Meeting Date: January 15, 2019

Transcription

1 CiTY#CHICO INC 1872 City Council Agenda Report Meeting Date: January 15, 2019 TO: City Council FROM: Mark Orme, City Manager RE: Code Blue Emergency Shelter Program REPORT IN BRIEF: On January 2,2019, the City Council directed the City Manager to meet with the rth Valley Housing Trust to identify ways to address emergency winter shelter needs during extreme cold weather. Since the City Council meeting, City staff met with representatives from the rth Valley Housing Trust (Housing Trust) and the Torres Shelter to discuss the request for immediate emergency sheltering under a Code Blue type program. The Housing Trust is willing to help lead the program and is currently working on drafting a program operations plan while the Torres Shelter is including a request for funding of the Code Blue program in their Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) grant application. The City Council is being requested to authorize the City Manager to continue working with appropriate agencies to develop a viable Code Blue program. Recommendation: Authorize the City Manager to continue working with the rth Valley Housing Trust to develop and implement a Code Blue emergency shelter program and to execute any such agreement with the rth Valley Housing Trust and/or other community partner(s) to initiate such a program. FISCAL IMPACT: City partners are seeking grant funds and other resources to facilitate such a program. Other than staff time expended, the fiscal impact to the City is minimal at this time. BACKGROUND: On January 2,2019, the City Council directed the City Manager to meet with the rth Valley Housing Trust to identify ways to address emergency shelter needs during extreme cold weather. Since the City Council meeting, City staffmet with representatives from the rth Valley Housing Trust (Housing Trust) and the Torres Shelter to discuss the request for immediate emergency sheltering under a Code Blue type program. The Housing Trust will to take a primary role in the program and is currently working on drafting a program operations plan while the Torres Shelter is including a request for funding of the Code Blue

2 Page 2 program in their Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) grant application. City staff is already coordinating a follow-up meeting with other partners that possess other expertise, tools, resources, or facilities to evaluate assisting in the implementation ofa Code Blue program. Partners include, but are not limited to, Butte County, Chico Unified School District, Chico State and the Chico Area Recreation District. DISCUSSION: Code Blue shelter programs exist across the country in different forms, but substantially, the programs provide access to shelters during extreme cold weather determined by a defined criteria. A number of weather criteria exist to determine when a Code Blue alert is triggered, but one common criteria includes consideration for a freezing temperature with precipitation and/or a temperature considering wind chill. For example, in Baltimore, Maryland, which regularly faces extreme cold days, the Baltimore Health Department issues a Code Blue alert when: Temperatures, including wind chill, are 13 F or below - which also includes temperatures at or below 25 F with 15 mph sustained winds. Other conditions (i.e. strong winds, forecasted precipitation for more than two hours, extended periods of cold, sudden cold after a warm period) are deemed by the Baltimore Health Commissioner to be severe enough to present a substantial threat to li fe or health of vulnerable residents. Please note that Code Blue type programs are generally administered by county or municipal jurisdictions that have health and welfare departments as part of the services provided by the governmental agency. However, nonprofit providers, being the primary providers of shelter space, also can support such a program. The City of Chico can facilitate bringing necessary partners together to further investigate the initiation of a program specifically to support vulnerable Chico residents. Ideally, a program administered by the Housing Trust and other local partners, would have the best likelihood of garnering ongoing grant funding, support from other community partners, and offer the ability to increase capacity to meet service demands within the Chico community. While City staff will work with our partners to move quickly this season to provide some relief, any ongoing program will require consideration of a number of different program elements as detailed below. Program Owner The Housing Trust has stepped forward and is willing to take on administration of the Code Blue program. While they are developing an operations plan, which will provide the continuity and operating parameters for shelter partners, City staff will continue to work with the Housing Trust and convene other community partners to provide any support available to ensure a successful program.

3 Page 3 Defining a Purpose and Target Capacity Best practice for any program is to define a purpose for a program which can inform implementation, At the January 2,2019, City Council meeting, there were two items which appeared to fit the criteria of informing the purpose. These were: To develop an emergency response program to protect at-risk residents from excessively cold weather exposure days. To intake homeless individuals with community partners and other services intended to assist a homeless individual to access services to better their situation. According to the Housing Trust speaker during the meeting, the goal would be to provide additional beds for temporary use in 12-hour blocks. There should be some definition to the target number of beds to be available on a given day and the time period for which those beds need to be available. Questions such as will it be open to allow someone to sleep or will it be open all day to provide respite during all hours should be evaluated. Shelter Location Recruitment and Identification An appropriate shelter location would provide safe space for individuals to sleep, have access to bathrooms, provide climate control, and as needed, a location for storage of personal property, provide shelter for animals, and deal with higher needs individuals (i.e. intoxicated, mental health, etc.). Additionally, if the homeless individual is one that lives in a vehicle, consideration for parking such a vehicle would be necessary. As each site may have differing capabilities, distinguishing these capabilities is critical (for example, ensuring participants know if animals are allowed or if vehicle storage is available), The Program Owner needs to provide an easy, seamless method for shelter locations to identify themselves as a location meeting the criteria for an emergency, temporary shelter. This method should account for the time periods of availability, ability to blackout dates where the shelter is not available, and to provide information regarding the type of access they can provide (i.e. animals accepted, low barrier availability, etc.). For locations requiring staffing, consideration for additional staffing and/or increasing staff utilization would be required. In order to protect occupants, any acceptable location should be subject to City and County inspection and review for health and safety conditions. Disseminating Information - Code Blue Sites During the program, it is difficult to provide accurate, consistent, and timely information regarding locations of the emergency shelter of a specific day or the services offered at the shelter due to expected changes that occur on a day to day basis. The Program Owner should consider utilizing 211, media

4 Page 4 releases, and/or web-based mechanisms to provide up to date information which is common in other Code Blue programs. Any system would require stafftime or financial investment to develop the appropriate information mechanism. City staff has reached out to technology partners to ascertain the potential for identifying or developing a web-based mechanism to perform this function. tification Of Code Blue tifying the public of a Code Blue condition is crucial, as it begins the process for standing up shelters and providing access to those most at risk. Determining the best entity responsible for weather information and disseminating this information to initiate a Code Blue alert should involve a collaborative discussion between government and community partners. City staff intend to engage Butte County and other partners to determine the best means of issuing an alert. Transportation The individuals in need of emergency shelter have a higher percentage of individuals that are either less mobile or have personal property considerations that would need to be evaluated. For example, the City of San Diego has a dedicated van that is used to transport at-risk individuals and their belongings to a shelter and/or other services. This approach would provide the most flexibility to service at-risk individuals. However, this van is intended to service small numbers of individuals and may not be ideal when transporting many individuals over a short period of time. Community partners are evaluating various transportation programs, such as Uber and Lyft, to provide low cost or free transportation to shelters during a Code Blue alert. Alternately, the City can reevaluate its existing bus pass program which provides transportation passes to a non-profit partner to determine if it could be redesigned to meet the emergent transportation need during a Code Blue event. Funding In order to implement a Code Blue program immediately, there are two limiting factors - shelter locations and funding. While the Chico community has some capacity through its existing emergency shelter partners, there is not enough to house every at-risk individual or to accommodate all their needs (i.e. animals, dependency, storage of belongings, and/or acute medical/physical needs). Thus, if the program can be implemented this season, it will lack the capacity, structure and support to operate ideally. Further, with limited planning, there is a higher risk of issues and problems arising during the program's implementation in the first year. City staff are convening meetings with community and governmental partners to ascertain potential locations for such shelter capacity, including City facilities. However, funding may be the more limiting factor due to the need for capital expenditures (i.e. beds, linen, etc.) as well as staffing capacity to allow partners to service the additional/new hours with shelter setup and cleanup. The City's Community Development Block Grant Program application period is open, and non-profits can apply for funding to support the Code Blue program. They are aware of the grant program, and a City workshop is scheduled for January 16th to inform interested non-profits on the grant program and

5 Meeting Date: January 15, 2019 Page 5 application requirements. In the medium and long term, community partners will be able to focus fundraising efforts to support and sustain a Code Blue alert program. The City Council may wish to also consider future budget allocation through its annual budget process to further support the program. Other Services - Wrap Around Offering an emergency shelter program provides the opportunity to identify individuals who are homeless and to connect these individuals with service providers. As such, the Program Owner should consider integrating this program with the Continuum of Care's data system which would allow a consistent tracking of participants in services and to facilitate access to other services for individuals who utilize the emergency shelter under the Code Blue program. City Facilities During the January 2,2019, City Council meeting, the discussion included consideration of two City facilities for use in the Code Blue program - the Airport Terminal and Old Municipal Building (OMB). City facilities staff evaluated these two locations and provided a breakout of key attributes and additional considerations for each facility. Key Attributes of City Facilities Attributes Flooring Type Sq. Ft. of usable space for sheltering Restroorns Showers ADA Access Security System High Secure Areas Other business operating within Daily janitorial costs for additional cleanings Remote location Historical building Daily utility costs based on sq. ft. OMB Car-pet 1,500 Limited $150 - $200 $54 Terminal Linoleum 2,500 - significant $150- $200 $82 Old Municipal Building (OMB) The upstairs conference room or classroom at the OMB facility is commonly used for conferences, trainings, meetings and general City activities. The facility has substantial historical value and is recognized as a historic building.

6 Page 6 The building went through a significant ($2.7 million) remodel from 2006 to 2009 that included foundation improvements, structural improvements, hazardous material removal, and a complete exterior/interior renewal that preserved its historical value. The bottom floor is home to the City's Information Systems (IS) department, a police substation and other portions of the building are commonly leased or used by businesses, community partners and other agencies. Currently the Town of Paradise resides in three suites on the first floor. Concerns with using this space as a shelter include impacts to normal business activities and distress to the facility itself. The facility has two small single use restrooms on the second floor and small multi-use restrooms on the first floor with two stalls each. The upstairs room has a maximum standing room capacity of 170 and a maximum seating capacity of 80. The location is not conducive to supporting animals nor for the storage of personal belongings. Airport Terminal This type of use for the Airport Terminal is not allowed per the Butte County Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan adopted and regulated by the State Department of Transportation (DOT). The Terminal is under a B2 compatibly zone eliminating residential dwellings, shortand long-term lodging, congregate care, children's schools, and day cares facilities uses. The Airport Terminal is the center of all Airport operations and office space is occupied by the Airport Manager. Space in the Terminal is also leased to a car rental company that averages $7,500 in airport revenue each month in rent and concession sales. Concerns include impacts to the only Airport Terminal tenant and direct access to secured and federally restricted areas such as the aircraft parking ramp, taxiways. and runway areas. Further, the lease agreement with this tenant includes a provision that prohibits the City from unreasonably restricting the Lessee's operation of its rental business, and as experienced with the emergency sheltering of animals during the Camp Fire, it is highly likely that another sheltering use would impact this lease provision. The Facilities Division of Public Works is not staffed adequately to take on maintenance for this type of use, The Division currently struggles to keep up with demands of existing buildings and does not have the capacity to take on additional uses without significant overtime or potential contractor costs. According to Facilities staff, there is an increased burden on facilities when they are not used for their intended daily purpose. Facilities staff would likely not be able to meet demands of existing City operations if required to take on the additional maintenance of shelters at either location.

7 Meeting Date: January Page 7 Prepared by: Chris Constantin Assistant City Manager Approved by: Cvtjayis_ Mark Orme, City Manager DISTRIBUTION: City Clerk (3) ATTACHMENTS: ne