Title
Recommendation to Receive an Update on a Strategic Plan for Addressing Homelessness in Alameda. (Community Development 267)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On July 25, 2020, City Council held a planning workshop which included, in part, a discussion of City Council priorities for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-21. One identified priority was preparation of a Strategic Plan for addressing homelessness in Alameda. This report updates the City Council on the timing and approach for preparing the requested Strategic Plan.
BACKGROUND
On November 1, 2016, the City Council directed the Social Service Human Relations Board (SSHRB) to review the City of Alameda’s (City) then current policies and procedures applicable to addressing homelessness. The task involved proposing revisions to current policies and providing 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 (Report), which was adopted by City Council on March 20, 2018.
The Report provides a summary of the state of homelessness in the city, assesses resources that support the unhoused population, and recommends policy options to address both symptoms and causes of homelessness. The Report established the following policy options to tackle homelessness in Alameda:
1. Services to Homeless Individuals - programs and policies focused on harm reduction, health and social support, benefits enrollment, and housing navigation. Initiatives under this policy recommendation include: the Homeless Outreach Team, the 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. 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. Additional actions include implementing the parking meters to collect funds for the homeless program, and declaring a Homeless State of Emergency.
The policy recommendations presented in the Report are consistent with the County of Alameda’s (County) strategies to reduce homelessness in the region. EveryOne Home, the federally designated Continuum of Care responsible for planning, facilitating, and coordinating efforts to end homelessness in the County published the Alameda Countywide Homeless and Special Needs Housing Plan in 2006, which was adopted by City Council on May 5, 2009 (Resolution No. 14327). The 2018 Strategic Update to this Plan was adopted by City Council on July 16, 2019 (Resolution No. 15566). The County’s strategies that focus on preventing homelessness, expanding affordable housing stock (including options for extremely low-income homeless people), and aligning government funding and policies to reduce homelessness are consistent with the City’s policy options identified in the Report.
Since publication of these plans, California’s homeless population continues to grow and is now at a level of crisis. This issue is nowhere more palpable than in the Bay Area where increasing rents and lack of affordable housing are major contributing factors to homelessness. In January 2017, the City participated in the first biennial Point in Time (PIT) count conducted in Alameda County, which found 5,629 people experiencing homelessness in the county, with 204 of them in a shelter or unhoused in Alameda. In the 2019 PIT count, the County’s homeless population increased by 43%, to 8,022. Alameda’s unsheltered population rose by 13%, to 231 individuals during this period. EveryOne Home’s final report on the 2019 PIT survey identifies job loss, mental health issues, substance use, evictions, foreclosures, and incarceration as causes of homelessness.
On December 18, 2019, City Council held 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. This workshop was followed up with a second workshop on July 25, 2020, at which City Council indicated they would like to see a Strategic Plan on Homelessness. This staff report provides an update on that effort.
DISCUSSION
Significant strides have been made to support the critical needs of Alameda’s homeless population since the publication of the City’s Report and the County’s 2018 strategic plan update. In 2018, the City declared a state of emergency regarding homelessness in the community and was allocated $756,524 in Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) to fund one-time projects to tackle the City’s most immediate needs to support its homeless population. [The Report recommended declaration of a local emergency to focus the attention and resources needed to address homelessness in Alameda.]
Fourteen programs have been launched through HEAP, including those recommended in the Report:
• A Homeless Outreach Team was established;
• Enhanced case management was funded; and
• A winter warming shelter was launched, which begins its third season in November.
Other HEAP-funded initiatives include:
• Opening a day center and safe parking programs,
• Establishing a homeless hotline to coordinate service delivery and public calls,
• Operating a mobile shower and laundry program; and
• Providing emergency rental assistance and subsidies to prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless.
City Council approved the parking meter donation collection program included in the Report (coming soon) and the City continues to fund Mobile Outreach and the Community Paramedicine programs. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds help support the Midway Shelter, along with other safety net services such as the Food Bank. Partnership with the County’s Health Care for the Homeless has also brought the Mobile Health Clinic and Street Health Program to serve Alameda’s homeless.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, over $200,000 of the $1 million CARES Act funds allocated to Alameda has been dedicated to expand the days and hours of the Day Center and Safe Parking programs, as well as implement Block By Block to increase outreach to the homeless population in the business districts while keeping those areas clean, safe, and hospitable for guests through the end of the year. CDBG CARES Act funds are being used to provide rent relief grants to prevent Alameda tenants from losing their homes. The City is actively participating in the State’s Project Roomkey through acquisition of four FEMA trailers to help older adults and medically-fragile homeless individuals shelter-in-place during the pandemic.
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 Alameda Homelessness Report, policies that involve commitment to long-term permanent housing solutions, changing zoning codes, and other strategic actions are needed to make a meaningful impact in reducing homelessness in the city. The County’s strategic plan also calls for solutions that are primarily housing-focused.
There are permanent housing solutions on the horizon for Alameda. Eden Housing’s 60 units for low-income seniors opened this year, but has over 300 people on its waiting list. Eden Housing’s next project for low-income and homeless families (70 units) is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2021. The Housing Authority commenced construction on Rosefield Village in September, and that project will result in approximately 50 new affordable units as part of a 92-unit project. In addition, the Housing Authority’s North Housing project includes a 90-unit supportive housing project for homeless individuals and families. While that project will be the first phase of development at North Housing, it is in the pre-development stage. Alameda Point Collaborative’s 90-bed permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless medially frail and older adults is not expected for another five years. City Council recently selected a developer for the West Midway project that includes the RESHAP project, 267 units of housing for formerly homeless residents at Alameda Point [200 units of replacement housing and 67 new units]. The RESHAP project is also in the pre-development phase.
As evidenced by the projects under construction and in pre-development, the City has a firm commitment to building and supporting permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals and families. However, these projects take time and require complex funding and development approvals which can be opposed by neighbors and others, adding to the time and cost of bringing about true solutions to ending homelessness.
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 Alameda. Absent 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. The long-term nature of the solutions to homelessness (which go beyond permanent supportive housing), the incomplete nature of immediate services, and the legal constraints and limited options are a cause of frustration for Alameda residents and businesses, as well as staff and homeless service providers and advocates. Given these constraints and the challenges faced by homeless people themselves, an overarching policy of ending homelessness through a series of short- , medium-, and long-term strategies is required.
Alameda must brace for the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. With HEAP funding ending in March 2021, and other on-going and potential future funding for the homeless coming under threat due to federal, state, and local governments facing reductions in revenues due to the economic crisis and unanticipated spending to address needs due to the pandemic, such planning is critical. As permanent housing projects are being built over the next two to five years, intermediate solutions in the form of temporary and transitional housing, such as Tiny Homes/Community Cabins, are needed to provide alternatives to encampments and street living. Identification of on-going funding for the City’s current programs as the day center and safe parking is also critical.
Staff will work with SSHRB to develop a long-range strategic plan with specific goals, tactics, and activities to address the housing and homelessness challenges of Alameda. Staff has been advised by our non-profit partners that, for the strategic plan to be most effective, it should include information about funding and program priorities to be set by the State and County during the early part of next year. Therefore, a final plan will be presented to City Council by April 2021.
As part of this process, staff will work with SSHRB to develop a Transitional Housing option, such as tiny homes/community cabins, which could be implemented ahead of and separate from the Strategic Plan. Based on work to date, it is proposed that a transitional housing community, housing up to 20 people, be established at Alameda Point. Residents could live in the community for up to six months while working on securing permanent housing. The one-time start-up cost to build the cabins and set-up the infrastructure is approximately $200,000. The operating cost is approximately $500,000 annually. Staff’s work with SSHRB will include refining the concept and identifying funding sources for City Council consideration. This effort will enable the City to move people from the encampments into transitional living to allow case managers to better support clients and monitor their progress towards obtaining housing.
ALTERNATIVES
• Receive the update as described above.
• Provide further direction to staff regarding the update.
• Request staff to revise the update and report back to Council.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no impact to City funds from receiving an update on the Strategic Plan on Homelessness.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is consistent with the SSHRB Charter and Ordinance authority “to improve social services in the community” (Alameda Municipal Code Section 2-11.5) and the policy recommendations in the Alameda Homeless Report.
This action is also consistent with and supports City Council’s 2020-2021 priority Focus Area 3: Supporting Enhanced Livability and Quality of Life.
CLIMATE IMPACTS
The Social Vulnerability Assessment section of the draft 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.”
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15601(b)(3).
RECOMMENDATION
Receive an update on a Strategic Plan for Addressing Homelessness in Alameda.
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
The City Manager concurs with staff’s thoughts to move the development of strategies through SSHRB. I additionally am working with Community Development staff on the development of community cabins. We are working toward that development this Fiscal Year.
Respectfully Submitted,
Debbie Potter, Community Development Director
By:
Ana Bagtas, Community Development Manager
Financial impact section reviewed,
By: Nancy Bronstein, Acting Finance Director
cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager