a balance of $1,079,849 in Year 1 Measure GS funds. This amount represents the maximum 6% in annual GS revenues that may be utilized for staffing and administration and would cover just over two years of ongoing staffing costs.
In addition, the following budget adjustments and FTE changes are required to facilitate the proposed staffing changes as detailed in Attachments C and D. 23 of 24
Fund
Department -
Category
Net
FTE
FY 2024-25
(Pro -Rated)
FY 2025-27
(Ongoing)
General Fund (01)
HHS - Salaries &
Wages
2.00 $ 143,518 $ 509,554
Non-Departmental -
Transfers In
$ (4,028) $ (11,867)
$ (139,490) $ (497,687)
TOTAL IMPACT TO GENERAL FUND $ - $ -
Housing Trust Fund
(10)
Non-Departmental -
Transfers Out
- $ 4,028 $ 11,867
Measure GS Fund (29)
Non-Departmental -
Transfers Out
- $ 139,490 $ 497,687
TOTAL IMPACT TO OTHER FUNDS $ 143,518 $ 509,554
Staff will incorporate ongoing budget actions into the City’s FY 2025-27 Biennial Budget.
All future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval. Staff will return to Council if additional budget actions are required.
Prepared By: Natasha Kingscote, Administrator
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Attachment A - Homelessness Strategic Plan
B. Attachment B - Renters Protection Report - Fetterman Dunn C. Attachment C - General Salary Resolution - March 2025 D. Attachment D - HSP - Position and Classification Changes E. Attachment E - 2025 Proclamation Declaring a State of Emergency on Homelessness
F. Attachment F - Moss Adams Homelessness Study 11-30-22 24 of 24
G. Attachment G - Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency on Homelessness 02-14-23
H. Attachment H - Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency on Homelessness 05-09-23
I. Attachment I - Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency on Homelessness 05- 14-24
J. Attachment J - Authorization for Agreement with BerryDunn 06-27-23 K. Attachment K - Protecting Santa Monica's Most Vulnerable Renters 8.22.23 Council Meeting Item 16I (Web Link)
L. Attachment L - Annual Interdepartmental Update on Addressing Homelessness 05-14-24
M. Written Comments
N. PowerPoint Presentation