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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution - 2005-R0559 - Approve Lubbock 10 Year Plan To End Chronic Homelessness - 12/01/2005Resolution No. 2005-RO559 December 1, 2005 Item 5.9 RESOLUTION BE 1T RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LUBBOCK: THAT the City Council of the City of Lubbock, Texas does hereby approve the City of Lubbock's "I0 -Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness." The said Plan is attached hereto and incorporated in this Resolution as if fully set forth herein and shall be included in the Minutes of the City Council. Passed by the City Council this 1st day ATTEST: Rebecca Garza, City Secretary APPROVED AS TO CONTENT: lat,,,�. 0, Bill Howerton, Jr. Community Development (rector APPROVED AS TO FORM: gslccdoc"nd Chronic Honlelessness.res Nov. 16, 26[15 City of Lubbock, Texas 10 -Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness October 12, 2005 Presented by The Homeless Plan Subcommittee of The Community Development and Services Board City of Lubbock, Texas Participants Homeless Plan Subcommittee: Marilanda Cristan, Chair, July 2004 - January 2005 Sherry Hurst, Chair, February 2005 — October 2005 Carey Childers Emma Jackson Randy Laycock Mary Nell Strong Community Development and Services Board: Daren Worley, Chair Don Bridgers, Vice Chair Sherry Hurst, Secretary Judi Blakey Carey Childers Terri Contreras Ricardo Garcia Frank Gutieerez Cheryl Isaacs Emma Jackson Jody Jenkins Peter Laverty Randy Laycock Jeff Lowry Ron McClendon Royce Newsom Mary Nell Strong Participating Partners/Stakeholders: Alcohol Recovery Center Children's Home of Lubbock Community Health Center of Lubbock Covenant Health Systems First United Methodist Church Outreach Center Link Ministries Lubbock -Cooper Independent School District Lubbock Housing Authority Lubbock Independent School District Lubbock Interfaith Hospitality Network Lubbock Regional MHMR My Father's House South Plains Homeless Consortium WorkSource of the South Plains Salvation Army History In March 2004, the City of Lubbock joined with many communities across the nation in committing to develop a plan to address the specific needs related to chronic homelessness. The Mayor requested that the City's Community Development and Services Board take the lead in researching and preparing a plan to end chronic homelessness in Lubbock in ten years. The Board accepted the challenge from the Mayor and began to plan a strategy for developing the ten-year plan. The Community Development and Services Board is a 17 -member board appointed by the City Council to advise the Council on any and all matters pertaining to community development services in Lubbock. The members of the Board represent a broad spectrum of the community. They come from all areas of the City and represent business, health providers, social service providers, education, government, the disabled community, and local advocacy groups. A Homeless Plan Subcommittee of the Community Development and Services Board was appointed in July 2004. The Subcommittee was charged with researching the issue of chronic homelessness in Lubbock and developing strategies to address the identified needs. The Subcommittee reported back to the Board on a monthly basis, receiving feedback and further direction from the larger group. In order to accomplish their task, the Subcommittee established several methods to identify the needs of the chronically homeless, identify the services currently being provided, and to identify the gaps in services which need to be addressed. The Subcommittee believed that it was these identified gaps in services that would lead to the proposed strategies to end chronic homelessness in ten years. The Subcommittee met at least monthly in order to accomplish this task. They toured a variety of shelters and transitional housing facilities. They visited homeless service providers at their place of business. They met individually with some service providers, and they met as a group with the South Plains Homeless Consortium. They met with homeless individuals, and conducted a needs assessment with one group of homeless individuals. When conducting this needs assessment, they visited with 125 adults at a local "soup kitchen" and had 48 responses to a prepared list of questions. The Subcommittee used the Internet to research chronic homelessness and to review solutions being proposed in other cities and communities. Finally, the Subcommittee prepared a draft plan to end chronic homelessness, which included their recommended goals and the strategies they recommend to meet the goals. This plan was presented to the Board for review in August 2005. After re -vision of the goals and strategies, based on that review, the final plan was submitted to the Board for adoption on October 12, 2005. Strategic Plan Goal 1: Promote Awareness Strategy 1.1: Partner with South Plains Homeless Consortium and other interested parties to promote awareness of the needs of the chronically homeless in Lubbock. Goal 2: Access New Sources of Funding Strategy 2.1: Encourage and assist efforts to bring State Emergency Shelter grant dollars to Lubbock through applications by local agencies. Strategy 2.2: Encourage and assist efforts to bring Continuum of Care dollars to Lubbock through local application by the Homeless Consortium. Goal 3: Provide Outreach Strategy 3.1: Encourage and assist the efforts to identify the chronically homeless. Strategy 3.2: Encourage and assist the efforts to provide outreach to the chronically homeless, including providing information regarding available services. Goal 3: Provide Affordable Transitional Housing Strategy 3.1: Encourage and assist the efforts to provide affordable, transitional housing offering appropriate supportive services. Strategy 3.2: Convene a quarterly meeting of cooperating service providers to discuss issues faced in serving clients and to strategize solutions for individual issues. Goal 4: Provide Permanent, Supportive Housing Strategy 4.1: Encourage and assist the efforts to provide permanent housing offering appropriate supportive services. Strategy 4.2: Research and recruit experienced providers/consultants to develop and manage a permanent, supportive housing project. Strategy 4.2: Assist agencies in navigating through City's process when beginning new projects to serve the homeless. Strategy 4.3: Convene a quarterly meeting of cooperating service providers to discuss issues faced in serving clients and to strategize solutions for individual issues. Goal 5: Reduce Local Service Barriers Strategy 5.1: Act as an ombudsman by assisting agencies in navigating through City processes. Glossary of Terms Appropriate supportive services: coordinated social services provided by one or more organizations to an individual in order to meet identified needs and support the individual's ability to remain housed. Chronic homeless: an unaccompanied individual with a disabling condition who is homeless for a year or longer or has 4 episodes of homelessness in 3 years. Cooperating service providers: community agencies, both non-profit and for-profit, which work together to address the total needs of a client in order to assist the client in remaining housed. Continuum of care: a service delivery model where homeless families and individuals move from step to step along the continuum until they reach permanent housing. HUD: United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Homeless shelter: a facility established to provide short-term, emergency shelter to families and individuals without other options for housing. South Plains Housing Consortium: an established group of homeless service providers, local government, and other interested community members who meet regularly to identify the issues surrounding the homeless population in Lubbock, as well as to identify solutions to these identified issues. Transitional housing: a facility that provides temporary housing to families and individuals with the goal of helping the household develop needed skills to obtain permanent housing.