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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 3977 City of Palo Alto (ID # 3977) Policy and Services Committee Staff Report Report Type: Meeting Date: 8/13/2013 City of Palo Alto Page 1 Summary Title: Approaches to Homeless Programs and Ordinance on Community Center Hours Title: Consideration of Approaches to Positively Impact Homelessness and Ordinance Regarding Establishment of Community Center Hours, including Cubberley, Stern and Mitchell Community Centers From: City Manager Lead Department: Community Services Recommendation Staff recommends that: 1. The Committee review alternative approaches for a possible multi-agency and service provider partnership that could have a positive impact on homelessness in Palo Alto. 2. The Policy and Services Committee recommend to Council an ordinance (Attachment A) that establishes hours of public access to the Cubberley Community Center and other City of Palo Alto Community Facilities as sunrise to 10:30 pm daily. Exceptions are allowed for duly authorized city employees or persons participating in city-sponsored activities, or other activities for which the City has provided written permission to utilize the grounds beyond the closing time. The ordinance also allows for the closure of specific facilities during portions of the day or the year as specified by the City Manager or his or her designee. Executive Summary Absent any restriction on hours of access, the Cubberley Community Center is being used by a growing number of individuals as a place of residence rather than a community center. As a multi-purpose public community center, with many preschool and afterschool programs on campus, the Cubberley Community Center has neither the appropriate facilities nor staffing to function in this capacity. Housing is neither the intended purpose nor appropriate use for the Cubberley Community Center. As Cubberley is currently open overnight, staff is concerned for City of Palo Alto Page 2 the safety and security of the Cubberley patrons, tenants, staff and the individuals residing on campus. Staff has been meeting with social service providers and others on means to address the issue of homelessness and use of community facilities and is recommending transitional funding and service enhancements to increase homeless outreach effectiveness and access to better services and alternatives. Additionally, staff recommendations have been developed to ensure that the core function of the community center and other City facilities, i.e., provision of a space for community events and programming is preserved by regulating hours of use (see Draft Ordinance). Background Since 1996, Palo Alto Municipal Code 22.04.320 has restricted access to City parks to between the hours of sunrise and 10:30 pm. There has not been a similar restriction on access to community centers, museums, theatres or City library grounds. There have been five to 10 individuals camping on the Cubberley Community Center campus for a number of years, mostly in their vehicles. In the last two years, the number of over-night inhabitants has increased significantly at this location. Counts vary by night, but there is currently an average of 20 individuals residing unsheltered on campus and an additional 10-20 vehicle dwellers who reside in the Cubberley parking lot. Many of the vehicles leave during the day, but at least eight campers remain on campus at all times. Staff attributes the increase of individuals residing on campus to many factors, including the closure of the Clara Mateo Shelter in Menlo Park, construction closures at the Mitchell Park Community Center, Art Center, and El Camino Park. Longer-term approaches to meeting the needs of neighbors and Cubberley patrons, as well as, individuals who are residing at Cubberley, include a proposed new municipal code ordinance defining the hours of designated public facilities and purposeful and specific outreach to the individuals residing at Cubberley and other City community centers, libraries and museums. Overview of Issues at Cubberley Many of the individuals residing at Cubberley observe the facility rules and their behavior causes no problems to others or staff. However, the actions of some others pose serious concerns. The key concerns are summarized below: City of Palo Alto Page 3 Day time: 1. Shower usage  Facilities are unmonitored, which is not consistent with best practices for a shower program.  Verbal disputes and physical altercations in the shower room.  Some Cubberley dwellers refuse to leave the shower facility by 8 am. 2. Storage of personal belonging on campus and in locker rooms. 3. Health and safety  Bathing and cooking in bathrooms. Night time: 1. Safety concerns as reported by:  Staff o Aggressive actions directed at staff by some individuals including verbal abuse and threats to person safety.  Tenants  Visitors/program participants 2. Health  Urination/defecation in the open.  Dumping of vehicle sewage in bathroom sinks.  Cleaning of food items in bathroom sinks.  Bathing/shaving in bathroom sinks. 3. Drinking and drug use 4. Fights between individuals 5. Overnight sleeping on campus (in vehicles and unsheltered). 6. Trespassing into class rooms for purpose of overnight shelter. Cubberley Facility Showers Many of the vehicle dwellers and individuals leave the campus during the day, but come back at night, usually after 8 pm. There are no specific programs for individuals residing on the Cubberley campus. However, the women’s and men’s locker rooms are open to the public for showering Monday to Friday, from 6:00 am to 8:00 am and are currently only used by the individuals residing at Cubberley during this period. City of Palo Alto Page 4 Over a decade ago, the gymnasium showers were opened for participants in Foothill College Athletic programs starting at 7 am. In 2004, some individuals asked the Cubberley Facility and Human Services Manager if the showers could be opened at 6:00 am to accommodate their work schedules. Although not participants in a Foothill College athletic program, the staff approved the request. At the time there were no other free public showers available in the community. The original public shower times were 6:00 am to 10:00 am. However, after receiving numerous complaints from facility tenants such as Cardiac Therapy Foundation, and Foothill College staff and students regarding the behavior of some of the individuals using the showers, Cubberley staff reduced the hours to 6:00 am to 8:00 am in 2011. The use of the showers is neither a formal City of Palo Alto program nor an official policy, and staff has set a closure date for public use of August 31, 2013. This closure does not require an action by the Council. Cubberley Safety Issues Increasingly, concerns and complaints from the public, program participants and tenants about these behaviors of the individuals residing at Cubberley have been reported to staff at the Cubberley Community Center office. Other more specific complaints have centered on individuals or groups of individuals intoxicated, vehicles that remain in the same location for extended periods of time, lawn chairs that are set up next to RV’s, loud music coming from the parking lot on weekends, syringe needles found around campus, and encounters with half- dressed people going to the showers in the morning. The individuals residing at Cubberley also have reported concerns for their personal safety and health and sanitation violations they have witnessed by other individuals on campus, both in the hallways and in the showers. The Cubberley Community Center custodial staff often report issues related to the individuals residing at Cubberley. For the night time custodial staff, the concerns raise exponentially. Only two custodians are on duty until 12:00 am. Their duties include cleaning and locking up the classrooms and bathrooms. They have witnessed numerous fights between individuals residing on campus, incidents of public drunkenness, cooking and cleaning of utensils and laundry in the bathrooms. At times, the janitors hesitate to approach an individual regarding their behavior due to personal safety concerns. Some individuals residing on campus also have approached staff to ask them to intervene with inter-personal disputes. Staff has called the Police Department when they become aware that criminal incidents have occurred. Over the past year, the Police Department has made a few arrests for battery and outstanding warrants on the Cubberley campus. However, for a majority of the calls for service, the Police do not make arrests. Most frequently, by the time the police arrive the parties have already left the scene or refuse to press charges against one another. Because either the Police did not witness the incident or because of a lack of victim cooperation, the Police was unable to take further action in regard to these incidents. City of Palo Alto Page 5 For a three-month period in spring 2013, Community Services felt the need to provide a security guard on campus at night to ensure staff safety after a threat was made to staff by an individual residing on campus. The Police Department filed a criminal complaint in regard to this incident and subsequently was able to obtain a protective order for the involved staff member. Claim Against the City for Injury Sustained in the Showers On June 10, 2013, the City received a claim for approximately $51,000 in damages filed by an individual as a result of a physical injury (fractured index finger) sustained by another individual residing at Cubberley while using the shower facility at Cubberley. Assault Incident on June 19, 2013 On June 19, 2013, the PAPD arrested a man for assaulting another man on the Cubberley Campus with a deadly weapon. Witnesses informed the Police Department that both men resided at Cubberley and the assault was precipitated by a dispute over national origin. DISCUSSION During 2013, staff has been working to find approaches to address the issues at Cubberley Community Center. Meetings have been conducted with Community Services Department, Police Department and City Manager’s Office staff to gather information and analyze workable solutions. Staff also solicited feedback about their experiences with the individuals residing at Cubberley from all Cubberley residents and had more extended conversations with long term and larger key campus tenants. These conversations shed light on the scope of the issues. Staff has also discussed the issues at Cubberley on several occasions with the key homeless services partners in Palo Alto including Downtown Streets Team, Inn Vision Shelter Network and Momentum for Mental Health, as well as, with the Community Working Group. Homeless services partners have provided regular outreach and/or support on the Cubberley campus and other City facilities and have been part of a larger conversation on possible approaches to addressing camping at City facilities and associated problems. In regards to the showers at Cubberley, social service providers have said the best practices for a homeless shower program are those that are staffed and monitored, which is not the case at Cubberley. Many of the individuals residing at Cubberley are known to the social service providers and have been homeless for many years. Since many homeless individuals have mental health and/or substance abuse challenges, assisting them is not a matter of making a single contact. Service providers work to establish trust between provider and individual. City of Palo Alto Page 6 Potential Approach - Response Plan While the Committee may consider a number of approaches, a proposed response plan was developed with the input and support of our key homeless social service partners to address immediate and long-term issues of homelessness in the community and individuals residing at Cubberley, as described below. Phase 1 – Immediate At present, under the leadership of the Downtown Street Team, the following actions have occurred or are on-going. 1. Assessment of individuals residing on campus 2. Monitoring of men’s and women’s showers: a. Informing shower users of pending shower closure. b. Providing Case Manager Outreach to individuals using showers. c. Providing incentives (including VTA bus tokens) to encourage individuals to start using showers at Opportunity Services Center. Phase 2 – Longer Term Enhance Social Services Staff recommends developing a plan to enhance services for un-housed and under-housed individuals through one of the approaches listed below. In all conversations with our homeless service partners on the most effective way to address the issue at City facilities, the need for a more comprehensive, community-wide approach was emphasized. The following longer term approaches were recommended by the homeless service providers and submitted for review by the Policy & Services Committee. 1. Creation of a Palo Alto Homeless Outreach Team (HOT). A HOT team would serve to engage, case manage, transport and ultimately secure housing as available for the most challenging to serve homeless individuals with mental health and substance abuse challenges (individuals who have been residing on the street for extended period of time and are resistant to services, etc.). The approach would be tailored for each individual. Comprised of staff members of local homeless service providers (with a key agency identified), public stakeholders and other community partners, the team would focus first on individuals at the Cubberley site, and then expand their geographic scope to homeless residents of Palo Alto. City of Palo Alto Page 7 One of our key local homeless service providers, Inn Vision Shelter Network, has successfully implemented HOT programming in East Palo Alto, San Mateo and Redwood City. They have recently received awards to expand HOT programming to Half Moon Bay, Pacifica and South San Francisco. The approximate cost for a HOT team is $150,000 for one year. Funding of this program would need to be transitioned to other Santa Clara County or privately-financed programs after one year. 2. Funding match with Santa Clara County for housing subsidies. Staff has been in conversation with the Director of Homeless Systems for the County of Santa Clara on possible county funding of combination of transitional and long term rent subsidies for ten homeless individuals who primarily have had contact with the criminal justice system and have a high chance of recidivism and who significantly impact county, state or local resources. However, t`his would require a two-year, $50,000 annual local commitment to fund a case manager. Santa Clara County would match the City’s contribution each year at the same amount, $50,000. Management of such of project would fall to the local homeless service provider who is the designated lead agency as selected by the County. Ordinance Staff also recommends the Policy and Services Committee recommend to Council an ordinance (Attachment A) that defines reasonable hours of public access to community facilities to be sunrise to 10:30 pm daily. Additional Information-Demographics: In regard to background information on homelessness in Palo Alto, according to the recently released data from the 2013 Santa Clara County Homeless Census and Survey, the number of homeless in Palo Alto is 157. For comparison, counts for our neighboring cities are; Mountain View – 137, Los Altos – 4, and Sunnyvale – 425 (count taken at time when winter shelter was open at the Sunnyvale Armory.) The county wide count is 7,631 (see Attachment B for summary of key census findings). In its comprehensive 2011 Human Services Needs Assessment, the Human Relations Commission surveyed and held focus groups with homeless individuals and providers in Palo Alto (see Attachment C), and found that gaps in services to the homeless center around the need for more case managers to work one to one with individuals and available placements affordable housing. City of Palo Alto Page 8 Timeline If the ordinance is recommended by the Policy and Services Committee, the ordinance would be presented for a first reading to the City Council in October 2013. The ordinance would go into effect thirty days after the passage of the second reading of the ordinance. Resource Impact Enforcement of the proposed ordinance would be accomplished with existing Police staff resources. No additional staffing is proposed at this time. The resource impact for the development of social service outreach programs is dependent on the approach recommended by the Policy & Services Committee and approved by the Council. The approximate cost for a HOT Team is $150,000 per year. The funding match with Santa Clara County for housing subsidies would require a two year, $50,000 per year commitment on behalf of the City. Policy Implications Adoption of an ordinance regulating the hours and proper use of community facilities would be consistent with Policy C-9 of the Community Services Element of the Comprehensive Plan: “Deliver City services in a manner that creates and reinforces positive relationships among City employees, residents, businesses, and other Stakeholders, “ as well as Policies C-22 (community facilities to have flexible functions to ensure adaptability to the changing needs of the community) and C-23 (expand the space available in the community for art exhibits, classes and other cultural activities. Development of strategies to address the needs of homeless individuals would be consistent with Policy C-20 of the Community Services Element of the Comprehensive Plan: “Support and promote services addressing the needs of the unhoused community.” Attachments:  -: Attachment A - 0160023 Ordinance Closing Community Centers v5 FG (DOCX)  -: Attachment B -'13 Homeless Census SCC Summarypage (PDF)  -: Attachment C - Excerpt from Human Services Needs Assessment conducted by the Human Relations Commission in 2011 (DOCX)  -: Attachment D - HSRAP-CDBG Support for Homless Related Services August (XLS) 1 *NOT YET APPROVED* ORDINANCE NO. _____ Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending Chapter 9.06 (Public Peace, Morals, and Safety) to add Section 9.06.020 – Overnight Use of Community Facilities Prohibited The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows: SECTION 1. Findings and Declarations. The City Council finds and declares as follows: (a) The City Council hereby updates Title 9 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code to provide for overnight closure of public libraries, community centers, theaters, interpretive buildings, and Art Center is essential to maintain and promote the public health, safety and welfare, to provide for the continued effective management of public property, and to provide for the continued enjoyment and accessibility of public property by all Palo Alto residents and the public at large; and (b) The overnight use of public libraries, community centers, theaters, interpretive buildings, and Art Center causes the City to incur increased costs for policing, maintenance, sanitation, garbage removal, animal control, and other problems which may arise; and (c) The overnight use of public libraries, community centers, theaters, interpretive buildings, and Art Center hinders public access to the services provided at those facilities; and (d) Public libraries, community centers, theaters, interpretive buildings, and Art Center are not intended for overnight use, during hours when the grounds are unstaffed and unmonitored, which creates a risk to the health, safety, and welfare of those persons on the grounds, as well as the public at large. SECTION 2. Section 9.61.020 (Community Facilities Closed Midnight to Sunrise) of Chapter 9.61 (Regulation of Community Facilities) of Title 9 (Public Peace, Morals, Safety) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code is hereby added to read as follows: “9.61.020 Use of Community Facilities Prohibited from Midnight to Sunrise No person shall use, remain in or enter any Community Facilities between 10:30pm and sunrise, other than a duly authorized city employee or persons participating in city-sponsored activities or other activities for which the city has provided written 2 permission to utilize the grounds beyond the closing time, provided however that the additional closure of specific facilities during portions of the day or the year may be specified by the City Manager or his or her designee. For the purposes of this chapter, “Community Facilities” means all buildings and premises of City of Palo Alto Libraries, the Cubberley Community Center, Lucie Stern Community Center, Children's Theatre, Community Theatre, Junior Museum & Zoo, Mitchell Park Community Center and Field House, Art Center, Peers Park Field House, Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center, Pearson Arastradero Preserve Gateway Center and Foothills Park Interpretive Center, but not any land dedicated for park use.” SECTION 3. This ordinance shall be effective on the thirty-first day after the date of its adoption. INTRODUCED: PASSED: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTENTIONS: ATTEST: ____________________________ ____________________________ City Clerk Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED: ____________________________ ____________________________ City Attorney City Manager ____________________________ Director of ____________________________ Director of Administrative Services Every two years in January, communities across the country conduct comprehensive counts of their homeless population to gain a better understanding of the individuals who are currently experiencing homelessness, and to apply for federal funding for homeless programs. The 2013 Santa Clara County Point-in-Time Count was a community-wide effort conducted on January 29th and 30th, 2013. In the weeks following the street count, a survey was administered to 856 unsheltered and sheltered homeless individuals, in order to profi le their experience and characteristics. Sheltered Unsheltered 2004 2007 2009 2011 2013 SHELTERED INCLUDES: UNSHELTERED INCLUDES: OBSTACLES TO SECURING PERMANENT HOUSING EncampmentAreas 19% Cars/vans/RVs 16% Abandoned buildings 9% On the street 31% Emergency Shelter12% Transitional Housing 13% Safe Haven <1% SANTA CLARA COUNTY 2013 Homeless Census & Survey HOMELESS CENSUS NINE-YEAR TREND ETHNICITY (TOP 4 RESPONSES)GENDER 31% 67% 2%6% 22% 28% 31%Men Women Transgender 1 year or more1-11 months30 days or less Hispanic White Black Multi-ethnic 52% of those experiencing homelessness for the first time had been homeless for one year or more AGE FOSTER CARE(respondents that have ever been in the system) 16% 77%25+ 14%18-24 9%Under 18 Yes (46%) No (54%) 2013 2011 FIRST TIME HOMELESSNESS DURATION OF HOMELESSNESS 35% 9% 56% 13% 41%47% 93% of survey respondents said YES when asked if they would want affordable permanent housing were it available. JOBS Bad Credit | 21% No housing availability | 18% No money for moving costs | 30% No job/income | 54% 26%74% 7,0677,0867,202 7,646 7,631 A disabling condition is defined here as a physical disability, mental illness, chronic depression, alcohol or drug abuse, chronic health problems, HIV/AIDS, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or a developmental disability. What is a disabling condition? WHAT MIGHT HAVE PREVENTED RESPONDENTS’ HOMELESSNESS (TOP 4 RESPONSES) 42%34% $ 24% Employment Assistance Rent/Mortgage Assistance Mental Health Services 21% Alcohol/DrugCounseling 64% of survey respondents reported a disabling condition. DISABLING CONDITIONS Mental illness* (51%) Substance abuse (17%) Chronic physical illness (12%) Physical disability (14%) Developmental disability (4%) * Mental illness includes PTSD, depression, and other mental illnesses including bipolar and schizophrenia.Note: Multiple response question, numbers will not total to 100%. Source: Applied Survey Research. (2013). Santa Clara County Homeless Census & Survey. Watsonville, CA. For more detail or to view the comprehensive report, please visit www.appliedsurveyresearch.org. SERVICES & ASSISTANCE EMERGENCY ROOM USE in the past 12 months 65% 35% of respondents reported receiving government benefits reported were NOT receiving any government benefits Government services received (Top 3 Responses) Reasons for NOT receiving government services(Top 3 Responses) Calfresh, WIC or food stamps 61% GeneralAssistance 38%338% PANHANDLINGANHANDLING $5.90 per day is the average income for those survey respondents who reported panhandling INCARCERATION spent at least 1 or more nights in jail or prison in the past 12 months28% Never 1-3 times 4+ times 49% 35% 16% $250or less is the amount that 71% of respondents reported as their total monthly income. Summary These data provide a snapshot of those experiencing homelessness in Santa Clara County on January 29th and 30th. It provides a basic estimation of the number and characteristics of those experiencing homelessness on any given night in order to inform future service planning and provisioning efforts. SSI/SSDI 15% Don’t need government assistance 19% Don’t think you are eligible 23% Income Gap Self-Sufficiency StandardRespondent’s Income $2,906/mo $250/mo $$$ Never applied 15% Excerpt from Human Services Needs Assessment conducted by the Human Relations Commission in 2011. Homelessness (including permanent and temporary housing and the assistance needed to get into and remain in housing) Definition: Estimates vary of the number of homeless in Palo Alto from 200 – 400. Homelessness takes a number of forms, of which these three predominate: 1) Situational or transitional: This is when someone is forced into homelessness because of uncontrollable circumstances such as losing a job and loss of the main breadwinner (father, husband, wife), etc. Also in this category are those with an urgent need for temporary shelter because of domestic abuse. 2) Episodic or cyclical: This is when a person repeatedly falls in and out of homelessness, as often happens with drug addicts and with people experiencing mental health issues. A person might live with episodes of severe depression and fall back in homelessness when these occur. 3) Chronic: This is when an individual is on the street for a long period of time and has very few or no resources at his or her disposal to modify their situation. Often, these people will suffer from mental health issues. They won’t have the ability to modify their situation without the support of others. Needs: Of the basic needs, emergency and permanent housing for low-income residents is in the shortest supply. What is available for permanent housing in Palo Alto (rental and for purchase) has come from the Palo Alto Housing Corporation, Community Working Group, Opportunity Center, CDBG- and other publically-assisted low-income housing, and Section 8 vouchers through the Santa Clara County Housing Authority. The Opportunity Center also provides emergency shelter through the Hotel de Zink program with a 15-bed rotating-shelter for men, hosted by Palo Alto area faith communities. This year there was also a Hotel de Zink for women, run by a Stanford student group called Night Outreach. It operated under the auspices of the Opportunity Center. Students raised the money, but there is uncertainty about whether they can come up with the money to do so again. It closed at the end of April. There are no other homeless shelters in North County; the Clara-Mateo Shelter at the VA in Menlo Park closed last year. The closest resource is the National Guard Armory in Sunnyvale that provides 125 beds, but is only open from November – March. Most other homeless shelters are in San Jose and have waiting lists. One key area where HSRAP enters the picture is through the services that help qualify individuals for such housing. That involves primarily mental and physical health care, employment, treatment and control of substance abuse, and other supports unique to individuals. Right next to housing itself is the interpersonal support to get homeless individuals into it and to provide the encouragement, assistance, and, as necessary, interventions to keep them in it. This is where case management or a comparable framework is crucial. Case management combines expertise, trust, and commitment to deal with issues such as landlord disputes, bouts of joblessness, regression regarding substance abuse, and the like—and to provide encouragement, to pave paths to increasing independence, and to move someone out of dependence so that another can be helped. A prime Palo Alto example of a program that amplifies case management is the Downtown Streets Team (DST) where a job, housing, and personal support can lead to increasing independence. Through its collaboration with Manpower, Inc., the DST links individuals with potentially permanent jobs and the coaching and guidance to capitalize on the employment opportunity Because Palo Alto is generally seen as a generous community, where temporary assistance, panhandling, and respectful police enforcement attenuate the pressure on the homeless to take initiative toward independence, our community is perceived on balance, as friendly to those who are un-housed. This does not mean it is problem-free, or that homeless individuals don’t need assistance to move toward self-sufficiency. But it does explain why, compared to neighboring towns, Palo Alto appears to have greater numbers than they of homeless and panhandlers. Downtown merchants have longstanding concerns about this, and the Police Department has assigned a special patrol to insure safety and cleanliness in the University Avenue area and associated parks and parking lots. Providers: Four agencies have programs in Palo Alto serving the homeless. All are HSRAP grantees. The InnVision-Opportunity Center’s services include assistance for singles and families in need, providing for basic needs, case management, food, showers, laundry, computer lab, health care, lockers, and children’s activities, and oversees the “breaking bread” program (which is a free hot meal program at local churches), a food closet at a local church, permanent housing for singles and families, and temporary rotating shelter program. Downtown Street Team (DST) members work in a variety of capacities in exchange for vouchers for food and other necessities. DST also provides participants with case management, transportation assistance, temporary and permanent housing as available and job search skills to work toward greater skills and independence. Momentum for Mental Health, a county-wide agency, provides a variety of mental health services. HSRAP funding supports a 12-hour homeless outreach specialist who is employed by Momentum. Peninsula Health Care Connections provides free medical, psychiatric and intensive case management for the homeless and those at risk of being homeless. Interrelations: The agencies in Palo Alto listed above work very closely together. The City’s Office of Human Services facilitates a bi-monthly meeting of North County homeless services providers called the Off the Streets Team, where the discussion usually centers on the needs of clients. The Police Department facilitates a monthly meeting called North County Alternative Services, comprised of personnel from the Police Department, Office of Human Services, District Attorney’s office, Veteran’s Administration, and County Mental Health service providers, among others. This group works on a restorative justice model to work with the homeless who are in frequent contact with the criminal justice system to connect them with housing and services. Gaps: All of the agencies working with the homeless are dealing with the basic needs of a very vulnerable segment of our population. A key finding of this report is the importance of meeting basic needs first and is highlighted by Philip Dah, Executive Director of the Opportunity Center who said “Basic needs are, indeed, food, clothing, and shelter. Those needs need to be met before a person can pay attention to medications, physical and mental health, looking for work, etc., and before a case worker can get any traction on other problems.” Beyond basic needs, homelessness requires special, usually one-on-one, relationships with case workers or similarly dedicated professionals to move from homelessness to independence and housing. Finally, the housing needs to be there as do services that enable the formerly homeless to maintain this new level of independence. FY 2014 Funding for Homeless Service Programs (HSRAP/CDBG) Agencies providing homeless services Agency Program Description 2008-09 Funding Amount 2009-10 Funding Amount 2010-11 Funding Amount 2011-12 Funding Amount 2012-13 Funding Amount 2013-14 Funding Amount HSRAP Community Technology Alliance Support for program operating expenses to provides technical tools to partnering agencies addressing chronic homelessness; provides a phone number for homeless and at-risk individuals to improve their access to employment, housing, and other social services.12,700$ 12,065$ 12,065$ 5,432$ 5,432$ $ 5,823 Downtown Streets Team Staff salaries and program expenses to provide a work-first model geared toward the homeless and at-risk individuals in the community through training, weekly success team. meetings 37,700$ 35,815$ 35,815$ 33,666$ 33,666$ $ 36,090 InnVision Shelter Network Staf salaries to operate Opportunity Services Center's nutrition program including daily meal and grocery programs. 8,920$ 8,920$ $ 12,340 Momentum for Mental Health Staff salary for Homeless Outreach Specialist who conducts direct street outreach to locations in Palo Alto and provides in person training to public and private entities in Palo Alto on homelesslness.27,000$ 25,650$ 25,650$ 24,111$ 24,111$ $ 25,847 Peninsula HealthCare Connection Inc Staff salary for outreach case worker who will seek out homeless individuals who are suffering from various untreated mental and medical conditions; work to secure housing and monitor the client's progress and keep them connected to the various medical, psychiatric and counseling services.25,000$ 25,000$ $ 26,800 TOTAL 77,400$ 73,530$ 73,530$ 97,129$ 97,129$ 106,900$ FY 2014 Funding for Homeless Service Programs (HSRAP/CDBG) CDBG InnVision the Way Home Staff salaries for case workers to handle intake for drop in clients at the Opportunity Services Center. 31,160$ 34,211$ 50,000$ 37,175$ 48,852$ InnVision the Way HomeCMA Staff salaries for emergency shelter 36,361$ 33,068$ -$ -- Palo Alto Housing Corp Staff salaries for SRO Resident Suport 31,160$ 34,211$ 26,000$ 20,375$ 32,413$ Downtown Steets Inc. Staff salaries and operational expenses (supplies) for workforce development program. 280,353$ TOTAL 98,681$ 101,490$ 76,000$ 57,550$ 361,618$ CDBG funding recommendationfor 2013-14 is pending final City Council approval in August.