Title
a. Receive a presentation on the Request for Proposal process for the new homeless housing navigation facility, the SHARE Center; and
b. Approve Bay Area Community Services as the recommended operator for the SHARE Center identified through the RFP process; and
c. Approve and authorize the Director of the Department of Social Services to negotiate a service agreement with Bay Area Community Services (BACS) to serve as the operator of the SHARE Center pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Salinas and County of Monterey approved on October 9, 2018.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Receive a presentation on the Request for Proposal process for the new homeless housing navigation facility, the SHARE Center; and
b. Approve Bay Area Community Services as the recommended operator for the SHARE Center identified through the RFP process; and
c. Approve and authorize the Director of the Department of Social Services to negotiate a service agreement with Bay Area Community Services (BACS) to serve as the operator of the SHARE Center pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Salinas and County of Monterey approved on October 9, 2018.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The County and City of Salinas have partnered to build a new housing navigation center at 845 E. Laurel Drive in Salinas, expected to open in Spring 2021. The SHARE Center will serve up to 100 City and County residents experiencing homelessness and will provide services in a housing navigation center model, including emergency shelter and wraparound services with a Housing First approach. In late 2018, The City and the County entered into an MOU establishing roles and responsibilities on the development and operation of the SHARE Center. Under the MOU, the City was tasked with leading the Request for Proposal process of the SHARE Center operator. The RFP process, which included; a community and service provider survey, a Bidders Conference, and a public interview was concluded on December 15, 2020. Following the RFP evaluation criteria and interview scoring rubric, the Selection Panel, comprised of City, County, Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) and Coalition staff, ranked Bay Area Community Services as the top candidate to serve as the operator of the new SHARE Center.
To facilitate the selection of a service provider, the City and County brought on Housing Tools, a community development consulting group, to provide project management support for the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. Housing Tools worked collaboratively with the City, County and the Continuum of Care led by the Coalition of Homeless Services Providers (Coalition) to prepare the RFP scope of work. Before the RFP release, the project team created an online survey (open from October 9 to October 23, 2020) for community members to provide input on the shelter operations. A total of 265 community members and 46 service providers participated. Survey input was an integral part of the RFP document, which required applicants to address community concerns surrounding the shelter location, operations and security. A Bidders Conference for the organizations that submitted a Letter of Interest was held on October 19, 2020 and the RFP was published on October 28, 2020. Two proposals from the following organizations were received by the submittal deadline of November 4, 2020:
• Community Homeless Solutions
• Bay Area Community Services
Interviews took place on December 15, 2020 with Housing Tools serving as the meeting facilitator and had 28 community members in attendance. Attendees had the opportunity to provide input throughout the interview process through a series of interactive polls. The Selection Panel was impressed with both RFP responses. Both applicants provided detailed histories of their experience and clear insight into their potential role as SHARE Center operator. Though Community Homeless Solutions offers the local knowledge and has been a trusted partner with the China Town Navigation Center and the Warming Shelter, Bay Area Community Services’ extensive experience and history securing permanent housing ultimately gave them the higher ranking. With higher scores in both the RFP narrative and interview process, panelists determined Bay Area Community Services as the most qualified applicant to serve as the SHARE Center operator.
With our need for comprehensive wraparound services, BACS extensive experience in housing navigation would be the perfect fit for the SHARE Center operations. Panelists agree that a key attribute of our SHARE Center operator should be the ability to move residents to permanent housing. At their Berkeley STAIR Center in 2017, BACS moved 82% to permanent housing and maintained close to a 100% occupancy rate. Beyond their experience with facilitating the entry to permanent housing, BACS has also explored additional strategies to expedite this process, like purchasing housing units to increase the affordable housing stock. BACS experience with rapidly housing people and providing the skills and resources to remain housed would be a great asset in our region.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The City of Salinas continues to work collaboratively with the County per the MOU. Public Works provided the contract monitoring and oversight regarding the facility under construction.
FINANCING:
This venture is a joint partnership with the City of Salinas where both parties will use multiple funding streams to support the operational agreement. Approval of this recommendation does not have any current financial impacts. The Department will return at a later date for the Board to approve the operator’s agreement and will outline the funding streams and commitments from both City and County.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
This action correlates to the Health & Human Services Strategic Initiative adopted by the Board of Supervisors by promoting access to safe shelter and housing navigation services to reduce risk for physical and mental health issues, and other chronic illness to those individuals experiencing homelessness and allows the County to work collaboratively with the City of Salinas in this shared operation.
Mark a check to the related Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives
__ Economic Development
__ Administration
X Health & Human Services
__ Infrastructure
__ Public Safety
Prepared by Lauren Suwansupa, Community Affiliation Manager x8492
Lori Medina, Director of Social Services, x4430
Attachments: Presentation