To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Vincent Smith, Community Development Director
Prepared By: Lark Ferrell, Housing Manager
TITLE:
Title
Update on Homeless System
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Receive report providing an update on the homeless system.
Body
DISCUSSION:
This item provides City Council with an update on the homeless system.
Background
The City of Napa (the "City") and the County of Napa (the "County") have historically partnered with each other to address the needs of homeless individuals and families. The City's Police Department has taken the lead on homeless outreach and encampment clean-up activities while the County has funded specialty mental health services and drug and alcohol recovery services for vulnerable individuals and families. Since 2015, the City and the County have each funded 50% of year-round shelter operating costs and the County has funded 100% of winter shelter operations. The City and County worked with national homeless experts, Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) and National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), to redesign the community's homeless system in order to implement national best practices including moving to a housing-focused system which prioritizes assistance to the community's most vulnerable. The relationships, roles and system strategies are formalized in a Cooperative Joint Powers Homeless Services Agreement between the City and County.
Since 2016, significant progress has been made to implement CSH and NAEH's recommendations. This includes reducing barriers to shelter entry, bringing new resources to the community to help provide supportive and housing services to homeless families and individuals, and embedding permanent supportive housing units into new affordable housing developments. Additionally, Abode Services was hired to be the community's homeless services provider with responsibilities for shelter operation, homeless outreach, and housi...
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