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

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

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

Aaron Baldwin Day.

Jared Kirker, Christopher Constant, Cameron Perez Rodilla.

Yaro Silvers.

Okay, it doesn't look like we have anybody on the phone yet.

So we'll we'll wait to see there.

Um, great.

Um let's get started.

Uh we first on the agenda have the mayor's office and the Anchorage Health Department.

If you guys want to get us started.

Great.

Can you hook me up?

Okay, great.

Uh Thea Agnew Bemben, special assistant to Mayor LaFrance.

Kimberly Rash, Anchorage Health Department.

Great.

Well, thanks for having us today.

We wanted to um give a little bit of a kind of overview and update uh 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 you 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 the adjectives.

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 um 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.

Ruth and Tani 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 or one location, and then Beans 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 that 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 a 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 changed the criteria for who they can serve.

So now if someone's voluntary and wants to go to the safety center, 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.