In November 2014 the County of Yolo, City of West Sacramento, and Yolo County Housing partnered to implement a pilot project called Bridge to Housing. The project relocated an entire homeless encampment from the West Sacramento riverbank (including 65 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and their pets) into a single motel. Participants were offered temporary housing at the motel for a period of approximately four months (from November 12, 2014 to February 28, 2015), as well as intensive case management and services, with the ultimate goal of moving each participant into permanent housing with ongoing supportive services.
It has now been more than a year since the project began and many of the participants have been successfully placed in permanent housing. Staff has completed a full after action and outcomes report, which can be found in Attachment A. The outcomes from the project are also listed below:
How much did we do?
- 65 of the 71 stable residents of the North Levee Encampment entered the program in November 2014
- The temporary housing component of the program operated for 109 days and provided a total of 6,204 nights of temporary housing at the motel, for an average of 57 beds per night
How well did we do?
- 82% (53 participants) remained engaged at the end of the program.
- 79% (42 of the 53 participants who completed the program) remained engaged in services with a case manager 7 months after exiting the program.
- 92% (49 of the 53 participants who completed the program) were successfully issued a Housing Choice Voucher
Is anyone better off?
- 68% (36 of the 53 participants who completed the program) secured permanent housing
- Participants receiving monthly income increased from 9% (5 participants) to 43% (23 participants)
- Participants receiving CalFresh increased from 47% (25 participants) to 79% (42 participants)
- Participants with health insurance increased from 47% (25 participants) to 94% (50 participants)
NEXT STEPS
Bridge to Housing was slated as a pilot project because it was the first multi-agency effort to address homelessness using a Housing First model in Yolo County. Given the success of the project (as described above), the Yolo County Board of Supervisors has directed staff to begin discussion with local partners about opportunities to continue implementing Housing First projects in the County. To support this effort, on September 29, 2015 the Yolo County Board of Supervisors appropriated $200,000 in the FY 15-16 budget to be used for funding new projects that provide housing to people experiencing homelessness using a Housing First model.
County staff has been working with partners in each of the three major jurisdictions (Davis, West Sacramento and Woodland) to identify potential projects. Each City has been encouraged to develop a project that meets the unique needs of its homeless population in coordination with a range of stakeholders on the issue.
WEST SACRAMENTO
The City of West Sacramento and County are in early discussions regarding the possibility of continued partnerships on housing projects. Staff hopes to provide more information to the Board regarding these efforts in early 2016.
WOODLAND
In August of 2015 the Woodland City Council formed a Homeless Subcommittee (Council Members Barajas and Hilliard) to explore the issue of homelessness in Woodland. The Subcommittee has met with stakeholders on several occasions from August through October, and County staff has actively participated in those meetings. In September 2015 the Woodland Council adopted Housing First as its desired approach to addressing homelessness.
In October, City and County staff began preliminary discussions regarding potential partnerships on Housing First projects in Woodland that have centered around three primary ideas: (1) additional shelter beds at 4th and Hope, (2) expanded capacity for street outreach efforts, and (3) a new project following the Bridge to Housing Pilot Project model. Staff hopes to report back to the Board with a proposed project for Woodland in early 2016.
DAVIS
In June 2015 the City of Davis and County of Yolo jointly hosted a Davis Homeless Forum in an effort to initiate a collaborative conversation regarding homelessness in Davis. The purpose of the Forum was to:
- Develop a shared understanding of the unique services and resources that are currently addressing homelessness in Davis;
- Identify and prioritize new opportunities for a local response to homelessness; and
- Convene a multi-stakeholder workgroup to begin planning for collaborative efforts to develop response efforts.
The Forum identified a variety of actions that could be taken to better address homelessness in Davis, but clearly determined that one of the primary needs was an increase in the availability of housing for people experiencing homelessness. In particular, participants of the Forum identified three crucial housing needs: (1) an increase in year-round shelter beds, (2) an increase in the availability of permanent supportive housing, and (3) a new project following the model of the Bridge to Housing Pilot Project. Based on this feedback County staff worked with representatives from the City of Davis, Davis Community Meals, Yolo Community Care Continuum, and Yolo County Housing to develop a project proposal that addresses each of these three needs.
New Pathways Short-Term Supported Housing Proposal
The New Pathways project will provide short-term housing and intensive services to the most vulnerable individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in Davis, with the ultimate goal of assisting participants in securing permanent housing. The project proposal in Attachment B provides a full description of the project, and a summary is provided below.
- The project will house 4 chronically homeless individuals at a time, with approximately 8-10 individuals circulating through the project each year.
- The project will be located on a City owned property at 512 Fifth Street, Davis.
- The project will be entirely rooted in Housing First principles and best practices in addressing homelessness, including a low-barriers housing model (with no sobriety requirements, no credit history or legal history requirements, and allowance of pets on-site).
- Homeless street outreach will be conducted by Davis Community Meals to identify and prioritize individuals experiencing chronic homelessness for admittance to the project. Each individual will be assessed using the Vulnerability Index and Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT), which is an evidence-informed street outreach tool that helps determine the chronicity and medical vulnerability of people experiencing homelessness. The top scoring individuals in Davis will be offered an opportunity to enter the program as beds become available.
Intensive case management services will be provided by Yolo Community Care Continuum to project participants with the goal of stabilizing them and moving them into permanent housing within 4 to 6 months.
This project follows a similar model to the successful Bridge to Housing Pilot Project, but builds upon the lessons learned from Bridge to Housing in order to improve the model. The most significant change is that this project shifts from relocating an entire encampment (as done in Bridge to Housing) to identifying and housing the most vulnerable and chronically homeless individuals first.
Staff recommends making this shift because focusing housing efforts on the vulnerable and chronically homeless first has been identified as a nationwide best practice. There is a high social and financial cost associated with the chronically homeless due to their use of public services; such as law enforcement and fire department interactions, public works clean-ups, emergency room visits and inpatient hospitalizations. By addressing the needs of the chronically homeless first, communities have successfully realized extensive cost savings and, in some cases, have been able to re-invest cost savings into the homeless services system to help more people.
Why is this needed?
This project fills several identified service gaps for people experiencing homelessness in Davis by expanding the availability of beds and providing additional street outreach. Additionally, the project provides a missing piece in Davis’ existing continuum of housing services by offering housing to the most vulnerable and chronically homeless, who often do not succeed in other housing programs due to sobriety and behavioral requirements.
Project Budget
The project is expected to cost a total of $78,319.80 in FY 15/16 (operating from December through June) and an additional $118,039.80 in FY 16/17. A full budget for the project is provided in Attachment C. The direct project costs include both the operating costs for the housing program and expanded outreach efforts in Davis. The budget also provides information on in-kind costs, including case management services and fair market rent for the property. Staff is proposing a 50% cost share of all direct costs between the City and County.
The Davis City Council considered this project on December 1, 2015 and approved an allocation equal to 50% of the project costs for FY 15/16. The Council further directed staff to provide a proposal within the budget process for funding the project in FY 16/17.
Recommended Actions
At this time staff recommends that the Board of Supervisors take the following actions:
- Approve the proposed cost share of 50/50 (between the City of Davis and County of Yolo) over a 7 month period from December 2015 through June 2016 for the New Pathways Short-Term Supported Housing Project, and direct staff to plan for the ongoing financial costs associated with New Pathways during the FY 16/17 budget process.
- Direct staff to move forward with implementing the New Pathways project, and provide bi-annual reports to the BOS on progress of the project.
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