Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a One-Year Agreement with Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency to Provide Interim Supportive Housing and Property Management Services at Dignity Village in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $2,026,715 and to Terminate the Agreement with Five Keys Schools and Programs. (City Manager 10021833)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Alameda (City), DignityMoves, and Five Keys Schools and Programs (Five Keys), received a Homekey 2 grant to construct and operate Dignity Village, a 47-unit, 61-bed interim supportive housing program for homeless individuals and unhoused transitional age youth, located at 2350 5th Street. Since opening in May 2023, Dignity Village has housed a total of approximately seventy-five (75) individuals. Five Keys has a five-year agreement with the City to provide interim supportive housing services, including housing navigation services, case management, facilities maintenance, and 24/7 security services. In June 2024, Five Keys and the City mutually agreed to terminate the agreement and work to transition services to new provider.
Staff requested proposals from Bay Area Community Services (BACS), Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS) and HomeFirst, which are all local service providers who operate emergency shelter, interim and/or permanent housing. Staff recommends City Council authorize the City Manager to terminate the agreement with Five Keys and execute an agreement with BOSS to provide interim supportive housing and property management services at Dignity Village for up to one year while staff conducts a Request for Proposal process to identify a long-term provider.
BACKGROUND
In November 2021, City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding with DignityMoves and Five Keys, which ultimately led to the Homekey 2 application submission and award to support the construction and initial operation of Dignity Village.
In October 2022, City Council authorized the City Manager to enter into a five-year agreement with Five Keys to provide interim supportive housing for Dignity Village in the amount not-to-exceed $10,745,844. In May 2023, Dignity Village opened. Upon opening, Dignity Village housed Alameda constituents experiencing homelessness.
In June 2024, Dignity Village, staff of the Housing and Human Services Division of the City Manager’s Office and Alameda Police Department staff were made aware of alleged financial misconduct by a Dignity Village staff person. The investigation is currently open and Dignity Village has placed the staff person on leave. City staff recommends terminating the agreement with Five Keys and executing an agreement with BOSS. Per the agreement with Five Keys (Exhibit 2), the City has the option to terminate at its sole discretion with seven (7) days’ written notice (see excerpt below). Five Keys agreed with the termination and will work collaboratively with the City and the selected provider to facilitate a smooth transition.
Section 19 TERMINATION:
a. In the event Provider fails or refuses to perform any of the provisions hereof at the time and in the manner required hereunder, Provider shall be deemed in default in the performance of this Agreement. If such default is not cured within two (2) business days after receipt by Provider from the City of written notice of default, specifying the nature of such default and the steps necessary to cure such default, the City may thereafter immediately terminate the Agreement forthwith by giving to Provider written notice thereof.
b. The foregoing notwithstanding, the City shall have the option, at its sole discretion and without cause, of terminating this Agreement by giving seven (7) days’ prior written notice to Provider as provided herein.
c. Upon termination of this Agreement either for cause or for convenience, each party shall pay to the other party that portion of compensation specified in this Agreement that is earned and unpaid prior to the effective date of termination. The obligation of the parties under this Section 19.c. shall survive the expiration or early termination of this Agreement.
Staff requested proposals from BACS, BOSS and HomeFirst, all of which are local services providers who operate emergency shelter, interim and/or permanent supportive housing in the Bay Area. BOSS was the only service provider that provided a proposal to the City.
After receiving the initial proposal from BOSS, on June 13, City staff visited two properties that BOSS operates and met with staff at length. Based on this discussion and clarifications with staff, BOSS submitted an updated proposal to provide operational services at Dignity Village. In order to ensure continuation of services for residents of Dignity Village, staff recommends entering into an agreement with BOSS for up to one year while staff conducts a comprehensive Request for Proposal (RFP) process to identify a long-term provider for Dignity Village. Staff intends to quickly issue the RFP and return to City Council in the fall with an agreement for a long-term service provider.
DISCUSSION
The mission of BOSS is to help homeless, poor, and disabled people achieve health and self-sufficiency, and to fight against the root causes of poverty and homelessness. Formed in 1971, BOSS has operated several emergency, interim/transitional, and permanent housing programs for nearly five decades, many of which are of similar size and scope to Dignity Village. The proposed agreement (Exhibit 1) includes the following services for Dignity Village:
• Intake/needs assessments
• Individualized service planning/goal setting
• Case management (individualized one on one, ongoing throughout residency) and Barrier Removal Support
• Life skills classes/activities
• Peer mentoring and peer support groups
• Housing search, navigation and placement assistance, including landlord advocacy, document readiness, move-in support
• Referrals/service linkages for health/mental health, legal assistance, income/benefits advocacy, education, employment, and family/children’s services as appropriate
• Meal Delivery services and amenities
• Facility/property management
• Security and janitorial services
BOSS will also coordinate directly with the mental health services that are provided onsite by Alameda Family Services under a separate agreement with the City.
Proposed staffing:
|
Position |
FTE # |
Responsibilities |
|
Interim Housing Program Manager |
1 |
Program oversight; supervision of all staff; network with funders, stakeholders and community partners; ensuring data/report submissions. |
|
Assistant Property Manager & Activities Coordinator |
1 |
Provides intentional oversight of property operations, actively responding to the needs; also coordinates activities for residents. |
|
Housing Navigators |
2 |
Housing readiness assessments and housing planning, identifying housing needs/goals, barrier removal, housing search and document readiness, landlord advocacy/engagement, housing move-in assistance. |
|
Clinical Case Managers |
2 |
Working with residents to create individualized service plans, ongoing one on one case management to monitor progress towards goals and provide additional support to remove barriers to housing and achieve goals. |
|
Service Liaisons |
6 |
Day-to-day site monitoring, 1x1 conversation with residents, responding to resident and program needs and bringing in additional staff as needed. |
|
Janitor |
1 |
Maintain the Dignity Village site as well as the immediate area across Fifth Street and across Willie Stargell as appropriate; also assists with unit turnovers. |
|
Lead Maintenance |
0.4 |
Repairs and maintains property, as needed. |
|
Security Guards |
4.5 |
Secure the premises 24 hours a day, seven days a week |
In addition, the proposal includes program support from the Chief Strategy & Programs Officer (10%) and the Director of BOSS Shelter Network (10%) and Director of Clinical Supervision & Training (10%).
In its 53-year history, BOSS has provided high quality, compassionate, innovative services through three different Housing Security programs: Emergency Housing, Permanent Supportive Housing and Reentry Housing. Following is a list of properties that BOSS manages in the East Bay under its Emergency Housing program, which provides on-site case management and barrier removal, showers, storage, meals, and amenities, and assistance to seek and move into permanent housing. This shows the organization’s level of experience working in this field in the East Bay.
|
Project (City) |
Type of Housing |
Number |
|
Ursula Sherman Village (Berkeley) |
Emergency Shelter |
98 beds |
|
Casa Maria House (Oakland) |
Safe Haven |
17 beds |
|
South County Homeless Project (Hayward) |
Emergency Shelter |
24 beds |
|
Wood Street RV Safe Parking RV Park (Oakland) |
Safe Parking |
40 spaces for RVs |
|
Wood Street Community Cabins program (Oakland) |
Community Cabins |
100 small homes |
In addition, BOSS manages permanent supportive housing in Berkely, Oakland San Leandro and Hayward; offers reentry housing in Oakland; and provides housing navigation and housing stabilization services that serve individuals and families countywide.
Staff recommends entering into a twelve (12) month agreement, to ensure continued, uninterrupted services to the Dignity Village residents while also giving staff time to conduct a robust procurement that includes a request for proposals, interviews, site visits and reference checks. Staff intends only to utilize three to six months of this interim service provider agreement and will terminate the agreement once a long-term service provider agreement is approved by City Council following a competitive procurement process.
ALTERNATIVES
• Authorize the City Manager to terminate the Five Keys agreement and execute a one-year agreement with BOSS to provide interim supportive housing and property management services at Dignity Village in an amount not-to-exceed $2,026,715.
• Direct staff to identify a different service provider. This would require retaining Five Keys as the service provider for an additional three to six months while staff conducts a comprehensive procurement process.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Fiscal Year 2024-25 budget previously approved by City Council in October 2022 includes $2,096,923 of operating expenses for Dignity Village.
The Dignity Village operating budget is funded for five years from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, HomeKey and the General fund. As federal funding, ARPA funds require a competitive procurement process which includes the following exemption: “The public exigency or emergency for the requirement will not permit a delay resulting from publicizing a competitive solicitation.” Staff deems this exemption applicable given the need to keep Dignity Village operational and safe for its residents while a formal RFP process is conducted. There is minimal risk that if the federal government chooses to audit the City’s ARPA funds, it could determine this exemption is not applicable and not allow ARPA funds to be used during the interim period. However, staff is mitigating this risk both by conducting the RFP process expeditiously which limits the amount of time that BOSS is operating Dignity Village on an interim basis and because the City’s General Fund monies that are already allocated to the five-year operating budget can be utilized to cover this interim period.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action supports the City’s Strategic Plan priority to House All Alamedans and End Homelessness, specifically Project HH1 to address housing and human services functions and develop recommendations and Project HH2 to implement the Homelessness Strategic Plan. This action is also consistent with Goal 2 of “The Road Home: A Five -Year Strategic Plan to Prevent and Respond to Homelessness in Alameda.” This action is subject to the Levine Act.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action does not constitute a “project” as defined in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 and therefore no further CEQA analysis is required.
CLIMATE IMPACT
The Social Vulnerability Assessment section of the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan states:
“adaptation strategies should consider how [the homeless] will receive emergency communications and how they will be sheltered. Proper, safe housing for all is an adaptation and resilience strategy. Planning strategies should always consider these vulnerable populations in adaptation efforts.”
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the City Manager's Office to execute a one-year agreement with BOSS to provide interim supportive housing and property management services at Dignity Village in an amount not to exceed $2,026,715 and terminate the agreement with Five Keys Schools and Programs.
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Wooldridge, Assistant City Manager
By,
Lisa Fitts, Housing and Human Services Department Manager
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Margaret O’Brien, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Service Provider Agreement
2. Five Keys Agreement