Agenda Item   

AGENDA STAFF REPORT

 

                                                                                                                        ASR Control  25-000144

 

MEETING DATE:

04/08/25

legal entity taking action:

Board of Supervisors

board of supervisors district(s):

2

SUBMITTING Agency/Department:

County Executive Office   (Approved)

Department contact person(s):

Doug Becht (714) 834-2323 

 

 

Zulima Lundy (714) 834-6805

 

 

Subject:  Renewal Contract for Yale Navigation Center Shelter Operations and Services

 

      ceo CONCUR

County Counsel Review

Clerk of the Board

          Concur

Approved Agreement to Form

Discussion

 

 

3 Votes Board Majority

 

 

 

    Budgeted: Yes

Current Year Cost:   N/A

Annual Cost: FY2025-26 $9,645,416

 

 

 

    Staffing Impact:

No

# of Positions:            

Sole Source:   No

    Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A

   Funding Source:     General Funds: 95%, State: 5% (MHSA)

County Audit in last 3 years: No

   Levine Act Review Completed: Yes

 

    Prior Board Action:         5/7/2024 #31, 4/9/2024 #24, 5/23/2023 #56, 11/17/2020 #13 

 

RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):

 

Authorize the County Procurement Officer or Deputized designee to execute Amendment No. 12 to the Contract with PATH for Yale Navigation Center Shelter Operations and Services, to renew and amend the Contract for an amount not to exceed $9,645,416, effective July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, for a revised cumulative total Contract amount not to exceed $45,097,576.

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY:

 

Approval of Amendment No. 12 to renew the Contract for the Yale Navigation Center Shelter Operations and Services will provide individuals experiencing homelessness in the Central Service Planning Area of Orange County continued access to emergency shelter and housing-focused case management.

 

 

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

 

The Yale Navigation Center first opened in January 2021 and provides 425 emergency shelter beds and supportive services for adult (ages 18 and over) individuals experiencing homelessness in the Central Service Planning Area (SPA) in Orange County.

 

Prior Board of Supervisors (Board) Actions:

Board Date

Contract/Amendment

Term

Maximum Obligation

Action

11/17/2020

Contract for Yale Shelter Operator Services with PATH

11/17/2020 – 6/30/2024

$18,000,000

Approved as Recommended

N/A

Amendment No. 1 to amend Exhibit A of the Contract

7/1/2021- 6/30/2025

N/A

Deputy Purchasing Agent (DPA)  Delegated Authority Administrative 

N/A

Amendment No. 2 to amend Exhibit A of the Contract

7/1/2021- 6/30/2025

N/A

DPA Delegated Authority Administrative 

N/A

Amendment No. 3 to amend Exhibit A of the Contract

7/1/2021- 6/30/2025

N/A

DPA Delegated Authority Administrative 

N/A

Amendment No. 4 to change the administrating agency from OC Health Care Agency (HCA) to the County Executive Office (CEO)

7/1/2021- 6/30/2025

N/A

DPA Delegated Authority Administrative 

N/A

Amendment No. 5 to amend Exhibit A of the Contract

7/1/2021- 6/30/2025

N/A

DPA Delegated Authority Administrative 

N/A

Amendment No. 6 to amend Exhibit A of the Contract

7/1/2021- 6/30/2025

N/A

DPA Delegated Authority Administrative 

5/23/2023

Amendment No. 7 to renew the Contract

for one additional year

7/1/2021 – 6/30/2024

$24,800,000

Approved as Recommended

N/A

Amendment No. 8 to amend Exhibit A of the Contract

7/1/2021- 6/30/2025

N/A

DPA Delegated Authority Administrative 

4/9/2024

Amendment No. 9 to increase the Contract’s

maximum obligation for continued operations

7/1/2021 – 6/30/2024

$25,806,744

Approved as Recommended

5/7/2024

Amendment No. 10 to renew the Contract for one additional year

7/1/2021- 6/30/2025

$35,452,160

Approved as Recommended

N/A

Amendment No. 11 to amend Exhibit A, Section II. Budget, Subparagraph A

7/1/2021- 6/30/2025

N/A

DPA Delegated Authority Administrative 

 

Since 1983, PATH has provided a full range of homeless services centered on housing people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including street outreach, emergency shelter, rapid rehousing, and permanent supportive housing programming. PATH has been a leader in effectively and efficiently serving the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness in many communities. PATH has grown to also serve the Counties of Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Clara, and become one of California’s largest homeless services agencies. PATH is the current operator of the Yale Navigation Center and previously operated the Cold Weather Emergency Shelter in the City of Fullerton and the Placentia Navigation Center in the North SPA. Additionally, PATH is also contracted by the County to provide Rapid Rehousing Services for Individuals and Regional Care Coordination Services in the Centra SPA.

 

Scope of Services:

The Emergency Shelter Operations and Services for Yale Navigation Center (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 receives referrals from law enforcement, other County Departments, CES access points, and street outreach providers.

The Program operates in accordance with the County of Orange’s Standards of Care for Emergency Shelter Providers (Standards of Care); 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.

 

PATH will continue to provide the following services, at minimum, as part of the Program:

 

a.

Process referrals into the Program through identified referral partners and through the Bed Reservation System to ensure equity and accessibility of beds.

b.

Support the County’s regional strategies and ensure all referring partners in the Central SPA can seamlessly access the Program.

c.

Intake and assessment to understand participants’ history of participation in other homeless service assistance programs, collection of needed demographic information, and determination of what supportive services would be most beneficial for the participants.

d.

Housing-focused case management to support program participants with evaluating housing options that meet the participant's individual needs and completing the necessary process and tasks to access housing.

e.

Housing navigation services to support the participants 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.

f.

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.

g.

On an annual basis, at minimum, 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 Scope of Services outlined in the proposed Contract is in alignment with the Shelter Pillar’s best practices, guiding principles and commitments as detailed in the Homeless Service System Pillar Report.

 

Performance Metrics:

The outcome measures for the Program during the renewal term, July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, will remain as outlined below.

 

From July 1, 2022, to January 31, 2025, the following performance metrics were measured and achieved:

 

 

FY 2022-23

 

FY 2023-24

 

FY 2024-25*

Number of Participants Served

804

1,185

929

75 percent of all participants will be continuously engaged in an active individualized service and housing plans.

 

81%

 

77%

 

86%

90 percent of participants will be connected to the CES within 30 days of Program enrollment.

 

86%

 

91%

 

92%

20 percent of participants exiting the Program transitioned into a permanent housing destination.

16%

5%

10%

90 Percentage of bed utilization.

84%

95%

96%

15 percent of participants will increase their income. **

N/A

N/A

6%

* Fiscal Year in progress – July 1, 2024 – January 31, 2025

**Note: This performance measure was introduced during the Contract renewal for FY 2024-25.

 

PATH is currently under performing in the performance metric of participant’s program exits into permanent housing destinations. PATH’s ability to meet the performance metric has continuously been impacted by the decrease in available housing resources following the end of COVID-19 related assistance. This is further exacerbated by an already challenging local housing market leading to less permanent housing opportunities for participants to transition to. This challenge is also being experienced at other County funded shelter programs. It is important to note that PATH has supported 92 percent of participants in connecting to the CES and completed all necessary steps for participants to be eligible for housing. This is consistent with the 2024 Point In Time Count Summary report which indicated that 72 percent of participants at the two County of Orange (County) owned and operated shelters, which includes the Yale Navigation Center, have completed all the necessary steps to be eligible for housing programs; however, only one (1) out of every 12 participants were connected to housing at that time. Lastly, the performance metric of participants increasing their income was introduced during the Contract renewal for FY 2024-25, which is currently in progress. The target is expected to be met by the end of the fiscal year.

 

The CEO, Office of Care Coordination works collaboratively with PATH and ensures adherence to the Good Neighbor Policy that is included in the Contract. PATH provides services at the Program in a way that limits its impact on the surrounding neighborhood(s) including but not limited to environment, safety, and congregation, while still providing high quality services. CEO has worked with PATH to address any community concerns and negative feedback and will continue to work with PATH to ensure positive community relations.  

 

The recommended Amendment No. 12 extends the Contract with PATH for a sixth year, expiring at the end of FY 2025-26. The County Procurement Office has approved a contract extension for a sixth year to allow for a joint solicitation process for both County owned and operated programs to be issued in Fall of 2025 and have confirmed Yale Navigation Center Shelter Operations and Services and Bridges at Kraemer Place Shelter Operations and Services. The Office of Care Coordination will issue a solicitation through a Request for Proposal (RFP) in the Fall of 2025 for Emergency Shelter Operations and Services. 

 

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. The non-profit has been verified to be in good standing.

 

This Contract does not currently pass through to other providers but does have subcontractors. See Attachment B for the Contract Summary Form. The Orange County Preference Policy is not applicable to this Contract renewal. The CEO has worked to incorporate the Homeless Service System Pillars Attestations into the Amendment No. 12 for the Contract, for the Shelter Pillar as applicable to the Emergency Shelter Operations and Services being provided.

 

The CEO requests that the Board approve the Amendment No. 12 to the Contract with PATH for Emergency Shelter Operations and Services for the Yale Navigation Center as referenced in the Recommended Actions 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 and Revenue for this Contract will be included in Budget Control 018 FY 2025-26 Budget Request.

 

The proposed Contract includes provisions allowing CEO to terminate the Contract, 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. 12 to Contract MA-017-22011908 with PATH
Attachment B – Contract Summary Form for MA-017-22011908