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1. 1. What is the Homeless Encampment Cleanup Pilot Program?

• The goal of the Pilot Program is to address the health, safety, and shelter needs of persons living in encampments, as well as to mitigate impacts to surrounding communities.  In August 2017, the City in partnership with Catholic Charities’ Homeless Outreach Services Team (HOST), offered services, shelter, and housing to the occupants of the Farmers Lane extension encampment, including the activation of an additional 50 beds at the Samuel L. Jones Hall Homeless Shelter.  The site was then cleared of accumulated trash and debris, weeds, brush and other threats to fire safety.  Efforts at the Farmers Lane extension encampment resulted in the placement of 30 out of the 42 occupants (70%) into services and shelter, including two individuals placed into housing thus far.

2. 2. What is an encampment - how do you define it?

• The term “encampment” is used to denote either a makeshift shelter outdoors such as a tent, housing one or more persons; or a group that habitually sleeps with or without shelter structures in a public or private space.  For the purpose of the Pilot Program, we prioritized encampments with estimated populations greater than ten.  However, of the 44 known encampments in Santa Rosa, populations ranged from two to 75 people.

3. 3. Why is the encampment at the 6th Street underpass being prioritized over other encampments?

• Collaborating with HOST, a list of 44 encampments was identified throughout Santa Rosa.  From this, an action list of those encampments with estimated populations greater than ten was created and further analyzed and prioritized based on the following criteria: the number of individuals estimated at the site; an assessment of their vulnerability due to living outdoors; associated health, safety, and fire risks; and property ownership.  Based on these factors, the Farmers Lane extension encampment was identified as the highest priority, followed by the 6th Street encampment.  

4. 4. What are you doing to inform the occupants of the encampment about the Pilot Program?

• Outreach to occupants of the encampment is underway.  They will be provided with a minimum two-week period to vacate the area by offering opportunities to reconnect with family and support networks, housing, shelter, and services.  

5. 5. The Pilot Program includes activation of an additional 50 beds at the Samuel L. Jones Hall Homeless Shelter. Are these the same 50 beds from the winter shelter?

• The 138-bed year-round and 50-bed winter shelter programs at the Samuel L. Jones Hall Homeless Shelter were recently consolidated into a 188-bed year-round housing focused program with the goal of moving people as quickly as possible from shelter to housing.  Fifty of these beds are prioritized for the Pilot Program.  The housing-focused program includes new positions to help with this effort: a housing locator, housing navigator, and housing stabilization case manager.  Catholic Charities anticipates being fully staffed to accommodate the 50 beds by October.  Catholic Charities has also revised the operating policies at the shelter to reduce barriers to assistance such as restrictions on pets, partners, possessions, and sobriety.  

6. 6. Is the Housing First protocol part of this?

• Yes, Housing First is an approach that prioritizes the provision of permanent housing as the primary strategy for ending homelessness.  However, Housing First is not housing only.  It includes a variety of interventions such as diversion, shelter, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing, subject to an individual’s needs and the availability of resources.  For example, the 50-bed housing-focused program and the Samuel L. Jones Hall Homeless Shelter will aim to move participants as quickly as possible from shelter to housing consistent with Housing First protocols.  

7. 7. What about people living in the encampment that have pets?

• As part of the Pilot Program, HOST will be providing placement opportunities for the pets as well. For those that qualify as a companion animal the outreach workers will work with the owners to get their animal certified, which allow placement into a shelter program.  Seven pets were sheltered along with their owners at the Samuel L. Jones Hall Homeless Shelter as part of the clean-up of the Farmers Lane extension encampment.   

8. 8. How long can people stay in shelters and hotels?

• The maximum length of stay in the shelter is six months or 180 days.  However, the goal of the housing-focused program at the Samuel L. Jones Hall Homeless Shelter is to move participants into housing as quickly as possible consistent with Housing First protocols.  The best practice is to limit the time a family or individual spends homeless to 30 days or less.  However, the shelter, along with our overall homeless system of care is in the process of transitioning to Housing First, so it will take some time before we achieve that benchmark.  The need for a hotel voucher and length of stay are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.  

9. 9. Are there statistics from other communities using the same approach?

Communities across California and the nation are struggling with how to create effective solutions for persons experiencing homelessness and living in encampments.  Staff utilized several resources to develop the Pilot Program, including those available through the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) and the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), San Francisco’s Navigation Center (low barrier shelter model), and local expertise through its partnership with Catholic Charities’ HOST.  Communities that have implemented housing-focused shelter interventions have seen their housing placement rates double.     

10. 10. Is there a way to access the budget for this project?

• Outreach and engagement to occupants of the encampment and services such as reunification, hotel vouchers, and housing assistance (security deposits and rental payments) are covered by the $466,450 budget for the Fiscal Year 2017/2018 HOST program.  As part of its 2017/2018 budget, City Council approved an additional $600,000 for the expansion of homeless services; approximately $500,000 has been committed to the housing-focused program at the Samuel L. Jones Hall Homeless Shelter.  The balance of funds ($100,000) are currently being considered to expand hours at the Homeless Services Center as part of the comprehensive services plan for the 6^th Street encampment.  

11. 11. How is the City going to measure success?

• The Homeless Outreach Services Team (HOST) will create a list of the occupants at the encampment.  From this list, HOST will track those that enter shelter, housing, and other services including assistance with hotels or reunification with family.  Catholic Charities will be required to submit quarterly progress reports to the City tracking these outcomes.
• Efforts at the Farmers Lane extension encampment resulted in the placement of 30 out of the 42 occupants (70%) into services and shelter, including two individuals placed into housing thus far.

12. 12. Do you track the people you have contact with?

• The HOST program is both city and county wide, so the outreach workers can follow-up with individuals outside of just the pilot encampment area. Once someone is a part of the HOST program the intention is to resolve that individual’s homelessness which takes extensive follow-up. 

13. 13. Has data shown that people are staying in housing?

• On a national level, there are extensive studies showing that housing retention rates increase with the use of a Housing First intervention, as the intention with these programs is that as soon as someone is housed there is intensive case management in the home to provide them the support they need to stay housed and address the issues that brought them to homelessness.  Locally, Catholic Charities’ Housing First programs have had approximately 90% of participants retain their housing.

14. 14. How are you going to keep people from coming back to the encampment site? What happens if someone sets up camp after the cleanup takes place?

• The first phase at the 6^th Street encampment will include outreach and engagement to coordinate services for those occupying the area. Given our experience at the Farmers Lane extension encampment, a majority of occupants (70%) were willing to accept services and shelter. We cannot, however, force people to accept services. The site will then be cleared of trash and debris and cleaned to mitigate threats to public safety. We anticipate that on-going management of the area may be required. The Police Department will continue to enforce criminal activity. They will also enforce the City’s Quality of Life Ordinances such as obstructing the sidewalk and camping, and will continue to work closely with HOST to coordinate services for those in need. If necessary, Police, HOST, and Public Works will continue area clean-ups. This is a Pilot Program, we will be evaluating our efforts as we move forward and potentially making adjustments to our approach as needed. 

15. 15. Do you anticipate any challenges when implementing the Pilot Program? How will you make sure the occupants don't end up in other areas of the city such as parks or the downtown area?

• Through active outreach and engagement of the occupants and by providing a variety of services for relocation, including shelter, housing, reunification, and hotel vouchers, as well as expanded hours at the Homeless Services Center, we hope not to displace the occupants to other areas of the city.  We cannot, however, force people to accept services.  Additionally, persons experiencing homelessness enjoy the same rights as everyone and are allowed to be in public areas.  Given our experience at the Farmers Lane extension encampment, a majority of occupants (70%) were willing to accept services and shelter.