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Agenda Item
ASR
Control 24-000110 |
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MEETING
DATE: |
03/26/24 |
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legal entity taking action: |
Board
of Supervisors |
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board of supervisors district(s): |
4 |
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SUBMITTING Agency/Department: |
County
Executive Office (Approved) |
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Department contact person(s): |
Douglas
Becht (714) 834-2323 |
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Lilly
Simmering (714) 834-6234 |
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Subject: Renewal
Contract for Bridges at Kraemer Place Shelter Operations and Services
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ceo CONCUR |
County Counsel Review |
Clerk of the
Board |
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Concur |
Approved Agreement to Form |
Discussion |
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3 Votes Board Majority |
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Budgeted: N/A |
Current
Year Cost: N/A |
Annual
Cost: FY 2024-25 $4,093,886 |
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Staffing
Impact:
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No |
#
of Positions: |
Sole
Source: N/A |
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Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A
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Prior Board Action: 4/27/2021 #26, 6/2/2020 #24, 6/4/2019
#24, 6/26/2018 #70 |
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RECOMMENDED
ACTION(S):
Approve Amendment
No. 4 and authorize the County Procurement Officer or Deputized designee to
renew Contract with Mercy House Living Centers, Inc., for Emergency Shelter
Operations and Services for Bridges at Kraemer Place, for the term of July 1,
2024, through June 30, 2025, for an amount not to exceed $4,093,886, for a
revised cumulative total amount not to exceed $12,793,886.
SUMMARY:
Approval of the
Amendment to renew the Contract for Emergency Shelter Operations and Services
for Bridges at Kraemer Place will provide individuals experiencing homelessness
in the North Service Planning Area of Orange County continued access to
emergency shelter and housing-focused case management.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION:
Bridges at Kraemer
Place first opened in May 2017 and provides emergency shelter services for up
to 200 beds for adult (ages 18 and over) individuals experiencing homelessness
in the North Service Planning Area (SPA) in Orange County.
Prior
Board Actions:
|
Board Date |
Contract |
Action |
Term |
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September 13,
2016 |
Selection of
Mercy House Living Centers (Mercy House) to operate Bridges at Kraemer Place |
Approved as
Recommended |
N/A |
|
December 13,
2016 |
Approve Contract
with Mercy House for the operations of Bridges at Kraemer Place for an amount
not to exceed $2,775,000 |
Approved as
Recommended |
12/14/2016 –
6/30/2018 |
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February 6, 2018
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Second
Amendment, Board Resolution No. 18-011, Bylaws, Community Advisory Board |
Approved
Establishment of Community Advisory Board |
12/14/2016 –
6/30/2018 |
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June 26, 2018 |
Approve Contract
Renewal |
Approved as
Recommended |
7/1/2018 –
6/30/2019 |
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June 4, 2019 |
Approve Contract
Renewal |
Approved as
Recommended |
7/1/2019 –
6/30/2020 |
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June 2, 2020 |
Approve Contract
Amendment |
Approved as
Recommended |
7/1/2020 –
6/30/2021 |
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April 27, 2021 |
Approve Contract
with Mercy House for the operations of Bridges at Kraemer Place for an amount
not to exceed $8,700,000 |
Approved as
Recommended |
7/1/2021 –
6/30/2024 |
Mercy House House
Living Centers, Inc. (Mercy House) has operated emergency shelter and homeless
service programs since 1990, including being the only operator of Bridges at
Kraemer Place since it initially opened in 2017. Mercy House has continued to
increase their organizational capacity and footprint and now operates four
other emergency shelter programs in Orange County including, the Buena Park
Navigation Center in the City of Buena Park, Costa Mesa Bridge Shelter in the
City of Costa Mesa, HomeAid Family Care Center in the City of Orange, and the
Huntington Beach Navigation Center in the City of Huntington Beach.
Collectively, these programs have transitioned over 1,500 participants into
permanent housing placements. Additionally, Mercy House has experience in
providing other homeless service programs including homelessness prevention, street
outreach, interim housing, aftercare programs, rapid rehousing programs,
permanent supportive housing, low-income housing, and residential services.
Scope
of Services:
The services under
the Emergency Shelter Operations and Services for Bridges at Kraemer Place
(Program) are designed to provide safe, temporary shelter services with the
goal to ensure a household’s experience with homelessness is as brief as
possible. The Program incorporates evidenced-based approaches such as
motivational interviewing, progressive engagement, trauma-informed care, harm
reduction and risk management, to address barriers to housing and economic
stability. Access into the Program is facilitated by referrals from community
partners, including law enforcement departments, street outreach providers and
Coordinated Entry System (CES) Access Points through the CES bed reservation
system. The Program received the majority of referrals from street outreach
providers (65%), and law enforcement departments (23%).
The Program
operates in accordance with the County of Orange’s Standards of Care for
Emergency Shelter Providers (Standards of Care). The Standards of Care are a
comprehensive set of administrative, operational, and facility-based standards
designed to support the quality and consistency of program operations,
evidence-based participant services, core organizational and administrative
functions, and facility design and operations.
Mercy House will
provide the following services at minimum as part of the Program:
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a. |
Process
referrals into Bridges at Kraemer Place through identified referral partners
and through the Bed Reservation System to ensure equity and accessibility of
beds. |
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b. |
Intake and
assessment to understand the history of participation in other homeless
service assistance programs and collection of needed demographic information
from participants. |
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c. |
Housing-focused
case management to support program participants with locating housing options
that meet the participant's individual needs. |
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d. |
Housing
navigation services to support the participant in identifying available
housing units and community resources, completing needed forms and
applications for housing, as well as providing support through in-person or
teleconference meetings relating to housing search and placements. |
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e. |
Coordinated
Entry System (CES) Access Point to support participants in accessing the CES
through the completion of an assessment and the collection of required
documentation to verify length of homelessness, homelessness status and/or
disabling condition. |
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f. |
On an annual
basis, at minimum, the contractor must solicit participant feedback to assess
program operation changes to better support and meet the needs of
participants and evaluate how to best meet the performance outcomes. |
The agreed upon
Scopes of Work and Services outlined in the proposed Contract are in alignment
with the Shelter Pillar’s best practices, guiding principles and commitments as
detailed in the Homeless Service System Pillar Report.
As the operator of
Bridges at Kraemer Place, Mercy House will continue to support the regional
strategies with ensuring all referring providers can seamlessly access the
shelter program within the North SPA.
Performance Metrics:
The outcome
measures for the Program during the term July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, are
detailed below. Please note these have been updated from the previously
negotiated contract based on trends observed by the Office of Care Coordination
across the Homeless Service System.
The target goals for the performance
metrics are:
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a. |
100 percent of
participants will have an Individualized Housing and Service Plan within
thirty (30) calendar days of program enrollment. |
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b. |
90 percent of
participants will be connected to the CES within 30 days of program
enrollment. |
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c. |
At minimum, 25
percent of participants will exit to a permanent housing destination. |
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d. |
At minimum, 15
percent of participants will have a higher income than at program entry due
to employment and or mainstream benefits. |
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e. |
Maintain a bed
occupancy/utilization of 90 percent or higher through the term of the Contract. |
From July 1, 2022,
to February 1, 2024, the following performance metrics were measured and
achieved:
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FY
2022-23 |
FY
2023-24* |
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Number of
Participants Served |
337 |
406 |
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95 percent of
all participants will be continuously engaged in an active individualized
service and housing plans. |
63% |
61% |
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90 percent of
participants will be connected to the CES within 30 days of program
enrollment. |
82% |
86% |
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30 percent of
participants exited were placed into a permanent housing destination |
20% |
11% |
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95 percent of
bed utilization |
65% |
81% |
* Fiscal Year in progress – July 1, 2023, to February 1, 2024
Mercy House is
currently under performing in meeting the performance outcome related to
continuously engaging participants into completing individualized service and
housing plans. Mercy House’s ability to meet this performance outcome has been
impacted by high staff turnover, which has been detrimental to service delivery
and data entry quality, as well as the severity of barriers experienced by
participants which limits their ability to engage meaningfully in this process.
The County Executive Office (CEO), Office of Care Coordination is actively
working with Mercy House to review current practices related to the program
operations, updated assessments in the Homeless Management Information System
(HMIS) to capture and improve data entry quality, on-going staff training and
implementation of strategies that will assist in improving performance
outcomes. Mercy House will implement on-going protocols to ensure continuous
engagement of participants and development of individualized housing and
service plans are prioritized.
Since the increase
of 20 percent to 30 percent for the performance metric related to exits into
permanent housing in 2021, Mercy House has struggled with meeting the
performance metric. Mercy House continues to actively work with the CES to
ensure all eligible Program participants are matched to any permanent housing
opportunities as they become available. However, given the decrease in
available housing resources following the end of COVID-19 resources and
funding, and the challenges in the housing market, there have been less
permanent housing opportunities for participants to transition to. In order to
ensure the continuity of available resources, the County has implemented the
Housing Funding Strategy and the renewal of Rapid Rehousing programs.
Additionally, the Orange County Continuum of Care (CoC) Board approved changes
to the CES Prioritization Policy in September 2022, which removed a shelter
preference that prioritized people experiencing homelessness in shelter for
available housing resources. This change was made to align the Orange County CoC
Board’s policies with state and federal priorities to reduce the length of
homelessness people experience and prioritize the most vulnerable populations.
The CEO, Office of
Care Coordination is actively working with Mercy House to review current practices
related to the program operations, by facilitating monthly meetings with Mercy
House and addressing all aspects of the contract in detail, including
performance outcomes achieved. In addition, bi-weekly programmatic meetings are
held in person to facilitate case conferencing related to housing service
plans, exits to permanent housing, data entry accuracy and strategies to
enhance the delivery of services.
The recommended
Amendment to renew the Contract with Mercy House for the Program includes a
$1.2 million increase for an annual operational cost of approximately $4.1
million, when comparing the previously approved contract that had an annual
operational cost of $2.9 million. Through the contract negotiation process,
Mercy House noted operational costs, such as staffing, food, and security
services, have increased significantly due to the economic environment.
Additionally, Mercy House noted that there has also been a decrease in
available funding opportunities and grants that can be leveraged to support the
operations of the Program, which have previously offset cost. CEO reviewed the proposed budget by Mercy
House in detail and determined that the increase was appropriate and aligned
with the reported experience of other emergency shelter operators across the
state.
The CEO works
collaboratively with Mercy House and approves a Good Neighbor Policy that is
included wherein Contractor provides services to County residents and the
services may have a potential impact on the surrounding neighborhood(s)
including but not limited to environment, safety, and congregation. CEO has not
received any negative feedback from the community and will continue to work with
Mercy House to ensure positive community relations.
The Contractor’s
performance has been confirmed as satisfactory. The County Procurement Office
has verified there are no concerns that must be addressed with respect to
Contractors’ ownerships/names, litigation status or conflicts with County
interests.
This Contract does
not currently pass through to other providers but does have subcontractors. See
Attachment C for the Contract Summary Forms. The Orange County Preference
Policy is not applicable to this Contract award. The Office of Care
Coordination has worked to incorporate the Homeless Service System Pillars
Attestations into the Amendment for the Contract as detailed in the recommended
actions, for the Shelter Pillar as applicable to the Emergency Shelter
Operations and Services being provided.
The CEO requests that the Board approve
the Amendment to the Contract with Mercy House for Emergency Shelter Operations
and Services for Bridges at Kraemer Place as referenced in the Recommended
Action above. Approval of the Amendment will continue to support the County’s
effort to build a responsive System of Care that meets the needs of different
segments of the homeless population.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Appropriations for
these Contracts will be included in Budget Control 018 FY 2024-25 Budget
Request.
The proposed Contracts include provisions
allowing CEO to terminate the Contracts, reduce the level of services, and/or
renegotiate the levels of services provided, as necessary. This includes a
notice that allows CEO adequate time to transition or terminate services to
clients, if necessary.
STAFFING IMPACT:
N/A
ATTACHMENT(S):
Attachment A – Amendment No. 4 to
the Contract MA-017-22011902 with Mercy House Living Centers
Attachment B – Redline to Contract MA-017-22011902
Attachment C – Contract Summary Form for MA 017-22011902