TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement, and any necessary subsequent subcontracts and amendments, including any amendment to the award amount, with the Business Consumer Services and Housing Agency’s (BCSH) California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH), to accept and expend grant funding in the amount of $1,322,281 for the Encampment Resolution Funding Program, for the period of April 1, 2022 through June 30, 2024, with the option to renew for an additional two-year period, at the discretion of the City Manager; and
Increase appropriations in the Health Fund Group in the Health and Human Services Department by $1,322,281, offset by grant revenue. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) is authorized by the California Health and Safety Code (section 50250 et seq.). The ERF program is a $47.5 million grant established to assist local jurisdictions in ensuring wellness and safety of people experiencing homelessness (PEH) in encampments, support innovative and replicable efforts to resolve critical encampment concerns, support individuals to access safe and stable housing using Housing First Approaches, and encourage a data-informed, coordinated approach to address unsheltered homelessness at encampments.
On March 1, 2022, the City of Long Beach (City) was awarded $1,322,281 in ERF grant funding to serve PEH along a major commercial corridor located at 1301 N. Warren Ave. The site is adjacent to the MacArthur Park, the Homeland Community Center, Mark Twain Library, and various businesses and public right of ways. This is one of Long Beach’s largest encampment sites and one which has a significant portion of individuals who have been experiencing chronic homelessness for over five years. In a survey conducted in December 2021, the encampment site had approximately 40 individuals.
The ERF program will service the immediate crisis of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the enc...
Click here for full text