REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: JENNIFER CLARK, Director
Planning and Development Department
H SPEES, Director
Housing and Homeless Initiatives
BY: JILLIAN GAYTAN, Senior Management Analyst
Housing and Community Development Division
SUBJECT
Title
***RESOLUTION - Authorizing a grant application to the California Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) for funding under the Encampment Resolution Funding Program for local demonstration projects that provide services to address the immediate crisis of experiencing unsheltered homelessness in encampments, to support people living in encampments onto paths to safe and stable housing and result in sustainable restoration of public spaces to the intended uses while safeguarding the needs of unhoused people seeking shelter and authorizing the City Manager to sign all required implementing documents (Subject to Mayor’s Veto).
Body
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council approve submission of an Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) Program Application to HCFC in order to address encampments located within the City of Fresno.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Fresno (City) is eligible for Encampment Resolutions Grant funding to design a demonstration project that builds capacity to provide services that are relevant and responsive to the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness in encampments. The City intends to apply for one or more eligible activities in an amount not to exceed $5 million. BCSH requires all eligible applicants to submit an Application to HCFC for funding no later than December 31, 2021. HCFC will not consider any late submissions. Guidelines for this unique Stat funding opportunity correspond well to the launch of the City’s new Homeless Assistance Response Team (HART). A team of collaborative partners led by the City will be assembling and submitting the grant prior to the December 31 deadline, keeping Council members informed along the way. Should funds be awarded, staff will return to Council for approval to receive the funds.
BACKGROUND
HCFC announced the availability of approximately $50 million through ERF Program Request for Applications (RFA) authorized by Chapter 7 of Part 1 of Division 31 of the California Health and Safety Code (sections 50250 et seq.). The ERF is designed to assist local jurisdictions in ensuring the wellness and safety of people experiencing homelessness in encampments, including their immediate physical and mental wellness and safety needs arising from unsheltered homelessness and their longer-term needs addressed through a path to safe and stable housing throughout the State.
When determining grant awards, funding shall be prioritized for:
• Jurisdictions that can demonstrate a commitment to cross-systems collaboration and innovative efforts to resolve encampment issues, while focusing on protecting the health and well-being of the individuals living in those encampments.
• Jurisdictions that have 50 or more individuals living in the encampment that they are seeking to support with these funds.
• Awarding grants that, to the extent feasible, reflect a range of applicants that represent the diversity of communities across the state, including rural, urban, and suburban communities.
Successful grantees will design a demonstration project that builds capacity to provide services that are relevant and responsive to the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness in encampments. The project activities will support new or enhanced cross-systems collaboration and service strategies to help people experiencing homelessness transition out of encampments and onto pathways towards safe and stable housing. Project activities will also support efforts to restore encampment sites to their original state and intended purposes, but must prioritize protecting the health, safety, and well-being of the individuals who had been living in those encampments. Grant funds may be used for activities that advance the goal of the proposed project in any one of the following four eligible activity categories:
Direct Services and Housing Options: activities to address immediate crisis needs and paths towards safe and stable housing for people living in encampments including, but not limited to, street outreach and engagement, housing and/or systems navigation, interim housing, and permanent housing.
Capacity Building: activities to enhance the systems carrying out the demonstration project including, but not limited to, service coordination efforts, establishing and strengthening cross-system partnerships, and workforce development including specialized training and contracting with providers of culturally specific interventions.
Sustainable Outcomes: activities and interventions to ensure sustained outcomes for the people served and to support sustained restoration of encampment sites to their intended or original state.
Administration: up to 5% of grant funds may be applied to administrative costs.
The City intends to apply for one or more eligible activities in an amount not to exceed $5 million. This grant is not intended to be the sole funding source for a new encampment resolution project. Awarded grant funding should be used to accelerate promising programs and practices that are in development and that enhance partnerships and leverage other resources, including initiatives funded by other HCFC grants. Projects receiving an award must expend 50% of allocated funds by June 30, 2023, and 100% by June 30, 2024.
The ERF Program is a compatible source of funding for the City’s new Homeless Assistance Response Team (HART). HART is a city-wide multi-departmental, multi-agency response coordinated by City and led by on-the-ground Outreach Staff. The HART Team is designed to reduce street homelessness and improve quality of life for residents and businesses in the City. One of its several functions is to address specific, persistent encampments by using resources to provide pathways to permanent housing for individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness, the purpose for which the ERF Program was designed.
As part of the application process, the City is required to develop a seven-part Work Plan which includes the following:
1. Implementation Unit Structure and Capacity
2. Prioritized Encampment Site and Population to be Served
3. Core Service Delivery and Provision of Housing Options
4. Coordination of Services and Housing Options
5. Ensuring Dignity, Safety, and Wellness
6. Personnel
7. Proposed Budget and Fiscal Planning
Additionally, two letters of intent from at least two different partners demonstrating support and collaboration on the encampment resolution strategy are required for the City’s application. If selected, Staff will return to Council in early 2022 with a request to accept and appropriate the ERF funding awarded to the City.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This item is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not implemented because of state funding.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no impact on the City’s General Fund as a result of this action.
Attachments:
Attachment A - Resolution
Attachment B - ERF - Request for Application