Speaker 0: All right. Thank you. We're going to go to item 32, please. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Communication from Vice Mayor Richardson, Councilwoman Allen, Councilwoman Sara recommendation to direct City Manager to work with the Department of Health and Human Services to provide an update on progress of the city's REACH teams.
Speaker 0: Fantastic. Thank you. This request is a this is a request for an update from staff on an important program that the city has been developed in development for for quite some time. We know that the situation of homeless on our streets is incredibly significant and important, and we know from previous homeless counts that a significant driver is mental health and behavior abuse and substance abuse and things that require a certain level of of care. And in fact, 36% of individuals experiencing homelessness suffer from mental illness in our city. We began a few years ago looking at alternative models and initially was the heart teams and the heart teams were successful and and, you know, and we deployed them during the reconciliation plan. There was the framework for reconciliation, those significant calls for alternative response models. And one that continued to come up was cahoots. Cahoots in Eugene, Oregon, cahoots. Cahoots, cahoots. Well, the city didn't quite do cahoots, but we did something pretty close to it and we framed it as a pilot. And it was necessary. It was referenced within our plan. And and that pilot is finally up and going. But I can tell you, there's certainly you know, it's been about a year since we initiated this and we are very close to a launch and we know that we were expecting to hear an update. And so the idea here is we would like for staff to come back with a report rooted in data, tell us how the program is doing, what the next steps for the program is. Is there additional opportunities with some of the work that we're doing now around localizing mental health and bringing down additional support from the county and state? And could we? What is the city's plan, city's current plan, based on data to expand the program to meet greater need. And so we would love to to see this report come back to the city council, and particularly in the context of how we can expand the program within FY 2023. I think, you know, we've had we've talked about homelessness a number of times in the last, you know, few years. In the last six months, I think the entire city council has said this is a top priority for the entire city council. And it's April and we talked to think it was maybe January about this program. And so we would just like to have an update on where we are and, you know, see a more formal public sort of launch of the program and some plans on how, based on the data and analytics that we see, how we can have a greater impact within the community. And so that's the gist of this this request tonight. So I'm happy to make this motion, and I'll go to Councilwoman Sorrell.
Speaker 4: Vice Mayor. I support this item in the last public safety committee meeting. There was an item to do a report on the interdepartmental team in addressing homelessness, and we did get a little bit of information about how the team work. And I think it's so important that people do know how our interdepartmental team work and that most of the calls do come in to our BPD. But at the same time, a lot of it can go into the REACH team for an emergency. Or how do we send dispatch, you know, clinical social workers and many other people that can be the first responder. So I look forward in getting a more in-depth report back in how this will be set up and how it's going to go. So support this item. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Price.
Speaker 4: Thank you. And thank you so much for bringing this item. I know that we started first talking about these types of models back in 2017 with our item that was entitled Comprehensive Approach to Homelessness. And then of course, in 2020, we talked about reach specifically. But the question that and I think this is a great item and I look forward to the report back. The question that I have and I know I shared this with Tom and Mr. Chandler earlier today, sitting as the proxy on the Commission to End Homelessness in Orange County and going out with the Street Outreach Team on a regular basis. What can we do to include some more information on what type of flexible funding our street outreach teams have to assist those with whom they engage in the at the street level on diversion. And I'm not talking about criminal diversion, but I'm talking about diversion in terms of helping that in the context of homeless outreach, helping that individual go back to where they last felt safe, whether that's getting them a haircut, providing them new clothes, giving them a good meal, allowing them to get to a place where they feel confident again to go and do a job interview or go and see their family and things of that nature. The street outreach definition of of diversion. I know that one of the biggest challenges for street outreach teams all over is whether or not we have flexible funding for that. Do we have that? Do outreach teams have that?
Speaker 3: So we actually have Kelly Collopy and Teresa Chandler available by phone. If Kelly, you can start in. Tracy, you can jump in.
Speaker 4: Good evening, council members.
Speaker 2: So the funding that we.
Speaker 4: Have right now for the team.
Speaker 5: Is specific funding for positions. And then we do have access to some grant funding that we support with.
Speaker 2: Case management and ongoing support as we.
Speaker 5: Engage them.
Speaker 2: Within the department. So that's the funding at this time.
Speaker 5: So if.
Speaker 2: Folks are willing to engage with us, they're ready to come in, participate with the.
Speaker 4: Multi-Service Center.
Speaker 2: We sort of braid the funding that we have to be.
Speaker 4: Able to do.
Speaker 2: That huge management connection to service connects with the family and all the things.
Speaker 5: That that you're.
Speaker 2: Currently discussing along the way. But that's that's about as flexible as the funding comes that we have right now.
Speaker 4: Okay. Thank you for that. Ms.. Collopy, I hope that when the report comes back and I really look forward to reading it, that we can talk about what other options are available for that flexible funding. Because, you know, I've personally seen that flexible funding be the difference between someone being willing to accept a service and someone saying , no, I'm not interested just because it's an additional measure of credibility and trust that gets someone to that next step. And so I'm just curious, you know, if there's any opportunities, I'm sure there are not opportunities that we haven't pursued, but if there are any opportunities that we can pursue in terms of grant funding or even working with private entities or non-profits to identify some of that flexible funding that can help with street level diversion. Again, not the criminal justice diversion, but in the context of outrage. So hopefully that's included and I really look forward to the report back and seeing what we can do to help support outreach teams. And as I've mentioned to the city manager on several occasions, figuring out how we can increase the number of reach teams and the hours that they work. It would be fantastic to have one in each council district so that they can do targeted engagement or directed engagement to particular hotspots for a consistent period of time over the course of, let's say, two weeks. I know from my own personal experience doing this work as part of my day job, I know that it makes a really big difference when there's that consistent, repeated outreach. And I know that our outreach team also believes that, but unfortunately the resources aren't there. So hopefully the council can help make those resources a reality. And thank you, Vice Mayor, for bringing this item.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Allen.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Vice Mayor. I appreciate you bringing this item forward. It's a great item and I'm happy I've signed on to it. Staff is seeing very positive outcomes from outreach teams, and having greater availability to provide services would be helpful. We need to pay close attention to the data. You know what's working, what's not. And also so we can, you know what's working for directed engagement like council woman Price said, I think all of that is important. These teams have the potential to reduce the burden on important public safety resources by instead routing appropriate public safety and outreach staff. We already know that calls for service numbers have been increasing rapidly over the years, and by expanding our reach teams, we can help correct that trend and ensure that emergency resources are most appropriately routed. I'm also by expanding expanding our teams. We can better serve our homeless community as well. So thank you very much.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilman Austin.
Speaker 6: Yes. Thank you. So I like the idea in the spirit and the motion and the direction that we're going in. I just wanted to clarify with Steph, how long have we had reach in implementation?
Speaker 3: Kelly.
Speaker 2: At the read was funded and.
Speaker 1: A 21.
Speaker 2: Budget.
Speaker 4: It has been in.
Speaker 2: Implementation in at least for about the past year. It's been difficult to get the mental health conditions in public health. Nurse But we had two full teams. We had one public health. Nurse We even we are currently hiring that we have two mental health clinicians, currently a public health nurse, and then their engagement with our outreach workers , they're currently engaged.
Speaker 4: Right now.
Speaker 2: Ongoing with 50 with 50 people experiencing homelessness.
Speaker 6: I so that's that's encouraging. And and I think if we've learned anything about our our homeless outreach and services approach here is that we have had to be flexible and adaptable to the circumstances and our resources. And so the I know the request, the item request for us to to look at expanding on this. I just wanted to know that we have the data to support actually doing that and moving forward. I think I think it it assumes that that our program is optimal and working to the to the expectations that we we want as a council. And so unless somebody else has seen data to to support does that council. Councilman Richards interview. Is there data readily available?
Speaker 0: I think the request is for some data, but I think Mr. Mota could probably talk about maybe how we would approach this.
Speaker 3: Yes. So. Which is something we are very excited about. We do think it's going to be a very effective model. It builds on all the homeless outreach that we've had before. So we've had always had homeless outreach workers that have been out on the street. And we have that data. We have some data from when Hart was doing this, but Hart was doing a little bit different. This is an enhancement on where Hart is. And so our plan is to bring this back. The request tonight is to bring back some additional data and show you what we've been able to accomplish so far. It is still just getting started. We're actually still waiting on equipment. The pandemic wasn't kind to us in terms of even just being able to order some of the equipment for the trucks and that type of thing . We plan a major launch probably in the next, you know, month, month and a half to be able to really educate the public about this and about what they do and what they can they can accomplish. And then start looking at that data. And I've heard loud and clear from all nine of you about the importance of of the ability to to address issues with homelessness. And I'm also personally interested about trying to get more dispatch resources so that we have people you can talk to, not just during business hours, but maybe even outside of business hours, because a lot of the calls we get, we're already working on that case or we already have visited that person three or four times. But we need the ability to tell somebody that and let them know that that has been worked on. So interested in that. And then also in looking at the swing shift and trying to get resources that are not just in the morning hours but also in the evening and weekends. So we have a lot of work to do and we're planning to look at this in the budget as well.
Speaker 6: I think that's a great I certainly support the item and like I said, I support the direction. I just don't want us to jump into assumptions without ensuring that we are evaluating the data and making good informed decisions. And and if we need to tweak our, our model right to ensure that that we're getting the optimal results, we need to have that that flexibility to do so. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Fantastic. Thank you. Councilmembers in Dallas.
Speaker 5: Thank you, vice mayor, for for this item. And Councilwoman Allen and Councilwoman Sara, as the item mentions, our homeless crisis is a consistently urgent matter that requires an intersectional approach. In Long Beach, we are constantly addressing our homelessness situation through multiple approaches and often times because our teams are so busy doing amazing work, we fall short on communicating those city efforts and actions that are being made every single day. I think these types of updates are important because they help not only to identify every areas of possible improvement, but to also showcase ongoing projects. It also informs our residents about all the efforts that we are making as a as a city. I also do want to take a moment to thank our team for all the incredible work and outreach that they've done for our neighbors experiencing homelessness. It's really valuable work that they do on a daily basis. So thank you. Thank you for that. I think having them as an alternative response team to police is a critical step in reforming how we respond to crisis and ensuring our responses are aligned with the vision and we've heard from the public and with our racial equity and conciliation plan. I do have a question for staff or maybe for Kelly. If we've had again, it's a data question. If we have a number that we could share in regards to how many nine, one, one calls or calls have been made to our bridge team and our MSE team so far since each has been implemented. If that's something we have available.
Speaker 4: I don't.
Speaker 2: Have those data at this time, but it's.
Speaker 5: Something.
Speaker 2: That we can bring back as part of the.
Speaker 5: Report. Thank you. I think it was incredibly valuable to be able to bring this item forward. Many of our our neighbors are experiencing homelessness at. And we really, really need to make sure that we pay close attention to them. Those those people might be even suffering from mental illness. And I think that it's very, very important that we, as the city and city leaders look into that and try to provide as much resources as we can. So thank you very much for this item. Very supportive.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Sabino. Thank you. I'd just like to add a component here. And I discussed this with the city manager yesterday and Theresa Chandler, but my colleagues didn't hear it and Kelly Colby didn't. But at a certain.
Speaker 2: Point, these cases.
Speaker 0: Can be handed off to the L.A. County Department of Mental Health.
Speaker 2: And that's where our office loses track.
Speaker 0: And city manager just mentioned, like a case might already be in the system. And that's great. But they're going to folks are going to.
Speaker 2: Contact our office. So maybe through reach, if they are updated.
Speaker 0: With what's going on with L.A. County, maybe that information then can get back to the counsel office.
Speaker 2: As an update.
Speaker 0: So that's point, Tom.
Speaker 2: I know you.
Speaker 0: Know what I'm talking about, so I think we're good. Thank you. All right. Thank you. I'll just summarize with I think I think there's a lot of exciting work happening around what we're doing. Councilman Suber, now, a few weeks ago had hey, how can we look at care court? Last year, we began a process of engaging directly with the mental health department around localizing mental health. And they're having those roundtables now and looking at what local control we can have. I think that's incredibly important. I think, you know, when we think about the work we've done on shelters, the work we've done on Project ROOMKEY, but really mental health is where we need to do work. And it seems like there's attention in the state. The county is engaged. We've got some innovative models. So I think the idea here is let's get this. You know, this program has been going for about a year. So it's time for the city to have, you know, a report, think about a data driven approach to how we can build on this program. I don't think it should be an arbitrary number of how many units or whatever. Let's see what the data says, the meters, and see what the gap is so that we can, you know, work toward that goal. I think what it is, is like having a comprehensive approach, a real comprehensive approach to really tackle the mental health crisis in the community. And so I want to thank you, thank you, my colleagues, for their support. And let's go ahead and go to our vote on this. Oh. Public comment.
Speaker 1: There is no reason for this item. For the record.
Speaker 0: It's no public comment. Fantastic. All right. Let's go ahead to our vote.
Speaker 1: Motion carries eight zero.
Speaker 0: Interesting. All right. There's one, two, three, four more items to go with. Have item three, please.
Recommendation to direct City Manager to work with the Department of Health and Human Services to provide an update on progress of the City’s REACH Teams, explore the feasibility of expanding the program in FY 2023, and report back to City Council and the Public Safety Committee within 60 days.