Receive staff presentation on homeless response and local strategic work to reduce and prevent local homelessness.

Placer County’s recent Homeless Count for January 2017 estimates that there are a total of approximately 663 individuals, both sheltered (emergency and transitional/short-term housing) and unsheltered, who are homeless on any given night in the County of Placer. Of that total, approximately 343 homeless individuals are sheltered and unsheltered in Roseville, Rocklin, Loomis, and Lincoln. Homeless Counts over the last ten years have stayed consistent with these numbers, adjusting with population increases. Two-thirds of local unsheltered homeless persons are single males. The local population is comprised of experiences in both short-term and chronic homelessness. Half of the population has been chronically homeless, experiencing homelessness for two or more consecutive years or multiple times over a six year period. Within the unsheltered chronically homeless population are high percentages of substance abuse, mental illness or other disabilities, prior contact with the legal system (jail or prison), and untreated trauma. While housing affordable to extremely low income and very low income households is important to reduce and end homelessness, as well as homeless prevention and rapid rehousing programs that assist individuals in need of short-term assistance like a security deposit payment; permanent supportive housing with services and other types of transitional and treatment-based housing is necessary to address the housing needs of chronically homeless individuals with ongoing mental health or substance abuse support services needs. The City of Roseville is working to address these needs through assistance and collaboration with local services providers (Attachment 1), support in the provision of transitional and supportive housing units like those being provided by AMI Housing and proposed with Meta Housing, and efforts to further collaborate and refer clients through city participation in the local coordinated entry system.

Local objectives for the City of Roseville related to homelessness include:

• Addressing the needs of all residents within our communities, including response to local needs for food, shelter, and human services in balance with the needs and costs of serving our entire community with the provision of fundamental city services.
• Efficiently using public resources in a cost-effective manner that reduces the homeless population and protects residents of the overall community.
• Reducing instances and duration of homelessness within our communities.
• Creatively and effectively responding to the local impacts of homelessness.
• Identifying new opportunities to innovatively address the root causes of homelessness.
• Collaborating as the South Placer County region in response to local needs and impacts resulting from homelessness and using this coordination to maximize efficiency, creativity, and opportunity for additional resources.
• Reduce the negative impacts of homelessness on neighborhoods and open spaces.

The City of Roseville supports and collaborates with many local service providers in their mission to serve local individuals and families who are homeless through emergency shelter, warm meals, groceries, short-term housing and even basic medical services. Our support and collaboration spans over a variety of 64 non-profits that provide programs in the following areas:

• 15 homeless programs/organizations
• 3 food programs
• 14 adult programs
• 20 children and youth programs
• 3 homebuying and home rehabilitation programs, and

• 9 community benefit organizations

Please refer to Attachment 1 for a complete list of nonprofit organizations and services who collaborate with and/or are supported by the City of Roseville.

Overview of local shelter and services. With City assistance, The Gathering Inn provides emergency shelter, meals, clothing, showers, and other resource and referral services, the Salvation Army provides emergency overnight vouchers, meals, and assistance with rent and utility bills, and Saint Vincent de Paul provides warm meals, groceries, clothing, and medical. In order to address long-term needs, Advocates for Mentally Ill Housing (AMIH), Seniors First, Stand Up Placer, Kids First, Roseville HomeStart, and Placer Independent Resource Center have also been in part, supported by the City of Roseville to provide homes, teach life skills, provide handyperson services, and offer grocery delivery.

City of Roseville financial contributions to The Gathering Inn in recent years are shown below. The City provides an undefined amount of additional in-kind General Fund contributions in the costs associated with other city services related to The Gathering Inn, including costs to the Police Department-Social Services Unit, Parks, Housing, Fire, and the City Attorney’s Office.

City of Roseville Gathering Inn Contributions

*Homeless prevention, rapid rehousing, and other homeless services funding is awarded on a calendar year. In current calendar year, The Gathering Inn was awarded $105,000 with The Lazarus Project.

Countywide and emergency shelter provisions. In addition to local regular emergency shelter services shown above, since July 2015, Right Hand Auburn and Volunteers of America have been running an emergency homeless shelter in Auburn to serve homeless individuals. And in order to provide shelter in case of a severe weather emergency, the City has a Red Cross-approved Severe Weather Plan in place. This plan ensures provision of cooling centers or warming centers in severe weather and emergencies. The Placer County Fair and Events Center and the Maidu Community Center are two of the centers provided for overnights stays during these circumstances.

New homeless prevention and rapid rehousing funding. While maintaining the continued efforts listed above, the City initiated a program this year to fund homeless prevention and rapid rehousing services in Roseville. With awards being adopted early spring, nearly $500,000 of grant funds have been disbursed into the community for local non-profit collaborations to make available for short-term assistance to keep people out of homelessness or get them rehoused from homelessness. These funds are being monitored with additional outcome measures in an effort to ensure effective use and require greater coordination through access and input into the countywide homeless management information system or HMIS. These funds are already reducing instances of homelessness in Roseville according to preliminary results, which will be further detailed as part of staff presentation of this item.

All totaled, the City administers or contributes financially approximately $1,000,000 in resources annually to provide assistance in the prevention of homelessness and administration services to those in need Attachment 1).

In addition to the City's funding efforts, it has also accomplished the following advances in this past year:

• Completion of the City-initiated study in an effort to gain a more in-depth snapshot of individual needs in Roseville and characteristics of the local homeless community.
• Creation of the Social Services Unit of the Police Department, using a Problem-Oriented Police (POP) Model, which provides a proactive resource and referral response to local homeless and at-risk individuals with the aim of reducing homelessness rather than solely moving it or using enforcement.
• Increased coordination amongst City and County staff in our day-to-day response towards homelessness and overall practices regarding law enforcement, housing and service referrals, open space clean-up and maintenance, and overall quality of life for the community overall through ongoing collaboration and meetings of the interdepartmental City Homeless Team.
• Increased City expectations of service collaboration and outcomes through the structuring of local grant programs and monitoring and by hosting monthly meetings to foster strengthened relationships and referrals amongst local service providers.
• With the combined work of the Social Services Unit, City Homeless Team, County Probation, County Housing Coordinators, and local non-profit service providers, a Roseville Homeless Response Team has come together and is making significant progress is getting individuals and families housed and in keeping people housed who are at-risk of losing their shelter.   
• City coordination with federal Veterans Administration staff for Veterans VASH vouchers and the newly-created County Housing Coordinator positions has been a great resource to the City, as these opportunities have been cornerstones to getting homeless veterans and individuals housed stably. Both of these focused programs, with support from City Social Services Unit and Housing staff, have jointly made great strides in ensuring Roseville residents are housed. Over the past year, 23 veteran households were assisted with VASH vouchers. 

Social Services Unit. The Roseville Police Department Social Services Unit (SSU) is a Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) Unit. Routine calls related to homelessness are initially handled by patrol. Chronic, ongoing and substantial quality of life issues are referred to SSU for action, as well as needs of newly homeless or at-risk individuals that can be preemptively diverted from homelessness. SSU has the goal of proactively solving various issues in our community through innovation and solution-based policing methods; striving for long-term and meaning results. SSU uses a blended model of enforcement and social services to create impactful results throughout the community, and particularly highlighted here in the area of homelessness. SSU and its partnerships have been successful using this uniquely-created Roseville Homeless Response Team model, which has led to 96 individuals who were homeless or at immediate risk of homelessness getting housed over the seven months from December through June. This blended approach of enforcement and social services recognizes that not all individuals who are homeless are ready for services and it also adopts the social services knowledge that building relationships and trust with individuals leads to increased acceptance of services and long-lasting change.

The SSU is led by a licensed social worker with a Masters in Social Work, and consists of a primary POP (Problem-Oriented Police) Officer who works consistently with those experiencing homelessness. Additionally, the unit has an embedded Placer County Probation Officer and the support of a county mental health practitioner who works exclusively with a caseload that consists of homeless individuals currently on probation. SSU also has social work interns who are earning their degrees from California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) who provide direct resourcing and support to homeless individuals and families. Creation of the SSU has made a significant impact in addressing local homelessness, in partnership with city and county Housing staff, county probation and local social services providers (the Roseville Homeless Response Team). Using this team approach, the SSU engages various community-based organizations, as well as city and county departments and the county Housing Coordinators to establish a comprehensive social services plan that creates long-term stability and support for those at-risk and experiencing homelessness. As summarized above, through this model, the city has been able to:

• Provide 163 referrals of homeless individuals to housing and services non-profit and public agencies from December 2016 through June 2017;
• Assist in the successful housing of 73 individuals in permanent housing;
• Contribute to another 23 individuals gaining shelter in transitional and other types of housing (treatment, relatives, transitional housing, etc.);
• Reduce ongoing calls for service to police, fire, and emergency medical; and 
• Lower the cost of city response per individual by identifying long-term solutions. 

These outcomes are quite notable and demonstrate the importance of local partnerships and collaboration, as well as the cutting edge model of the Social Services Unit and Roseville Homeless Response Team working across city, county and local non-profit organizations.

Collective Efforts. To improve coordination with homeless service providers and other service providers, Roseville City staff and Roseville Police Department staff host monthly Roseville Homeless and Housing Service Providers meeting and regularly attend meetings sponsored by the local Continuum of Care – Homeless Resource Council of the Sierras (HRCS) and the special working groups headed by Placer County Health and Human Services staff regarding homeless services and South Placer shelter needs that have occurred since the summer 2015. These South Placer shelter meetings include ongoing discussions about long-term consideration of the South Placer Rescue Mission and provide the opportunity for South Placer cities and Placer County staff to provide updates on local affordable housing and homeless services projects and activities.

The Police Department SSU participates in regional meetings and strategies regarding law enforcement and homelessness, including California Highway Patrol meetings and police meetings in Sacramento County and throughout the Central Valley. Roseville city staff also maintain regular contact and participation with the Placer Collaborative Network (PCN), Placer Community Foundation (PCF) and the Placer Consortium on Homelessness (PCOH).

Strategies Going Forward. In an effort to further address local needs in connection with homelessness, staff plans to continue:

• Collaborating within Roseville and with Placer County in a coordinated response to the needs and challenges of homelessness.
• Utilizing its successful Roseville Homeless Response Team model, utilizing the Social Services Unit of the Roseville Police Department, County Housing Coordinators, County Probation and Mental Health, City Homeless Team staff, and local non-profit service providers. 
• Communicating amongst city representatives and officials, county staff, police and sheriff staff, including working with the countywide jail and legal system, in order to better coordinate regional provision of services and response.
• Finding opportunities for individuals who are homeless and receiving local services to give back to the communities where they are being served.
• Identifying opportunities for utilizing housing and services resources to support the City response in preventing and ending homelessness for individuals and families, including potential utilization of a homeless referral component to the Housing Choice Voucher program and seeking additional private and public resources to address local needs, like additional VASH vouchers or Sutter grants.

Staff believes that significant advances are being made locally due to the increase in collaboration, utilization of the cutting-edge Social Services Unit and Homeless Response Team model, an outcome-focused approach that focuses on reducing service duplication, and the additional resources that were allocated to Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing services. Through this coordinated response, Roseville is showing a commitment to the overall health of its community and all of its residents.

Details of the funding invested in social services and homelessness is detailed in the attachment, totaling $1,150,520.00 and another $15,100,000.00 in affordable housing assistance, all of which is provided through Community Benefit Fund, Community Development Block Grant Fund, Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Funding, Sutter Health’s Getting to Zero Funding, and local affordable housing funding. These investments do not impact the General Fund.

There are costs associated with homelessness, like open space, code enforcement, open space and parks clean-up, and city attorney costs that do impact the General Fund. The City estimates a cost of approximately $50,000.00 for parks and open space clean-up. City attorney costs associated with legal review, training, and interpretation is approximately $11,000.00 with another $1,500.00 for citation review and enforcement support. Costs associated with the Social Services Unit are not additional to the department. It is a reallocation of resources combined with a $40,000.00 grant for supplemental support. By investing resources in preventing and ending homelessness for individuals, overall costs to the City are reduced. National studies show that a homeless individual accessing emergency shelter, emergency medical services, and requiring ongoing police response calls can cost $40,000.00 per year on average. By comparison, rapid rehousing costs average $6,578.00 per household and permanent housing costs are $26,000.00-$33,000.00 per household and create lasting improvements to household health and stability.

The work of local efforts in response to homelessness is carried out by many individuals and organizations within the community, including service non-profits, the City of Roseville Homeless Response Team, and the County of Placer.

Estimates of total employment created can be based on expenditure data, consistent with guidance from the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA).  Total employment not only includes direct and indirect jobs, but also induced jobs.  CEA estimates that total employment is increased by one job-year for every $92,000.00 in direct government spending.  Therefore, the total local contributions into the community has the potential to generate 125 job years with the expenditure of just the service related funds of $1,150,520.00.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) does not apply to activities that will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment (CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3). The services and strategies in this report do not include the potential for a significant environmental effect, and therefore is not subject to CEQA. Any housing projects that result from city efforts in this area are reviewed individually for environmental impact.

_____________________________
Rob Jensen, City Manager