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Home My WebLink About0360.092, I ~ \ , • - ~,.'~ .. ; , , ," .. ', , ' .. ,,",' July 30. 19~2 THE H01<lORABLE Cl TY CO tJNC I L Palo Alto, C~li~ornia Attention: Policy a:nd services Committee THE SUBJECT OF TH1S::lEPCST !SA COUNCIL PR.C,;,!!7¥ ---~ council Priority: people in C~isis -status Report Members of the Council: This is an informational item to the Policy and Services committee and ~o Council action is requ~sted. The purpose o~ this report is to provide an update reqarcHl'.g the activities -which the Human Services Division and Humar. Reh.tions commission (HRC) are undertaking in response to the City council priority, "Peop1e in Crisi.su~ When the City Council developed the 1992 priorities, staff was asked to continue the progress made uflde= the l' 9 1 upeople iII Crisis" prioritY4 .Fer review purposes, pl~ase see CMR:19S:92 vitb its attached reports. Four qcals ~ere establishea under the 1991 Council priority, and a segment of the 1992 charge involved a request to complete those proje~ts begun in response to the initial priority. Those four goals ano their results are as follows: 1) Establish semi-annual human service agency network meetings tor purposes ~f resource sharing, information dissemination, and technical assistance provision. Meetings were held Jar."u.ary 17 and June 10, 1992. 2) Develop a public informatioc campaign to heiqhtell awareness of resources and services available to people in crisis. ~ subcommittee ~as formed and much progress bas been made. Periodic articles will continue to ~ppear in the San Jose Mercury News, highlighting variou~ city-contractEd agencies and their services. CMR:360;92 - A biweekly eable TV' shu\{, I'Peninsula Currents." is currently beinq co-hO$ted by staff and an HrtC Commissioner. Topics aired to date include ~ate rane, homeless and merchant concerns, child abuse, and domestic violence. Public service Announcements {FSA'S) have been produced in coopar atioll with the city's local cabie eha:nnel, and a1l nonprofit agencies were invited to attend a free PSA Production Day. The public.:1tion lI'rolunteer Pages!! ~as priilte~ ana distributed last fall to all the agencies listed, an~ it was made available to the public at City libraries and oth$r City f~eilities4 This publica tion, which lists ~ver 150 agencies vho use and need volunteers, is slated for a second printing this fall. The San Jose Mercury News has aqreed to print tae booklet and provide the paper stock:. Staff will add a community Calendar of nonpr'::Ofit special event-Sa 3j R¥plore the provision or drop-ill cbild care sl.ots for bomeless children. Sta.ff did Dot recei\~e an application from an outside aqency to apply for federal conmunity Development Block Grant {CDBG) fundinq to provide these drop-in slots. The Human services Division subsequently applied. for and received $10,{l00 to pilot such a program. Requests for proposal (RFP'S) have been sent out to cbild care agencies in the area, and staff expects a program to begin in September. The $10,000 viII be used for subsidy only, as City stafe and the Urban Ministry are providing the administration an4 oversigbt on an i~-kind basis. If this program proves successful, staff will attempt to find a child care provi~er to apply directly for fundinq in future years to provide this service. 4) Reviev the effe..: .... iveness of the Penin9ula Area. Information and ReLerral Agency (PAAIRS). This pl'oject has reached closure. (CMR:53l!~1 and CMR:l'3;92J ~~_:rrat;ive Beyond the completion of program~ ~equn in 1991 in response to the Coull,:il priority, IIPeople in crisiS", o"t.her issues to be a~Qressed includ:ed, uYouth and Families at Risk", and "Needs of the Home less". The City council approved funding of the following 1992-93 human service contracts, which continue to respond to the priority and which address these newly defined issues. Palo Alto Ado~escent Services corporation Peninsula Area Inrormation aDd Referral Agency Palo Alto enified School District Americab Red Cross CMR:3CiO:92 i I ~ ......• ~ J .:' .~.'. I . I", r 10-.,' C.t ! Page Three Mi4-PeDiDsula support Net~cr~ tor Battere~ Women Kid-~eninsu~a YWCA Urban Ninistry of Palo Alto Social Advocates fa~ Youth (Casa say) C~ntracts also ~ere approved witn the followihg agehcies for three new programs which address the priority: Mayfield COmlDl.l.D.ity clinic: $2,000 in city f'J.nds for ba.sic healtb eare for the homeless and near-homeless population, Kiramonte XentaI Healtb services: $6,25D in city fun~s for a man dated counseling program. at local shelters and provision of a Thursday evening mAal program for the homeless, and Palo Alto Adolescent services corporation: $10,000 in CDBG funding for A new yOllth s1.lbsta.nce abuse prevention counseling program. Many new projects have corfUllenced as a result of the buman netvork meetings and through HRC initiativE. The January explored the unruet needs of tbe ~ocal nonprofit agencies. progr~5s in these identified ar~as is highlighted belov~ 1) city credit union membership for contracted nonprofit agencies. service meeting CUrrent ~gencies ~ho have human service or CPBG public servi~e contracts are nov eligible fer PACE Credit Union membership. 2) Use of city printing and mai~ing services by nonprofit agencies. The city' 5 print and mail services are no .... agencies -wno may .... ish to t ... A.~ advantage of the::c~ be charged incurred cost~ only. being offered to The ~ganeie5 will 3) PUrchasing agreements betveen the city's vendors and tbe non profit contract~d agencies have been initiated. The Purcbas].ng Department has requested the offer the same discounted rates to the agencies that they otter to the City. City's 800 vendors to nonprofit contracte~ 4J The city's training program and facility ~ill be made avail able to nonp4Qfit agencies at a reduce~ rate. 1r.gencies will be able to join ongoing City em.ployee traininq classes at no cost, it space is available after enrollment of City employees. ~dditio~ally, tbey yill be able to use the city's CMR:360:9:2 ---...... {~, .. ~ .......... , ........ -' ....... """~. ~,-,-~. < - - 'f , , I • I I ~: , , "~~':.;'"~~~_~{" ' Of" <>"-, .... Page Four Training Center space for their o~n training needs at a reduced rate. City staff bas offered assistance ~ith planning an~ developing olasses of specific i~terest to th~ agencies. 5J A consultant list has beell devel-oped and shared amonq the nonprofit aqencies. This list highlights the expertise and resources found within the q~neral group. There have peen numerous linkages performed within the group based on this list. 6l A bene1'i t survey viII provide infc-rmation reqarclinq tbe various benefit packages utilized by the nonprofits. The survey instrument is curre:ltly being develope-d. These accomplishments resulted from a.n interdepartmental effort which included the Finance Department l Human Resources and toe PACE Credit Union, in addition to community Ser-\·ices. New Project: "ADotber way" Campaign The Ruman Relations Commission has developed--in concert with the Downtown Marketing Group, Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce and City staff--.11 new campaign starting October 3, l!i92 called, UAnotber Wayu. This effcrt, to reduce aggressive panhandling in the downtown ar~a, will offer the consumer a way to a~sist the homeless other than giving money to panhandlers. collection cans will be available at partioipating stores identi fied by posters placed in the winGows. Shoppers may contribute to .II merchant fund to be distributed among designated agenoies which provide the homeless with food, shelter, basic health care, and mental health and substance abuse counseling. Shoppers w~ll be offered ~allet-size cards that they can give to panbandlers, which list available services; donors will receive lapel stickers they can wear to let panhandlers know that they have contributed to the fund. In addition to the dowDto~n merchants, representatives from California ~venue# Town and country Shopping center and MidtowD have also expt'essed interest in the projecL 'I'he City Manager has maQe available $2500 in seed mcney to start the campaigr.. this proposed program has three positive ramifications: a) Downto~n merchant support in providinq 3 solution to a vexing problem, b) creation of an alternative method to help the disen franchised population, and c) an activity which sbould le~d to a decrease in the harassment which city residents have experienced. CMR:360:92 - ·---. Fage Five Oeve~op~ent o~ new six-montb work plan T~O new subco~ittees have been termed as a result of the latest Human Service r,etlo.rork meeting held June 10, 1~92: One subcommittee, liThe Appropriate Service Levels C~mmitteeH, consist~ of six executive ~irectors of City-contracted agencies and City staff. Their charge is to examine ways to implement the human servi ces-related sU']gestions generated from the lIi\ppl.opriate Levals of Service f ' public hearings held 13st fall. The second committee~ so far nameless, 'Was established to investi gate the possibility that Palo Alto-area nonprofits might join the Silicon valley Ball fundraiser as potential funded sponsors. In the event that this oppcrtunity is rejected by the Ball organizers, this subcommittee viII explore alternative fundraising endeavors. six exec\.Itive di rectors 0 f Ci ty-contra.cted agencies have vol un teered tor this subcommittee, co-chaired by Linea Ridder, Peninsula. Marketing Manager for the San Jose Mercury News# an~ a City staff person. positive results for many of these goals and aetivities described above will occur by the end of this calendar year. The qroun~work acccmpli5he~ by the develop~ent cf this pricrity should continue to reap henefits for uPeople it:. crisis!1 far beyond the tirr,e frame of this priority campaiqn. Respectfully subrnitte~, David Martin Administrator ~. of Human Services -- Pa!;ll Thiltgen -~ Dir~ctor of commjl~i ty Services i // /~-r./---""'T"""""" / June"'Flemi ng Assistant City Man~~~r ~~elated CMRs: 198:92, 134:92, 531:91, ~30:91. 281.91 cc: Human Relations Corr~ission CHR: 360:92 •