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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2018 1107 REG CCSA ITEM 09CCITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA City Council Meeting of November 7, 2018 ACTION Adopted Reso No. 2018-3761 BY M. Benson C. Consider Resolution Declaring a Shelter Crisis Pursuant to SB 850 to Earn Eligibility to Receive Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) Funds. Staff Recommendation: Adopt Resolution No. 2018-3761 declaring a shelter crisis pursuant to SB 850. Item: 9.C. MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT TO: Honorable City Council FROM: Brian Chong, Assistant to the City Manager DATE: 11/07/2018 Regular Meeting SUBJECT: Consider Resolution Declaring a Shelter Crisis Pursuant to SB 850 to Earn Eligibility to Receive Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) Funds BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION The Fiscal Year 2018/19 California State Budget includes $500 million in funding for the Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP), which may be used to provide emergency assistance including emergency housing vouchers, rapid rehousing, emergency shelter construction, and temporary shelters, to people experiencing homelessness. The Ventura County Continuum of Care Alliance (CoC) is set to receive $4.8 million in one-time HEAP funding as part of the budget allocation. Under the state HEAP rules, in order for the CoC to distribute the HEAP funds to a non-profit organization within Moorpark, to provide housing subsidies or assistance to a Moorpark resident, the City must adopt a resolution declaring a shelter crisis. Failure to declare a shelter crisis would preclude Moorpark non-profit organizations, such as Moorpark Pantry Plus and the Knights of Columbus, and Moorpark residents from receiving HEAP-funded assistance. While staff does not anticipate that the City will serve as a non-profit organization seeking HEAP funding, staff recommends declaring a shelter crisis to ensure that other organizations and individuals within Moorpark can receive assistance. All nine of the other cities within Ventura County have already declared a shelter crisis. The County of Ventura completes a Point-In-Time count of homeless individuals across the County each year. According to these counts, Moorpark has historically been the Ventura County city with the lowest or second-lowest count of people experiencing homeless in the County, with seven people counted in 2017 and three people counted in 2018. However, there is no minimum threshold contained in the HEAP rules to declare a shelter crisis. Rather, the City Council must find that the health and safety of unsheltered persons in the City is threatened by a lack of shelter. There are currently no homeless shelters operating within the City. Insofar as the health and safety of any unsheltered person is threatened by a lack of shelter, the City Council can make the required finding. Item: 9.C. 244 Honorable City Council 11/07/2018 Regular Meeting Page 2 FISCAL IMPACT None. However, failure to declare a shelter crisis would result in Moorpark non-profit organizations and residents being unable to apply for HEAP funds. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Adopt Resolution No. 2018-____ declaring a shelter crisis pursuant to SB 850. Attachment: Draft Resolution 245 RESOLUTION NO. 2018-____ A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA, DECLARING A SHELTER CRISIS PURSUANT TO SB 850 (CHAPTER 48, STATUTES OF 2018, AND GOVERNMENT CODE § 8698.2) WHEREAS, California’s Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. and the members of the California Legislature have recognized the urgent and immediate need for funding at the local level to combat homelessness; and WHEREAS, the Governor and Legislature have provided funding to local governments under the Homeless Emergency Aid Program as part of SB 850 and the 2018-19 Budget Act (Chapter 48, Statutes of 2018); and WHEREAS, the Governor and Legislature require jurisdictions seeking an allocation through the Homeless Emergency Aid Program to declare a Shelter Crisis pursuant to Government Code § 8698.2; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that seven persons within the City of Moorpark were homeless and living without shelter, according to the Ventura County 2017 Point in Time Count; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that three persons within the City of Moorpark were homeless and living without shelter, according to the Ventura County 2018 Preliminary Homeless Count Report; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that the number of homeless is significant, and these persons are without the ability to obtain shelter; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that the health and safety of unsheltered persons in the City of Moorpark is threatened by a lack of shelter; and WHEREAS, the City Council affirms the City of Moorpark’s commitment to combatting homelessness and creating or augmenting a continuum of shelter and service options for those living without shelter in our communities. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. A shelter crisis pursuant to Government Code § 8698.2 exists in the City of Moorpark, and the City Council of the City of Moorpark authorizes the City’s participation in the Homeless Emergency Aid Program. 246 Resolution No. 2018-____ Page 2 SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution and shall cause a certified resolution to be filed in the book of original resolutions. PASSED AND ADOPTED this ___ day of November, 2018. _________________________________ Janice S. Parvin, Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________________ Maureen Benson, City Clerk 247