Five-Point Homeless Plan Proposal to be discussed at today’s Sacramento City Council Meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 22, 2019

CONTACT:

Karina Talamantes, Chief of Staff, Office of Mayor Pro Tem Angelique Ashby (916) 808-7001 | Ktalamantes@cityofsacramento.org

Five-Point Homeless Plan Proposal to be discussed at today’s Sacramento City Council Meeting

Sacramento, CA

Mayor Pro Tem Angelique Ashby, in collaboration with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA), will present a Five-Point Homeless Plan Proposal with a diversified approach for addressing homelessness in Sacramento at the Sacramento City Council meeting on October 22.

Mayor Pro Tem Angelique Ashby will present a supportive housing scattered-site model for families experiencing homelessness. The supportive housing units will be dispersed among multiple buildings and properties in District 1 and District 8. This model integrates supportive housing units in the larger community. The two-year funding proposal will provide intensive case management and housing to at least 300 unduplicated individuals.

The five proposed 2-year programs are as follows (with a brief description of the cost and support services that will be provided):

1. Scattered Sites by Councilmember Ashby (D1) & Councilmember Carr (D8) - 300 persons with intensive case management, financial assistance, and permanent shelter - Annual cost per person: $8,790 - Timeline: ~ 60-days from funding allocation

2. Safe Parking with Facilities by Councilmember Jennings (D7) - 360 persons with wrap around services, security, mobile sanitation

- Annual cost per person: $2,102 - Timeline: ~60-days from funding allocation

3. Sleeping Cabins & Tents by Councilmember Warren (D2) & Councilmember Harris (D3) - 300 persons with security, mobile sanitation, meals, laundry, kennels, and possession storage - Annual cost per person: $9,308 - $9,771 - Timeline: ~ 6 months to construct from funding allocation

4. Motel Conversion -Emergency Shelter by Councilmember Harris (D3) - 400 persons with case management, re-housing, employment, job, life skills training, legal and health services, meals, and laundry - Annual cost per person: $10,141 - Timeline: ~ 3 months to construct from funding allocation - Pre-Development is $600,000 and would require 3 months

5. Permanent Supportive Housing Funding- SHRA (Citywide) - In conjunction with $10 million in gap financing, mortgage revenue bonds, tax credits, and project-based vouchers, produce 100 permanent supportive housing units by 2025.

Mayor Pro Tem Ashby has a deep appreciation for Mayor Steinberg’s advocacy to address chronic homelessness and his efforts to champion conversations across the state on how to approach housing insecurity. The City of Sacramento launched a low-barrier triage shelter in Councilmember Harris’ district (D3) -- on the border of Councilmember Warren’s district (D2) -- in 2017 and is slated to open another large low-barrier shelter in Councilmember Schenirer’s district (D5) in 2020.

The City of Sacramento’s 180-bed temporary homeless shelter at Capitol Park Hotel in Councilmember Hansen’s district (D4) is well under way under the operation of SHRA. In partnership with affordable-housing nonprofit Mercy Housing, SHRA is currently remodeling the rooms into 134 permanent supportive-housing units. Councilmember Hansen also led the City of Sacramento allocated funding for a 12-bed shelter to house youth experiencing homelessness, including LGBTQ youth.

The adoption of the Five-Point Homeless Plan would put services in seven of the eight council districts in the City of Sacramento. District 6 has not yet proposed a plan or a site but is working with partners to identify a proposal, and could certainly replicate any of the other seven council district models.

The question Mayor Pro Tem Ashby poses is: “Why not diversify our approaches to addressing homelessness?”

“As a state, we are struggling to identify ‘successful’ measures of what is working and what is not,” Mayor Pro Tem Ashby said. “As we employ varied approaches to homelessness it is important to intentionally meet individuals where they are at and wrap services around them, in our efforts to stabilize lives and use trauma informed practices.

“It will take political courage, leadership, collaboration, and coordination among multiple state and local programs to align resources for housing and supportive services,” Ashby continued. “Diversifying our approach to ending homelessness is critical to seeing successful outcomes. We should, as a Council, prioritize our various approaches based on our current fiscal capacity -- not rely on uncertain future funding.”

Mayor Pro Tem Ashby thanks Mayor Steinberg for leading this discussion and humbly offers the Five-Point Homeless Plan Proposal to the dialogue. She will ask her colleagues and this city to engage in a discussion about options, a diversified approach, best practices and citywide participation in addressing this toughest of issues.

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