HomeMy WebLinkAboutCM Homelessness Update____________________________________________________________________________________
FOR CITY CLERK ONLY
Council Meeting: July 5, 2022
Disposition: Accepted report and provided feedback to staff
Agenda Item No: 7.b
Meeting Date: July 5, 2022
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Department: City Manager
Prepared by: Marc Sabin,
Homeless Program Manager
City Manager Approval: ___________
TOPIC: HOMELESSNESS UPDATE
SUBJECT: INFORMATIONAL REPORT ON STATUS OF HOMELESSNESS IN SAN RAFAEL
RECOMMENDATION:
Accept informational report and provide direction and/or comment to staff.
BACKGROUND:
The homelessness updates that were presented to the City Council on June 7, 2021 and
December 6, 2021 serve as a comprehensive background to this informational update. In
particular, readers of this staff report that would like a more comprehensive background and
understanding of the City’s efforts regarding homelessness over the past several years should
direct their attention to the June 7, 2021 staff report.
While it is not possible to capture the breadth and depth of the June 7, 2021 staff report in a
small number of bullet points, the following are a few key dates to demonstrate some highlights
of the past five years:
•Spring 2016: Marin Homeless Outreach Team (HOT Program) launched - develops
customized housing strategies across service providers for each person experiencing
homelessness.
•Mid-2017: Coordinated Entry System launched – moves customized strategy
approach to a Countywide program. Uses objective measurements of vulnerability to
determine housing prioritization.
•Mid-2017: Marin Housing Authority pledges annual slots of Section 8 vouchers for
referrals from Coordinated Entry. State releases new funding for “Whole Person Care”
to provide resources to high utilizers of the healthcare system. “Housing First” is
launched at scale, which is the underlying approach for Marin County’s system of care -
including housing and case management. In Marin County, the primary provider of case
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management is through the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services
and the Marin Housing Authority is the key player in providing housing.
• 2017-present: As of May 2022, the Coordinated Entry system has housed 488 people
who had been experiencing chronic homelessness.
• 2018-2022: Community Homeless Fund (CHF) supported by all Marin jurisdictions.
Conversations are on-going regarding the use of the CHF for the next three years with
those jurisdictions that wish to participate.
• Fall 2020: City of San Rafael allocates $1.54M towards Marin’s first Project Homekey
site at 3301 Kerner Boulevard.
• Fall 2020: City of San Rafael allocates $750,000 towards Mill Street 2.0 permanent
supportive housing and shelter site.
• Summer 2021: Case Management regional expansion - City of San Rafael contributes
$260,000 for case management services.
• Summer 2021: Service Support Area (SSA) opens to focus supportive services to the
encampment.
• February 2022: City of San Rafael increases its funding of the Mill Street 2.0 permanent
supportive housing and shelter site by $350,000 for a total of $1,100,000.
• March 2022: The State’s Project RoomKey program ends
• April 2022: City of San Rafael Awarded Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) by the
State of California ($522,619)
• May 2022: Marin County convened a Homelessness Summit for all Marin’s jurisdictions
and partner agencies – the focus was on the Housing First model
• June 2022- City Council approves ERF Funding services to be provided by St. Vincent
de Paul Society of Marin County
Prior to the pandemic, there had been a decrease in homelessness in Marin County. Between
2017 and 2019, overall homelessness in Marin had fallen by 7%, long term chronic
homelessness had declined by 28% and unsheltered homelessness in San Rafael had
dropped by 30%. However, numbers since the pandemic are growing. In February 2022, Marin
County conducted its Point in Time Count. Preliminary reports indicate that there has been an
8.4% increase in overall homelessness, 10.5% increase in chronic homelessness, 35.2%
increase in family homelessness, and a 34.3% decrease in veteran homelessness. About 74%
of the people experiencing homelessness in Marin County are unsheltered.
This informational report will outline what has transpired since the December 2021 report and
will provide applicable updates to the specific elements included in that report.
ANALYSIS:
The below is a brief update on each of the three-tracks recommended in the June 7, 2021,
report (also included in the December 9, 2022 report).
“Track 1 – Immediate. Facilitate using Project Roomkey and Project Homekey existing
beds to house people and match them with case management.”
The shelter at 3301 Kerner Boulevard continues to operate as a shelter as Homeward Bound’s
new project on Mill Street continues to be under construction. The “Mill Street 2.0” project,
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which was partially funded through the City of San Rafael’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund
(AHTF), is nearing the completion of construction and will include 32 permanent supportive
housing units in addition to 44 shelter beds. Once Homeward Bound moves into the Mill Street
site, the 3301 Kerner Boulevard site will undergo improvements to create 44 permanent
supportive housing units. This project is being developed by Eden Housing. Partial funding for
the 3301 Kerner Boulevard site was also funded through the City of San Rafael’s AHTF. The
City of San Rafael has allocated approximately $2 million to this permanent supportive housing
project.
Regarding Project Roomkey, as mentioned in the June and December 2021 staff reports, there
were 40 hotel room beds through Project Roomkey in San Rafael that the County of Marin was
funding (and receiving reimbursement through the State for the room cost) that were being
operated by Catholic Charities. The Project Roomkey program came to an end this spring.
The Casa Buena site in Corte Madera adds another 18 units of permanent supportive housing
for individuals experiencing homelessness. As an illustration, the following is a table showing
recent and upcoming new permanent supportive housing units.
Site Type New Units
3301 Kerner Boulevard – San Rafael Project Homekey/City’s AHTF 44
Casa Buena – Corte Madera Project Homekey 18
S. Eliseo Drive – Larkspur Project Homekey 43
Mill Street 2.0 – San Rafael City’s AHTF 32
Marin County shows the total supply of permanent supportive housing at 649 units. There was
a 10% increase in permanent supportive housing units between 2020 and 2021.
“Track 2 – Leverage one-time stimulus monies to supercharge our existing Coordinated
Entry system while also mitigating current health and safety concerns (beginning June
2021, subject to ability to hire and operationalize case management capacity)”
Staff’s recommendation on this Track was implemented by the San Rafael City Council
through the allocation of $260,000 to support an increased program of housing-first case
management regionally in Marin County. Each of the Marin cities and towns decided to join in
this regional effort to support additional case management in Marin.
This case management will allow local cities and towns to continue to support high-needs,
chronically homeless individuals with transitioning into permanent housing. At the same time, it
is also critical for the City to continue to address the immediate health and safety concerns
among people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. This case management work is
already underway, and many individuals experiencing homelessness who have been resistant
to case management and unhoused for decades, are finally finding the stability they need to
engage on the next step towards getting housed.
As a second component to Track 2, staff recommended possible code amendments to restrict
encampments in certain high fire risk areas and critical use facilities to address public health
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and safety hazards. The San Rafael City Council subsequently approved such code
amendments as a part of the July 6, 2021 City Council meeting.
Also, as a part of staff’s Track 2 recommendation, staff suggested a program to “create a
designated area for people experiencing homelessness where they can have access to clean
camping facilities, restrooms, and storage.” This recommendation subsequently turned into the
Service Support Area (SSA) in early July 2021, which is intended as a temporary solution to
assist individuals experiencing homelessness. In the months leading up to July 2021, there
were extensive encampments under Highway 101 in downtown San Rafael on Caltrans owned
property. The City worked with Caltrans to relocate the encampments to the block between
Fifth and Mission Avenues, so that it can be an area of focused, supportive services.
The SSA is a collaborative approach with involvement from many local service providers who
have a focus on homelessness. It creates a central, designated place for our community
partners to provide services. Services vary and are provided weekly or multiple times per
week. Examples of partners providing services include: the Downtown Streets Team, Ritter
Center, Marin County Health and Human Services, Marin Humane Society, the CARE team,
the Spahr Center, the Salvation Army, and members of the Marin Street Chaplaincy. Service
providers have remarked to staff that the SSA allows them to reach more people and make
greater impacts than if encampments were spread out over many locations.
As part of the collaboration with Caltrans, the County of Marin, CHP, and multiple service
organizations, the SSA located between Fifth and Mission in downtown San Rafael provides:
• Full time security, 24x7
• Tents, cots, and sleeping bags
• Three restrooms with on-going maintenance
• Handwashing stations
• Electrical outlets and phone charging stations
• Garbage pick-up three times weekly
• Regular outreach
• Service referrals
• Dedicated meeting space to meet with case managers/social workers
• Weekly showers through Downtown Streets Team
• Other quality of life amenities
In addition to the above list, the service provider community also provided services such as
mobile medical health, animal care, Covid-19 testing and vaccination, legal service, and
Behavioral Health and Recovery Services. The SSA also provided dedicated office space for
the many providers who came on site. This office space created a dignified location for SSA
residents to talk about the services they needed in a manner that afforded them privacy.
The City and Caltrans had collectively agreed from the beginning that the SSA would be
temporary (6-12 months). It has now been in place for 12 months. With the number of
individuals declining within the SSA, and the addition of funding being increased for support
services, the SSA is planned to wind down in August 2022. The individuals that are currently
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residing in the space have been given a case manager who will provide them support to help
transition to permanent housing. At any given time, approximately 23 SSA residents had an
assigned case manager. Over the past 12 months, approximately 35 individuals who utilized
the SSA had a case manager. The success of the program has helped house 21 individuals
and cultivated important relationships that will provide supportive services for years to come.
The City of San Rafael roughly estimates that 15-20 individuals will still require ongoing
services post-SSA. The City is working with Saint Vincent de Paul through the Encampment
Resolution funding to ensure all individuals connected to the SSA remain or become closely
linked to services and case management once the SSA winds down. Additionally, the City
plans to continue other established resources such as mobile showers, restrooms, mental
health liaison services, outreach services, etc.
In December 2021, the State of California released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a
program entitled Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF). The City applied for these funds and
received notification at the beginning of April 2022 that it was awarded $522,619. The services
which this funding provides are two full time case managers- one of which will focus on
creating stronger links to Behavioral Health and Recovery services. The ERF services were
initiated on June 21,2022 and will sunset on June 30, 2024.
It is important to note that Saint Vincent de Paul will work with the individuals while the SSA is
still in operation and will maintain an intensive case management approach with individuals
post-SSA. This is the critical function of the ERF services. Saint Vincent de Paul case
managers will strive to maintain connections with individuals to develop a path to housing.
As a side note, the City has also participated in the regional Community Homeless Fund
(CHF), which has been supported in the past by all cities and towns in Marin at a total of
$180,000 per year for the past several years. Over the past few years, this fund has focused
on providing mobile showers at various locations in Marin County, including at Homeward
Bound’s temporary site at 3301 Kerner Boulevard and at the SSA. The City led a Request for
Proposals (RFP process) for the next round of the CHF with a focus on outreach, rapid
response, case management, and showers. The City received two proposals that primarily
focused on showers. City staff is now working with the two applicants to further explore the
proposals. The CHF will continue but likely with just the participation from Marin cities and
towns with a desire for mobile showers, including the County of Marin.
While “Housing First” and the creation of permanent supportive housing is the primary goal
shared by most involved entities in Marin, it can be a long process. Recognizing that, the City
is interested in exploring further partnerships in the area of “Interim Housing” that would be a
bridge between tent encampments and permanent supportive housing. Some examples have
included temporary one room, single occupancy structures built in a village setting.
The City has reached out to the County to explore the idea of a Request for Information (RFI)
modeled after the County’s approach to seek Project Homekey interested parties and sites.
This RFI would seek community partners, which could be private or public land owners and the
faith-based community, who are interested in the Interim Housing model.
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These units, common in other counties in California, can be stood up and in operation often in
less than six months. Interim Housing is not presented as the solution to homelessness, but
rather part of the continuum of services which mitigates individuals from having to remain
unsheltered while waiting on permanent housing stock to increase. The approximate cost for
an Interim Housing unit-including development of land, construction, office space and
bathroom facilities are approximately $30,000-$40,000 per door.
Additionally, the City and County staff are discussing additional encampment strategies that
will help San Rafael and other jurisdictions assist people get from encampments to permanent
housing.
“Track 3 – Leverage new housing monies to create additional permanent supportive
housing (beginning summer 2021)”
As noted above, 3301 Kerner Boulevard was selected as an original Project Homekey site in
the first round of the program. The Casa Buena (18 units) and S. Eliseo Drive (43 units) sites
were to follow. Also of note, the City of San Rafael has been very active with the City’s AHTF.
The City has allocated over $5 million from the AHTF to create new affordable units in San
Rafael.
In addition to funding permanent supportive housing, the City continues to put substantial
additional resources into homelessness in terms of outreach resources, case management,
neighborhood clean-up and job training, basic amenities like showers or restrooms, security
services, grant applications, and significant staff resources across all City departments.
Additional Updates
• In December 2021, the City of San Rafael filled its vacant “Homeless Program
Manager” position, continuing a commitment to dedicated staff on this topic that began
in 2013 with the mental health liaison position and then in 2016 with the homeless
program manager position. In June 2022, the City Council allocated additional funding
for an analyst-type position to support these efforts.
• In December 2021, the Marin County Board of Supervisors set aside $500,000 in
matching funds to assist with support on homeless encampment strategies in San
Rafael, Novato, and Sausalito. The staff report listed potential proposals could include
service for encampment security, camp management, and outreach or other services.
• The County and City is seeking additional funding through the current State budget
process which would add additional funds from the State, to be matched by the County,
for efforts such as Interim Housing.
• San Rafael continues to advocate for additional support and housing at the County
level. The City has seen the success of the SSA and believes that a similar program, or
Interim Housing programs, would provide an ongoing option for interim shelter for
unhoused individuals who are stabilizing before moving into housing.
Lastly, based on Marin County’s Data Dashboard from May 2022, since October 2017:
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• 488 people have been housed in Permanent Supportive Housing, 10 in May. 94% are
still housed.
• 72 veterans experiencing homelessness have been housed, four in May. Approximately
32 homeless veterans remain in Marin.
• 111 homeless families have been housed, six in May.
• Approximately 43 unsheltered and 36 sheltered homeless families remain in Marin.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
RECOMMENDATION:
Accept informational report and provide direction to staff.