Good morning, everyone.

I'd like to call this meeting to order.

Welcome to the October 22nd, 2025 Community Services and Education Subcommittee meeting.

I would like to introduce City Attorney David Benton.

Please explain the role of public comment.

The issues being addressed, however, must be on subject matters that fall within the jurisdiction of the subcommittee and has the power to act upon the open meeting law, permits subcommittee members to listen comments, but prohibits members from discussing or acting on matters presented.

Madam Chair, I'll have another uh comment when you get to agenda items.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Um, I would like to now introduce our interpreter for today, Elsie Duarte, who will give a brief announcement.

Thank you, Madam Chair Hatch Washington.

Good morning, my name is Elsie Duarte, and I will be providing interpretation during today's session.

I will now take a moment to address our Spanish speaking audience.

But escuchar la reunion in Spanish presencialmente favor de Pasar Purunos Audífonos ubicados al entrada de la sala de camaras.

Las personas que pasen al frente, al igual que las personas que se register registraron virtualmente foras publico, potran libremente hablar sin interrupciones durante el tiempo disponible.

Thank you so much.

We will begin with our call to the public, and I see that we have one registered speaker virtually, um, David Redke.

Okay, he's not on.

Thank you so much.

We will move on to item number one, uh, approval of our minutes from our October 2nd, 2025 meeting.

I'll move to approve.

All in favor.

Aye.

Motion carries.

Next, we will turn to item number two, which is Phoenix Live Public Library Foundation.

Raised the stack.

We welcome Phoenix Public Library Deputy Director Carl Kendall and Foundation Executive Director Kelly Beauchamp to this table.

These organizations work tirelessly to help assist the library with its mission to provide information and resources to Phoenix residents of all ages.

Today I'm proud to have with me the director of our Phoenix Public Library Foundation, Kelly Bouchon, to talk to you a little bit about the Foundation and about one of its uh upcoming signature events.

Kelly.

Founded in 1997, the Phoenix Public Library Foundation was initially conceived to oversee the Capitol campaign, which raised funds for Burton Barr Central Library.

Shortly into those efforts, we expanded our mission to champion a broader library mission for our communities.

The Phoenix Public Library Foundation now focuses on four key areas that reflect our commitment to the community.

First, we invest in programs that strengthen early literacy, helping children and families build the reading skills that form the foundation for lifelong learning.

Second, we expand access to education for people of all ages, supporting those working to earn their high school diploma, pursue college, or advance their careers.

Third, we help create meaningful spaces for children and families, environments designed to encourage learning through play, reading, and exploration.

And finally, we support the library's role as a cultural destination, a place where the community gathers to learn and be inspired.

Through the foundation's support, we're able to strengthen key library programs that reach residents across every age and stage of life.

Our summer reading program keeps children and families engaged in learning year-round.

Story walks bring books into parks and neighborhoods, combining literacy, movement, and outdoor fun.

College Depot provides free, comprehensive guidance to help students and adults achieve their educational goals.

And mock one, our makerspace gives children, teens, and adults hands-on experience and STEM from coding to 3D printing, helping them build creativity and confidence for the future.

Raise the Stacks is our annual fundraiser.

It's now in its 40th year.

It's going to run from November 7th through 14th.

It begins with our online silent auction and concludes with an in-person celebration at Burton Barr Central Library.

Funds are raised through sponsorships, ticket sales, and community donations, all supporting library programs that expand access to education and literacy across Phoenix.

This year's lineup features local restaurant gift cards, staycations, it airs on our resorts, artwork from local artists, and family experiences that reinforce literacy.

We'll also have themed packages, including book and bottle bundles, books paired with adorable stuffed animals, and library-inspired gifts, all celebrating reading, creativity in our Phoenix community.

Our in-person Raise the Sachs celebration will take place Friday, November 14th from 5 30 to 8 p.m.

at Burton Barr Central Library.

It will be a wonderful evening that brings together community leaders, sponsors, and library supporters to celebrate our shared impact.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit RaisthSachs.org.

At the event, guests will enjoy creative appetizers, cocktails, live music, a live auction, and a dessert reception.

They'll also get a look at some of our incredible auction items.

At this year's event, we're proud to celebrate the 500th series of Kindergarten Boot Camp, one of Phoenix Public Library's signature early literacy programs.

Kindergarten boot camp gives families the tools and confidence to prepare their children for school success.

It's hands-on, engaging, and builds those essential early literacy skills that set children up for a lifetime of reading and discovery.

Reaching this milestone means thousands of children have started their learning journey better prepared for kindergarten and for the future.

Thank you, Chair Hodge Washington and subcommittee members.

That's our overview of the Phoenix Public Library Foundation in this year's Raise the Stacks event.

We're happy to take questions.

Thank you.

Any questions?

Great job.

I guess my only question is do I need to be present to win on the silent auction?

No, you can bid from home.

Perfect.

So our residents that are unable to attend in person can support virtual virtual.

Yes.

Perfect.

Well, thank you.

Uh I want to express my gratitude to the public Phoenix Public Library Foundation for its continued dedication to supporting our libraries and residents across the country.

Across the city.

Thank you.

Next on, we will move on to item three, an overview of the roles and responsibility of the subcommittee, which serves as the City of Phoenix's Head Start Birth to Five Government Board as outlined by the Office of Head Start.

We'll welcome Human Services Director Jaclyn Edwards and Deputy Director Pathy Kirkland to the table.

Good morning, Chair Hodge Washington and members of the subcommittee.

As a Head Start grantee, we are required to provide an annual orientation to our governing board.

The council has designated the community services and education subcommittee as the city's Head Start Governing Board due to the detailed responsibilities that will be reviewed today.

As part of the orientation, we will be sharing a program overview, the structure of the governance model, responsibilities of the governing board, program eligibility and processes, and the strategic focus areas for this fiscal year.

The Head Start program was established by the federal government in 1965.

It is an evidence-based program to promote school readiness for children from birth to five years old, primarily from households with low incomes, by supporting their cognitive, social, and emotional development.

As a comprehensive program, Head Start focuses on early education, health and nutrition, and family well-being.

The City of Phoenix has been a grantee since 1967.

Fiscal year 2026 marks the second year of a five-year grant cycle.

The Human Services Department receives just over 44 million dollars per year to provide early education and family support services to 2,209 children.

252 of those children are in the early Head Start program, and 1,957 children are in the Head Start program.

The program management, as well as the wrap around family support services, which is provided to all enrolled families, are delivered directly by the 136th City Human Services Department staff.

The early education is provided through seven educational service providers, and they represent a total of 477 instructional and support staff.

The map on the right shows the service area for the City Human Services Department's Head Start Birth to Five program, which includes 13 school districts.

The city partners with seven education service providers, four of which are school districts, two nonprofits, and one private child care.

The remainder of the city's residents are served by Southwest Human Development to the East and Chicana por la Casa Early Head Start program in the central and southern portions.

Head start is designed to have a shared leadership and governance model so as to ensure programs meet the needs of the local community and more specifically the unique needs of enrolled children and families.

HSD's Head Start Birth to Five Leadership Team oversees the day-to-day operations.

The Head Start Birth to Five Policy Council is a required component to Head Start and consists of parents and community members who set the program direction by reviewing child and family data.

As the designated governing board, the community services and education subcommittee is responsible for the oversight of legal and fiscal matters.

As the governing board, CSE subcommittee has responsibilities to ensure legal, fiscal, and overall program alignment to the Head Start Act and Program Performance Standards.

Legal compliance pertains to such areas as federal regulations, conflicts of interest, and ADA requirements.

CSE has fiscal oversight and approval for financial management, accounting, and reporting policies, which is why you see both a fiscal and program report monthly, as well as grant applications, major expenditures like capital purchases over $10,000, as well as annual audits.

Finally, governing board responsibilities include ensuring alignment with Head Start regulations and performance standards, which specifically consists of eligibility criteria for enrollment, major program policies, and required programmatic reports.

Chair Hodge Washington and members of the subcommittee, as I mentioned previously, the governing board is required to know how families can apply, the enrollment eligibility criteria, and the process for verifying eligibility.

Deputy Human Services Director Patty Kirkland will now share this information.

Thank you, Jacqueline.

Madam Chair and members of the subcommittee.

There are multiple ways that families can apply for Head Start services.

To complete a pre-registration form, they can call our main number at City Hall or any of our education service providers.

They can go to our website and fill out an online interest form, a Google search will take them to Head Start.gov, which has a Head Start locator, and they can put in their address and zip code to identify the closest program to them.

Or they can also, if they know their school district, they can go to the school district's website.

We are on all of those.

Families can also go in person to City Hall or to one of our partnering school district offices to fill out a pre-registration form.

Our staff attend more than 20 community events throughout the year to help recruit families and spread the word of Head Start.

We also have partnerships that have been created with local health agencies and special which include SNAP, where the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children, which is WIC, the Department of Economic Security, SNAP, and also shelters that refer families to our program.

After a family completes the preregistration, they'll receive a call from one of our caseworkers who will ask a few questions to determine if the family potentially qualifies and then schedule an appointment to finalize the application.

Families can become eligible for services in one of four ways.

One way is the family's annual income is at or below 100% of the federal poverty guideline.

An example of this would be a family of four.

We'd need to make less than $32,150 annually.

The family may be experiencing homelessness.

The family or the child is receiving public assistance, such as SNAP, supplemental nutrition assistance program, or temporary assistance for needy families, or the child is in foster care.

To verify eligibility, staff reviews families' documents.

These documents include a home address.

We use a utility bill, cable bill, something that identifies that they live within the city of Phoenix.

And then we also need proof of income.

This can come in many different ways.

It can be a tax return, a W 2.

We also use a declaration where parents will state how they support their families.

Final selection into the program is based on a point system to determine those children, families who are most in need.

Points are given to families based on their current circumstances.

For example, a family receive additional points if the child has an identified disability, if the child is living in kinship care, or if the family has involvement with the department of child safety.

The Head Start program performance standards require that each grantee develop and maintain a waiting list that ranks children according to the program's selection criteria.

Children are placed on the waiting list when there is no available classroom space.

The list is prioritized based on the family's eligibility, whether automatic or income-based, and their selection score.

When a space becomes available, it must be filled within 30 calendar days with the child from the waiting list.

Being on the waiting list does not guarantee enrollment in the program, but it ensures that families with the highest needs are considered first when space does become available.

The City of Phoenix Head Start Birth to 5 program has three strategic areas of focus for fiscal year 25-26.

The first being consistent school attendance.

It is crucial for student success, especially in early education.

Attending school regularly provides children with essential knowledge, social skills, and a sense of responsibility, laying a strong foundation for future learning and development.

Our second focus area is family engagement, which is vital for young children's school success.

When families are involved, it creates a supportive environment, makes children feel valued, and boosts motivation.

Families can also support learning at home, improving cognitive and social skills.

Strong partnerships foster a sense of community and help access individual needs.

Overall, family involvement enhances educational outcomes and provides lifelong learning.

The third focus area is dedicated to creating a comprehensive center-based birth to five service model that meets the specific needs of families and their young children.

By removing barriers between program options, we seek to build an inclusive environment that fosters early childhood development and empowers parents.

This team effort will improve access to resources, support well-being, and ensure that every family gets the necessary support during these vital years.

Madam Chair, members of the subcommittee, this concludes the orientation.

We are happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you so much.

Councilman Stark.

I guess it's more a comment than a question.

First off, I think Head Start is a terrific program, and I I'm very nervous that it's that threat of losing funding.

But we run a program, but other school districts may also connect with nonprofits.

Is that correct?

Councilwoman Stark.

Yes, we operate our own program.

There are other early childhood education programs that are available in the state.

There are nonprofits that school districts may uh partner with for our Head Start program.

Uh we do partner with uh school districts, nonprofits, and a uh private child care chain as well.

Correct.

And so there are other parts of the city that are in need of the Head Start program, but luckily, for example, Paradise Valley Unified School District partners with the nonprofit and the Palomino area really benefits from it.

So how do we connect with those groups?

Do we have some kind of connection or do they just run their own programs?

Just curious.

Thank you for the question, Councilwoman Stark.

Uh yes, we uh in Head Start, uh, we are required to uh help support families if they're going between um districts, um, and there is a state um association, so that we are um we are in uh constant communication with our partners that are whether they're they're operating here um within the city or uh throughout the state.

Uh Patty, do you have more to share on that?

Thank you, Jacqueline.

Um, Councilwoman Stark, you mentioned Palomino Schools specifically.

That's in the Paradise Valley School District.

Um there is a Head Start program there.

There might actually be two classrooms there.

That is run through Southwest Human Development.

Um so that that is their part of their service area.

Great.

Yeah, I just I bring it up because I want people to understand that we have a very robust program, but Head Start is also in other parts of our city, and we try to do our best to make sure people know that there are other programs that we may not be involved in, but it's really important in my humble opinion to get children involved in Head Start.

And with that, Patty, thanks for everything you do.

I know you've been working on this for a long time, and I appreciate everything you do.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

Councilman Hernandez.

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair.

Um, just want to go back to slide seven on the governing board responsibilities.

Just have a few questions on that.

Um pretty excited to be that as a member of the CSE subcommittee, also part of the governing board.

So just want to understand a little bit the responsibilities.

I know that in slide seven talks about the legal fiscal and pro programmatic.

Sorry, it's early still.

I have no coffee.

Um, but are all of our responsibilities around these um duties going to be held just in CSE subcommittee?

Will we have to meet additionally separate from here?

Um that would be my first question.

Thank you for the question, um, Councilwoman Hernandez.

Um the structure of our program, it goes to our policy council first, which is um made up of parents and community members.

Once they approve something or disapprove something, then it would come to all of you on uh as the governing board, and then you would decide from there.

Very few things go further than this governing board.

Um the only thing that goes further would be to formal counsel that would be contracts or things like that that we would be um entering into, but for the most part, all of the um decisions stop with um this committee.

Okay, and I know on the um legal piece, we were talking about, or you mentioned, I think Jacqueline, maybe you mentioned um it's to be in line with federal, state, and local uh legislative laws.

Um so as things move through the policy group of the structure.

Um is that where I guess my let me rephrase this.

Where is our opportunity or who has the authority to change any of the policy?

Uh Councilwoman Hernandez, uh first there's the policies that are set by the Office of Head Start at the federal level, and so we we ensure that we are in alignment of those.

Um the policies where it's um we have um kind of flexibility or it's based on the on the local um choices, then it most of those are uh really created, suggested um by um our staff in human services department that are managing the day-to-day operations, those as Patty shared, um, do go to our policy council for review policies, processes.

If we were going to um change um the the points structure per se, that goes to policy um council, and then those things um overall, um depending if it falls into the governing board responsibilities, does come to CSE.

And then those things overall, depending if it falls into the governing board responsibilities, does come to CSE.

And we do provide the reports on a monthly basis to share both the fiscal and programmatic activities that we are doing.

Okay, thank you.

That's exactly the clarification I was looking for.

So just to reiterate, an idea will happen or a change will need to be worked on.

It'll go through this, it could start with the staff, funneled over through the policy.

Um is it the policy group?

And then it would come to CSC for us to review it and so forth and take any maybe action.

Is that correct?

Yes, it is.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Um, so my last question.

So would there be ever a need to meet outside or to meet for these responsibilities outside of this subcommittee?

Councilwoman Hernandez outside of individualized briefings, no.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for that.

Um, I just have a couple of just clarifying questions based on the presentation.

Thank you, Patty, for ensuring that we knew our obligations.

And to ensure that I know the best way to explain to someone how to apply for the head start program.

I do have two uh two questions.

One um one of the verifications that is required by the defront the participation requires verification of address.

Can you speak a little bit for those that may be experiencing home uh housing instability or homelessness, what that looks like.

Thank you for that question, Chairman Um or Chairwoman Hodge Washington.

Um we do a variety of things.

We do understand that there are families that have housing um instability.

In a case like that, whoever they are staying with, we would ask that that person bring in their proof of address, excuse me, which would utility bill or something that would demonstrate that they live at that address, and then a um notarized statement saying that this family does indeed live with them.

Okay, thank you so much for that.

And then my second question, um, just out of informational purposes.

Do we can you share the current status of the waiting list?

Um Chairman Hodge Washington, I do actually have that for you.

Um right now, the our program has decided that we like to keep a 20% waiting list, so that means each classroom would have two to three children on the wait list.

Overall, in our program right now, we have four 504 children on the wait list, which is 22 percent.

Um, early Head Start has 121, which is 48% of their enrollment, and head start has 383, which is 20% of their enrollment.

Thank you so much for that.

And then my last question, um, the last time the subcommittee met were day one of the federal shutdown.

Unfortunately, we are now day 22 of the federal shutdown.

And I'm just would like to um I would like you to share if there's any update that we may want to share with those that are participating in our head start program, any other effects that we may be feeling as a result of the federal shutdown.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Hodge Washington for the question.

Um, currently our operations continue as is.

Classrooms are operational.

Uh, we have not received um any communication from the federal office of Head Start to modify this.

Uh we uh have uh received our uh reimbursements uh prior to our September request.

That is uh a few days um late than uh right now from our receipt um which I would say would be typical for for what is happening um currently, but no programmatic changes um are happening.

If that does um change, though, we will uh certainly update the the subcommittee members.

Thank you so much for thank you so much for that.

Um I want to reiterate my I as mentioned by my colleagues.

I believe that the Head Start is a critical foundation for the future of our children and helping them to develop early learning skills, confidence, and a strong start to lifelong learning.

So thank you for ensuring that we understand our roles and our responsibilities to ensure that a program is well governed, financially responsible and compliant with the standards.

So thank you so much, and I look forward to working with you and the rest of the board to ensure we set the right foundation.

The next item I will call we will call forward is item number four, uh which is an over.

Sorry, item number four is an overview of the results of the second annual evaluation of the City of Phoenix and the Lots alone program.

We will welcome Phoenix Public Health Advisor, Yanita Um Soto, Office of the Public Health Special Administrative Projects Administrator, Kelly Kulzenek and Management Assistant to Melanie Dudent Duradent to the table.

I'll get it right, I apologize.

Good morning, Chair and members of the subcommittee.

We're excited to present to you today on the second annual City of Phoenix naloxone program evaluation.

To begin, I'll defer to my Office of Public Health colleague, Melanie Durden to get us started.

This evaluation brings together all of the data and analysis we have conducted on the program over the past year, what we found, and what we will be doing with the program in its third year.

The naloxone program was launched in August of 2023 by the Office of Public Health with the support of AR 199.

The program is fully funded through opioid settlement dollars and represents one of the approved spending strategies outlined in the One Arizona Agreement.

The overarching goal of the naloxone program is to reduce the number of fatal opioid overdoses in Phoenix by providing free low barrier naloxone overdose reversal kits for community members and city staff, along with related health education materials and training.

The reason why this program is so important is because the opioid overdose crisis continues to negatively affect our community.

You can see here in this graph that the number of opioid overdoses that Phoenix Fire Emergency Medical Services or EMS responded to is at an all-time high.

As of September, we have already surpassed the highest annual total on record, with three months still remaining in the year.

Phoenix accounts for more than 50% of fatal opioid overdoses in Maricopa County, despite accounting for only 36% of the population.

This means that the number of opioid overdose fatalities is not due to our population size alone.

It is disproportionate and represents a health disparity.

Naloxone saves lives by reversing opioid overdoses.

This is why making this vital medication accessible to the people who need it most is so important for Phoenix.

Kelly Costa Zak will now walk us through this year's evaluation.

Thank you, Melanie.

And just to keep us all in the timeline here, so this evaluation results are going to go over year two, which ran from August 2024 to July of 2025, our second program year, unless otherwise stated.

In our second year, we distributed 14,660 naloxone overdose reversal kits.

This represents a 38% increase from the first year of the program.

Fifte city departments, offices, and programs participate, either as distribution points for community members to acquire kits, as resources for staff to get kits, or both.

Through these partnerships, 50 different distribution sites have been established across Phoenix.

And since the naloxone program began, nearly 30,000 naloxone kits have been distributed across our city.

This slide shows the percentage of naloxone overdose reversal kits distributed by each department or office.

Libraries continues to be our biggest champion with over half of kids distributed in year two through our branches or the Bookmobile.

And the Human Services Department is also an amazing partner with 16% of kids in year two distributed through senior services, victim services, Head Start, Workforce Development, and Family Service Centers.

Office of Public Health distributed about 16% of kids, mostly through community events, outreach, and the 24-hour respite center this summer.

Now we want to share changes over time observed in one of our key indicators for the naloxone program, naloxone administration prior to the arrival of Phoenix Fire EMS.

This data is collected by EMS when they arrive at the scene of a suspected opioid overdose.

An increases in this indicator suggests that community members have naloxone on hand and are ready and willing to respond to an opioid overdose.

Here you can see the increase in the percentage of cases where naloxone was administered prior to EMS arrival over time.

This graph shows the year prior to the program launch, our first year of the program, and the second year of the program.

You can see here that prior to program launch, naloxone was administered prior to EMS arrival in about 7% of suspected opioid overdoses.

This rose to 9% during the program's first year and 13% in the second year of the program.

This means that on average, naloxone is administered prior to EMS arrival in over one out of every 10 suspected opioid overdose calls in Phoenix.

This is a very promising trend.

It's important to note that we do not know whether the naloxone used in these cases was acquired through the City of Phoenix naloxone program.

However, research does show that increasing naloxone availability and accessibility increases naloxone used by community members and reduces fatalities.

Which brings us to our fatality data.

Fatal opioid overdoses have been steadily increasing in Phoenix since 2021 before dropping in 2024 to 711 fatal opioid overdoses, the lowest number seen in the past three years.

Like with the data on the previous slide for naloxone administration prior to EMS arrival, it's not possible to link fatality data to this program alone.

The City of Phoenix naloxone program is just one of the amazing public health initiatives tacking tackling substance use in our community.

However, as we continue to make naloxone available to the public and gather more data over time, we'll be able to assess the relationship between naloxone availability, naloxone administration prior to EMS arrival, and fatalities in more depth.

Positive change in fatality data and the naloxone administration data suggests that the program is improving health outcomes in tandem with efforts throughout the city.

And I'll pass it to our health public health advisor, Yanita Soto.

Thank you, Kelly.

Highlighting here our partnership with the Volunteer Phoenix Office, which makes the naloxone program possible.

In the second year of the program, volunteer participation increased from 107 volunteers to 177 volunteers, representing a 65% increase.

Altogether, these 177 hardworking volunteers served 354 hours and packed 17,597 naloxone overdose reversal kits.

Next, I'll briefly provide an update and an overview of the cost of the naloxone program in its second year.

The estimated total cost was just over $700,000.

About $660,000 of this cost is covered through in-kind donations, most notably for naloxone, which is currently acquired through an intergovernmental partnership with the Arizona Department of Health Services and volunteer labor through our friends at Volunteer Phoenix and the amazing community members who dedicate their time to packing kits.

Therefore, actual expenditures in year two were about 47,000, meaning that each kit costs less than $2 to make and distribute.

A remarkably low cost of investment in relation to their value of about $60 cost of over-the-counter naloxone.

As we enter the third year of the program, our focus will be on addressing the gaps and inequities that are identified in this year's evaluation.

For example, this graph illustrates our naloxone distribution visible here as the bars in relation to the number of overdoses visible here as a trend line for each council district.

This data is collected as reported by Phoenix Fire EMS.

Any districts with the bars over the trend line shows that we have a higher ratio of kits relative to overdoses.

This is what we'd like to see.

Where the bars are under the trend line, unfortunately have more overdoses relative to the kits distributed.

We plan to make a concerted effort to reduce this disparity by further improving output citywide.

When the program was first established, the emphasis was on feasibility.

We needed to utilize locations that were city operated within participating departments and offices to build a strong foundation and ensure consistent oversight.

In year three, we plan to establish new distribution points and strengthen existing ones in areas with a high overdose burden but limited to no-kit access.

We will also explore the possibility of hosting non-city-run distribution hubs to expand reach and accessibility even further.

To guide these efforts, we will conduct a geographic needs assessment that analyzes overdose and distribution trends, helping us make data-driven decisions about where additional resources are needed most outside of these boundaries, with the intention of making naloxone accessible for all Phoenix residents.

On the funding side, we will be pursuing external funding opportunities to sustain and grow the program, while also developing a contingency plan and budget to strategically address any future supply issues.

And we will maintain an ongoing naloxone inventory to ensure the kids remain consistently available for distribution and access across all sites and events.

Another key focus for year three will be expanding our training, strengthening volunteer engagement, and increased public awareness.

On the training side, we will plan to offer department-specific training sessions that can be delivered on demand both virtually and in person, so city staff can access them in whatever format works best for their teams.

We are also soon launching a new PhoenixU course titled Substance Use Disorder: An Introduction to the Science of Addiction.

This training will help deepen the understanding of addiction of a public as a public health issue and reinforce the importance of empathy and evidence-based approaches for city employees.

When it comes to our volunteers, we'll continue to foster a strong partnership with Volunteer Phoenix whose support has been integral in the success of the program.

We will also be seeking additional volunteer groups both within the city and in the community to help expand our capacity for kit making and outreach events.

Finally, we'll be launching a communication campaign to increase public awareness of the naloxone program.

This will ensure residents know where to find naloxone, how to use it, and why it is such an important life saving tool.

Naloxone saves lives, but it is just one piece of the puzzle.

In the coming year, the Office of Public Health will explore initiatives supported by the opioid settlement funds that builds on the work of the naloxone program to facilitate a comprehensive and holistic response in the areas of health promotion, prevention, treatment, and recovery.

Specific initiatives we are exploring include supporting provider training to increase access and uptake of treatment and recovery resources, supporting peer navigation programs that work directly with people who use substances to interrupt the cycle of addiction, continuing to invest in the Phoenix Coalition Collaborative, overseen by the Office of Public Health, which brings together eight substance use focused coalitions citywide, opening opportunities for the opioid settlement funds to be available to community agencies through calls for proposals, and funding interventions implemented through interdepartmental partnerships, allowing for greater reach and utilization of multidisciplinary approaches with shared goals in mind.

Together, these complementary initiatives strengthen the broader safety net for Phoenix residents, ensuring that every effort from prevention to response works hand in hand.

As we conclude, we want to thank the chair, subcommittee members, all council members, and city leadership for their continued support of this life saving program.

The success of the Naloxone program will not be possible without your leadership, the dedication of our participating city departments, and the compassion of our volunteers and community partners.

Together, we are making naloxone more accessible and in turn building a healthier Phoenix for everyone.

We're open now to the floor for feedback and questions.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for the presentation.

Any questions, my colleague?

Councilman Hernandez.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yeah, I just have a few questions.

First question Have we seen an increase in need for kits or more kids to be distributed at our city libraries?

Because that's pretty high right now.

So from then to now, like have we seen an increase in a need for that?

Chair and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the question.

We do continue to see an uptake of accessibility or a need for our kits' displays to be filled.

So that is a great indicator for us, telling that, you know, letting us know that ensuring we need to prioritize that libraries are consistently filled with the inventory that they need.

Luckily, with our in-kind donations from the Arizona Department of Health Services, our inventory is at a good space, meaning that we don't have a problem with keeping it filled at the moment.

Should those funds go away and we need to then purchase our naloxone directly, that might you know take some more time to get.

But yes, we've seen our libraries continue to be a great resource hub for accessing naloxone across the community.

Okay, thank you so much.

Um on slide 14, right?

In the strategies for distribution, um, one of the points is establishing new locations strategically.

Um, I know right now, I think we've had conversations around there is a great need for these kits in the home, right?

In people's homes, because we know people you probably use at home.

Um what is there a path to look at community centers as a space to also become a distribution place where um residents in the community can go pick up some kits and take them home?

Absolutely.

There is definitely a need and an opportunity to expand our resource locations and where kits can be made available.

Um, to your example of having these available in our uh resource centers or community centers, that would be a great place.

Currently, they are located at our co-located spaces, resource centers where senior centers are available, but we are continuing to have uh great progress and conversations in having these available at our recreation centers as well.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

Um, you know, in the same step of um just finding new paths to um distribution plans, um, has there been any thought or conversation around investing into overdose overdose prevention centers as also a path to combat this crisis?

Um, chair and members of the subcommittee, by overdose prevention centers, do you mean um safe use sites or so uh we know that there are many examples across the country and the world that uh do provide these safe spaces for people to safely use our substances while supervised by medical personnel.

Currently in the city, we have not identified any of these official locations uh through our program.

Okay, thank you so much.

Um I know that a lot of the things that we need to do require funding, right?

Um, and the Arizona opioid settlement monies, those are flowed through the attorney general's office, correct?

Uh chair members of the subcommittee, correct?

Those flow through attorney general's office down to local county health departments here in Maricopa County Department of Public Health for us and then down to local towns and cities.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you so much.

Um my last year at the legislature, um, while the budget process was happening, one of my biggest frustrations was that um the legislature found what one of the things that we did, and I say we because although I did not support that budget, it was you know, I was there and I was a member, was that monies from the opioid settlement were used to move to cover gaps in the um corrections department.

And can you explain a little bit on why that what kind of impact not having full um funding opportunities for solutions like this?

And if that money is moved into our correction system, like what kind of impact that makes for um the cities at a local level that highly rely on these on these funds.

Yes, chair, members of subcommittee.

Um, although I I can't speak directly to the decisions at the state level, I mean, don't worry.

At our here at our municipal level, um, we are encouraged to continue utilizing uh interdepartmental approach where we are identifying those areas that are approved in the one Arizona agreement, um, which include other abatement strategies outside of corrections or outside of enforcement and through encouraging and using a public health lens, we are more so not necessarily focusing on that approach and intervention.

So we're definitely open to continuing to identify those abatement areas so that way they do not these funds that do come to the city do not only go to specific spaces.

Thank you so much.

Um, I think one of the one of the pieces that a lot of folks have talked about, right, when we're talking about this opioid crisis and treating it as a as a public health issue, um, is the availability and distribution also of fentanyl testing strips, right?

I think that would go a long way.

And I know there's been some uh work on trying to make those more readily readily available.

Um, is there opportunities for like or what opportunities exist for us as a city to um maybe explore that option?

Um I think that right now, I know before I got to the legislature shortly before that, um, Setter and Marsh at the time championed a bill that legalized that allowed that to happen.

Um, I guess it all comes down to funding, right?

We know a lot of solutions require financial support.

So, what are what paths or what opportunities exist for us to do some work at the city level to really expand the availability of those?

Chair, members of the subcommittee, um, in close collaboration with our state partners at the Arizona Department of Health Services, um, they do have the opportunity to provide fentanyl test strips to local communities.

However, here recently, when we did extend that question, they mentioned they are prioritizing other localities, so including more rural areas across the state and other areas that might have you know an increased impact of substance use at this time, due to, of course, um federal funding changing so much.

So we will continue to uh pursue those partnerships with our partners at the state and county level as well.

Um, I will add another opportunity can be to continue successfully partnering with our local harm reduction agencies, who are those grassroots community agencies who are working directly with people who use drugs to encourage that their safety and that they remain healthy.

Okay, thank you so much for mentioning that.

I think that's a huge piece of of just how we need to build a holistic strategy for this.

Um at the end of it, right?

Like our harm reduction partners are trying to just keep people alive.

We are trying to make sure that we don't lose anyone unnecessary through to this uh crisis.

So it's very encouraging to hear that that is one of the strategies that you are that the office is incorporating into how we approach this crisis.

Um the um next question kind of wanna pivot a little bit.

Have we done any studies or is there any data collection amongst those that are using on what the like how they see the re the distribution of these kits?

Uh chair, members of the subcommittee.

The most recent assessment was conducted by our county health department partners directly with people who use drugs, and I believe that was in about 2022.

Um we at the city have not done that directly, but could certainly consider that.

Okay, thank you.

Um for that.

I mean, I think it might be worthwhile to explore that just to see if this is helpful for those that have the lived experience with with this crisis.

Um kind of want to my next question is in I don't know if y'all would be able to answer, but I think should be okay.

Um, when someone calls 911 for an overdose, when that call comes to our dispatch, do we know who is dispatched to those to respond to that?

Uh chair, members of the subcommittee currently it is our fire EMS.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you.

Uh glad to hear that answer.

Um I think that is all that I wrote down for now.

Um, I just want to just re you know, thank you so much for answering those questions.

Um, I just want to continue to reiterate that this is a health crisis.

Um, and I truly believe that the answer is always going to be to uh work hand in hand with harm reduction, with education on safe use, um, to make sure that we're investing into those type of solutions.

The answers to a public health crisis like this should never be criminalization or policing.

So I'm really encouraged that you are have the the view the vision to really tackle this from that approach.

And it's evident in just the path that you're trying to work forward.

Um, overdose fate, the overdose fatalities we are seeing are have impacts so many of our residents, and I think that we should be bold and we should continue to push for this type of solutions that actually are going to prevent those, the loss of life, um, and that comes with education and harm reduction partnering together as a city.

So I'm and that's gonna build right sustainable and effective practices for us and for our residents.

So I'm gonna continue to always advocate and push for that, and just I'm happy to have to collaborate with your office in any way possible so we can get to those uh solutions that are gonna address the root cause of this crisis.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, we do have one request to speak.

I will go ahead and let that individual go forward and then I will come back to my questions.

So I believe virtually we have Michelle Shibota.

Hi, good morning, Chair Hodge Washington and members of the subcommittee.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to join the conversation today.

Can you hear me okay?

Yes, we can.

Wonderful.

That's great.

I'm Dr.

Michelle Shiota.

Um, I know I'm known to the Office of Public Health as Lonnie.

Um I'm a professor of psychology at ASU and also director of ASU's Substance Use and Addiction Translational Research Network, also known as Saturn, which is a collective of researchers and academics at ASU who study issues related to substance use disorder and addiction, as well as a large number of community-based organizations who are engaged on the ground in substance use disorder and addiction, prevention, treatment, and harm reduction, all issues we've been speaking of today.

Um, for the last couple of years, I've been honored and delighted to partner with the Office in Public Health in some of the initiatives around addiction prevention and treatment, and in this case the naloxone program and evaluation.

So the first thing that I'd love to do is just congratulate the Office of Public Health on the breadth and success of this program, which is an enormous investment.

I know how much of their time and energy it's consumed, and it's of tremendous value to the community because every life saved through naloxone is another opportunity for recovery, and we just need to keep investing in those opportunities.

The second thing that I'd love to do with time here is amplify the point that public health advisor Soto made about the enormous importance of investing in the complementary initiatives that she discussed, right?

Because naloxone saves lives, right?

It can it can reverse an overdose, but we also need to be investing in preventing those overdoses in the first place.

And that is going to require a more comprehensive strategic plan for substance use disorder and addiction prevention that begins with youth, right?

Um, and additional harm reduction efforts as well as ways of supporting treatment and access to treatment within the city.

And there are a number of ways to go about doing that, and I just want to really encourage continuing that conversation and those kinds of investments moving forward so that we're sort of picking up on these issues from a prevention focused lens as well as saving lives right after an overdose has already occurred.

The third thing that I'd love to briefly do before finishing is address uh councilwoman Hernandez's question about the implications of the funding that was dedicated to the governor's office and the attorney general's office to the correction system.

So what we're really talking about are nearly half of the opioid settlement funds coming into the state were originally designated to be used and distributed directly by the attorney general's office in addition to the funds that through the One Arizona Agreement are going to be distributed to the counties and the and the cities and municipalities.

It's that chunk of funding that has been now diverted to the correction system.

And the implication of that is not that the counties and the cities are directly getting less because that those amounts are actually specified by the One Arizona Agreement.

But what it does mean, and this is really important, is it just took opportunities for cities and counties to partner with the state in making these substantial investments that are needed off the table.

And I can tell you right now that conversations about those partnerships were happening.

We're already beginning, and that prospect was very much in place before that chunk of money got moved.

And you can see the implications of that.

For example, the naloxone program that we've been talking about today is succeeding in subs, you know, is substantially in part due to the partnership with the county, right?

That's able to provide at low cost the naloxone itself and supplement that part of the work.

So those are the kind of partnerships that Dr.

Shioda, I have been very gracious.

So I apologize.

Thank you for the information.

Um we can circle back and get further comments from you, but we have exceeded your time limit.

Um, but we do appreciate you speaking in support and the advocacy that you have provided, um, the support you provide to our Office of Public Health and this program.

So I appreciate that so much.

Thank you for that.

Um Councilman Hernandez does have a question for you.

Okay, thank you so much, Doctor.

Um, you mentioned like some ideas, right?

Can you just share one brief very briefly uh one other uh measure that would help along with you know naloxone distribution, like one other idea that we can do that would prevent the overdoses from the beginning.

Absolutely.

So one commonly discussed uh option that actually um I had had conversations with with the former public health advisor as well as the current team, is having something along the lines of Vance that would go around the city and engage directly with people who use drugs, right?

And one use of those those mobile units would be to distribute naloxone in places where that are current in districts that are currently underserved, um, as was mentioned by the public health team, but they can also be engaging in a technique called motivational interviewing, right?

That simply engages people in conversations about the opportunity to make changes in their lives, reasons for doing so, helps provide connections to resources that that make that basically that that incur increase hope, right?

Increase hope and interest in engaging with the recovery journey.

Thank you so much for that.

Um, I will turn back to our uh those at the day is thank you for that.

I do have a couple of questions, and they actually tie into some of the questions that were just raised.

I'm gonna start off with understanding do we keep any information that identifies the demographics of the individuals for whom we have found that naloxalone was administered prior to the EMT's um arrival.

I see some head nods.

Can you share that?

We do have demographic information of when EMS arrives on site, it is published in our public dashboard as well as our internal dashboard that we use for strategic planning.

Did you have a specific?

Yes, I wanted to see if we could share like have we been seeing an increase or a decrease in the number of youths that have been exposed that have had an oxalone administered or I'm trying to figure out is there any benchmarks we can show in addition to the simple decrease in, I'm sorry, the increase in a noxalone administration prior to EMT's arrival.

Uh, chair members of the subcommittee, we do have demographics for those um who have experience suspected overdose, meaning they have had naloxone administered.

Um, not for in the presentation today, but we're glad to share them with your office and with the subcommittee at a later time.

Yeah, I would like to see that because I'm interested to see if we, for example, need to be targeting more.

Uh, for example, if we know the the population that uses um the substance tend to be between the ages of 20 to 25 and making up the statistics, are we seeing those kits being administered and used with that demographic, or do we need to do more intentional targeting to ensure that the kids are actually reaching those that are likely to use and also suffer the consequences of an overdose.

So that would be my first request is to see further information on that.

And then my second um inquiry is we talked about some of um as part of slide number.

Let's get them on slide number 16.

Sorry, 17.

We talked about some of the complementary initiatives, and I just think it might be helpful to speak a little further about what each of these initiatives um are looking like for our community, because I believe that this is a key part of it, but it is not the entirety of our plan.

I think it might be helpful to reiterate some of that for our audience.

Sure, chair members of the subcommittee.

So beginning on top with the provider education.

An example there is partnering with our Arizona State University partners at the College of Nursing.

They have a doctoral of nursing program that provides training to all medical providers across the city to be able to prescribe medications for opioid use disorder.

The reason why that is important is because there is a there aren't enough providers in our community to provide these prescriptions to people who might need them.

And recently there were federal changes, making it available for any and all providers who are interested to practice to add that to their repertoire.

Next, peer navigation programs.

We have an example right now in partnership with Phoenix Police Department.

There's a grant as received from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission to encourage peer navigation programs.

So back to the question on what happens when an overdose, a suspected overdose is occurring.

Right now, 911 is called Phoenix Fire EMS go out to the call.

That this program would expand that to ensure that a peer navigator meeting someone with lived experience would also dispatch to the call to ensure that there is direct connection to care immediately, should the individual choose to either not be transported or interested in starting their journey, their journey to recovery in that moment.

Can I ask a quick question about that program?

So if uh I really think that's a point we need to emphasize that we do have someone that follows up and contacts a suspected overdose individual.

Do we is that follow-up one time or is it multiple follow-ups or kind of is it can you give a little more backup?

Yes, chair members of the subcommittee.

Um, an example that we have continued to learn from is City of Tempe.

They have this program that is dispatched out with their Phoenix Fire.

I'm sorry, with their fire department on these calls.

The reason why it's possible there is obviously the volume of suspected overdose calls makes it available across their fire department here in the city of Phoenix.

Unfortunately, we dispatch out to over 4,500 suspected overdoses on an annual basis.

So we would first need to maybe pilot this at some local stations to begin.

Um the peer navigation program that's currently in place is piloting so far with Phoenix PD, and we've extended this information to other security roles, such as at the Phoenix Public Library and Park Rangers here more recently.

Thank you so much for that.

And I'll let you go ahead and proceed with the other items.

Sure.

Next, uh the youth coalition network.

So these are local uh substance use prevention coalitions across the city.

Right now, Phoenix has eight very robust uh coalitions that are really creating these community uh-based interventions very specific to their community.

They work with their community, they work with schools, um, different partnerships, and um through these coalitions, we're hoping to continue partnerships and first learning about either their community assessments that they've all completed, and we that can be a helpful resource for us, but both utilizing them as an extension of our public health approach into the community citywide.

Um next, the coffer proposals.

This is an area that we can continue to build out as it relates to the a list of approved abatement strategies.

So those are the approved items that are a part of the original one Arizona agreement of the opioid settlement fund.

So that outlines very specific areas where we can spend these dollars, and through these making through making these calls for proposals available to community, it would make, for example, the youth coalitions or any other um interested entity within the city that is participating in you know treatment and recovery, education, harm reduction, for example, um, to then apply to receive direct city of Phoenix um allocated opioid settlement funds.

And then finally, our internal collaboration.

This has been one of the areas that we have continued to build very strong internal departmental relationships with.

Um, some uh who have already been listed today, Phoenix Fire, Phoenix PD, most notably as well, our Office of Homeless Solutions here recently making kits available to people experiencing homelessness in our city operated shelters, um, our neighborhood services department, our uh human services department, the list can go on and on, but this is an area that we because it's been going well, we will continue to improve those efforts and expand those partnerships internally.

Thank you for that.

And then my last question is respond in return in um it goes to slide number 13 where it talks about the council districts and uh distribu uh the number of kids distributed.

Um ideally the council, I'll let you say it, you said it correctly that you want the council um request line to be above.

Yes, the bars to be above the trend line.

Okay.

So we see there's a noticeable um I want to say lack in districts two and four.

And I and I presume that the number of overdoses are not also reduced in two and four, but this is an area of improvement.

Chair, members of the subcommittee, absolutely.

In year three, we will focus on increasing these distribution locations.

The reason why it is so low so far is because in these two districts, they have less of the distribution hubs like those already existing city facilities like senior centers, libraries, for example.

So we'll continue to work on expanding those distribution locations in those two districts and citywide, of course.

And that tied into your earlier comment about the internal collaboration and having the districts that have greater distribution tend to have a library accessible to them that has that.

So Councilman Stark is bragging about her three libraries.

It does help.

But I want to acknowledge the work the city staff and our community partners are doing to continue education to expand access and aloxidone to save in lives across Phoenix.

I think our speaker said it best every life save is an opportunity to continue to move towards sobriety.

We are seeing meaningful reductions in the overdose.

It continues to be an epidemic in our community.

But I think a stronger awareness of this life saving medication is part and parcel of our staff moving forward.

So I wanted to say thank you for all the work that you've done and thank you for your presentation today.

Next, we will move on to item number five, our strategies to address homelessness plan refresh, which is citywide.

We will welcome Office of Homeless Solutions Director Rachel Milney, Deputy Director Scott Hall, and Special Project Administrator Margaret Adams to the table.

Thank you.

We are pleased to be here this morning to present the progress we have made to refresh the city's strategies to address homelessness plan.

We are happy to have been working on this plan with Bloomberg Associates since November of last year.

Their expertise in this area has been phenomenal, and we are pleased to have them to help facilitate this process process.

And we are now in the draft phase looking for additional city council input before finalization.

In our presentation today, we will provide a brief background on the city's original strategies to address homelessness plan and the process we used over the last year to draft the refreshed plan.

We will provide the vision, goals, and draft initiatives in the plan and discuss the next steps as we work towards finalizing and implementing the plan.

The city adopted the first strategies to address homelessness plan in 2020, which provided a roadmap for various city departments to address this growing concern.

The city also created a task force which prioritized the initiatives and made recommendations for the plan, which was finalized in January 2022.

Later that year, the Office of Homeless Solutions was created as part of the city manager's office to coordinate efforts and resources to address homelessness within the city.

This was a pivotal change that elevated Phoenix's role from funder to direct service provider and regional leader.

Since launching the original plan, the city has made significant strides in expanding shelter and housing capacity, created and formalized our outreach approach, and improved service coordination and contracting, transforming the way the city addresses homelessness.

The city continues to build on this progress while striving to continuously improve on and expand our services to prevention and permanent housing solutions.

The original strategies to address homelessness plan involved multiple departments across the city, as many have a role to play when addressing homelessness.

Some of the accomplishments from the time the original plan was adopted include the creation of over 1,200 new shelter beds at 10 different projects geographically dispersed throughout the city, the creation of our safe outdoor space, an alternative to indoor shelter with intense wraparound services.

The humane decommissioning of the state's largest encampment, the area around the key campus, offering all individuals there an alternative placement.

The creation of our community court, helping individuals and end their homelessness while addressing their misdemeanor offenses.

Improved transparency with our data dashboard.

Our housing department increased affordable housing options, creating unique initiatives such as the community land trust program and the disposition of city-owned property for affordable development.

And our neighborhood services department established and expanded the gated alley program and the created the private property cleanup program.

These accomplishments and many more lay the foundation for our plan refresh and are critical to our work.

This slide depicts the Phoenix point in time counts for the last four years and the number of people in sheltered and unsheltered situations.

While we have added an immense number of resources and have made substantial improvements to the homeless service response system, we continue to see a large number of people experiencing homelessness in our community each year.

The refresh strategies to address homelessness plan that we are presenting to you today is aimed at reducing these numbers, specifically reducing the number of people in unsheltered situations and improving shelter performance.

With support of Bloomberg Associates, 46 interviews were conducted with the mayor and council, homeless service providers, and neighborhood and community leaders to solicit feedback and understand what our community's priorities are.

We also sought feedback and input from many partner groups, including the strategies to address homelessness plan task force, Phoenix Community Alliance, the Regional Continuum of Care Lived Experience Work Group, and we held a provider forum for all of the city's current contracted partners and vendors who will play an important role in implementing the plan.

We sought broad community impact to develop these strategies.

We held two public meetings in bilingual Spanish interpretation, one virtual and one in person, both of which were well attended.

We received feedback that has been incorporated into the plan draft.

Bloomberg Associates also initiated a public survey which elicited over 600 responses, highlighting the public interest in this topic.

Many of the comments received in our public feedback sessions and survey included priorities, demonstrating the need for more affordable housing, homelessness prevention programs, and resources for behavioral health services.

We've highlighted some of the specific feedback Bloomberg received in their one-on-one interviews.

This comment highlights the noticeable positive change in services in the last few years.

I've worked for 37 years in homelessness, and I see a noticeable change.

The need has really jumped, so it may not always feel like it.

Since the inception of OHS, we have been working to demonstrate our sustained commitment to expanding services and enhancing coordination to achieve this change.

This comment notes that although they feel the city has some has come leaps and bounds on visible homelessness, we have not spent enough time on prevention.

As you will see in our plan, we have incorporated this feedback from the community and propose a range of prevention activities.

As the survey results identified, prevention and housing resources are a top need, as are behavioral health services.

This comment is an acknowledgement that the sustained and new resources will be needed to holistically approach these issues.

This interviewee noted that they see the same individuals on a regular basis.

We have also identified through our system model that we have a large group of people who are considered long-term homeless, people who have been cycling through our homeless response system for more than a year, and our plan outlines strategies that directly address this feedback with specific interventions for people who have complex needs and experience long-term homelessness.

This comment highlights that we continue to receive feedback that supports the direction the city has taken since the inception of OHS and the ownership, our programming, the ownership of our programming while balancing our regional approach to this issue.

The vision for our plan was drafted in partnership with the community and will guide our initiatives and support our goals as we have proposed.

The vision is that no one in Phoenix should experience homelessness and no community should feel the negative effects of homelessness.

The City of Phoenix will strive to prevent homelessness when we can, make it brief when it happens, and keep people in stable housing with the supports they need.

The goals we developed are practical yet aspirational.

As in our inaugural plan, where the goals did not have a budget line item attached yet, so much was accomplished.

We will seek additional partnerships and resources to achieve the goals and activities outlined in this plan refresh.

Our goals are to decrease the number of people who become homeless, decrease the number of people in an unsheltered situation or in shelter, to reduce the length of time and shelter or an unsheltered situation, to increase housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, and to increase awareness and effectiveness of available services.

Those goals lead directly to the five critical focus areas of our for our plan refresh outlined here.

Prevention, preventing people from becoming homeless and keeping people stable in their current housing.

Safety, safety for our community, including people experiencing homelessness, our neighbors, and our residents.

Coordination, improved coordination with other critical systems of care such as behavioral health and employment, housing, dedicated housing for individuals and families ending their homelessness, and lastly, accountability, improved accountability for city services and for our providers.

Deputy Director Scott Hall and Special Projects Administrator Margaret Adams from the Office of Homeless Solutions will now go into specific initiatives identified in each one of these focus areas.

Thank you, Rachel.

So, as Rachel mentioned, our goal is to reduce the number of people who enter into homelessness by targeting our resources and expanding services for folks who are most at risk of becoming homeless.

So we aim to achieve these goals by using data to identify those most at risk, seeking to use available data to prioritize at-risk households and help them sustain their existing housing.

Securing additional prevention funding that is flexible and allows for services beyond rent and utility assistance when needed, expanding diversion and rapid exit strategies to help people who may be able to reunite with family and friends where appropriate.

And finally, discharge planning and connecting services to people who are being released from jail and prison, expanding on the successes that we've seen in our community court program.

These strategies will allow us to continue what is working and scale our services with targeted interventions based on the diverse needs of the people we serve.

And next, we have safety for neighborhoods and for people experiencing homelessness.

The city is committed to implementing a comprehensive approach to homelessness and maintaining safety for all residents is critical to our response.

The strategies in its focus area continues our mission of leading with services while balancing the needs of the community with the needs of those who experience homelessness.

We aim to achieve this balance through the following activities.

Outreach, include a stream streamlined process to offer services while enforcing ordinances that ensure public facilities remain safe and open for all members of the community.

Develop a real-time referral dashboard for outreach workers to connect people with services and shelter.

Improving the quality and performance of our shelters by creating more opportunities for people to exit to housing, maintaining low barriers to entry, and have the capacity to serve high need populations.

Ensure that we continue to maintain and expand access to life-saving heat relief solutions, including our 24-hour respite.

Then we have better coordination with other systems such as behavioral health services and employment.

Connecting residents to all these services we offer is another critical part of our strategy.

We seek to expand access to services for other systems of care and better connect people with shelter, health care, and employment services.

This will be achieved by strengthening access to substance use and mental health treatment within the homeless response system, ensuring that we have the right blend of services for individuals who have high needs and have been experiencing long-term homelessness, and creating shelter and housing interventions that can address complex conditions and reduce cycling through the emergency and homeless response systems.

Implement strategies and programming to provide additional support for providers and maintain high quality services across our city funded projects.

And expand access to supportive and paid employment opportunities and shelter and housing programs.

Employment opportunities are critical to connect people to housing that is sustainable.

So we know that housing ends homelessness.

This focus area is critical to supporting the success of the plan refresh.

And the strategies we plan to implement here are system and cost modeling to help us identify the needs of the people using our services to ensure that we have the right blend of shelter and housing investments.

To stabilize funding for comprehensive support services that allows us to continue successful programming and ensure that people do not return to homelessness.

Using system model outcomes to determine how much supportive housing investment is needed for those high needs and complex households who may require both a rental subsidy and supportive services in order to attain and sustain their housing.

Improving outcomes and placements from shelter.

Now, this activity supports not only the positive exits to housing from shelter, but but streamlining those placements also allows us to serve more unsheltered people in the community by increasing our shelter capacity at the same time.

So utilizing our beds more impact more effectively impacts other focus areas such as neighborhood safety.

And finally, expanding housing models and interventions like master leasing and shared housing to make it a seamless process for folks experiencing homelessness to attain housing out in the community.

And last we have oh excuse me.

And last we have improved accountability and transparent transparency for city services and providers.

OHS recognizes the need for greater transparency and efficiency for both city staff and our providers.

This focus area seeks to implement activities that will support achieving our strategic goals, improve outreach and communication, and improve our overall coordination efforts.

These initiatives include expanding our cares protocols and maintain our coordinated responses to reports from the community.

Continue to improve coordination across all city departments, specifically to ensure that our responses to encampments, street cleanups, and parks are aligned and effective.

Strengthening our workforce through training opportunities to improve the services we deliver.

Continue to coordinate with and expand connection to neighborhood groups, businesses, and faith organizations for programming, presentations, and to ensure that all residents are aware of the city's efforts and resources that are available.

Develop system-wide data collection and key indicators of performance to ensure our investments are achieving our goals and share those results with internal and external partners.

Evaluate and respond to the performance of city-funded service investments, both internal and external.

Create a diverse funding strategy that leverages multi-sector partnerships, and continue to enhance and promote healthy giving to create opportunities for individuals and volunteers to give their time and resources in ways that minimize an inadvertent negative consequences in the community.

Thank you, Margaret and Scott, for that in-depth overview of our draft initiatives.

The next steps of our strategic plan process are to continue to incorporate feedback as we work with Bloomberg Associates on the draft plan.

We will present you all an updated plan prior to seeking full council approval in January.

We have already begun to implement some strategies where we have resources available, and we will provide frequent progress updates to city council partners and community groups.

Your leadership and guidance throughout the implementation of the original plan, and certainly since the creation of the Office of Homeless Solutions, has allowed us to make tremendous progress in addressing homelessness in Phoenix and achieve goals that previously seemed insurmountable.

We realize the draft plan we presented to you today is ambitious, but we have we have to set ambitious goals in order to realize major change.

Thank you for your time today, and we look forward to hearing your feedback.

Thank you so much for the presentation.

I just have one clarifying question before I open it to my colleagues.

You mentioned on the next steps next step slide 21 that you will circle back with us as a subcommittee before it goes to council in January 2026.

Did I hear correctly?

Um Chairwoman, members of the subcommittee, I'm so sorry.

I'm I meant we will provide you with another draft plan before we go to policy in January.

My apologies.

Thank you for the clarification.

I will see if anyone has any questions.

Councilman Hernandez.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Um, and thank you, Rachel, and entire OHS team.

Um, I know we have met multiple times, and we always have very robust conversations about homelessness, but it's because it's such a critical issue, right?

Um, and I have a couple questions just specific to some of the items in the presentation.

Um, wanted to start with the community courts.

Um can you just share a little bit more on that piece and how they came to be and um do we see them functioning currently and what can like what can expansion look like?

Sure, I'll I'll start and then I'll have uh Scott continue.

But uh Chairwoman Hodge Washington, members of the subcommittee, our community court started in January of 2024, so we're coming up on two years of services.

Um court is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:30, um, and it's it's truly transformational for individuals who do go through the court.

We're at over 600 individuals that have gone through the court with multiple misdemeanor offenses.

Um I'll let Scott talk a little bit about what we're seeing in that program.

Thank you, Director Milney.

Uh, thank you, madam chair, councilwoman Hernandez.

Yeah, the community court project was meeting any need that existed within the justice system.

There was a disproportionate amount of people experiencing homelessness going through the justice system, and this was a way to intervene to help people stop cycling through the justice system and ultimately hope to end their homelessness.

Uh, we found it to be a tremendous success.

This is a court that is serving people already going through the justice system and not a court that's out seeking to bring people into the justice system.

And through that process, it helps them engage with peer navigators through the system and helps connect them to shelter treatment, mental health services, family reunification, and ultimately employment and housing.

Uh so we find that in our our first year the project continue to excel and improve upon itself, and then we still can see that progress.

So the community court program so far has been a great success.

Awesome.

Thank you so much for that.

I was really encouraged when I heard that Phoenix was creating a community court because it was something that a lot of uh advocates have been speaking about for years, and I know there's other cities, counties that do that.

So very excited that we have that here in Phoenix.

Um my next question is uh on the lived experience work group.

Um, who is part of that work group and how did you identify them?

Chairwoman Hodge Washington, members of the subcommittees.

So our regional continuum of care that is um currently held through the Maricopa Association of Governments, they convene many work groups throughout the community, data work groups, outreach work groups, and they have a specific lived experience work group.

So there um they uh convene that group um to to get feedback on items such as this or other things happening in our in our full continuum.

So the MAG regional continuum of care convenes that group and and Margaret actually presented to them this plan.

And are you able to share a little bit about how or I guess would MAG be the ones that can tell us how we identify folks for that group?

Um, Chairwoman, members of the uh uh subcommittee, probably better to speak to it.

I can give sort of my high-level overview, but yes, they reach out to people who are already in our system, probably working with other organizations or individuals that have reached out um to the continuum of care seeking more information about our homeless service response.

So it's the the lived experience committee is made up of people who work in various organizations that work to end homelessness as well as individuals um who have just gone through our system.

Okay.

Would you be able to connect me with whoever at MAG that can give me more information on that?

Certainly.

Okay, thank you.

Um my next question is what is it our sorry?

Um, how are we ensuring that you know that we are leading with the service first approach um instead of policing criminalizing criminalizing homelessness?

Chairwoman Hodge Washington, members of the subcommittee, I'll start and then I'll have my colleagues uh jump in as well.

So that's the entire reason why the Office of Homeless Solutions was created.

We lead with services.

That that is sort of our motto as the city of Phoenix.

Our teams are out there each and every day with it with those services, working with individuals in unsheltered situations, trying to connect them with those services that will help end their homelessness.

Not only the services that we as a city have brought on board in the last three years, but other services that are existing in our community.

We are not an enforcement arm, uh we are a service-driven arm.

We are our whole mission is to help the people, help the property, and help the community.

So I don't know, Scott or Margaret, if you want to add to that.

Sure.

Thank you, Madam Chair, uh, Councilwoman Hernandez.

Uh, leading with services has always been our goal and will continue to be our goal.

Uh, and it's a few areas where you have to focus to ensure that that happens.

One, you have to make sure law enforcement has access to services.

So when they do engage with people, because they have to in our communities that they can easily access those services and know how to access those services.

Also, making ourselves available for when PD does have to engage with individuals to be able to respond and be out there.

But first and foremost, it's getting to people before there is a PD intervention.

Uh, one, when we get people in our system, can we get them housed and sustainably housed so that they are not involved with the justice system?

And two, have extended sense of outreach that we're out there engaging with individuals and meeting them where they're at.

Awesome.

May I add one thing?

Sorry, uh, Scott reminded me of one more thing I wanted to say.

So we did recently implement a no-wrong door um uh policy at both the Safe Outdoor Space and the Phoenix Navigation Center for any public service police, PD, or CAP.

Um they can go bring an individual to either of those sites, um, and we will create space even if we're at capacity.

Okay, thank you.

And that leads me to my next question.

Like, what is the training that the police department undergoes to make sure that they understand the service first approach?

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair, Councilman Hernandez.

We just produced a training video uh for law enforcement that has uh myself, Rachel Milney, uh, and Charles Lee from our office explaining to PD what we do, how to connect with us, how to access services 24-7, and uh and us and some of the other off services that we offer.

Okay, thank you.

Um do are you able to speak to any protocols for police when they get a homeless complaint, um, how they respond, or what are what are the steps to respond to that?

I'm just sorry, what an encampment, right?

Like because you have such close, I mean, you there is a relationship there, right?

So there is interaction.

Um are you able to speak to any of that?

Councilwoman Hernandez, we can speak to sort of our our Phoenix CARES process and when we engage Phoenix PD in those in those responses if you want to take that, Scott.

Yeah, so Phoenix Cares is a is a multi-department uh system where it helps us all communicate.

Oh and uh sorry, lost my train of thought.

Phoenix cares, Scott.

Yes.

So we also train PD on how to enter cases into CARES.

So once it enters in, then again, cares once we receive the referral, we dispers outreach to assess the the location where it's at, what departments need to be involved in it, but also creates that first engagement.

That first engagement through Phoenix CARES is through peer navigators.

Uh so we train PD on how to enter those cases into there.

They also have our numbers directly where they contact our homelessness liaisons that are assigned to their precincts.

Uh and they also have our numbers with leadership as well.

Okay, thank you.

Um, I'm really really encouraged that one of the items on um slide 19 is advocating for more housing choice vouchers.

Um, I firmly believe that and I agree, and I'm so encouraged to hear you say that housing that housing is going to solve our homelessness, right?

There is data out there, there's studies that have been done nationwide that show that the areas in the cities with the most homelessness are also areas where we have very we have some of the most restrictive zoning laws that are a barrier to creating more housing and shelters.

So I just really appreciate that that is named and that you are vocalizing that um and that this is one piece that we can do.

What can we do to support advocating for more of the housing choice vouchers?

Chairwoman Hodge Washington, members of the subcommittee.

Um, this is a citywide need, um, not uh certainly not just OHS or not even I think the housing department, but I think as a city, we we all sort of agree we need additional housing resources, specifically housing vouchers in our community, and I think you have the the platform to make that need um uh heard at at levels higher higher than us.

So thank you for your advocacy there.

Thank you.

I'm gonna continue to talk to our congressional leaders.

I think it's something we've all broached with the different congressional offices.

I'm gonna continue to speak on it.

Um another question, there are a number of community-led um mutual aid groups in the city of Phoenix that are engaging also with with our home unsheltered population.

Um, how is OHS engaging with these partners or with these groups?

Chairman Mahaj Washington, members of the subcommittee, um, Councilman Hernandez, actually, your office has has helped us connect with a couple of those groups.

So thank you.

We're willing to have conversations and connect with them in in any ways.

I think we provided some heat resources to the group that your your team connected us with earlier this summer.

Um, but we are are in the process of expanding opportunities at both the safe outdoor space and Phoenix Navigation Center to have partners come in.

Um currently, we have lots of partners at at both sites, including Street Outreach, Phoenix, Circle the City, other groups, and are always looking to expand to provide um to provide resources.

But any anyone you want me to talk to, I'm willing to reach out and see how we can partner.

Thank you so much, Rachel.

Um, I think it's very clear that you know, this office has done um a lot since it was created in 2022.

Um there has been a huge need for it even before that.

Um, and I know that there is a lot to do.

Homelessness is one of the biggest challenges that we are facing as a city.

Um and you know, our the D7 office really sees homelessness intersecting with police violence.

And so that was one of the biggest parts in the DOJ investigation.

Um, and while the federal administration has withdrawn that report, I don't think it would be wise for us to sweep it under the rug as a city, um, since that was one of the pieces that still remain.

And I'm gonna continue to ask questions about how police are interacting with our homeless residents.

Um, because I have said it multiple times in probably every meeting I have that police are not gonna solve our homelessness issue.

Um, all the things that this department this this office is doing, um, those are the kind of things that are going to go towards solving homelessness, right?

Calling police, um, because they ultimately can't provide housing.

They can't provide the wraparound services that are of a lot of our residents that are struggling with this need, right?

Um, so I'm gonna continue to speak about that, continue to push us um to take find different approaches, new approaches.

Um, I firmly believe that criminalization as a response to homelessness is the wrong response.

Um, and while I understand that we are often forced to respond with police um because of state statues um or other measures that were sent to the ballot.

Um, I you know, I will continue to push to find ways to disengage our police department um from how we are interacting with the most vulnerable in our city.

Ultimately, housing.

We need housing.

I want to speak on that a bit because that is mentioned in this report and in the new refresh plan.

Everything that we are doing, if we don't address housing, is gonna be for naught.

So we have that has to be such an urgent priority.

And I really love that investing and creating more permanent permanent supportive housing is a key measure in the new vision.

Um so as we move forward, I expect to continue to work with you all with OHS and with housing, in addition to every other partner, because I think it is a it's gonna take a holistic approach from all of us to really find the solution.

So just thank you so much for all you've done and for I the hard work we have ahead um to get to the root cause of of the homelessness issues we we face.

Thank you.

Councilman Stark.

Thank you, and thank you for everything you guys have done.

Um this is a terrific uh report.

I will say I think uh as far as the police, Black Mountain precincts have to a good start at their coffee with the cop, they introduce the OHS liaisons that attend the coffee and let them speak a little bit about what they do and how we try to lead with services.

So I think there is starting we're starting to see a small change in that.

And so I appreciate that they do come to that coffee and they do get an opportunity to speak up.

I think Scott, you were actually at one of them at one point.

Thank you.

Um as far as the report you said improvements to Phoenix CARES.

Could you just kind of explain a little bit further what we're doing with that?

Absolutely.

Uh Madam Chair, Councilwoman uh Stark, uh Phoenix CareS was implemented back in in 2017, and we've continuously tried to improve the system.

Uh some of the areas of focus for improvement, we want to make it much more user-friendly for the community.

We want to make it to where they have to enter less things into the system, uh, where it's more convenient in uh geo mapping so that it's easier to locate the the situation.

Also the response back to the constituents, the email back of that we received the referral and what's going on with the referral that was sent into the system, and ultimately always looking at how we can communicate with all of our departments better and more efficiently.

But Phoenix CARES has come leaps and bounds since its creation, and we're going in the right direction with improvements.

Thank you.

And then as far as better coordination across city departments, I think one of the things that we could do, and it really I think is on the shoulders of planning and development, is to make housing a priority.

I I know when I was planning director, it was always community economic development projects, but at this point, I think probably housing projects are more important and that we need to look at a way to prioritize those.

And I hope that you are working with them on that.

Uh clearly there is a need.

Um I think we're off to a great start with economic development.

We are booming everywhere, but we do need housing.

And I think it's important, and so hopefully we can make that a priority for that department as well as the other departments that also are part of developing our city.

And then uh one last question, cultivating private partnerships.

I I I appreciate as you know, Cleo Lewis is one of your great partners in District Three, and he does a terrific job.

Um, how do you go about uh cultivating private partnerships and what can we do to help you as far as counsel?

Uh Chair Woman Hodge Washington, members of the subcommittee, we could use all the help we could get in that in that realm.

Um asking for money is not is not our forte.

Ending homelessness, we're good at that.

Um we uh we do have some experience, however, with it last um actually when we were in uh the process to um decommission the area around the campus and offer everyone on that site um who is camping on that site an indoor place.

We convened some some private funders, philanthropic groups, um, and we were able to to get some real momentum going behind that specific effort.

Um, Valley of the Sun United Way and Vitalists took the lead in helping to create a fund to then help people exit from our our temporary shelters into housing.

So that's really one example of where we were able to sort of harness some of the really great philanthropic team um groups that we have in this community for a specific um a specific item.

And so uh we we have um I think Darlene Newsom from Vitalist here in the in the in the crowd.

Um and um I Gina is letting me know uh I need to tell you it was two million dollars or so that they raised between Vitalist and Values and United Way that was really that that didn't come through the city.

Um Gina is letting me know I need to tell you it was two million dollars or so that they raised between Vitalist and Values and United Way that was really that that didn't come through the city, it went through those organizations and went directly to help people who are in our city temporary shelters get housing.

And so those kind of initiatives, specific initiatives that that uh philanthropic groups can get behind, that's sort of what we're looking to do.

So everything in this plan that is really scalable, it would be nice to to kind of identify some things that private groups could come in and take the lead and help us.

So it's not always on you know on the city's general fund or our ending um ARPA funds to to manage.

Thank you.

And just lastly, I I I do want to give a shout out to Pastor Jerome Parker, who really helped start healthy giving.

And I know he's moving to another state, and so it's unfortunate we're gonna lose him.

But I know you have ideas to help that program continue.

It's it's an important program, and I uh I wish he was here so we can thank him for everything he's done.

Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you, councilwoman.

Uh, I do want to thank our city staff and community partners for their community continued commitment to addressing our homelessness crisis uh around Phoenix.

Um, it is a complex issue, and it's clear that a great deal of thought and effort went into analyzing the needs of our residents.

Before I go into my questions, I wanted to say I had the opportunity to ride along with one of our OHS specialists, um, our district eight specialist Jacqueline.

I think she's the best because she's um but I was able to see it up close and personal.

Um I was able to see the interaction between the different departments when it uh it started off as a referral from our community action officer who was able to identify this um this individual, his family that was in need.

I was able to see the individual accept service.

I saw the pure joy in knowing that they were going to a safer place.

Um I also had the opportunity to go and enter into our shelter system and talk to some individuals, and I think we were able to see some of the myths.

I think our community views when it when they think about homelessness.

Um one of the things that was surprising for me was the number of individuals who were there who were seniors, um, the individuals that were there who were working.

Um I think many times our community thinks that many of the individuals are all substance abuse.

Um but I think it goes back to um, and I'll get to that, but it was great to see the services.

Many times we get to sit on this dais and we we vote on policies or we vote on programs, but we don't always get to see them in action.

And it was a great reminder that what we do here does matter for the individuals that are affected.

Um, so I want to thank you specifically the Office of Homeless Solution for kind of spearheading this work.

Homelessness is continues to be a priority uh for our residents, and it impacts the quality of lives for all of our residents.

So I have said this many times.

I think our initial plan was a great step.

I think we have kind of topped out on that, and now it is time for us to do what I consider 2.0, and I think this is the right steps towards making those changes.

Um I wanted to go through some of the items and kind of emphasize um my part.

Um we continue um we were talking when councilwoman Hernandez was talking about what we can do to advocate for housing choice vouchers.

As many of you know, it's one of the areas I every time I talk to our congressional representatives or anyone that will listen, I talk about the disparity that we face here in the city of Phoenix.

We are the fifth largest city, yet we receive a fraction of what the sixth largest city has received.

For those that do not know, the city of Phoenix received for our 1.6 million residents, we receive less than 8,000 housing choice vouchers.

The last time we opened up our wait lists, we've received almost 50,000 applications.

If that does not address the need, I don't know what else does.

But our sixth largest city who falls below us, they receive almost three times the vouchers we've received, which is about 21,000 vouchers.

That disparity is what we are seeing is contributing significantly to our housing, our homeless crisis.

Housing is one of the only solutions for homelessness.

Um, and with that being said, I think we continue to advocate for housing choice vouchers increase, but I think we also need to do something that's bold and something outside of the box when it comes to that.

I think we need to prioritize a potential city-funded subsidy that is maybe time that has time limitations on it.

But we have to, if we're going to get individuals into housing, we have to be able to address the need, and I think that is one of the greater needs.

And especially when you look at the um percentage of those that are seniors that are living in our system, we know that they are being priced out of apartments and they also may need some subsidies.

And I think we need to consider that.

And I also think that we need to this goes to those that are that are working that live in our shelter system.

And it is because there is a need.

Other cities have created volunteer opportunities.

I think one that allows them to see individuals as individuals, not those people.

And I think it helps us have a collective buy-in into the solution from this.

And it gives those that want to serve or want to help an opportunity to do so in a manner that supports our vision and not deviate and go contrary from our department from the from our plan.

Because I think we have set forth very strong plan and very much strong components.

But like anything is we're gonna need people, we're gonna need capital.

And if we can get some volunteer people to help us, I think we should definitely look into that.

I do have some questions.

I know I went on my little soapbox for a second, but this is an issue uh all of you at the table know that it's something I'm very passionate about, and I think we have the opportunity.

Phoenix is the fifth largest city, and I think we have the opportunity to set the direction and not always have to follow what other people are doing.

Uh, it would challenge us to one um what are the identify for our plan that is upcoming.

I would like to see us see not just short-term ideas that are theoretical.

I want to see action items in our short-term goal, because as mentioned, it continues to be an area where our community continues to demand more from us, and I think we can rise to that challenge.

Um we had a recent um, the Arizona Republic ran a race, started a recent series this week about homelessness in our city.

And one of the things I believe is a misconception, and I would give like to give you an opportunity to address it, is regarding the rise of homelessness in other parts of the city because of the dismantlement of the zone per our court order.

Um I see you're ready to speak, Rachel.

Um thank you, Chairwoman Hodge Washington.

Um, yes, we prior to the dismantlement of the area around the campus, we were seeing an increase in homelessness throughout the city as well.

It was geograph, we had a geographic um inequality and that people were coming to the campus to receive services.

Um, but we still saw that rise, that increase in homelessness throughout our city.

And I just want to, and I I do believe that the the story accurately represented, we did offer every individual.

We engaged with over 800 individuals when we closed every block to camping in that site.

You came out on on several occasions.

Um we offered everyone an indoor place to go.

85% of the individuals took us up on that offer, and two-thirds of those individuals are either now housed or still in an indoor safer environment.

So we're we're confident that we did the right thing in a humane manner there, but but it is it is um a true statement to say that homelessness is increasing, it is increasing citywide.

It is not just increasing in downtown Phoenix.

And it's not just increasing because we have um decommissioned the largest encampment in our city.

Absolutely correct.

I just wanted to point that out.

Um we continue to see an increase as the data shows.

Um, but I do believe that if we can work on the initiatives that are outlined in our program, we can do that.

I was very um I was very grateful to see the positive comments that our community members took the time to fill out the survey so that they can help be a part of guiding our process in doing so.

I wanted to talk a little bit um in terms of the plan refresh.

Um lost my page.

Okay, I think it's right here.

Oh, on page 17 on slide 17 regarding improving shelter quality.

I know what that means, and I but I think it might be helpful to clarify that this is talking about the metrics for success of our shelters and ensuring that they are or getting the intended goals that we want to see from them.

But I would like to give you an opportunity to talk a little bit about improving shelter quality, what that means from a plan refresh.

Sure.

Thank you, uh Chairwoman Hodge Washington.

So as we've talked about previously, we have spent the last three years really trying to bring on a much needed resource to our community.

We did not have enough shelter, enough indoor places, safe places for people to go when offering services.

So we've spent the most of our time and energy just in the creation of those additional beds.

And now it's time to really help make sure that they're operating efficiently and effectively, and that everyone there is working on their exit plan from those locations.

So our our goal here to increase the quality, that's really making sure that everyone's on the same playing field.

Every no matter what shelter you're going to, you're going to be met with a case manager who knows your individualized needs and is going to get you on a plan to exit into a safe, stable housing.

I don't know if my team members want to have every anything to add to that.

Yeah, quality has a few uh different components to it as well.

First, we want places that are safe, welcoming, and sustainable.

Then we also want the engagement between staff and the individual receiving the services to be high quality and of high standard as well.

So across the board, just like Rachel said, we want the outcomes to be met.

We want the quality of services to be delivered, and we want the environment to be positive.

All those put together equals to us, improving the shelter quality.

Thank you.

Um the other area that I was very excited to see is better coordination with other systems such as our behavioral health services and employment.

Um, because I think what we are seeing largely reflects the higher acuity acuity individuals, those who have been probably chronically homeless, or those individuals that are dealing with substance abuse uh or mental health issues.

And this would now provide greater avenues for us to address those concerns.

Um I don't know if there's anything else you want to add about how we intend to, what it looks like to better for better connection with those services.

Yes, madam chair.

Uh that's that's a great question.

And connecting people to those life-saving services is paramount.

A lot of people coming into the shelters are probably dealing with one or more of these issues substance use, mental health, physical health issues.

A lot of people coming into the shelter system or tri-morbid, where all those are an issue that needs to be solved for.

So what we can do is better train staff on what services are eligible for Medicaid, because a lot of people coming through the homeless service system do have access.

So, how do we connect them to those services?

Uh, and also start treating it.

If someone's experiencing homelessness, we want to connect them to the right service first.

Emergency shelter first isn't always the right answer.

Sometimes it is substance abuse treatment or mental health services or getting their physical health needs met.

Uh, but being comprehensive about meeting someone's needs, we can't just look at it one part, we have to look at an individual holistically.

So we want the systems to be able to come in, train staff of what's out there and how to access it so that we can better inform individuals of what's there and connect them.

Thank you.

Um, and we met yesterday.

I challenged you to come up with your five top five wish lists.

I don't know if you're ready for that question, or you rather have the opportunity to spend a little bit more time, but I do think we need to think bold and big when it comes to this.

It is our the most uh I think one of the pressing issues in our community as we continue to grow.

It is one of the forces I think the downside of our growth over the years, and now we are trying to balance that.

I see you're ready to go, Rachel.

Thank you, Chairwoman Hodge Washington, for giving us um overnight to to ponder on this question a little bit.

Plenty of time.

Um so our our um our top five are all kind of housing focused.

Like uh the the things that we want to do that we would um maybe currently don't have enough resources to do or need to do better are are really all housing focused.

We need more rapid rehousing in our community to quickly exit people who who need just a lighter touch.

Um we need more permanent supportive housing in our community for people who need uh a more of a touch and who are going to need a sustained um intervention over time.

One thing that we that has fallen off, we were able to do some of this during um during the uh high pandemic era funding is anything related to youth, youth age 18 to 24.

Um, you'll notice our our plan doesn't have any sort of specific sub-populations, but that's a very important um group.

So we we previously had a rapid rehousing specific for youth program that was very successful.

We'd like to bring back on board.

The other two programs that we what we feel are very important, and we'd like to include our diversion programs, so diverting people immediately back either to family or friends, um, a small subsidy for individuals who just need that diversion help to be able to re be either rehoused on their own or with uh family or friends.

Um the Phoenix Works program that we found um very successful.

Some of our other um communities uh utilize a similar program, but that was a win-win for for both the individuals in the program, getting a uh daily wage, get earning earning some um some cash, also earning uh doing some important uh beautification projects throughout the city of Phoenix.

So those are our those are our five.

Well, thank you so much for your five.

I appreciate that.

We do have one speaker um for this item, and that is Jeffman.

Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the city council.

My name is Jeff Spellman.

I'm with the Violence Impact Project Coalition, and we represent neighborhood groups and organizations along the 27th Avenue corridor between Northern and Indian School Road.

Um I'm sorry.

Are you talking about the plan to refresh homelessness?

Okay, go ahead.

Yep, sure.

I'm just introducing myself.

Oh, sorry, go ahead.

Um, I served on the city manager's task force to address homelessness.

Um, very proud to have done that.

Uh my neighborhood was the neighborhood that first endorsed the city council's new policy on the smaller specialized shelters for specialized populations.

We opened the Haven, which is now fully operating and operating very successfully in our community.

I'm very glad to see the refresh plan.

The vision statement is very bold, I think, which is needed.

Um I like to see the transparency and the accountability that's coming out of the refresh plan and the direct services provided by OHS has been certainly more responsive to our community.

Um I support the need for continued and additional services.

What I think is missing are specifics on how the city will minimize negative effects on homelessness in neighborhoods.

So the community safety plan for the 27 Midtown survey of community says 68% of respondents feel very unsafe in their neighborhood.

This is virtually unchanged in the past three years.

All of the issues affecting those perceptions are 100% related to homelessness.

These criminal issues involve open drug use, drug dealing, prostitution, and trespassing.

I understand the city's policy of leading with services, but in speaking to service providers, very few homeless voluntarily accept services.

This is because they are addicted or beholden to their dealers and pimps.

This is not about criminalizing homelessness, but about ending addressing the criminal element that has become deeply embedded in the homeless community.

Um I would hope I'd like to see an acknowledgement of the criminal aspect involved in the homeless community and more details in the plan as to how they will minimize negative impacts on neighborhoods by addressing the crimes involved in the homeless community.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, and I apologize for cutting you off.

Well, thank you, madam chair.

Um it's it's really it involves, you know, I understand um, you know, not wanting to criminalize homelessness.

Um, but what's happening is the criminal elements have become so deeply embedded in the homeless community that those individuals really aren't willing to accept services.

So people go out and ask and they say, No, I don't want your services, leave me alone.

So what we're left with is the criminal aspects that are embedded in those encampments that are in my neighborhood.

So we have to address that criminal element.

We have to we have to separate them from their network of criminals, and then on the back end, get them the help that they need.

I think the services belong on the back end.

You know, once somebody ends up getting arrested, they're taken off, they're separated.

It's if you come over to 27th Avenue, you will see that the majority of the prostitution is in the homeless community.

It's embedded in the homeless community.

We need to separate those girls from their pimps because they are not willing while they're out on the street to accept services.

We need to get them separated, and then once they're separated, we need to throw all the help that we can on the back end, and whether that's through things like the community court, which I think is very has been very, very effective, or it's uh, you know, getting uh organizations that will go into the jails and work with those girls to get them the help that they need.

That's the the approach I think we needed.

We need to stop the criminal the criminal activity that's in our neighborhoods first and then work everything we can to get them.

Because we've done all I think we've done the right things.

Our community has supported the council's direction in creating these additional beds and services and things like that.

And I think they are ultimately the best approach in the long run.

But now we're left with a group of people that are out there that are just involved in criminality, and we've got to stop that.

Okay, so thank you so much for that.

I will now turn to the uh I'll give you guys an opportunity to respond to that because I do believe that is uh a key component as articulated in the proposed vision is to ensure that it's not the net effects are not being felt by any community.

I'm not sure who wants to go ahead, Scott.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Uh and I just want to first thank Jeff Spellman for all his participation and activity working with us for a lot of these solutions and implementing of them.

Uh, his his neighborhood and his community have been uh monumental in working closely with a lot of city departments on improving their neighborhoods.

Uh, but that's why we exist.

We exist to really separate criminal activity from those that are in need of help.

That's why we want to lead with services and criminal activity is left to PD.

We're here trying to solve for people's uh homelessness in in connecting them to those services.

Yes, sometimes criminal activity happens amongst our uh homeless population, but one thing I really want to spell out to the community, we don't get these opportunities often.

Unsheltered homelessness is not all homelessness.

Our homeless service system serves over 35,000 people a year.

Our unsheltered population has uh more uh issues that are going on that we need to work comprehensively and closely together.

That's why we have the trainings for PD.

So when they're not uh arresting somebody because of a criminal activity, they are connecting them to services.

Uh so we just want to continue to improve on that communication and those efforts.

Thank you all for your presentation.

Um, I look forward to seeing the updated draft of the refresh plan.

Um, I continue to encourage that we focus on more tangible actions that are in the near term because I believe that is critical for our residents, our service providers, those that use our system, and those who are on the front lines of this.

Um, I think by building on proven programs and adding clear action, we can make meaningful progress while continuing to plan for longer term solutions.

I think we have done a good job, but there's still more for us to do.

So thank you so much for all that you do.

And then next up, we will hear item number five.

I'm sorry, number six.

It is the 2026-2027 housing and urban development annual action plan process.

We welcome our neighborhood services department director, Spencer Self, Deputy Director Kim Dickerson, project manager Alicia Springs, and management fellow Diala Rosa to the table.

Good morning, Madam Chair and members of the subcommittee.

Today we'll be sharing our proposed planning process for four key entitlement grants provided by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, just as you mentioned.

Uh the largest and most flexible source of funding uh is community development block grant program with a little over 14 million dollars overseen by the neighborhood services department, which is why we're here today to introduce the entire planning effort.

We also have the home investment partnership and the housing opportunities for persons with AIDS or HIV that are overseen by our housing department, and finally our emergency solutions grant, which is overseen by our uh Office of Homeless Solutions.

I'll now pass it over to Kim to talk about our five-year consolidated plan.

Thank you, Spencer.

Good morning, Madam Chair, or good afternoon, madam chair, members of the subcommittee.

With the member with the millions of dollars the city receives annually from HUD, we're responsible to ensure these funds are programmed and invested in areas and services aligned with our communities' needs.

One way we do this is through the completion of a consolidated plan.

Last fiscal year, we completed the 2025 through 2029 consolidated plan, which sets our priorities now and over the plan's five-year period.

The annual action plan is a subset of it, addressing the overall goals for each program year of the consolidated plan.

Now I'll pass it to Alicia to describe the annual action planning process.

Thank you, Kimberly.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the subcommittee.

As Kimberly mentioned, our five-year strategic plan or consolidated plan is carried out through annual action plans.

The annual action plan is a one-year breakdown of the goals and priorities implemented in the consolidated plan.

The eight goal priorities shown here are generally categorized under the following areas: housing and homelessness, community and economic development, infrastructure and enhancement, and public services and facilities.

The diagram pictured here shows the cycle of the annual action plan.

As you can see, the development of the plan starts with public engagement or outreach.

And this starts with the annual action plan survey.

The goals and priorities are ranked solely based on community input.

And now I'll turn it over to Diana Roses to discuss the community engagement plan.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the subcommittee.

I'm very happy to be here and share some of our community engagement strategies and plans for the upcoming 2026-27 annual action plan.

Community engagement is a vital step in this process.

First, because it is required by HUD, and second, because it allows us to connect with our community and stakeholders to hear their input and better understand their needs.

In previous years, outreach for the annual action plan was conducted through a survey accessible on the Your City, your boys webpage, located on the neighborhood services department website.

The survey was also prompted through the Water Department newsletter, the public library newsletter, and in collaboration with various CTO Phoenix departments.

Additional outreach efforts reach residents through home meal deliveries, legend billboards, senior centers, and advertisement in various publications in both English and Spanish.

For the upcoming outreach cycle, we propose to continue utilizing these successful methods during the engagement period from November through March, where the survey will be available for 60 days and followed by two in-person public hearings as required by HUD.

We will all we will also be expanding our efforts to include both in-person and in virtual engagement opportunities.

This means working closely with the neighborhood service divisions to meet residents and stakeholders in community events through services and in partnership with neighborhood associations, all while ensuring our survey is accessible to everyone, including residents with disabilities.

To summarize, we will be leveraging city and community partners as well as attending a variety of community events to help us gather community input in the 2026-27 Annual Action Plan.

And of course, we will be asking you all for your support in sharing the information.

We will make sure to provide you all with media packages with detailed information to share in your newsletter.

Now I will turn it to Neighborhood Services Director Spencer, who will share more about the NSD Annual Action Plan proposed process.

Thank you.

Thank you, Diana.

And I just want to take a brief moment to gush about how amazing Diana has been as a management fellow.

She's only been with the city for a little over three months and in that time with uh neighborhood services.

It's her first time working in city government government, and she's done an amazing job on this as well as several other projects that we've had her on, just helping us to with these recommendations that we're talking about today.

So thank you, Diana.

Um so just to reiterate the timeline very briefly with your support.

We're now kicking off the planning process and we'll begin uh community engagement from November through January.

In February, we'll take all of the public input and prepare a draft plan uh for a public hearing in March, followed by council action and submittal the HUD to be eligible to receive the funds next year.

With that, we request subcommittee recommend city council approval of the 2026 annual action plan process, and we'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

And welcome, Diana.

Do we have any questions on the datas?

Go ahead, Councilman Hernandez.

Uh thank you, Madam Chair.

Um really appreciate this.

Um, I know that you know, as the chairwoman mentioned earlier in another presentation, we are now on day 22, I think, of the federal shutdown.

Um, and we have heard there are some potential funding threats to some of these parts of our program.

I think specifically the community block um grants.

Um can you advise if there's any updates on potential impacts or risk to some of these programs?

Uh Madam Chair, Councilwoman Hernandez.

Uh at this time we have not heard any specific uh notes about reducing the funding that we're seeing in in this plan.

There are a number of items that um we do see potential threats to, particularly our LIHEAP funds, uh, but that's separate from the four uh grants that we're talking about here so far with the federal government shutdown.

We have not seen a significant impact, um, however, depending on future budgetary decisions.

Who knows?

Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Um, and then just have a couple questions around the survey.

Um are the questions already built out, or like what kind of questions are going to be included in the new survey that we're gonna do.

Madam Chair, Councilwoman Hernandez.

Uh, there's a couple of items that we really focus on in those surveys.

One is trying to identify priorities amongst those categories that were uh part of the five-year consolidated plan to make sure that we're taking into account the community preferences and how we're allocating these funds.

The second is demographic information.

We do have a broad community.

We want to make sure we're getting input from the the folks who are actually going to be served by these dollars.

Uh so that's really important.

There are some questions uh that we are looking at in terms of where we put those at the front end or the back end of that survey to make sure we get as much input as possible.

Okay, thank you so much.

Um, and then as far as the outreach to encourage the survey participation, um, I know that uh Diana spoke a little bit about trying to increase the in-person and the virtual options.

Um, what other outreach is are we looking to do to encourage that participation?

Madam Chair, uh, councilwoman.

What we really find to be most impactful is when we are able to go out and talk to people who uh who are thinking about putting providing input because this can be really complicated.

It tends to get caught up in the mix of our general fund planning process as well, and we want to make sure we're able to distinguish between those two.

So when we have an opportunity for ourselves to go out and make that contact, present at a community meeting, or through trusted partners uh who are able to go out and have that input, that's really where our focus is.

So any community uh organizations who are interested in help helping to be that voice, that's really helpful.

Uh, any ideas that you all have in terms of who we can connect with, we would uh we would very much appreciate it.

Okay, thank you so much.

That's really helpful.

Um, because as the D7 office has events, maybe there's opportunity to collaborate to make sure that um anyone that attends like our little coffee talks maybe can participate in the survey.

And then just my last question is um what community um organizations are you partnering with or are I guess how are we engaging the neighborhood leaders also to make sure that they are um that they have the opportunity to participate in the survey?

Madam Chair, councilwoman.

So we do that in a few different ways.

One uh in our neighborhood services specialists, uh they talk to their neighborhood leaders who are listed with the city of Phoenix on our neighborhood link and extend an opportunity for all of them to have us come and present at those community meetings.

That's the way we really target conversations for our neighborhood leaders.

We also have a neighborhood newsletter that we send out every month.

We will have it in there.

Um we also look to all of you if you have your newsletters to send that information out as well.

And then the other way is by working with our fellow departments.

Uh so the housing department, they have a really robust network of folks that they send the information out to folks who are living in their housing uh uh facilities, our human services department, our office of homeless solutions, through all of their networks.

We also work with the Office of Youth and Education to make sure that this information is getting out to our schools.

Um and then we also work with third-party partners like Phoenix Revitalization Corp and others to get their folks uh engaged as well.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Councilman Stock, do you have any questions?

I just have one question for you.

Um it mentioned that the surveys available on the city website.

Um, how are we ensuring that there's uh equitable outreach to those residents who may not have internet access or the availability to actually complete an online survey?

Is there an option for them to complete the survey in another manner?

Madam Chair, absolutely.

We definitely provide uh printed copies as well in both English and Spanish, and we will enter that information on the back end for them.

Okay.

Well, thank you.

If there's no other questions, uh I just want to thank you guys for the continuing outreach and the work that you do and making this uh priority.

Um I think it was no coincidence that they came kind of back to back.

The first priority is identified on here as more affordable housing and housing for our individuals who are facing homelessness.

Um, I was gonna make recommend approval of the plan.

That's my motion.

All in favor.

Aye.

Aye.

Hi, thank you so much.

The motion carries.

So that brings us to the last agenda item on our on the agenda for today.

And now we're gonna move on to the call to the public.

Do we um I will make one more call for David Redke?

He's not on.

Okay, well, we will move on.

Are there any requests for additional uh for future agenda items from anyone of the committee members?

All right, seeing none.

The meeting is adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you.