CITY OF REDDING/COUNTY OF SHASTA HOMELESS CONTINUUM OF CARE. MINUTES OF March 20, 2006

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1 CITY OF REDDING/COUNTY OF SHASTA HOMELESS CONTINUUM OF CARE MINUTES OF March 20, 2006 Members in Attendance: Guests in Attendance: Carla Alexander, Shasta Consortium of Community Health Centers Linda Alexander, Shasta Community Health Center Melinda Brown, People of Progress Lydia Buckley, City of Redding Housing Division Bob Denham, Living Hope Compassion Ministries Betty Franco, Shasta County Health Department Naomi Harri, City of Redding Housing Debbie Herrera, Legal Services of Northern California Angela Jones, Shasta County Women s Refuge Richard Kuhns, Shasta County Department of Mental Health Arlin Markham, Shasta County Sheriffs Department Kevin Marshall, Veteran s Coordinator for EDD Don Meek, Redding/Shasta County Homeless Continuum of Care Denise Morey, Shasta Treatment Center - Community Safety Net Plus Connie Murray, SHIFT Program for NVCSS Bill Price, Restoration Enterprises Bobbi Sawtelle, Northern Valley Catholic Social Service Sandra Van Larson, Independent Living Services of Northern California Rachel Costa, Shasta College Student Heather Lentz, Shasta College Student Introductions The meeting was called to order at 10:33 a.m. and introductions by members present were made. Additions to the Agenda Don Meek asked to add an item to the agenda relative to the State of California s Policy Academy on Individuals and Families Experiencing Homelessness to be held in the Spring. Approval of Minutes Minutes for the February 22, 2005, meeting were approved (available at Additional Items 1

2 Don Meek noted that the State of California is soliciting delegates to the upcoming Policy Academy relative to development of a Ten-Year Plan addressing chronic homelessness and asked for volunteers. Because the Redding/Shasta CoC does not currently have a Ten-Year Plan in place, this affords the Continuum an ideal opportunity to create one which will benefit our locality through creation of a long-term homeless strategy. Richard Kuhns volunteered to serve as the primary delegate with Denise Morey and Betty Franco also willing to serve as back-ups. Information will be forwarded to all three members to review and, in turn, make contact with the state representative organization. Update of the Shasta Consortium of Community Health Centers by Carla Alexander Carla reaffirmed the Consortium s role to provide an assessment of mental health services county-wide and handed out a flow chart of the proposed Redesign Project and Steering Committee. There are eight different subcommittees ranging from Access, Emergency and Clinical Care to Rural, Community Supports, Youth & Family, Data & Assessment, and Community Education. The Continuum of Care acts as the community support component of the project and the proposed activity is slated to take place over an 18-month period. She also mentioned that applications have been solicited for a Project Manager position, yet the slot has not been filled to date with a viable candidate. Carla noted that the Steering Committee will continue to use the CoC as an information warehouse and discussion forum for those local agencies and persons seeking input relative to mental health services, particularly in rural areas. Results of March 2, 2006 Point-in-Time (PIT) Homeless Survey. Melinda Brown highlighted the results of the PIT survey and noted that 236 families participated in the assessment which totaled approximately 471 homeless individuals. These figures included statistics gathered by Shasta Community Health Center which could not obtain complete data for all fields of the survey due to operational limitations at the Placer Street facility. There was limited success in some of the outlying areas due to weather conditions and scattered participation. Although Mercy Hospital joined in the survey process, no patients received in the emergency room on that day registered as homeless. It was noted that the vast majority of surveyed people were designated in the extremely vulnerable categories including victims of domestic violence, the physically disabled, chronic substance abusers or severally mentally ill. Melinda indicted that she would provide a narrative summary of the results similar to last year s survey to assist with reporting and community presentations. Melinda and the other survey committee members should be congratulated on a job well done Continuum of Care Application - Exhibits 1 and 2 Process 2

3 It was announced by Don Meek that the 2006 SuperNOFA (Notice of Funding Availability) was published by HUD and issued nation-wide on March 8 th. This will initiate our intensive process to develop a new Continuum of Care Plan (Exhibit 1) and solicit for new project applications (Exhibit 2) to address homeless housing and service needs in the Shasta County. All CoC members and sister agencies throughout the area are encouraged to participate in the process. A newspaper display ad will be published in the Record Searchlight this week announcing the application competition and a community meeting to be held on Wednesday, April 5 th. The focus of the community meeting is to provide an opportunity for local service providers to help determine homeless priorities and describe details relative to submitting a funding application. In order to move forward with the process and establish new members for the Executive Committee for the program year, participants were solicited from the general council. In addition to the Coordinator, city and county membership positions, four other members offered to serve. They include Melinda Brown, Angela Jones, Kevin Marshall, and Denise Moray. Please note that Melinda Brown is a previous Executive Committee member who offered to serve another year in this capacity. When solicited, Debbie Herrera of Legal Services also affirmed that she would ask members of her organization if they would participate on the Executive Council. It should also be noted that the complete Exhibits will be available to Council members for review and final approval at the May 15 th CoC meeting. Discussion of News Article Uninvited Guests - transient camping in Parkview Numerous CoC members were interested in follow-up discussions and ramifications of the February 21, 2006 news article about homeless persons camping on private property in the Parkview neighborhood. Although the immediate problem had been mitigated by clean up efforts and a pledge by the Good News Rescue Mission to help monitor the area, there were concerns raised by the news article including city-wide citations to homeless persons camping on public or private property and the risk of losing services. A number of members stated that many homeless persons do camp for an assortment of reasons and should not be penalized by a loss of services. There was also comments made by others stating that homeless persons need to self police themselves whenever possible to help ensure their access to services (i.e., HOPE van participation at Living Hope Compassion Ministries). Several members indicated that they would be in attendance at a follow-up meeting on Wednesday, March 22 nd at City Hall (Caldwell Conference Room) from 3:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon. Don Meek stated that he would contact the sponsoring department (Police or Redevelopment Agency) and give notice via to all CoC members regarding availability for attendance and the focus of the meeting. (Later, that afternoon Don did confirm that the meeting is specific only to the trespassing citation and clean-up of the target property in Parkview.) Broader issues relative to city-wide citations of transients camping on private or public 3

4 property, restriction of services to the homeless, or other needs/assessments for homeless people seeking shelter, etc. may likely be discussed at future Homeless Continuum of Care Council meetings. Status of CoC Business Items Housing Committee: Lydia Buckley noted that the Francis Court (Supportive Housing Project) grand opening was successful and had the full support of numerous churches throughout the community via their donation of furniture and other furnishings for the new residents. She also noted that the Mercy Oaks and So. California Presbyterian Homes 202 projects for seniors are underway with the first one slated for completion in May 2006 and the second at the 25% completion level. Supportive Services: Linda Barba noted that website revisions are currently paused and awaiting home page assistance. Don Meek noted that there is no available help from Simpson University, as previously hoped for. Kevin Marshall stated that he had experience and would be glad to assist. He and Don will coordinate a meeting with Scott Badger from the City Housing Division to move forward with updates to the current webpage and a possible facelift to the home page. Health Services: Linda Alexander of Shasta Community Health Center (SCHC) mentioned that discussions this past month with Living Hope Compassion Ministries focused on the feasibility of using the State Street site as a possible Day Resource Center. The concept is based on several benefits available through Living Hope: (1) services are already offered to a large segment of homeless families in the Parkview/South Redding area; (2) it is an existing site that requires no purchase of land; and (3) expansion of activities and greater collaboration through the CoC may be a good match if neighborhood concerns can equally be addressed. Public Safety: Bill Price followed up with information highlighting the May 3, 2006 Community Justice Stakeholders Forum which will be held at the Holiday Inn. The workshop will involve a wide range of participants including judges, public officials, parole, probation, mental health and drug enforcement as well as educators, faith-based and community-based organizations, social services and the general public. Discussions will focus on gaps in services and why programs do not work with ideas on how to focus our attention on new options and collaborative efforts to assist in the successful re-entry of exoffenders in our community. Cost of the event is $30.00 per person (including breakfast and lunch). Arlin Markham, representing the Shasta County Sheriff s Office and Restoration Enterprises, will also present information and examine benefits of developing a new jail at the next Public Safety meeting in April. 4

5 Education/Community Outreach/Expand Membership: Additional presentations are tentatively scheduled for Simpson College. However, Don Meek hopes to have new data from the 2005 homeless survey to share at these sessions. HMIS Survey: Melinda Brown stated that People of Progress would finalize and review any anomalies associated with the Point-In-Time survey. She also noted that the volume of input from data collection agencies seems to be beneath the previous year figures and encouraged participants to maintain consistent input. Round Table Lydia Buckley of the City of Redding Housing Division announced the April 20 th Fair Housing Workshop and welcomed participation by all interested persons. Sandra Van Larson with Independent Living Center of Northern California, passed out copies of The Heart of Dome Village a summary of a housing village in Los Angeles for needy individuals and families which can also be viewed at Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 17, 2006 at 10:30 a.m. in the Caldwell Conference Room at City Hall. C:\Documents and Settings\Don Meek\My Documents\Corel User Files\CoC Files\ Minutes\March 20, 2006 Minutes.wpd 5

CITY OF REDDING/COUNTY OF SHASTA HOMELESS CONTINUUM OF CARE. MINUTES OF May 21, 2007

CITY OF REDDING/COUNTY OF SHASTA HOMELESS CONTINUUM OF CARE MINUTES OF May 21, 2007 Members in Attendance: Linda Barba, Shasta County Department of Social Services Melinda Brown, People of Progress Lydia