Good.

Good evening, everyone.

It is 5 30 p.m.

We're in the room 260 today.

Um, Wednesday, November 19, 2025.

Welcome to the public safety or criminal justice committee of the city county council.

We'll start our meeting with our council members' uh introductions.

Councilor Hart.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Michael Paul Hart, representing District 20.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Josh Bain, District 21.

Thank you, Ms.

Chair Paul and A, District 22.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Frank Muscare, District 19.

Thank you, Councillors.

Council Perkins.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Chair, Dr.

Carlos Perkins, District 6.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair Bandalini, District 2.

Thank you, Chairman Jessica McCormick, District 16.

Thanks, Mr.

Chair, and good evening, everyone.

Keith Graves, District 9 on the Indianapolis East side.

Thank you, Councillors Lee Wy Robinson, uh District 1 and uh Chair of the Committee.

We'll start with a few reappointments on our agenda this evening.

Proposal 316 2025 reappoints Emily Rubin to the assessment intervention center advisory board.

Ms.

Rubin, come forward, please.

Ms.

Ruben.

Um they both said they would be this but yep, that's possible.

Uh we will move that to the uh end of the agenda.

Proposal number 317, 2025 reappoints Alexandra Hall to domestics by and spotted review team.

Um Alexandra Hall.

All righty.

The next one, uh, committee members three thirty uh three three three uh nine twenty twenty-five, uh, which reappoints Andrew Harrison to the juvenile detention center advisory board.

Uh, we need a motion to withdraw this.

This individual no longer lives in the state.

So no second.

Been motion to withdraw 339 uh 2025 has been seconded.

All is in favor by saying aye.

Aye.

All right, those opposed.

Motion carries.

Thank you, counselors.

Next up, proposal 340, 2025 approves an additional appropriation, totally six million eight hundred and thirty thousand six hundred and fifty dollars, and a transfer of one million two hundred and thirty-six thousand dollars in a in a reduction of six hundred and thirty thousand six hundred and fifty dollars in the two thousand twenty-five budget for the Marion County Sheriff's Department and the County General Medical Care for Inmates Funds for the purpose of funding the Indiana Fraternity Order of Police Labor Council, Inc.

Collective Bargain Agreement and Equipment Uh Replacing Plan.

And uh I think the sheriff is under the weather this evening, will not be in attendance, but it's CFO Callan Carries.

Ms.

Carl, you want to come forward.

Welcome.

You want to share with us um what 340 is uh referring to with the transfers and additional appropriations?

Yes, yes, thank you, Mr.

Chairman, members of the committee.

Thanks for your time this evening.

Um I believe as most of you were aware, we signed the uh collective bargaining agreements at the end of last year, um, knowing that we would need to come back before this body and true up our budget in a sense.

So that is what this is doing.

Um we are making as the chairman stated, we are receiving an additional appropriation from county general.

We are transferring from character three to character one through some budget savings we found in character three.

We are reducing appropriation um in medical care for inmates fund.

That is simply a result of our um medical services contract.

We wrote into that contract four years ago that we do not pay for staffing positions that they do not fill.

Um, so we receive a credit on those invoices for unfilled positions, and that is a result to those savings you see there.

That's $630,000.

And then um we are transferring three hundred thousand dollars, County General, uh, from character two to character four to make sure those funds are in the proper character for an equipment replacement plan.

Thank you, Ms.

Carr.

Uh comments or questions from councils on 340.

Comments or questions.

Seeing that anyone in the audience could speak to this uh request from the sheriff's department seeing number motion.

So moved.

Second, and we'll do a roll call vote or do a uh you say what, Miss Okay.

Uh all those in favor of uh 340 has been uh promptly motioned and seconded signify by saying aye.

Aye aye, those opposed, thank you, Ms.

Carr.

Give the sheriff our regards.

Uh hope he feels better.

I will thank you.

Thank you so much.

The 2028 budget of the Marion County Prosecutor's Office and the County General, the state law enforcement funds for the purpose of funding personal costs.

Chief Counsel, Salita Scott.

Welcome.

Good afternoon.

Good to see you.

I see you.

So as indicated by proposal 341 2025, we've requested an appropriation of 250,000 from county general fund at a character one, a transfer of 78,000 in county general fund, character two and four, transferring that over to character one, and a transfer of 120,000 in the state law enforcement funds from characters two, three, and four to character one, all of which is required to support our fiscal obligations for our existing staff for the remainder of the year.

Thank you, Chief Council.

Comments or questions from counselors on this proposal.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, sorry.

That's right.

Motion probably moved and seconded.

All is the first thing by saying aye.

Aye.

Those opposed.

Motion carries.

Thank you.

Can we prosecute our regards?

Absolutely.

All right, thank you.

Thank you.

Up next proposal number 342, 2025 approves an additional appropriation.

Totaling 4 million 222,000 dollars and a transfer of 20,000 in the 2022 25 budget of the American Public Defenders, Agency County General, and Supplemental Public Defender Funds for the purpose of funding the collective bargaining agreement and capital case costs.

Our Chief Public Defender, Mr.

Ray Casanova.

Welcome, Chief.

Good evening.

With me is Becky Motzinger, who's our chief financial officer.

We are requesting an appropriation of four million dollars from character one to cover the cost of our collective bargaining agreement.

Our collective bargaining agreement was uh ratified and assigned in October of this year.

Um so that four million is to cover the costs related to the collective bargaining agreement.

We are also uh requesting appropriating $222,000 uh into our character three budget uh to cover expenses related to uh the current capital case that is pending and set for trial right now in August of this year, and additionally, uh we also have two uh life without parole cases that are set for trial in this year as well.

So uh those that amount is necessary to fund uh those cases, particularly the experts in those cases, and additionally to cover the cost of appellate transcripts, and then we are also uh moving $20,000 from our supplemental fund into our character three, and that is to cover uh increased costs in uh for experts, uh just generally in our office.

Um the only additional thing that I would point out that was not in the fiscal note is an additional source of revenue from our for our office in addition to the supplemental fund and the 40 and 50 percent reimbursement we received from the Indiana Commission on court-appointed attorneys.

We also receive funding from Title IV funds for the representation uh that our attorneys provide in child welfare cases.

We have been receiving those funding since 2022, and um to date that that fund is about $800,000.

Thank you so much.

Comments or questions from counselors.

Anyone?

Anyone in the audience could speak to proposal 342?

Seeing that, you entertain any motion.

So moved most probably moved and seconded.

All those in favor by saying aye.

Aye, those opposed.

Motion carries.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks for coming in.

Appreciate you.

Up next is proposal 344, 2025, approves an additional appropriation totaling 12 million dollars and a transfer 875,000 dollars in the 2025 budget of IMPD, general city, community of capital, state law enforcement, federal law enforcement, and federal grant funds for the purposes of funding the collective bargaining agreement with the FOP, Lodge 86, Mold Remediation, Law Enforcement Equipment, and Grant Cleanup.

CFO Deborah Hall presenting.

You are not Deborah.

No, Mr.

Chairman.

My name is Kevin Wethington.

I'm the deputy chief for administration for IMPD.

Thank you for hearing me tonight.

As the proposal reads, there are three main things we're like we're asking for tonight.

An additional appropriation of 11 million dollars to cover the FOP contract that was signed after the budget was approved last fall.

The controller had addressed this committee and uh let everyone know this would be coming.

Uh so that's that's part one.

There are six different transfers amongst characters for accounting cleanup, totaling eight hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.

Um it's all spelled out.

I can read it if you'd like, but I I hope I didn't need to.

Um the third one is the mold remediation that's called out.

Unfortunately, last summer we discovered a mold outbreak at the training academy where we store uh overflow and uh historical evidence uh for um long-term storage case evidence.

There was a water leak uh that developed in an area that was unchecked.

Um the mold grew uh it bloomed uh and it and it then spread.

Uh we've been working with building authority uh since that time, and unfortunately it was beyond their capabilities to handle uh so we had to go out to bid uh we uh received uh two bids and building authority selected a vendor, and that work started last week.

Um with all expenses for the mold remediation company and all of the ancillary expenses, it's gonna be just over a million dollars.

Uh so we're asking for an additional appropriation of a million dollars to cover the expenses we've already paid plus what we will incur yet this year.

Those are our three asks.

Thank you.

Commissary question counselors, counselor Perkins.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Um, and thank you for that explanation.

Um, because I think when the um explained to us that there was a 11 million dollar shift in to cover the collective bargaining agreement.

Um and I guess the question is for council, is this appropriate process to go through to request additional funding for what sounds like maintenance costs within IMPD?

Because I feel like we're folding this additional one million dollar for mold remediation in the ask for um equalizing for the collective bargaining agreement.

I'm wondering if that's appropriate.

It's not inappropriate.

I mean, if you don't know you need money and you need to then appropriate it, I don't know any other way they're going to.

This is an unanticipated expense, and it sounds like that's what that was.

Unanticipated expense.

Then if they figured it out halfway through the year, they might have done it then, but okay.

Well, thank you.

Thank you for for that.

Um it's not inappropriate, but I don't know if that this is an appropriate way to ask for the money.

Uh, the question then is within your 2025 budget, was there any baked in um funds to address emergency issues as they come up?

Absolutely not.

Okay.

That's tough to hear uh when we are still struggling with IMPD wrestling with over a quarter of the of the overall budget.

Um, and and there's still been questions around us not meeting um the the number of officers that we uh we budget for and funds available in that pocket, why we're not moving some of those funds around, why are we asking the council for additional funds so I I think OFM would have to speak to the mechanics behind that.

Um today you you are correct.

We're we are funded in 2025 for 1,743 officers.

Uh today we have 1,390.

I can tell you that number, unfortunately.

Um the way the budget is built, uh, it's built upon a recruit officer's first year salary.

Um and it's with very limited fringe benefit money baked into that.

Those vacancies are then used to cover the uh vacancy, the vacancies salaries are used then to pay the overtime that is not budgeted into the budget.

So with no overtime budget, all of the overtime that we pay for special events, shortages, and other things come out of those budget lines where the recruits are funded.

So it's it's I can't explain all of the mechanics behind it, but I can I can tell you that's how it's built.

Quick follow-up.

Um there is an overtime budget.

Uh that is a part of the the proposed and approved budget for 2025.

It was also part of 2024.

So there is a line item for overtime budget.

Um again, a part of the challenge that I have is that every time I ask a question around this, there's a different explanation as to how the IMPD budget works.

Um I have a really really difficult time at this point asking for an additional one million dollars.

I we do need to do mold remediation.

So let me be clear about that.

That is important, it's important for safety, it's important for maintenance of a facilities.

I'm not sure that you need to come back and ask ask us for an additional one million dollars when IMPD but IMPD's budget was built even for 2025 with some room in it for additional funds that can be used for something else.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Council.

Council Delaney.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I am just curious if any evidence was permanently damaged or I say lost as in non-recoverable during the mold outbreak.

Great question.

Uh I personally I've got a captain and a lieutenant uh are out there every day overseeing this, maintaining chain of custody and controlling the access to the rooms.

Um this is the exterior packaging of the boxes that got wet.

The interior contents did not.

Um unfortunately, it was mainly the the bottom row of boxes that were in the carpet.

Um the box itself soaked up in its exterior surface mold on the cardboard box.

Uh I've unfortunately learned a lot about mold in the last couple months that cardboard is one of the best uh uh catalysts for mold, uh, and then when you get it wet, it just spreads.

Um all of the crime lab packaging um is contained within the bag, so it's packaged within a package.

Uh and all of the boxes that we uh replaced last week, uh we had no uh we had no case evidence, and they've all now been cleaned and and repackaged.

We had no case evidence that was compromised.

Thank you, Councillor.

Uh Councilor Eddie?

Thank you very much.

Uh Mr.

Chairman, I just wanted to say um wh while I don't know that the the mold outbreak was a direct result of uh extremely uh aged facility, I think this is a reminder that it's very important for the City of Indianapolis to evaluate and put together a long-term strategic plan to develop and build a long-term world-class professional policing training facility.

It's something that uh IMPD has needed for a long time.

Our fire department has a beautiful training facility.

I'm very proud that they have that, and I think that it's very popular among those looking to join the fire department and those who continue to interact with it uh serving on the fire department.

IMPD deserves one.

I think they need one.

I think that the sheriff's office and the police department need their own separate training space.

I think they would probably tell you that as well.

So as I said, I can't say that the mold uh is uh a direct result of of uh the aging facility.

There's certainly one-off instances where those things certainly do occur, but I think it's just a reminder that as we continue to pump money into the training academy, which was opened back in the early 1980s, uh, that uh world-class department such as ours deserves a world-class 21st century professional police training academy and center.

Thank you.

Thank you, Counselor.

Anyone else?

Counselor?

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Um, and yes, thank you, Counselor Awane, to echo those sentiments.

I think I would take it a step further and talk a little bit about the storage of the documents.

I don't think a cardboard box on the carpet is appropriate.

So even we need to invest as a city in proper storage of materials as well.

Um, because I think while it's fortunate there wasn't a loss this time, that certainly could have been a devastating case.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Counselor, it to that point, uh part of the budget that was provided to OFM includes uh shelving purchases uh and that that quote just came in today.

So unfortunately, um they they made do with what they had and they stuck boxes where they could.

Uh to echo uh counselor and a uh that that school building was built in 1936.

So though we began occupying it in the 80s, it was built in 1936.

Uh the HVAC system, the humidity levels, all of that is uh uncontrollable, and it's certainly not ideal for evidence storage.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Counselor Hart.

Yeah, I just on this topic of evidence storage and uh the location of it.

Uh I was under the impression that over on the post road um I think is where your training facility is, but there's I was under the impression you guys were expanding that and building onto it.

Is it getting and I say this because there was uh recycling uh monthly recycling over there that has been eliminated that I hear about all the time because there's this expansion that's going on.

So would that help in the situation before they're different?

Sort of, yes, sort of no.

Uh I've been uh the unlucky recipient to speak with three constituents this week uh who have showed up uh at the tox drop wanting to get rid of things.

Um so what we've done when the tox drop was removed, we are now using that space.

I've had to bring in uh six connex boxes uh on semi-trailers to be able to put uh equipment and we we're not putting evidence out in connex boxes, um, but for shelving and boxes uh stock boxes uh and all of the uh progress of things, we needed room for those connex boxes.

So if you drive by there now, uh you'll see six different connex boxes out there.

What we are doing, um building authority poured a new concrete pad, and we are buying buying, not renting a permanent 30-foot connex box.

So unfortunately, it's eight foot wide by eight foot tall by 30 foot.

That's my only expansion.

Um, and that's just to put cardboard boxes that are new uh rather than putting those inside because we're running out of space.

So I guess you know when I think about this, and I think about where the CJC is and where evidence is.

I mean, that's a decent distance that I live almost I drive by both them every single day, so I know how that drive takes.

Uh has there been ideas or plans to build evidence storage near the CJC?

So yes.

Um it was um uh uh commissioned in 2021, I believe.

Uh the city uh engaged meticulous design uh firm uh to uh do a needs analysis and draw plans for a warehouse space that was going to co-locate on the CJC campus nearby the coroner's office and the crime lab and the way the the land contamination happened and budgets happened, that part was scrapped out of the complex.

Okay.

Thank you for the explanation.

Just something to bring together kind of all the points here of you know, as we look at these things going forward with the concerns for evidence moving forward, it seems to be a logical uh position to put that near where the the cases are happening uh when we're designing new buildings.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Calester.

Counselor.

Since we're on the topic, thank you.

Uh and I just kind of want to point out as we're thinking about this, evidence is something that never goes away.

It can't be digitized.

It will always be a physical thing, and so we're always gonna need this storage.

Um and so like there's long term in that growth with that too.

So and I I don't know that's the question, but case closed 20 years.

Is there a point when you can't like there's a point when you can get rid of things, and I'm guessing we're doing as best we can to stay on top of that, so we're not holding things we don't need.

I promise I didn't set you up with that question.

No, so I I will tell you all that that we will be coming back before this council um soon.

There is a new state mandate that just happened in July that is going to be an unfunded mandate on us.

Uh the state legislature uh established what they define as 28 violent felonies.

Uh everything from a B felony, uh residential burglary up through a murder.

There are 28 types of crimes.

They've changed the rules now because of DNA evidence and for expungements and for um the exoneration projects.

Um now we are required to keep the evidence, uh all evidence for the period of statute of limitations, which varies between five years and 35 years on a child uh sexual assault case.

Um or once a conviction happens, we're required to keep the evidence for either the longer of 20 years or period of incarceration.

So this is all new as of July.

This just happened, and it now says that if someone is convicted and sentenced to two years in prison, we have to keep that evidence 18 years beyond their release date.

So this is all new.

Uh I wasn't prepared to speak to it tonight, but I can answer your question.

Um all the work that we've done uh this year trying to purge the property room.

Um we were dealt a a very hard blow in July, and we have to have a warehouse.

Thank you.

Sorry.

No, we're good.

Anyone in the audience could speak to this proposal.

See no student motion.

Some maybe second.

Most we probably moved and seconded on 344.

All those in favor by saying aye.

Aye.

Those opposed.

Motion curious.

Thank you so much.

Thank you all.

Give it Chief our regards, please.

Thank you.

Up next proposal 345 2025 approves additional appropriation totaling 12 million six hundred thousand dollars in the 2025 budget of IFD to file general and for our community funds for the purposes of funding the collective bargain agreement with the Indian approach professional fire photos local 416 and the payoffs of the 2021 apparatus lease.

Chief Malone and the CFO Dawn Sykes.

Welcome, Chief.

Hi.

Welcome, Mr.

Chairman.

Counselors is always good to see you.

Um appreciate your time this evening.

Uh, we're here to discuss and answer any questions you may have on proposal 345.

Uh as you said, I'm here with our CFO Don Sykes Randall, and we have Assistant Chief Mike White in the audience.

I'll ask Dawn to just briefly go through the elements of the proposal, and then we'll be happy to entertain your question.

Good evening, Mr.

Chairman and members of the board.

Um, so as we've heard tonight, we are here to ask for an additional appropriation to which address the collective bargaining agreement, which was finalized late last year prior to us um adopting the 2025 budget.

So with that being said, IFD is asking for a total of 12.6 million dollars, of which 11.3 is in character one fire general, a portion of that to address again the collective bargaining agreement, and then the re um a small part of that to um cover increase overtime that we have experienced as a result of more firefighters being off for sick limited duty injuries, those types of things.

And then the remaining part of that 12.6 is in character three fire general, which um is allowing us to prepay a lease for fire apparatus, which we established six years ago to purchase 10 um fire apparatus.

We're prepaying that off this year, so we don't have to make the final payment in 2026, which allowed us to enter into a new lease agreement beginning in 2026 for 17 new fire apparatus.

And that covers the 12.6 million additional appropriation and fire general characters one and characters three.

If you have any questions, we'd be happy to answer.

Thank you, Miss Sykes, appreciate it.

Comments or questions, the chief.

Anyone of the audience care to speak to this request of 345?

Seeing none, shouldn't any motion?

Motion probably moved and seconded for proposal 345.

All those in favour by saying aye.

Aye.

All right, those opposed.

Motion carries thank you, Chief.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate you both.

We're gonna go back to the top of the agenda proposal 317 2025.

Reappoint Alexandria Hall to domestic body hospitality review team, Ms.

Hall.

Come forward, please.

Welcome.

This is a reappointment.

Uh thank you for serving uh your prior terms.

Just uh share with us briefly uh what would you like to be reappointed?

Um thank you for having me this evening, and thank you for coming to retrieve me from the public assembly room.

Um this had these past uh few years have been very meaningful.

Um when council Robinson um initially um approached with the opportunity.

Um I was a little unsure.

Um content is pretty heavy, but this past um year under our new chair has been extremely meaningful.

Um wouldn't believe some of the things that we hear from families.

Um I say I'm just gonna speak to under the new chairs.

We've been extremely productive, um, have had some phenomenal conversations, unfortunate circumstances, but um great conversations with family um and have been able to come up with some great recommendations to provide to prevent some of these things from happening.

Um it could happen to anyone.

Um we have had victims from all walks of life, um all races, genders, um, and their stories need to be heard, and it um just is a blessing to be able to listen to family members as they come and share um about who their loved ones were when they were alive, um a little bit about their story, and um give us some ideas and insight into how we can prevent some of these things um from happening in the future.

So uh very heavy but extremely necessary.

Um I think there's a great team in place, and it is um it's been an honor to serve and would love to continue if you all would have me.

Thank you for your willingness to volunteer and serve on this important uh review board.

Comments or questions from counselors, counselor.

Uh thank you very much.

I just wanted to uh commend you on your outstanding attendance record.

I always uh pay attention to those um and you have an outstanding record.

Um I appreciate your willingness to continue serving, and I'm glad to hear that the new chair is uh bringing new life and uh credibility to that board.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor.

Additional comments, Councillor Uh Delaney.

I just wanted to add our Chairman Robinson's I wanted to echo Chairman Robinson's um sentiment, like thank you for serving.

Um, and also I'm glad to hear that you're finding it meaningful given that the topic is so heavy and um so thank you.

You really deserve that.

Thank you, counselor.

Counselor thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Um Ms.

Hall, I think it's important as you do this work if you come across recommendations, how we can as the legislative body impact policies that can be preventative, especially.

I know um oftentimes this the system seems um to be built to be reactionary and not preventative, not proactive, and that's unfortunate when it comes to lives and families.

And so thank you for your service and know that we're here um to listen and support you and your work as well.

Thank you, Mr.

Thank you, counselor counselor Burkins.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Um Ms.

Hall.

While Chairman Robinson was the one that asked you to serve on the committee, you do live in the best district in Annapolis.

Um and so as your counselor, I am very grateful uh for not only this work that you do, but your work that you do across the city um and specifically uh with our township school system.

So thank you for your work.

Uh and we celebrate your husband today for completing his doctorate.

Thank you.

Anyone in the audience care to speak to proposal number 317?

Signature any motion.

Second.

Most proper moved and seconded.

All those in favor saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Those opposed.

Motion carries.

Thank you so much for volunteering.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Up next, proposal 316 2025 reappoints Emily Rubin to the assessment intervention center advisory board.

Ms.

Ruben.

She is she over in the uh PAR.

She over the PAR.

Are you Miss Rubin?

No.

Okay.

Okay.

Good enough.

We'll circle back at the end here after this uh 346.

Proposal 346-2025 approves industrial appropriation 21,660,000.

They transferred 100,000 in the 2025 budget of the Office of Health and Public Safety's celebrated county general fund for the purposes of funding costs associated with the winter contingency and contractual staff at the release lobby of the Marion County Jail.

Mr.

Merkley.

Welcome.

Am I able to plug in for a presentation?

We have a part.

Is it new?

Anything that's making you.

It should be you.

Okay.

We're going to make hers, her black minded me.

I click the go in here first.

This I'm in a break.

Okay.

Do I have perfect?

Got it.

All right.

Good evening, Mr.

Chairman, members of the committee.

Thank you for the opportunity to present our fiscal request this evening.

My name is Andrew Merkley, Director of the Office of Public Health and Safety.

The Office of Public Health and Safety's fiscal request this evening transfers 100,000 from our Character 1 fund to our Character 3 fund that will help us to fully fund the Marion County jail release lobby in 2026.

In addition to that, our request is for 1.6 million dollars to help fund the 2025-26 winter contingency program.

That funding supplements funding that we already have on hand, including 450,000 from OPHS's 2025 character three budget, 400,000 of underspend from the 2024-25 winter contingency program via our philanthropic partners, and we've also secured an additional 100,000 uh commitment from other philanthropic partners for 2025 26.

Um, winter contingency planning this year began back in January, and we've been meeting with a broad uh group of stakeholders since that time, including uh CHIP, uh multiple service providers, faith leaders, EMS, hospital organizations, and others.

Um we've had roughly 30 meetings since that time in order to plan for this winter, and we've also taken some time to engage eight of our peer cities in the Midwest region, including Kansas City, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh.

Uh finally, we are this year we will be serving two different populations with overflow shelter.

Uh so that'll be families as well as single men.

And so we needed to identify an additional location for those single men.

Most of this year we anticipated using IPS School 68 again after some capital improvements were done at the location.

Unfortunately, I think most of you know we aren't able to use that facility.

And so we've pivoted.

Uh we we toured the former juvenile detention center, which would have also required significant capital improvements.

The former Escanazi Health Center at Forest Manor, uh, which was probably the least provided us with the least uh ready facility and would have required a lot of capital improvements, and then there was a former CVS store adjacent to that property that we toured uh ultimately deemed that it was too small and didn't provide us with the um hygiene facilities that we would need at that location.

We ended up with uh settling on Noble of Indiana, their former location at 2406 North Tibbs Avenue, uh which is a warehouse facility where they previously served individuals with intellectual disabilities, and they were doing that up until October of this year.

That facility will be for our families and single women, and then uh the West Morris Free Methodist Church, which will serve single individuals as an overnight warming center this season.

Uh there are some additional changes that I want to highlight.

So typically uh winter contingency begins on November 1st throughout our planning process.

Again, we looked at those other cities, we've engaged our partners.

Um on June 23rd of this year, the stakeholder group made it through consensus decided that we would move that time that start date to December 1st.

There are a few reasons for that.

Uh one uh Kansas City, which we are modeling our overflow shelter plan, they begin their winter contingency on December 1st.

Uh we took into account the climate change.

November is typically a warmer month than it has been in previous years, and um when we were engaging Wheeler mission, they indicated that the the request, the demand for overflow shelter did not increase until the December and January months.

So that is how we came to that decision.

Um in fact one of our planning group members uh actually brought this idea of moving the start date from November 1st to December 1st while we were in the planning phase.

Um we will have two the city will provide two 24-7 shelters for overflow this winter.

The first again is at that North Tibbs location for families.

So starting December 1st through March 31st, it will be 24-7.

We'll provide up to 160 beds for 40 families of four.

So depending on the size of those families, we'll depend on acting the number of families that are in there at any given time.

We'll also have 10 beds for single women at that location.

The assessment and intervention center will again provide 30 beds this season, like it did last year for single men.

And the the final, I think, big change that we need to highlight is this our over our warming overnight warming center that will be at Westmorse Church.

So this is based on the Kansas City model.

They began operating during COVID this weather activated model, and they've continued that to today.

That facility at West Morris will serve 70 individuals, individual men, and will be activated when the temperature goes below 25 degrees air temperature.

If we look back at how we've operated warming centers overnight in the past, the city's threshold was a negative 15 degree wind chill.

So we have increased from a negative 15 degree wind chill to a 25 degree air temperature, was it which is a significant increase in temperature threshold.

Last year we opened an overnight warming center at Washington Park and it was open for five nights.

And we opened that shelter at zero degrees air temperature.

So even last year we had increased our threshold.

In addition to that 25 degree air temperature threshold, if there's precipitation that lasts long with a lasting wind chill of 25 degrees for over 24 hours, we will open the overnight warming center, and it will remain open until the temperature exceeds 25 degrees.

So if we have if we know we're going to have three days where the temperature does not go above 25 degrees, we intend to stay open.

We are setting up getting everything set up now, but these are the new pods that we've purchased for families at that location.

These have these have seven-foot walls and will provide additional security and privacy for families at the at the facility.

This is the way that the Kansas City team has set up their overnight warming center.

So individuals have a tent and it provides privacy and autonomy for those individuals when they're at the overnight warming center.

Our intention is to provide a similar type of tent at our facility.

And what Kansas City has also demonstrated is that individuals are more successful and they are able to de-escalate more when they're in these tent environment.

This year, through an RFI and RFQ process, we selected Aspire Indiana Health to operate both of these facilities.

They will be providing three meals a day for individuals and families at the family location and food at the weather activated shelter as needed.

Both facilities will provide laundry for linens and towels, and we'll provide individual laundry for folks' clothing at the family shelter.

We can't provide that at the overnight warming center because there would not be enough time to get that out to the launderer and back.

Well, housekeeping at both both facilities and showers.

I I I want to pause here on showers.

So we will be providing shower eight stall shower trailers and ADA shower trailers at both of these locations.

The caveat is at the Tibbs location, those shower trailers will be coming inside.

So no one will have to go outside into the elements to shower at the Tibbs location.

At the church location, we cannot pull shower trailers into a church's sanctuary.

So the shower trailer will be just steps outside of the front door.

There is a awning covering those from the time the person leaves the church until they would go into the shower trailer.

So is yeah, so it's there is very little, you you would not be in the elements when you're going into those shower trailers.

I want to reiterate the shower trailers are covered, they have doors, individual shower units, they are temperature controlled, and they have hot water.

Finally, Aspire will offer behavioral health, physical health, workforce development, and other housing navigation services, just like they did last year in collaboration with other homeless service providers in the city.

I want to highlight our safety plan this year.

Uh both facilities will have full-time manager of the there will be a full-time manager of the family shelter, and there will be supervisors covering all three of the shifts at that location.

We will also have supervisors covering the weather activated shelter when it opens.

Aspire uh will provide either current aspire staff or they will contract with staff to uh enhance and cover the rest of the three shifts at those locations.

We will have security to security officers at all time times at both of those locations, and anyone who's coming into the facility to volunteer will have a background check performed if they are not a member of Aspire staff.

And I want to highlight that Aspire staff, you know, they have their sexual harassment training, their ethics training and things that they go through.

If uh so when they're working at this facility, they've already been vetted by Aspire.

Um individuals with a history of sex offenses will not be allowed entry to the family shelter.

I already highlighted the privacy of those pods and of the tents at those locations, and uh just wanted to say that that there will be health care provided at the family shelter.

Well, Aspire will be bringing their mobile clinic there two days a week.

So for the for the weather activated model, it is going to be critical that we uh communicate effectively when that facility is going to open.

Each day we will be making a determination by 8 a.m.

as to whether or not the weather activated shelter will open.

And we are in uh direct contact with the National Weather Service and Chief Spence through the emergency city's emergency services.

Chief Spence will uh alert our internal city weather planning group, which includes cabinet members and IMPD who will then disseminate that information to the various organizations on your screen.

OPHS will notify media, and we've already been in contact with them about putting that on their ticker.

So if you imagine school cancellations, they'll put those on the ticker.

We will be adding this to those tickers on the various stations.

Um we'll have it on our social media platforms.

CHIP will be updating their continuum of care notification or newsletter, and excuse me, and IMPD and the professional blended street outreach teams will be going directly into camps and engaging individuals outside with bus passes, making sure they know that the weather activated shelter has opened.

There are a few different ways that someone who is looking for shelter can contact us.

The mayor's action center will again be uh taking phone calls Monday through Friday, 8 to 5, providing information to individuals.

Um they will then coordinate with OPHS staff to make sure that that information is disseminated to Aspire.

Indiana 211 will also be taking calls Monday through Friday, 8 to 6.

They have a direct communication with Aspire.

And Aspire has a phone number that they can be reached at 24-7.

Uh, and with that, before I wrap up, Mr.

Chairman, I'd like to request um to have three of our planning partners be able to speak to their roles in the planning process and the importance of the city's um participation in winter contingency with the change changing landscape that we're seeing.

Thank you.

Let's do questions from the committee members first.

Counselor Perkins.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Um thank you.

Um for your intentionality in trying to get this uh to at least me and uh hopefully my colleagues before tonight.

Uh thank you for the work that you have done on this.

Um I have a uh question specifically for the shelter at the church.

Okay.

Um you mentioned uh that uh the shower pod would be close to the facility.

Is it possible or would it be possible to build kind of some a temporary side into even the overhang to get to the shower?

Because I'm still concerned that even though there's a cover-in, folks are walking outside in the element.

We will certainly look at that.

Yeah, we uh we have employed Shrewsbury as our representative to help us with planning and capital improvements.

Um we also intend to invite all of you to come tour both of those facilities before they open so you can see exactly what they look like.

Thank you.

Thank you, counselor council McCormick.

Thank you.

Um you mentioned the transportation.

So no noticing where these locations are just for our information.

If I need to get to one of these shelters, so I make the call.

Will they provide transportation for myself and my family if we needed it?

How do we apologize for omitting the transportation piece?

Um there are bus routes to both locations, and we will be providing bus passes for for men when they're coming to and from West Morris, and we will also have bus passes at the family shelter.

We also have a lift account, and so Aspire will have access to that lift account and can help with transportation uh to and from the facility.

McKinney Vento has been part of our planning process, and so once families are in the shelter, we will be very intentional about making sure that they're connected with their McKinney Vento rides so that uh they can get to school.

Thank you, Council.

Counselor.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

I was gonna ask about getting kids to school, so thank you so much for that uh answer.

Um yesterday coming in to admin and finance, we had rain, and I noticed that encampments were being flooded.

There was a lot of rain that kind of came upon us pretty quickly yesterday.

Um, but uh of course a couple weeks ago we had a freeze, and so that you know, as you said, Councilor Perkins, we had this in advance, so I apologize.

Um December 1st seemed pretty cool when I read when I read it.

Um, but excuse me, given climate change and given the increase in rain events and substantial downpours that we have instead of snow.

Um, it gives me a little bit of heartburn to have the December 1st start date after driving and and watching our neighbors um sort of struggle to get to a dry space.

I also think what that does is clear out getting family support and services before the Thanksgiving holidays as well, and that's a really good time to get coats on kids, gloves on kids, boots, and things like that.

So that does give me a little bit of heartburn, and I think having only um 10 beds for single women um also is something that is concerning.

I'm not sure of what the need is, but um that's something that I think we want to take a look at.

Um and with that, Mr.

Chairman.

Um I yield back with my comments.

Thank you, Council Councilmascury.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Uh I have a kind of a simple question.

On the shower of trailers, how many of those do you have?

So one at each location uh regular that would have eight stalls in them, and then one ADA unit at each location.

No, how many units do you have?

Uh in other words, my question is uh on the shower units, can you take these to some of the homeless camps when you're not using it and give them an opportunity to shower?

Uh is that something in your equation?

It's not in our not in the winter contingency equation, but uh one challenge with the shower trailers is that they have to uh the the gray water has to be drained into the appropriate uh drains, and so we wouldn't be able to do that.

Let's say we go to the river and we we took one to the river.

You you wouldn't there would be no way to drain those into um the sewage system at uh camp on the side of the river bank.

It's not a self-contained unit then.

Correct.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Council.

Did you have something you wanted to say to Councilor?

Yes, uh Councillor Carlino, I wanted to address uh a couple things.

One, you know, this is only the second year that the city has been this involved in planning, and um again, we're piloting a couple of things, so we'll continue to learn.

And if this is not, you know, if we if the the planning group feels that this was not the right decision, then we will address that next year.

Um what was your second item?

Um, the women so wheeler mission is tell is kind of telling us how many overflow beds they are going to continue to have available, and they are reducing their capacity by only 10 women this season.

Next season they may decrease that capacity further.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

And I would say especially on the pilot piece, because the the precipitation is there with if there's a freeze, but I think it needs to take a look at um the amount of inches in a certain time period as well, similar to what we're doing with the snow fight um plans.

I think that that's critical because the of the location of the river um where some of our neighbors are living.

So thank you.

Thank you, Council.

Councilor Emmy.

Thank you very much, Ms.

Chairman.

Thank you, uh Director and those with OPHS who have been working on this.

needs to take a look at um the amount of inches in a certain time period as well similar to what we're doing with the snow fight um plans I think that that's critical because the of the location of the river um where some of um our neighbors are living so sure thank you thank you counselor counselor thank you very much chairman thank you uh director and and those with OPHS who have been working on this um I have a couple questions first would be um is the office of public health is the deputy mayor of Office of Public Health and Safety is that is that an open vacant position still uh yes it is uh do we know if that's um still uh are we still looking for a candidate for that position at this time I can't speak to that I you would have to talk to Mayor Hogsett or Chief uh Deputy Mayor Parker is anybody from the administration that might be able to answer that I don't see the back there.

Yeah I just think it's important when we're talking about positions and issues such as winter contingency that if it's a position that is important and does a lot of efficacy on behalf of uh public health and safety that it would just be interesting to know what the update is on that position um as we have some really important work to be done um not as a criticism but just as a point of knowledge we haven't heard about that position in many many months and I think an update would be nice to this committee to understand um how a lack of um of having not having a deputy mayor of office of public health and safety might be impacting things like winter contingency or how it might not be impacting it et cetera so I would like to get an update obviously not from you but from somebody administration hopefully sometime this winter uh my second piece is I remember uh when we talked about winter contingency several months ago um that some folks uh came to the committee and uh described some of their personal interactions as uh guests um in these facilities and they were some there were some pretty difficult stories to have to listen to and and situations that were very devastating and and very heartbreaking um I was just curious um if and when somebody would determine that they need to seek shelter at one of these winter contingency sites is it clear and obvious that if there is an issue whether it be with the staff or with another guest uh who those complaints would be made to and then secondly it is it obvious that there are people on site throughout those folks stay that are monitoring the situation and have eyes and ears uh to assure that if somebody isn't uh coming out uh coming to to make a complaint or a suggestion out of fear or or whatever uh that there are folks trained to be able to identify those and be proactive thank you for your question um there will be posted at both locations a OPHS phone number and email address that individuals can contact OPHS if they feel like their concerns are not being addressed by staff or security at the facilities additionally I apologize what was your second question in order not to have the type of stories um that we heard several months ago I want to make sure that it's very clear that if somebody has an issue whether it's with staff or with other guests that it's obvious who they would contact to ensure that whatever those issues are are evaluated and resolved in whatever way deemed appropriate.

Number one number two are there those on site who are monitoring and are are trained to be able to see telltale signs of issues to be able to mitigate those before they really turn into some of the things that we've heard previously yes there are so aspire staff is trained in conflict resolution as is as are the security personnel that will be on site that the same thing was in place last year as well again we'll have that phone number that individuals can call um and any time that ASPIR needs to contact INPD or their behavioral health team or the CLCR team those those options are in place to help de-escalate.

Do you guys do any type of surveying um or or seek any type of feedback from those who are staying in the shelters I will let aspire aspires here tonight and they're going to speak here shortly and so I I'll have them address that.

Thank you counselor counselor Bain Thank you Mr.

Chairman thank you director um as far as the number of beds go 160 30 and then uh 70 at the church are those on a first come first served basis and then um let's say you do have a multi-day um contingency uh plan is once some once a beds full filled is that filled for the duration of that um you know it's like a three-day span where it's less 25 degrees do they have that bed basically on hold reserved for that entire stay I think it's situational um certainly at the the family shelter because it is 247 um well let me back up at the family shelter we will triage based on where someone is when they are in need so we will first prioritize individual families that are living in places not meant for human habitation and that's the same thing that we did in the last year's version um we will work with other families that maybe are doubled up or that um are are they just don't want to be where they're at in that moment

Um certainly at the family shelter because it is 24-7.

Um, well, let me back up.

At the family shelter, we will triage based on where someone is when they are in need.

So we will first prioritize individual families that are living in places not meant for human habitation.

And that's the same thing that we did in the last year's version.

Um we will work with other families that maybe are doubled up or that are they just don't want to be where they're at in that moment to find ways that we can help them stay where they are so that we can keep those beds available for individual for families that are living in places not meant for human habitation.

Um our goal, like last year is to help find permanent housing for these families.

And I'll I'll remind you that we found 31, 31 of the 60 families served were permanently rehoused last year.

Uh so we will be working on that again this year.

Uh so that will free up those beds as we are able to get folks either placed into other shelters or uh into permanent housing.

As for the overnight warming center, those would be first come first serve.

I will tell you that based on our experiences at the AIC, folks don't like to stay throughout the day, they like to leave and come back, and so uh the AIC does not hold those beds, and we would not hold those beds at the overnight warming shelter either.

Counselor Hart Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Uh just a few things.

One on the configuration page that you had.

And I'm noticing on the the you know the Tibbs location where you've got 40 families of four to get that 160 bed, they yeah, they they seem fixed in this case where you would have a certain number of people together.

You're not gonna get obviously perfectly groups of four every single time.

So what's the ability to reconfigure based on need?

We do have that ability, so we can I I believe we can take out a middle panel to create an eight-person uh room if we need to.

Okay, can you shrink so you get you know a group of three and then a group of one and then a two and a two?

Um can't do that.

Okay, yeah.

So you know, just like at school 68 where we had pods of four, if if there's a family of two that comes in, they're going to take a pot of four, and so we lose those two beds.

Yeah.

Okay, yeah, that's unfortunately uh inefficient.

Um but I also want to call out it's just not mentioned in here, but I know there's other groups that do uh sheltering during this time.

Can you speak a little bit about that both on you know the the I'd say very professional end, right, which would be the wheelers, and then I'd maybe uh characterize them as independent uh groups.

What is the city's role in uh working with the entire network and making sure that uh if we fill up here that the entire network is utilized?

Um I have assumed you're talking about the organization that's operating up at a church off of uh Ball Creek.

It's one that I know of.

Okay, that's the only one that I know of.

They've been engaged with our planning process, uh, so we are aware of them and we'll be working with them throughout the winter.

But then on the the other side of the equation, right?

You're the wheelers and anybody else of that magnitude.

How does that look at the in the totality of availability for individuals within the city?

Um are you asking me how many beds are available for at Wheeler Mission?

And if we looked at all of Indianapolis and we'd say all the people here, is our ratio are we short?

You know, if we look at Wheeler mission, if we look at what the city's providing, if we look at the independent model, are we short beds or is there enough beds for what we know from a point in time count?

So Wheeler Mission has historically been the main provider of winter contingency, right?

For the last almost 30 years.

We are relying on them and their experiences of the number of overflow shelter beds that are needed to help understand what the city needs to be bringing to the table this year.

So they've explicitly said they need we need 40 families up.

We need space for 40 families.

Okay, and we need uh these 10 single female beds, and then uh we know based on last year that the overnight warming center held roughly 70 people and that we filled it, so we know we need that amount.

Um the independent group that you're talking about, uh you know, their addition, I think they have 40 uh space for 40.

Um that is in addition to what we are being told from Wheel by Wheeler mission.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Counselor.

Thank you, Council.

Counselor DeWamey.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I'm gonna follow up a little bit on Counselor Hart, which is the question I also been wanting to ask for a while.

Just you mentioned in your presentation the big group of providers that's been meeting, and so I hope in a future presentation that you'll be able to like show us the list of this big group of folks that met to decide that December 1st was the date.

Um I personally sort of missed that piece last winter when we were talking about winter contingency.

Um and I don't know if if there was a bigger group involved or not, but I think um you know I'm not an expert on homelessness and and and the types of resources that we need, and and it makes it gives me comfort knowing that there's like this very large group of experts that's meeting, and so I'd like to know more about that and and how the decisions are being made and how um the city comes to play in that and the city's role in all of that.

So I'm asking similar questions to counselor Hart, I think, and just trying to understand the bigger picture of it all.

So for another day.

We can provide a list of organizations that are participated, certainly.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Council Council Grace.

Thanks, Mr.

Chair, and thanks for your presentation and certainly appreciate uh the learnings from the last couple of years and coming with some some slightly better uh presentation for men and women and families that are experiencing homelessness during this particularly tough time throughout the year.

Um some great questions asked by my colleagues.

I just want to maybe clean up a couple.

Can you confirm that you said 247 security at all the locations?

Yes, okay, and um on the pods, are they reusable for next year or is okay?

And so though those belong to us, the city we purchase those and they will they should stay in place.

Noble uh does not have a uh they have a future use, but it's not for uh several years.

So we intend to continue using that site.

Okay, great, thank you.

I certainly appreciate that they have on site inside um showers.

I think that was a challenge, and the security was a challenge last year as well.

Um what is the average length of stay um for individuals that are uh visiting the locations?

So do we have numbers there?

I I don't have that off the top of my head.

We it's I think it's in our report that we provided to you from last year.

Um there were certainly I think we were open 70, I want to say 75 days.

There were certainly people that stayed the entire time, and there were others that we were able to move on to uh other shelters or or permanent housing.

So um if Aspire can speak to that tonight, they can, otherwise, we can track that number down.

Great.

Yeah, um I certainly appreciate your responses and thanks for the work there.

Good counselor, Councillor Perkins.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Uh, two quick questions.

Um you mentioned uh a couple of times that Wheeler has been kind of the the expert voice um on this particular issue on a typical day in Indianapolis Marion Counties without a natural disaster without temperature below 25 degrees.

Are we short of beds for individuals that want to seek shelter again?

I don't have that number for you.

Um Chip is also here tonight, so Chelsea may be able to answer that question.

Yeah, good evening, counselors.

Uh senior policy advisor Aaron Schaunts.

Um and I did just want to follow up on a couple of those questions.

So the average length of stay at school 68 was 47 days.

We serve 60 unique families with 31 of those families going into permanent housing, and none of them entering into uh unsheltered homelessness after they exited the shelter.

Um, in terms of the number of beds, Chelsea can correct me.

I think based on our data, we believe we need about 97 beds in our system.

Um, and the housing hub will have 150 beds that will have uh unique uh configurations to serve individuals, couples, and families.

Awesome.

Thank you.

That was very helpful.

Thank you.

Uh second question, Mr.

Chairman.

Second question.

What happens on December 1st?

So December 1st comes in a week and a half, and it's 80 degrees outside because we're in Indianapolis.

Right.

What happens?

The family shelter will open.

Okay, and people can come inside.

Okay.

AIC will be cut will make their 30 beds available.

Okay, and the overnight warming center would not be open because it would not be 25 degrees.

So they'll be fully staffed, ready for the temperature to fall below 25 degrees.

Yes.

Okay.

Council final questions and comments from Mr.

Merkley.

Mr.

Merkley, you want to have your guests come forward and uh share a few words about their support of the uh contingency plan.

Absolutely.

Um first we'll have Sarah Vance Lambrock from United Way, followed by Kathleen Bowers from Aspire, and then Chelsea Harrenkozy from CHIP.

Thank you.

Good morning, or good afternoon, evening counselors.

It's been a long day.

Sarah Vance Lambert with United Way of Central Indiana.

And I'm here to help I guess paint the picture a little bit more about the collaboration that's been happening.

So last year, as you mentioned, the Council Delaney about the level of collaboration and who all was involved, it we we were had a smaller period of time to be able to get to a solution.

And there, but there were a group of collaborators, um, probably 10 or so between city philanthropy providers, and we're working together to create the solution that turned um out to be school 68.

But we learned a lot from that that there needed to be more voices at the table, and so um director uh said that he would get to you a list of the different organizations, but um you know we had hospitals there, we had um obviously Wheeler was mentioned, um, Harbor Lights, um, um Horizon House, right?

So uh Eskenazi Health was there.

A lot of the different organizations that see individuals experiencing homelessness at some point in their journeys, um, tried to invite uh as many of those as we could, and um the the experiences were facilitated by a um a staff person at CHIP in conjunction with a staff person at the city of Indianapolis, so really to try to have uh a neutral table to be able to have um everyone have a voice.

Um, all of this started um way back when at Shepherd Community Center, Winter Contingency did this idea that we needed extra beds when it got cold.

But Wheeler's been doing it for about 30 years, and they came to the rest of the community about a year and a half ago and said we can't keep up with the need, and what we're how we're doing it right now is um doesn't allow us to do it well.

Um so too many people that were on mats, weren't able to get services, it was not the way that we as a community want to be giving service provision to our neighbors, and so this idea of needing winter contingency to be broader than just Wheeler, because Wheeler is still going to have 125 extra beds, you know, winter contingency beds, um and we still need all of these beds that um that were just described.

So it is a really large community-wide effort.

Um you saw the the budget from last year in that um you know United Way invested dollars, Indianapolis Foundation invested dollars, Lily Endowment, um, the City of Indianapolis, CHIP, and um so you know philanthropy was coming together, um, United Way and uh and others have been other philanthropy have been at that table that um that CHIP and the city have been co-convening to get to the solutions um and you know we've had we've had heated conversations about the should it be November or December, um but as we were talking through it again, it was a well let's try it for this year and let's keep learning.

So it's not that it is forever going to be that way, but also an understanding of in the last few years the uptick in November has not been very significant, and so um it's it's a balancing of resources and past experiences that led to that, and then we'll see this year if um you know if we get feedback that it should look different.

Um other things I wanted to make sure I mentioned um you know that this need for this year um is continuing to grow, and so I I've really appreciated um uh that Ms.

Schrounce was able to kind of give that bigger picture of what is the need because it is um you know we all see it every day when we're walking around our city.

It is an incredible need, not just in winter but um year-round, and but this is a particular need and one that is um that becomes deadly for our neighbors, and there is no reason we should have neighbors dying on the street because they're too cold.

Um so appreciate that you all are um you know gathering to discuss this and to consider the investment.

Thank you.

Thank you for your time.

Hi, I am Kathleen Bowers.

I'm the director of housing services with Aspire Indiana Health, and so we are the operators of um both of our projects this uh winter, and we're operated school 68 last year.

So I wanted to just talk about the families that we see, the people that we see, and the vulnerability.

A lot of times these winter contingency shelters are the last option for families for a lot of different reasons.

One of them we had probably half of our families could not go to any other shelter because they had not been invited back.

So these are families with very high complex needs with part of them, part of our families.

The other part we had did not they didn't meet the family structure of some of our traditional shelters.

That's what's really nice about winter contingency.

We are low barrier.

So we try to bring in anyone that needs shelter, and that the goal of winter contingency and our warming centers is survival.

How do we keep our families, our neighbors safe, alive, warm, fed, and so that's what we are trying to do first and foremost.

What I love about Indianapolis's strategy is the services.

A lot of communities in the United States, winter contingency is just that survival.

By partnering we've been able to bring all of our service providers together, not just aspire with our behavioral health, medical recovery services, our social determinants of health, our employment, helping people get where they need to go.

So this isn't just a holding pattern.

Like when you come into one of these shelters, we want to serve you, serve your families.

Collaborating with our McKinney Vinto liaisons, every child deserves an education.

We want to make sure they get that education.

We want to make sure that with families need something, we can provide it, and we're adding that to the singles part as well.

We will have medical on site at the men's single shelter so that if we have any you know open wounds coming, if we have frostbite that we need a triage to figure out if it goes to the burn center or if we can handle it on site.

We want to make sure that we are providing an inviting and warming and environment that can help people move forward.

If they are ready to move forward, we want to provide that support system with them.

And so we um you guys had mentioned everyone's been mentioning collaboration.

I we are collaborating with all of our housing service providers with CHIP.

Um I've met with both Wheeler women and children and men's to get with them and figure out what what strategies do they recommend, what do we need to do, how can we best serve.

We work with our family shelter partners.

We meet every other week as a group so that we can really work with the families to figure out what's the missing piece, what can we provide as a community to help them move forward?

Um these are challenging times for our families.

Um it is the coldest time of the year, it's the holiday season.

We are trying to provide you know the best environment for our kiddos, particularly, so that this is as least traumatic as it can be.

Um but it also is very important that it's low barrier so we can get as many people in and safe for as long as possible.

Um then give them the services they need to move forward.

Um, so this is uh a wonderful partnership, and I've been grateful for the city and the opportunity to do this because the the success stories and to watch the families grow, and the the amount of stories I have is just out of this world, and it makes you cry every day to see them where they start and where they end up.

And I think that this year we learned last year that if we brought services to them, they were more likely to engage in those services.

So we are stepping up our game this year.

We're bringing even more services to them, to the shelter.

We are partnering with our faith community to get more volunteers in so that we can give some parents some respite.

We're working with our clinical teams to get in parenting classes, to get in different things for the kiddos to make sure that things are going well.

Um so anything that we can do, we are doing to make sure that this is successful for our families and our single men to make sure that we can make a dent in this very horrible epidemic.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for what you do.

Thank you, I appreciate it.

Chairman Robinson, counselors, thank you for the opportunity.

Um, my name's Chelsea Haring Cozy, I'm the CEO with CHIP.

I'll try to keep this short and sweet because I think Director Merkley here and Sarah and Kathleen have have said a lot.

So winter contingency, I want to remind us, is just a critical piece of our commitment to ensuring that nobody dies on our streets in Indianapolis.

That's not acceptable.

And especially in the coldest months of the year.

So this is a commitment to kind of fill a gap in our existing shelter system and to answer your questions to beds that are not low barrier and not configured to meet the need.

And so winter contingency comes to the table during those coldest months of the year to make sure nobody dies on the streets or in their cars.

And it does predominantly serve families with children.

That is where the biggest gap is in our current shelter system.

So we have worked together collaboratively as a community with dozens of partners at the table to try to elevate winter contingency to make it serve people better and to leverage resources in the most effective ways.

So CHIP's role in this and true to our mission is to help bring those partners together to help facilitate that work to inspire newer best practices to try new things to see what's going to work best for our community.

So we've helped facilitate this planning process for several months to get to the decisions that you heard tonight that were activating this year.

That's the December start date.

That's activation of new facilities at the AIC at Noble as at West Morris, and the city's leadership has been pivotal in bringing those facilities and resources to the table that we've really not been able to leverage historically.

So I fully support the request to appropriate funding for this year's winter contingencies so we can keep people alive and provide better options for families with children in particular.

And we appreciate the city county council's consideration of this, your leadership and your commitment to all of our neighbors, including our unhoused neighbors.

Thank you so much.

Thanks for the work you do in the community.

Uh Mr.

Merkley.

Yes, um, I just want to close with uh echoing Chelsea.

Um thank you for your consideration of this additional funding.

I do think it is going to be pivotal in serving our neighbors this winter.

Um as you can see, uh, no one person can provide all of the answers and all the information.

This is a very complex challenge that we're trying to solve, and we are collaborating daily to solve homelessness broadly.

Um so again, thank you.

And uh if you have any additional questions.

Thank you.

Anyone else in the audience care to speak to proposal 346?

Final comments or question, counselors.

Counselor Perkins.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Um, I just want to say um Director Merkley, thank you for your leadership on this.

Um I know the last time we had a conversation just as a council with you, as a committee with you.

This was a point of um uh frustration, right?

For us, for the community, um, and thank you for you know taking this head on, pulling folks together um and making what you presented today possible for us.

So thank you for your leadership.

Um, I do want to acknowledge that that there are folks in your staff that work alongside you to get this and so I want you to share with your staff our appreciation for the work that they put into together.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Council Bain.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Thank you, Director, for having um our guests come tonight.

I know you're you're requesting 1.6 million for the winter contingency.

Uh how much is our contract or agreement with the SPIR for the winter contingency?

That contract will be for roughly 2.4 million dollars.

Um that covers that they are taking on all the additional subcontractors and ordering supplies and things like that.

The city has purchased those pods, like I said.

Um we have a contract with Shrewsbury.

Um there's one more thing, but 2.4 million dollars.

Okay, thank you.

Council.

Uh the chairman's had any motion on proposal 346.

So, mostly probably moved and seconded.

Always purposely by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Those opposed.

Motion cares.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Murphy.

Ladies and gentlemen, uh, is uh Miss Rubin present?

So Emily Rubin uh committee members is a uh granddaughter of Mr.

Rubin, uh, who when we did the um Ruben Engagement Center uh many many terms ago, uh Council McScare was on the committee, then we did that.

Um one of the one of the requirements was that a family member be on the board of the AIC and um it was um the attorney initially um I think that once he stepped away, we uh requested a family member of uh the Rubin family who helped fund this AIC from the very beginning to be on the committee.

And um it was um the attorney initially, um I think that once he stepped away, we uh requested a family member of uh the Rubin family who helped fund this AIC from the very beginning to be on the committee.

I just recommend that uh her she was here last time.

Though her not being here today, uh that we just honor the commitment of the Rubin family and just reappoint her in her absence.

Motion probably moved and seconded to reappoint uh Miss Rubin in her absence on proposal 316.

All is the third scenario saying aye.

Aye, those opposed, motion carries.

Thank you, committee members.

Uh we are adjourned.

Have a good night.