Title
Discuss and Recommend Board’s Role on the Proposed Long-Range Planning for the Homeless and Development of Transitional Housing Option for Alameda’s Unhoused
Body
To: Honorable President Christine Chilcott and Members of the Social Service Human Relations Board
BACKGROUND
On November 1, 2016, the City Council directed the Social Service Human Relations Board (SSHRB) to review the City’s current policies and procedures to address homelessness. The task involved proposing revisions to the policies and to provide recommendations to support the City’s unhoused population. SSHRB’s Homelessness Action Plan Work Group partnered with the Housing Authority and City staff and developed the Alameda Homelessness Report, which was adopted by Council on March 20, 2018. The Report outlines the following four policy areas:
1. Services to Homeless Individuals - programs and policies focused on harm reduction, health and social support, benefits enrollment, and housing navigation but will not reduce the number of individuals living with homelessness. Initiatives under this policy recommendation include: Homeless Outreach Team, Community Paramedicine Program, and Supplemental Case Management.
2. Temporary Shelter for the Homeless - non-permanent shelter options that can reduce the time homeless individuals spend on the street but do not eliminate homelessness. This policy recommendation can be supported by establishing a Homeless Shelter, Winter Warming Shelter, and the Alameda Health and Wellness Center.
3. Permanent Housing - long-term solutions to homelessness that involve a commitment to house the homeless. This policy calls for local investment in housing for the homeless as well as construction of additional units of all types and prices.
4. Local Code and Strategy Action - policy statements and changes to the City’s Zoning Code to better support other policy and programming recommendations contained in the Report. The Code and Action policy option advocates for zoning amendments to support homeless programs, implementing the Parking Meters for the Homeless program that is place in other cities, and declaring a Homeless State of Emergency.
The Report contains specific program recommendations for each of the above policy areas to support the health and social service needs of Alameda’s unhoused residents. It also presents approaches to reduce homelessness in the City through housing and zoning strategies. These policy recommendations are consistent with the County’s 2018 Strategic Update to its Countywide Homeless and Special Needs Housing Plan, which was adopted by Council on May 5, 2009 (Resolution No. 14327). The 2018 plan update was adopted by Council on July 16, 2019 (Resolution No. 15566), per SSHRB’s recommendation at its April 25, 2019 meeting.
On December 18, 2019, Council participated in a workshop to set its 2020-2021 priorities. Council’s Focus Area 3: Supporting Enhanced Livability and Quality of Life, includes homelessness as a priority and identifies transitional housing/resources as a strategy. The Community Development Department (CDD) has been identified to lead this effort, with support from the City Manager’s Office. CDD works directly with SSHRB on addressing the health and human service needs of Alameda residents.
DISCUSSION
California is at a state of homeless crisis. In two years’ time, Alameda County’s homeless population has grown by 43% (from 5,629 to 8,022) between the 2017 and 2019 Point in Time (PIT) count. The City of Alameda had a corresponding increase of 13% from 204 to 231 homeless individuals during this period. Job loss, mental health, substance use, evictions, foreclosures, and incarceration have been identified in the final report issued by EveryOne Home on the 2019 PIT survey as causes of homelessness.
The dramatic increase in unemployment brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic will no doubt exacerbate the issue of homelessness in our communities. Cities are now challenged with continuing to find housing solutions for those who are currently unhoused while curtailing the rise in homelessness that can result from job losses. Meanwhile, encampments continue to grow and migrate throughout Alameda. As services and establishments have shut down since the shelter order was put in place six months ago, the homeless are even more visible in our City. Absent of alternative housing options to offer the unhoused, the City is constrained by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2018 Boise decision prohibiting the abatement of encampments on public lands, causing ire and frustration for Alameda residents.
Today, the City offers 17 different programs to support its unhoused residents, majority of them (14 programs) were made possible through a $756,524 allocation of Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) funds by the State to Alameda. A number of services recommended in the Report developed by SSHRB are in place today. HEAP expires on March 21, 2021, and funding to sustain the programs initiated through HEAP is needed.
While current programs support the immediate concerns around health, safety, and social service needs of Alameda’s unhoused population, they do not reduce homelessness. As noted in the Report, policies that involve commitment to long-term permanent housing solutions, changing zoning codes, and taking strategic actions, such as declaring a Homeless State of Emergency to allow the City to prioritize homeless people for housing, are needed to make a meaningful impact in reducing homelessness in the City. The County’s strategic plan is also calling for such solutions that are housing-focused.
Now, more than ever, long-range planning is needed to address homelessness in our City. Such planning supports Council’s request for strategies on homelessness that it identified as a priority for 2020-21. While permanent housing solutions are on the horizon, transitional housing options are needed today to move people from encampments to safer living situations during the pandemic and to be able to more effectively work with unhoused clients to secure permanent housing.
As the department tasked by Council to develop strategies to address homelessness in the City, CDD staff recommends that SSHRB work with the City Manager, through CDD staff, on developing a Long-range Strategic Plan on Homelessness for the City of Alameda and to establish a transitional housing option for its unhoused residents. Staff is seeking support from SHHRB to help guide the planning process for both projects.
On October 6, 2020, staff is seeking Council’s support to fund the development of an Alameda long-range homelessness plan in the amount of $125,000 to secure a consultant to coordinate the work and develop a final product. Staff is also seeking Council’s support to fund the development of a transitional housing option for the unhoused in the amount of $200,000 in one-time costs to build tiny homes/cozy cabins and $500,000 annually to operate the program. If funded, staff will come back to SSHRB at its October 22, 2020 meeting to present a plan with timeliness to carry-out both projects.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that SSHRB discuss and recommend Board’s role on the proposed long-range planning for the homeless and development of transitional housing option for Alameda’s unhoused.
Exhibits:
1. Alameda Homelessness Report
2. EveryOne Home 2018 Strategic Plan Update