Homelessness In El Dorado County Commander Kim Nida, Placerville Police Department and Creighton Avila, El Dorado County Chief Administrative Office
Outline For Presentation -Homelessness in El Dorado County (EDC) -Theory of Change (ToC) Process -Successes so far -Where we are headed next -Request to the Placerville City Council to help us get there
EDC s Homelessness Problem A complex set of conditions made more challenging by virtue of our rural setting Economic downturn Drug addiction Victims of domestic abuse (including children) Poorly accessed mental health services Alcohol addiction Lack of community support Lack of job opportunity Soldiers and Veterans suffering from Acute/Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or severe medical conditions as a result of their service Foster children aging out Probationers/Parolees without housing in the community Lack of affordable housing or temporary/transitional housing January 2015 Point-in-Time Count Data Total # of homeless that day 269-20 Veterans -39 Homeless Families (112 persons) -79 Mentally Ill -96 Substance Use Disorder -58 Chronic Homeless (homeless 12 months or longer &/or homeless 4 times or more in the last three years)
EDC Current Service Delivery Crisis management approach somewhat effective in meeting immediate needs Lack of clarity in: -Outcomes -Resource allocation -Coordination of service delivery Minimal impact in determining, articulating & driving toward desired sustainable change Impact: Law enforcement unduly burdened Businesses negatively impacted Service process not efficient nor cost effective Sensitive political issue
Theory of Change To... Opportunity Knocks In 2013, the EDC Board of Supervisors convened a task force to grapple with these competing perspectives, and the Theory of Change ToC was formed. For the first time ever, representatives from local nonprofits, the faith community, the homeless community, education, the business sector and government agencies have come together to have honest, raw discussions about what we can do. We became known as Opportunity Knocks We are working to create a single point-of-entry for homeless services, which will help transition those who can into self-sufficiency and manage the chronic homeless effectively for their benefit and the community benefit in EDC.
Opportunity Knocks Strategic Board -Kim Nida (Co-Chair), Placerville Police -Kristin Brinks (Co-Chair), Health and Human Services Agency -Shannon Bezak, Formally with Hope House -Tara Turrentine, Office of Education -Creighton Avila, Chief Administrative Office -Jim Byers, Sheriff s Department -Scott Thurmond, Continuum of Care -Debra Miller, Real Estate Broker -Susan Read, Homeless Advocate Facilitators -Jana Pingle, Volunteer Facilitator -Matt Huckaby, The Center for Violence Free Relationships Collaborative -Brian Veerkamp, District 3 Supervisor -Kathy Witherow, District 3 Assistant -Don Ashton, Chief Administrative Officer -Wendy Thomas, Placerville City Council -Andrew Craven, Probation -Rene Evans, Only Kindness -Jennifer LaForce, Only Kindness -Theresa McAdams, Green Valley Church -Cheyanne Lane, Tahoe Youth and Family Services -Art Edwards, Community Haven -Don Vanderkar, Community Haven -Jennifer Sands, United Outreach -Becky Green, Green Valley Church -Karen Shelnutt, El Dorado Community Health Center -Marissa Muscat, Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless -Maia Schneider, Marshall Hospital -Bill Roby, El Dorado Community Foundation Multidisciplinary team with wide range of skill sets, perspectives and experiences working to establish a pathway to change.
Successes Thus Far -Sense of trust and partnership to tackle this very complex community issue -Strong collaboration across sectors -A blueprint and project plan to address homelessness -Focus on a sustainable structure, not just treating symptoms -Placerville Police Department has approved use of the Broadway sub-station for the nonprofit to work from -Funding for direct services, due in part to LOCAL COLLABORATION -Housing Support Program (~$475K) -Emergency Solutions Grant (~$50K)
Where We Are Headed We want to create... - A sustainable single point-of-entry process known by all -Reliable countywide data that can be used to obtain additional direct services (direct services = housing, transportation, etc.) By -Obtaining funding from multiple partners *The EDC Board of Supervisors approved $20,000 toward this effort on 10/3/16 -Identifying a nonprofit to administer the single point-of-entry process that is overseen by the Strategic Board
Where We are Headed So that we -Use what resources we have more effectively -Access other funding options -Move community members into self-sufficiency -Fill in the gaps of addressing homelessness in ways that are appropriate to our rural community -Not increase taxpayer burden while we Create a strong, economically viable community
How We Will Get There -Opportunity Knocks collaboration to release Request for Proposal (RFP) to identify a nonprofit that can operate a single point-of-entry *Comprehensive and timely data *Flexibility to adjust to local needs -Work with American Leadership Forum s Encore Fellows to provide support to the nonprofit doing the work
How We Will Get There -Request to the Placerville City Council for $20,000 to fund in part the single point-of-entry *Anticipated total cost for single point-of-entry over a two year period is approximately $200,000
Takeaways And Next Steps -A single point-of-entry for homeless services is needed to obtain accurate and timely data that will make EDC more competitive for Federal and State direct service funding -This type of collaboration is different from what has been done before. We want a sustainable, long-term, collaboratively developed solution that works for our county. -We already have successes, we want to continue to build off of them -Request to the Placerville City Council for $20,000 -We will return in a year with an update on successes