Okay, I'd like to call the order this meeting of the assembly housing and homeless committee.

It is Wednesday, September 17th at 2 p.m.

Let's uh start at the can uh by just going through the members who are in attendance.

Air call the name Reserve.

You want to store the phone.

Yes.

Okay, great.

Um let's get started.

Uh we first on the agenda have the mayor's office and the increase health department if you guys want to start.

Okay, great.

Uh Thea Egging Meman Special Assistant to We have a France.

Camerly Rash Increased Health Department.

Great.

Well, thanks for having us today.

We wanted to give a little bit of a kind of overview and update so that you have the most kind of comprehensive and up-to-date information as we walk into budget season, which of course we're all preparing for.

Um so we're not giving any like budget updates right now, but just trying to make sure we know what are the things that we're working on that will be included in our 2026 priorities.

So our success measures are really the same as they have been really since the mayor took office.

We want to have more housing, better shelter, few a lot fewer people sleeping outside and a safer community for everyone who lives here.

And I also would add to that we have a priority around uh leveraging additional funding and funding from other sources and bringing a lot of partnerships in and also providing better transparency when it comes to data and reporting back to the community.

So our first uh part that we want to update you on is our year-round coordinated safety net shelter system.

Sorry for all of the gadgets.

Uh we are working on a graphic.

You can see a picture of it here to help people really kind of see the system that we're building.

Um the important sort of aspects of it are that it is a safety net.

So it really is, I think the metaphor of a net is a really good one because we're trying to knit all the different parts and people and uh places together.

And we also want it to be well integrated with our crisis response system because oftentimes what happens in low barrier shelter is it's it's basically it's low barrier, it's kind of where people can get into, but oftentimes what that means is that people with very acute needs are in our low barrier shelter, which isn't necessarily staffed for that.

So it's really important that we have a robust and functioning crisis response system that can really support people who are in crisis and also experiencing homelessness.

So making sure those two things are really connected is a big part of our priority.

Um I'm gonna talk about this a little bit later, but one of the things that we're working on is with the Hope team.

Um the Hope team has been operating since last summer.

It's been an amazing, wonderful addition.

Reconfine are here today.

Uh one of the things that's happened as they do their work is they've really gotten a lot of um organizations and partners wanting to do the work with them, which of course is fantastic.

Um so they've been really bringing uh these partners into the outreach that they do, and now what we'd really like to have is a kind of home base for them.

So we want to really build on some of the other um resource and navigation opportunities.

Third Avenue Navigation is one option, um, or one location, and then means cafe is another.

So we want to create a kind of hub where people who are um coming to those places can easily access all of these different partner agencies, and then we can really make sure that as we do outreach, we're coordinating and really leveraging all those partners.

So that's one thing we're working on right now.

Um the mobile crisis team has been working towards being 24-7 for quite a while, and they're right on the cusp of it.

So that's really exciting.

Um, coming off of the pilot project that we did this summer, where we ran a second team and did a lot of assertive outreach in the community.

Um, we'll be really incorporating that approach into the 24-7 model.

So it's going to be a real addition or really beneficial addition to have them especially operating at night seven days a week because during the night is oftentimes when things happen and we need their support.

Um the police department has been uh presenting to you already about their impact teams and continuing to build out the the mobile intervention teams.

So I won't repeat that here, but just to let you know that that is really well integrated with our other outreach and crisis response teams.

And then another thing that's we've been working on that you've heard us talk about, so I don't need to go into detail, but just to let you know it's it's it's uh really bearing fruit is with the safety patrol and the safety center, um we really change the criteria for who they can serve.

So now if someone's voluntary and wants to go to the safety center, and they can go there, they don't have to be to the point where they're um put under an involuntary commitment to get into the safety center, and then they also can stay there longer, so it's allowed people to sober up more, and then we have our community resource connections happening right there.

So it's really led to a lot more people going from the safety center into detox and treatment or into other community resources, which is great.

Um, we're also really interested in uh increasing our efforts around diversion, and what diversion is a little bit different from prevention, prevention is when somebody's housed, we want to prevent them from becoming unhoused.

Um, but diversion is when somebody shows up in our system, if we can easily kind of move them out, um, whether that's connecting them back to family and friends, connecting them to treatment, connecting them to employment and housing that they can afford, we want to make sure that we're doing that.

Um, so I'll talk a little bit more about some of the ways that we're doing that, but we're really increasing that through our coordinated outreach and through really connecting with other um partners and and supports.

Um I'm gonna hand it over to us for someone and so yeah.

I know the navigation center has a shuttle.

Um, and so you're talking about uh having like a hub of services at the navigation center.

As a part of that, would you look at not duplicating services across different shelters?

And so it's a little bit more economical to just have those services based on the navigation center.

Um we're not so what we're talking about, is really so the the navigation center at Third Avenue is already a hub, like you said, and already has providers there.

What we're really wanting to do is kind of um between Third Avenue and Beans, really embed the hope team more into that and embed their outreach providers.

So it's really kind of expanding on the concept that's already there, and part of the purpose of that is that when we're doing outreach and we connect with someone in the community, instead of just trying to kind of case manage out there, we can then bring them back into that hub and connect them with the partners that they need to connect to.

So it's not so much changing the what's happening right now, and I think in our shelter sites, we have case management, we have some basic health services, but it's it's you know, it's it's kind of the first level.