.jpg)
Consent
Item No. 8.
| MEETING DATE: 08/05/2024 |
|
| TO: | HONORABLE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS |
| FROM: | JIM SADRO, CITY MANAGER By: Miranda Cole-Corona, Housing and Economic Dev Manager |
| SUBJECT: | APPROVE FUNDING FOR THE NORTH SERVICE PLANNING AREA (SPA) NAVIGATION CENTERS IN BUENA PARK AND PLACENTIA BASED ON THE NORTH SPA MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FORMULA
|
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council approve continued funding for the North Service Planning Area (SPA) for the Navigation Centers located in the cities of Buena Park and Placentia and authorize the City Manager to execute any documents related to the funding for the North SPA Navigation Centers.
DISCUSSION:
On July 19, 1999, the La Habra City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the North SPA to establish a multi-jurisdictional approach for the construction and operation of Navigation Centers that would serve homeless persons located within the North SPA of Orange County. The North SPA consists of the cities of Brea, Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, La Habra, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Orange, Placentia, Villa Park, Stanton, and Yorba Linda. In 2020, the North SPA received Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) funding to open Navigation Centers in the cities of Placentia and Buena Park. California Government Code defines a Navigation Center as a "service-enriched shelter focused on moving people into permanent housing that provides temporary living facilities while case managers connect individuals experiencing homelessness to income, public benefits, health services, shelter, and housing." The 100-bed Placentia Navigation Center is located at 731. S. Melrose Street and the 150-bed Buena Park Navigation Center is located at 6494 Caballero Blvd. Both centers provide supportive services to individuals experiencing homelessness in North Orange County and the beds at both Navigation Centers are designated for North SPA cities only.
In order to meet the needs of the individuals that the Navigation Centers serve, the North SPA decided to use qualified Non-Profit Organizations, experienced in providing homeless services, to effectively operate and manage the daily operations of the Navigation Centers. Therefore, upon the opening of the Navigation Centers in 2020, the cities of Buena Park and Placentia awarded a contract for the operation and management of the Placentia Navigation Center to People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) and operation and management of the Buena Park Navigation Center to Mercy House. Following contract completion, it was mutually decided by Placentia and PATH that the contract would not be renewed. Buena Park's contract with Mercy House was also expiring, so the North SPA determined that a joint RFP would be released for the continued operations of both navigation centers.
On February 5, 2024, the North SPA released the Joint Navigation Center Operator Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 24 – 01 seeking an experienced professional service provider to manage the Placentia and Buena Park Centers for an initial three-year contract term. The North SPA hired Susan Price, a Senior Consultant from Baker Tilly, to assist with the preparation of the RFP documents and the RFP process, for the selection of the provider for both the Placentia and Buena Park Navigation Centers. The RFP included the following general prerequisites:
- Proposer must be a qualified private or public Non-Profit Organization currently engaged in providing homeless services and successfully managing homeless service centers.
- Have a minimum of three consecutive years of successfully managing and operating homeless programs and delivering relevant services of a similar type and scope.
- Have the current organizational experience and staff capacity to undertake a new Homeless Service Center Program.
- Have not filed for bankruptcy under any business name over the past five (5) years.
- Proposer or its key personnel shall hold the appropriate license for the services provided prior to signing any contract for the operation of the Navigation Center.
On April 3, 2024, the North SPA received two proposals in response to the RFP. Mercy House applied to operate both Navigation Centers and The Salvation Army OC applied to operate the Placentia Navigation Center only. A panel of qualified stakeholders were tasked with reading the submitted proposals and scoring them based upon specific evaluation criteria identified in the RFP. This review panel consisted of the following North SPA representatives:
- Ward Smith - Placentia City Councilmember and Chair of the Bridges at Kraemer Navigation Center Community Advisory Board
- Rhonda Shader - Placentia City Councilmember
- Conner Traut - Buena Park City Councilmember
- Tom Kisela - City of Orange City Manager
- Eric Levitt - Fullerton City Manager
- Brad Butts - Placentia Police Chief
- Frank Nunes - Buena Park Police Chief
- Karen Crocker - Placentia Community Services Director
- Jim Box - Buena Park Community Services Director
The panelists were chosen to serve on the proposal review panel because they have a fundamental understanding of the Placentia and Buena Park communities and/or specialized experience with homeless emergency shelter operations. In addition, some of the panel members have worked collaboratively with the North SPA in its efforts to address homelessness and/or have firsthand experience addressing issues such as access to basic needs, access to mental and medical health services, and access to permanent supportive housing services. Each panelist provided unique and valuable input throughout the process including insight on important matters related to homelessness. The proposals were reviewed based on the following criteria identified in the RFP:
- Completeness and accuracy of the proposal forms and requested narratives.
- Organization’s experience in providing and managing homelessness and emergency shelter programs similar in nature to the subject Navigation Centers.
- Level and types of services.
- Service delivery model and partnerships.
- Connection to and knowledge of the local community.
- Ward Smith - Placentia City Councilmember and Chair of the Bridges at Kraemer Navigation Center Community Advisory Board
- Janice Lim - Yorba Linda City Councilmember
- Brad Butts - Placentia Police Chief
- Frank Nunes - Buena Park Police Chief
- Karen Crocker - Placentia Community Services Director
Proposers were asked a series of questions and asked to elaborate on their intended budget and management plan.
The final scores for each proposer are identified in the table below:
| Proposer | Final Score |
| The Salvation Army OC | 87.55 |
| Mercy House | 85.33 |
For the Placentia Navigation Center, The Salvation Army OC provided a higher budget for the first year of operations due to one-time start-up costs; Mercy House provided the same annual budget for all three years of the contract, as shown below:
| Placentia Navigation Center | Proposed Annual Budget |
| The Salvation Army OC - Year 1 | $2,522,646.00 |
| The Salvation Army OC - Year 2 | $2,379,636.00 |
| Mercy House | $3,289,306.90 |
The Salvation Army OC did not submit a proposal to operate the Buena Park Navigation Center; Mercy House submitted a proposed annual budget of $3,649,468.90.
| Buena Park Navigation Center | Proposed Annual Budget |
| The Salvation Army OC | Not Applicable |
| Mercy House | $3,649,468.90 |
Based upon the quality of the proposals in terms of completeness and responsiveness, proposed services, professional qualifications, ability to operate within the proposed budget, as well as the proposer interviews, the Evaluation Panel recommended The Salvation Army OC to operate and manage the Placentia Navigation Center and Mercy House to operate and manage the Buena Park Navigation Center.
The proposed agreement for each Navigation Center provides for year-round operations and management of the navigation centers for an initial three-year contract term. Both operators will both provide comprehensive supportive services at their respective Navigation Centers, including vocational services, recreational services, mental health, transportation services, permanent supportive housing services, and beds for single men and women experiencing homelessness. The Navigation Centers may also offer services to a limited number of families and couples based upon bed availability.
Funding for the Placentia and Buena Park Navigation Centers will come from funds contributed by all cities within the North SPA. The table below shows the North SPA Fair Share Formula, established in the North SPA MOU, that determines how much each individual city will contribute.
| City | % Population | % Unsheltered Homeless | 50/50 Formula | Operations (credit)/ Surcharge % | Final Operations Fair Share % |
| Brea | 6.13 | 3.35 | 4.47 | 1.1754 | 5.92 |
| Buena Park | 11.77 | 13.67 | 12.72 | -9.3091 | 3.41 |
| Cypress | 6.98 | 2.51 | 4.74 | 1.3377 | 6.08 |
| Fullerton | 19.99 | 32.50 | 26.24 | 3.8309 | 30.07 |
| La Habra | 8.71 | 6.28 | 7.49 | 1.6690 | 9.16 |
| La Palma | 2.18 | 1.53 | 1.86 | 0.4187 | 2.28 |
| Los Alamitos | 1.61 | 1.67 | 1.64 | 0.3079 | 1.95 |
| Orange | 19.66 | 21.90 | 20.78 | 3.7674 | 24.54 |
| Placentia | 7.29 | 8.23 | 7.76 | -6.2061 | 1.55 |
| Stanton | 5.37 | 7.67 | 6.52 | 1.0301 | 7.55 |
| Yorba Linda | 9.49 | 0.70 | 5.09 | 1.8189 | 6.91 |
| Villa Park | 0.83 | 0.00 | 0.42 | 0.1591 | 0.57 |
| Total | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 0.0000 | 100.00 |
Based on the North SPA MOU, La Habra's contribution for FY 2024/25 will be $517,668 and will be funded by the Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) funds that the City receives from the State of California's Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). To determine costs for future years, at the end of each fiscal year, the cities of Buena Park and Placentia will provide the North SPA Treasurer, which is currently the City of La Habra, with the operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The allocation of funding for each North SPA city is tied to the PLHA funds that each city receives for each year as outlined in the MOU. Once the Treasurer has the operating budget and PLHA allocations for each city, the Treasurer will provide each jurisdiction with their cost allocation for the following fiscal year.
FISCAL IMPACT/SOURCE OF FUNDING:
The City of La Habra’s financial contribution towards the operation and management of the Placentia and Buena Park Navigation Centers for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 is $517,668. La Habra budgets and funds this cost with the PLHA allocation that the City receives from HCD.
GENERAL PLAN RELEVANCE/CITY COUNCIL GOALS & OBJECTIVES:
Funding for the North SPA is consistent with the following areas of the General Plan:
- H 1.1 Support State Housing Policy: Support State Housing policy by emphasizing, “…the use of those public powers which impact on housing, including, but not limited to land use controls, development controls, and regulatory concessions and incentives.”
- H 1.4 Variety of Housing: Promote a variety of housing types at scales, values, and locations carefully selected to provide housing opportunities for all economic segments of the population, while emphasizing the protection and conservation of existing single-family neighborhoods.
- H 3.5 Special needs of Homeless: Recognize the importance and need to temporarily house homeless populations and others in housing crisis situations through emergency shelters and transitional and supportive housing options.
- Goal 6 - Objective E - Build and maintain partnerships and collaborations with other local government agencies, the business community, local non-profit organizations, and the faith-based community.