STAFF REPORT. At the January 20, 2016 Homeless Services Oversight Council (HSOC) meeting, the Board unanimously pa,ssed the following recommendations:

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1 STAFF REPORT TO: FROM: SUBJECT: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL JIM COPSEY, INTERIM CITY MANAGER CONSIDERATION OF A DECLARATION OF A SHELTER CRISIS PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE 8698 ET SEQ. AND CONSIDER DESIGNATING CERTAIN PUBLIC FACILITIES AS SHELTERS FOR THE HOMELESS BACKGROUND At the January 20, 2016 Homeless Services Oversight Council (HSOC) meeting, the Board unanimously pa,ssed the following recommendations: The County and the other jurisdictions agendize a declaration of a shelter crisis pursuant to Government Code 8698 et seq,, consider making designated public facilities available for the duration of the state of emergency, and allow persons who are unable to obtain housing to occupy the facilities for the duration of the crisis. As a result of this recommendation, on February 2, 2016 the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors (BOS) declared a shelter crisis for the unincorporated areas of the County for a limited time which sunsets on April 15, 2016, In addition, the BOS indicated that they would formally request that all incorporated cities make similar declarations, and requested that each of the incorporated cities make $10,000 available for warming shelters/centers. The Cities of Paso Robles and Morro Bay chose to declare a homeless shelter crisis and on February 23, the City of Arroyo Grande chose not to declare a shelter crisis and to handle any warming shelter requests through their temporary use permitting process. Staff is not aware of any other Cities in the County that have made a decision regarding this issue. At the February 16, 2016 City Council meeting the Council asked staff to agendize for consideration the request from the HSOC to declare a shelter crisis and for purposes of making government owned building available for use as warming shelters/centers. DISCUSSION Current Emergency Bed Capacity The most recent homeless Point in Time Count completed in January 2015 identified 1,515 homeless persons in the County on a single night Of those, 1, 123 persons (or 74%) were unsheltered. While this represents a decrease in the number of unsheltered persons since the APPROVED FOR FORWARDING Please Review for the Possibility of a Pqtential Conflict of Interest: IYNone Identified by Staff 0 Bright 0 Shoals 0 Nicolls a Lee a Shah Meeting Date:,M"'"a""r""c""h'-'7"'", -=2""0_,_16=-- 6 Agenda Item No.

2 Page2 previous count in 2013, the number of persons substantially exceeds the number of shelter beds available in the region. According to the County's 2015 Housing Inventory Count, there were 166 emergency shelter beds in the County, plus additional persons were sheltered in motels on the night of the count. The count of shelter beds includes beds at the El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO) shelter in Atascadero, the Maxine Lewis Memorial Shelter, respite care beds operated by Transitional Food and Shelter, and beds at shelters for individuals and families fleeing from intimate partner violence in San Luis Obispo. The recent opening of five seasonal Warming Centers in Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo have added a combined capacity of approximately beds, but several of the shelters are only open certain nights of the week or under certain weather conditions. The two Warming Centers in Atascadero operate on different nights and are never open at the same time. As a result, the number of available seasonal Warming Center beds on any given night may vary from as little as zero to a maximum of 112. Paso Cares, a local nonprofit, is currently looking into the possibility of adding Saturday and Sunday nights to its schedule for its Warming Center, which would result in the Warming Center in Paso Robles being available seven days a week, regardless of weather conditions. Support for Warming Centers The County supports homeless assistance programs through County, State, and Federal pass through funding. While much of the County's Fiscal Year funding allocated for homeless assistance is targeted for permanent supportive housing, Rapid Rehousing, and Transitional housing programs, some of the funds are also allocated to emergency shelters. Approximately $87,000 was awarded to the Prado Day Center, and an additional $500,000 was set aside in 2014 as a one-time contribution towards the cost of construction for the new Homeless Services Center. To support Warming Centers this winter, the County made a leased Department of Social Services building available for a Warming Center in Arroyo Grande, as it did in the prior two years. Additionally, the County allocated $7,500 for Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County's (CAPSLO) Prado Warming Center operations and also set aside $15,000 for emergency expenses related to homeless shelter programs, of which a portion will be used for safe parking at the Prado Day Center. This month, the County allocated $1,250 from this fund for ECHO to purchase sleeping bags for the Warming Centers currently operating in Atascadero. Warming Center Attendance Since the Warming Centers have started operations, existing Warming Centers, with the exception of the Warming Center operated by Paso Cares, have not yet been filled to capacity. During the time period where several consecutive days of rain occurred however, overall shelter attendance increased. To date, a maximum of 68 Warming Center beds (out of approximately 112 beds available) have been utilized on a given night. This represented a maximum Warming Center bed utilization rate of 61% for nights when both weather dependent Warming Centers were available. Attendance at weather dependent Warming Centers (operated by CAPSLO and the 5Cities Homeless Coalition) has been increasing overall this month in weeks when both Centers are open. During the week of January 3-9, 2016, a total of 123 bed nights were provided by the

3 Page 3 two shelters. During the week of January 17-23, which was the next week in which both Centers were open, that number increased to 131 bed nights, a 6.5% increase, even though both Centers were open fewer nights. Attendance at North County shelters appears to have declined by 14% each week, although data from the two faith-based Warming Centers is not available for three nights during the week of January Data from the center in Paso Robles indicates the largest number of bed nights were used during the two weeks when the weather dependent centers were also open. Shelter Crisis Declaration California Government Code Sections 8698 et seq. allows local governments to declare a shelter crisis if a significant number of people are not able to obtain shelter and their health and safety may be threatened as a result (see Attachment 1). Such a declaration provides immunity from liability for "ordinary negligence in the provision of emergency housing" provided that the jurisdiction has declared a shelter crisis under this code and made a finding that "a significant number of persons are without the ability to obtain shelter, resulting in a threat to their health and safety." Section also allows for the temporary waiver of certain provisions regarding housing habitability, health, or safety, to the extent that strict compliance would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of those effects of the shelter crisis. It allows jurisdictions to enact temporary health and safety standards for public facility buildings open to homeless persons during a declared shelter crisis. These waivers and temporary standards only apply to public facilities that are owned, operated, leased, or maintained by the governmental entity, and are not applicable to privately owned property. The County already is making available a portion of a leased Department of Social Services Building in Arroyo Grande for use as a Warming Center operated this winter by the 5Cities Homeless Coalition. This building has been made available for this purpose each winter since Section 8698 et seq. would, however, provide certain protections from liability. Consideration of a Shelter Crisis Declaration in Grover Beach For the City of Grover Beach, we only have two public facilities that could be considered to be used as warming shelters, Ramona Garden Park Center and the Community Center on Trouville Avenue. At present, neither facility is set up to be able to accommodate the use of a warming center, and both facilities are currently being used and rented out for other activities. To assist emergency managers and shelter planners to meet the access and functional needs in general population shelters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has developed a document titled "Guidance on Planning for Integration of Functional Needs Support Services in General Population Shelters", available online at: This document provides guidance to assist in understanding the requirements related to sheltering children and adults with functional support needs in general population shelters. Emergency managers and shelter planners have the responsibility to plan accordingly to ensure that sheltering services and facilities are accessible. If the City of Grover Beach were to declare a shelter crisis, staff recommends that the Council also consider a limited duration for the crisis similar to that of the County to sunset on April 15, Should the Council direct staff to identify and make public buildings available for

4 Page 4 emergency shelters, the next steps would be to identify what is needed for each facility to be able to accommodate and shelter the general population, to identify nonprofit organizations (including faith-based organizations) or other entities willing and able to operate a Warming Center at such facilities, and to develop Memorandums of Understanding or other agreements with such agencies. City staff would not be able to complete these steps in time to open any type of warming shelter at our public facilities for this year nor are there funds budgeted for this in the current budget. HSOC indicated that organizations that currently host or operate Warming Centers have reported difficulty in obtaining volunteers to staff the Warming Centers, particularly for overnight shifts. The warming center that is being currently operated in Arroyo Grande during inclement weather is near the city limits for Grover Beach and, as reported by the HSOC, currently does not operate at full capacity indicating that at this point in time there may not be a need for an additional warming center. Because of the challenges with the existing public facilities, the budgetary constraints of the City not being able to provide staff or fund adequate equipment for overnight placements, the inability for the existing facilities to be able to shelter the various needs such as families and separation of men and women, at this time, staff recommends the City Council not declare a shelter crisis per Government Code 8698 et seq. and not designate the public facilities for shelters. ALTERNATIVES The Council has the following alternatives to consider: 1) The Council could review staff provided materials and decide not to declare a shelter crisis per Government Code 8698 et seq. and not designate public facilities for shelters; 2) The Council could declare a shelter crisis for a specified time period and designate public facilities; or 3) Provide direction to staff RECOMMENDED ACTION It is recommended that the City Council not declare a shelter crisis per Government Code 8698 et seq. and not designate public facilities as shelters for the homeless. FISCAL IMPACT There is no fiscal impact associated with staff's recommendation. Future financial impacts are possible if the City Council, at a later date, voted to implement additional programs or activities where financial support were necessary to carry out such programs or activities. The cost would be dependent on the specific actions of the Council at that time. PUBLIC NOTIFICATION The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act. A copy of the meeting agenda and this staff report were provided to the 5Cities Homeless Coalition.

5 Page 5 Attachments 1. Government Code 8698 et seq.

6 1/19/2016 GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION CA Codes (gov ) Attachment For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply: (a) ''Political subdivision" includes the state, any city, city and county, county, special district, or school district or public agency authorized by law. ( b) "Governing body" means the following: (1) The Governor for the state. (2) The legislative body for a city or city and county. (3) The board of supervisors for a county. (4) The governing board or board of trustees for a district or other public agency. (5) An official designated by ordinance or resolution adopted by a governing body, as defined in paragraph (2), (3), or (4). (c) "Public facility" means any facility of a political subdivision including parks, schools, and vacant or underutilized facilities which are owned, operated, leased, or maintained, or any combination thereof, by the political subdivision through money derived by taxation or assessment. (d) "Declaration of a shelter crisis" means the duly proclaimed existence of a situation in which a significant number of persons are without the ability to obtain shelter, resulting in a threat to their health and safety Upon a declaration of a shelter cr1s1s, the following provisions shall apply during the period of the emergency. (a) The political subdivision shall be immune from liability for ordinary negligence in the provision of emergency housing pursuant to Section This limitation of liability shall apply only to conditions, acts, or omissions directly related to, and which would not occur but for, the provision of emergency housing. This section does not limit liability for grossly negligent, reckless, or intentional conduct which causes injury. (b) The provisions of any state or local regulatory statute, regulation, or ordinance prescribing standards of housing, health, or safety shall be suspended to the extent that strict compliance would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the shelter crisis. Political subdivisions may, in place of such standards, enact municipal health and safety standards to be operative during the housing emergency consistent with ensuring minimal public health and safety. The provisions of this section apply only to additional public facilities open to the homeless pursuant to this chapter (a) (1) The governing body may declare a shelter crisis, and may take such action as is necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, upon a finding by that governing body that a significant number of persons within the jurisdiction of the governing body are without the ability to obtain shelter, and that the situation has resulted in a threat to the health and safety of leg info. ca.g ov/cg i-bi ntdis pl aycode?section= g ov&g r oup= &fi I e= /2

7 1/ CA Codes (gov ) those persons. (2) For purposes of this chapter, the governing body of the state, in making a declaration of a shelter crisis pursuant to paragraph (1), may limit that declaration to any geographical portion of the state. (b) Upon a declaration of a shelter crisis pursuant to subdivision (a), the political subdivision may allow persons unable to obtain housing to occupy designated public facilities during the duration of the state of emergency. eg info. ca. g ovlcg i-bi n/di s pl ay.:ode?section= g ov&g roup= &fi!e=