To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Steve Potter, City Manager
Prepared By: Molly Rattigan, Deputy City Manager
TITLE:
Title
Annual Homeless Services Report
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
In a joint session with the Napa County Board of Supervisors, receive a report on homeless services.
Body
DISCUSSION:
History of Homeless Services System
Historically, the City of Napa (City) and County of Napa (County) have partnered with each other to address the needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness across the region.
In 2016, the City and County launched a multi-year process to review and transform the homelessness crisis response system to address the needs of persons experiencing homelessness more effectively. This work began by gathering community stakeholder feedback and completing a comprehensive analysis of the local homelessness crisis response system. This analysis led to the development of data-driven recommendations for innovative strategies to transform the City and County’s homeless system. With the help of national experts at the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) and the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), the City and County of Napa began the process of working together on a collaborative approach to providing homeless services.
This analysis of the Napa Homeless Response System led to the development of the Recommendations Report which was drafted by CSH and NAEH in concert with key community stakeholders. The Report encouraged the City and County of Napa to shift from a program approach to a systematic approach where resources are better leveraged, coordinated, and aligned across silos and sectors to ensure homelessness in Napa is prevented whenever possible or is otherwise a rare, brief, and non-recurring experience. The City and County are committed to ensuring that homeless housing and services do not operate as a set of independent and uncoordinated programs; instead they are coordinated across organizations and programs - working towards common system-wide goals. As mandated by both the State and Federal governments to access funding, the City and County of Napa require a Housing First approach emphasizing rapid exits from homelessness to permanent housing without service-related pre-conditions, building housing capacity, ensuring investments and decision-making are driven by data, and identifying new funding opportunities. The system focuses on early intervention and prevention as well as housing investment to reduce system “inflows” and improve system “outflows”. The goal is to reach a “functional zero” system flow: where housing placements and related services and resources are optimized to match or exceed the demand for them.
Homeless Services Today
In 2022, the City and County worked together with The Center for Common Concern, Inc (“Homebase”), a team of lawyers and public policy experts for homeless services consultation and technical assistance, and the Napa Continuum of Care (CoC) to update the existing Homeless Response Plan in compliance with State Homeless Housing Assistance Program (HHAP) grant funding requirements. The plan provides the homeless system of care and the greater Napa community with a shared context of how people are experiencing homelessness, detail strengths and gaps in the existing system of care and recommends goals and strategies to guide improvement efforts at the program, City, County, and community levels. It is meant to address the needs of the entire geography of Napa County, including all cities, incorporated areas, and unincorporated areas, and provide guidance for all stakeholders in the community. It represents input across all sectors and areas within the Napa community, including service providers, business leaders, City and County staff, and people with experiences of homelessness.
Through an analysis of community feedback, data and reports, the Strategic Plan to Address Homeless establishes five main goals to address homelessness in Napa County:
1. Expand access to permanent housing, including permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing and other housing opportunities for people experiencing or at-risk of experiencing homelessness.
2. Prevent households from becoming homeless for the first time and rapidly rehouse households newly experiencing homelessness.
3. Expand access to and quality of services for people experiencing homelessness in Napa County.
4. Build upon cross-system partnerships and collaborations to target and serve all people experiencing homelessness in Napa County.
5. Ensure Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging are core considerations in program development and that all members of the community have equal access to care.
These goals are not a community mandate, but a set of recommendations that will be adapted to address the dynamic and complex issue of homelessness locally. Achieving these goals will require funding and cross-system alignment. As a first step to addressing these goals, the City and County of Napa collaborated to develop complimentary CoC and State HHAP funding applications to maximize funding and impact. The City is prioritizing funding for the development of a new Diversion Program as well as continuation funding for Outreach Services. The County is prioritizing its funding for Housing-related investments including Rental Assistance, Tenancy Sustaining Support Services, Client Move-In Fund and Landlord Incentives, as well as to establish a comprehensive Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging training for the CoC.
The City and County share in the cost of the year-round shelter operations. The County separately contributes to homeless services through County funded specialty mental health services for people with a serious mental illness, including outreach and engagement services, alcohol and drug recovery services for vulnerable individuals and families, as well as one hundred percent of winter shelter operation costs. The City separately contributes to homeless services by running all street outreach and engagement services to connect individuals experiencing homelessness to available services, leading efforts on homeless encampment cleanups on properties owned by the City of Napa and implementing a Diversion Program to provide rapid resolution to prevent or exit homelessness. The City of Napa also opened the North Napa Center this year after receiving an Encampment Resolution Grant.
Finally, the City and County have been partners in a series of development projects that have created permanent supportive housing specifically for clients exiting homelessness. Valley Lodge opened in April 2023 and Heritage House/Valle Verde opened in April 2024 and is in the process of leasing up.
Purpose of Today’s Report
City and County staff will jointly present a report on homeless services including review and discussion of current data, trends, programs, and services including the 2024 Point-In-Time (PIT) Count, a report on Permanent Supportive Housing and the North Napa Center, and City and County joint efforts to ensure the experience of homelessness in Napa County is rare, brief, and non-reoccurring.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
None. This is an informational item only.
CEQA:
The City Manager has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report is not subject to CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
None
NOTIFICATION:
County of Napa