TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with the County of Los Angeles Probation Department, to provide probation services for people experiencing homelessness as a result of being released from the Los Angeles County Jail due to COVID-19 concerns and as a part of the City of Long Beach Homeless Services Continuum of Care, for the period of one year, commencing upon the execution date, with the option to renew annually for up to three years, at the discretion of the City Manager. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On June 9, 2020, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously supported a proposal authored by Supervisor Janice Hahn and co-authored by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas to maintain a lower jail population after the COVID-19 crisis is over. The Los Angeles County (County) jail system has been overcrowded for decades. While the system has capacity for 12,404 people, on any given day the seven facilities have a population of 17,000 people on average. Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, the County Sheriff’s Department, the courts, the Public Defender, and the District Attorney, have worked together to reduce the jail population by 5,000 people. On June 2, 2020, the total jail population was 12,026, and was as low as 11,765 on May 1, 2020, marking the first time in decades that the County jail system’s population was lower than the capacity assigned by the Board of State and Community Corrections.
In direct response to the Board of Supervisors’ motion, the City of Long Beach’s (City) Emergency Operations Center COVID-19 Team, contacted the County Probation Department to better coordinate the release of individuals back to Long Beach with an emphasis on people experiencing homelessness. It is anticipated that about 660 people will return to Long Beach post jail release. The MOU with the County Probation Department details the provision of probation...
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