Homelessness Needs Assessment and Action Steps

Recommendations 2

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  Below]. In order to promote universal agency participation, all funding to any service agency provided by any governmental source and/or from a foundation should become contingent on the service agency being a proactive participant within HMIS. Carrots need to be created to encourage agencies to use HMIS, likewise, there must be financial consequences for not using HMIS. Mendocino County Marbut Report - Additionally, in order to maximize agency use of HMIS, a system-wide all-agency information release-form should be developed and utilized by all agencies. Simply put, HMIS data entry needs to be in “real-time,” it needs to be universal and it needs to extend well beyond HUD-funded programs in order to facilitate coordination of care across the entire service Continuum of Care (CoC). 8 - Encourage All Organizations and the General Public to Engage, Rather Than Enable Individuals Experiencing Homelessness While many efforts within Mendocino County are well natured and well intended by good- hearted individuals, many efforts within Mendocino County are actually enabling and do little to engage individuals who are experiencing homelessness into recovery programs. Cash from panhandling - although well intended by nice folks - more often than not actually perpetuates and increases homelessness through enablement. A much more effective and affective way of helping individuals experiencing homelessness is to make direct donations to high performing agencies rather than giving street handouts of food and cash. Some individuals and organizations within the Mendocino community need to move from a Culture of Enablement to a Culture of Engagement. The mission should no longer be to “serve” the community of homelessness, instead the mission should be to dramatically and consequentially increase “street graduation” rates. A “culture of service” is more often enabling than engaging. Providing basic “band-aid” services is not the same as having a mission that is proactively focused on recovery and increasing the number of street graduations. Street graduations occur when individuals move from living on the streets (or within encampments) into sustainable quality of life situations that allow individuals to be more productive community citizens. To maximize positive outcomes, support services such as feeding and clothing efforts should be provided within the context of a comprehensive holistic recovery environment. Recovery very seldom occurs on the street, instead, recovery most often occurs when an individual is actively engaged in a 24/7 treatment/recovery program. The community should help everyone who wants help, and the individuals who want help, should always be provided engaging help. Likewise, individuals who turn down help, should not be enabled. Furthermore, “hanging-out” should be replaced by “program participation.” Every effort possible must be made to engage individuals into programming. If unproductive activities continue in the same way, the number of individuals experiencing street-level chronic homeless (as well as the North-South Travelers) will continue to increase significantly. Furthermore, the North-South Travelers cohort will likely become more aggressive and emboldened. Mendocino County Marbut Report - It is very important to note that engagement should never be hateful or mean, instead, engagement should always be kind, caring and compassionate. There needs to be an across-the-board “Change in Thinking and Change in Doing.” A public awareness campaign needs to be developed to educate and encourage the community to move from a culture of enablement to a culture of engagement with the goal of increasing street- graduations. 9 - Improve Strategic Coordination Between the County and Cities (Need More Collaboration and Less Silos) Just as homelessness service providing agencies need to collaborate more and be less siloed, so do all the government agencies. In the past, within the realm of homelessness issues, many governmental actions of one jurisdiction have been made without collaborating and coordinating with other governmental jurisdictions within the County. The same principles and concepts of Recommendation 4 apply to this recommendation [See Above]. To get the best overall outcomes and results, all governmental jurisdictions should proactively collaborate and coordinate all their decision making and activities as it relates to issues of homelessness. The County and City Governments need to collaborate more and become less siloed. Furthermore, it is important that all changes of services, whether at the tactical or strategic level, be implemented on a regional basis whenever possible. Finally, It is very important not to spend limited resources in such a way as to relocate problems and challenges to other parts of the County. It is simply very unproductive to move the challenges rather than to directly address the core issues. Mendocino County Marbut Report - Clinical Recommendations 10 - The Different Cohorts Need To Be Treated Differently Based on Clinical Needs The service agencies and the general public within Mendocino County need to realize that it is critical to treat the 4 different cohorts identified in Recommendation 1 differently based on behavior and clinical needs [See Recommendation 1 Above]. Because of the different clinical needs within each cohort, it is critical that each cohort be treated uniquely. Furthermore, if these cohorts are treated the same there then will be a variety of very negative outcomes for both the individuals within the cohorts and for the community-at-large. These 4 different groups must be treated differently based on behavior and clinical needs. For example, a home-grown individual experiencing HUD-defined year-round homelessness needs engagement and help. On the contrary, providing the same type of support to a North- South Traveler will actually encourage the traveler to stay longer, thus increasing the number of negative outcomes. Additionally, because of the robust communication channel within these cohorts, providing support to North-South Travelers will actually attract more North-South Travelers to Mendocino County. Very Homegrown and Somewhat Homegrown Cohort: In order to not dilute the effectiveness of the finite available resources, the focus should be to proactively helping the two homegrown cohorts who are actually experiencing homelessness. It is especially important to focus on the individuals who have been experiencing homelessness for the 1-3 year range. The Federally mandated Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) would be an ideal tool to help determine need and eligibility for support services. Out-of-town Cohort: In order to maximize the funding available for the 2 homegrown cohorts, individuals who started experiencing homelessness before they moved into Mendocino should be encouraged to reunify with their families when clinically appropriate. Additionally, at a clinical level, in most but not all situations, there is a better chance of recovery when the individual is within familiar surroundings and near family. Therefore, Out-of-Town individuals should be encouraged to receive services in their hometowns where there are higher chances of recovery. North-South Travelers: It is simply illogical for citizens and service agencies with limited resources to be giving clothing, backpacks, food, money, gas and camping equipment to individuals who are not actually experiencing HUD-defined homelessness. These types of handouts actually enable and exacerbate the negative environmental and economic impacts while raising the risks of serious fire incidents. Furthermore, criminal elements within this cohort should not be enabled, even at the misdemeanor level. It is very important to remember that North-South Travelers are not experiencing homelessness. Mendocino County Marbut Report - Simply put, if an individual is not on the year-round local HUD-defined HMIS list, they should not receive services over an extended period of time. Additionally, there must be universal resolve not to hand out limited resources to individuals not truly experiencing homelessness. A public awareness campaign needs to be developed then implemented to educate the services agencies and the general public about who is eligible to receive services once eligibility standards have been established. The community needs to reserve the limited available resources for the most needy families and individuals who are really experiencing homelessness. 11 - Establish System-wide Service Eligibility and Triage Criterion (with Emergency Protocols) The Mendocino County Homeless Services Continuum of Care (supported by HHSA) should lead an effort to establish system-wide eligibility requirements for services across the County. If all the service providing agencies had excess available funding to cover all the out-of- Mendocino County individuals, then this would not be an issue. However, most agencies are barely at break-even while some are struggling to fund existing operations. The data clearly indicates that just over 1/3rd of the individuals utilizing services within Mendocino County started experiencing homelessness outside of Mendocino County and subsequently came later to Mendocino County. In reality, this means funding for homegrown individuals experiencing homelessness is being diluted and crowded out by individuals from outside of Mendocino County that are receiving services. Ideally all formal service agencies and informal organizations providing services within Mendocino County should be using the same eligibility criterion. Beyond addressing legitimate budget issues, establishing common eligibility criterion will also help to streamline the coordinated entry process and will deter non-residents from coming to Mendocino County in search of services. Common criteria will also reduce the “service- shopping” phenomenon. This does not mean individuals should not receive services! In times of emergencies, enough services should be provided to allow the individual to make it back home. The Willits food bank has successfully addressed this issue in a very compassionate way. When individuals do not meet residential requirements based on thoughtful and rigorous criterion, individuals are given a “3-day” bag of food. Furthermore, Willits Food Bank limits non-residents to just two “3-day” bags per year. This concept can easily be replicated across other service types. At the time of the drafting of this report, RCS’s Ukiah Winter Shelter has already started to move to such a model by allowing individuals from outside of Mendocino County to stay just 3-days and 2-nights thus allowing time for the individual to make arrangements to get back home. Mendocino County Marbut Report - It should be noted that in some limited cases there might be Federal or State funding requirements that supercede the new system-wide criterion. These exceptions will be few. 12 - Whenever Possible, Separate Children from Chronic Adults This researcher observed families with children closely commingled with chronic single adult males at almost every agency within Mendocino County, including but not limited to sleeping overnight at the Ukiah Winter Shelter together, being on the grounds at Hospitality House together and eating at Plowshares together. Families with children must be separated away from single adult males as much as possible, and as soon as possible. This includes all types of contact including queuing in lines for meals. By all measures, the mixing of children with adult males who are experiencing homelessness does not meet national best practices as it is risky, dangerous and unnecessarily increases legal exposure. It is very important to note that this type of commingling also creates unhealthy and negative developmental issues in children. Furthermore, this mixing can exacerbate the inefficiencies in the placement process and inhibit optimal utilization of service inventory. This is why centers/programs/shelters across the USA have moved to separate families with children from single men (and sometimes single women). Ideally, all families with children should be separated at least from adult males, and when possible separated from adult females. However, the realities of building capacities and physical layouts may not allow for the ideal setup, at least in the short term. Additionally, at a clinical level, it would be good for all single adult females to be separated from the single adult males. Ideally, single adult females would have their own dedicated shelter or dedicated section within a shelter that focuses solely on adult females. On a practical level, single adult females could be a subsection of a shelter for families with children. Although less desirable, if properly designed and operated, single adult females can live in a separately demarcated section of an adult male shelter. More due diligence needs to be conducted in order to successfully address this issue. 13 - Create a County-wide Virtual Master Case Management System Unfortunately, there are not enough financial resources available within Mendocino County to create an actual face-to-face master case management system. However, a “virtual” case management system could and should be developed within Mendocino County for individuals experiencing homelessness by using HMIS as the data “e-backbone” for the overall system. Mendocino County Marbut Report - As part of this virtual system, a monthly Case Conference Meeting could be organized with agency case managers, police officers, fire rescue personnel, hospital social workers, and representatives from HHSA. It is suggested to have a coastal meeting in Fort Bragg and a separate inland meeting in Ukiah. Other communities around the USA have found the first Friday of every month between 2p-4p works really well. It is recommended to proactively focus on 2-3 individuals each month prioritized by individuals with higher service use levels (eg relatively more contacts with EMS, hospital ERs/EDs and social service agencies). These meetings could be hosted by HHSA or the CoC. Because of the unique 1-3 year bubble group in Mendocino County, it might be productive on a monthly basis to also focus on one or two individuals who have been experiencing homelessness for 1-3 years, thus trying to reduce the number of individuals who will become “very chronic” due to the lack of treatment intervention. It is recommended to start with single adult males, and then move to single adult females. When needed, families with children could be addressed at these monthly case conference meetings. The key to success is to focus on only 2-3 individuals per meeting and to develop individualized action plans for each person for the following month. Ideally overtime, HHSA and the CoC could work to improve and develop the virtual case management system into a comprehensive coordinated entry system that mirrors a fully operational master case management “system” for individuals experiencing homelessness. “Master Case Management” and “agency level case management” are often wrongly presented as the same functionality. There is a major difference between master case management and agency level case management – the first is holistic case management across the entire system of all agencies, while the second is only within an individual agency. 14 - Create Street-Level Outreach Team Capacities, Especially in Ukiah More than 20 years ago, San Diego California was the first city in the USA to formally create a “Homeless Outreach Team,” often known as a HOTeam. Under the San Diego model, two sworn police officers were given specialized social service training and then partnered together and focused solely on engaging individuals experiencing homelessness. Overtime, other jurisdictions such as St. Petersburg Florida, improved on this concept by partnering a sworn Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) with a highly trained and specialized non-sworn social worker. These HOTeams have proven to be very useful in engaging individuals experiencing homelessness and have aided in significantly reducing street-level homelessness in numerous communities across the USA. These HOTeams have proven to be positive segues between law enforcement, service providing agencies and the community of homelessness. Mendocino County Marbut Report - Because of the unique characteristics and high number of individuals experiencing homelessness in Ukiah, it is strongly recommended to create one HOTeam in Ukiah. Because of funding realities, it is recommended to start this initiative as a 90-day pilot program. Then evaluate the this initiative after 90 days to see if it is worth continuing (eg did it work?, is there more work to be done?, etc.). Possibly partner a Ukiah PD Officer with a County funded social worker from either Street Medicine or RCS. Ideally, this HOTeam would be the primary engagement tool for street-level engagement of individuals into 24/7 service programs. This HOTeam would be the initial proactive point of contact for both individuals experiencing homelessness and the North-South Travelers. In addition to the specialized HOTeam, most LEOs in the County should go through at least a minimal level of homelessness engagement and sensitivity training. 15 - Create/Source Meaningful Mental Health and Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Slots There are a limited number of short-term and long-term referral treatment options for individuals within Mendocino County. A critical need exists for additional behavioral health and substance abuse rehab beds/slots of all kinds, including long term treatment options for individuals receiving 5150s (State of California 72-hour holds for mental health crisis intervention). An action oriented task-force within the umbrella of either HHSA and/or CoC should be tasked with working to create and source added inventory. 16 - Need Only One Day-Service-Center in Ukiah This recommendation is closely tied to Recommendation 5 (See Above - reduce duplication). Currently Ukiah has 3 functioning “day-service-centers” that provide a variety of services during the day: 1st MCAVHN (Mendocino County AIDS/Viral Hepatitis Network), 2nd Manzanita Services, Inc’s, 3rd A defacto day-center at the Ukiah Library. Beyond general services, most of these service centers have been providing specialized niche services to specific groups (eg specialized medical and mental/behavioral health services). As a practice, in most cases, individuals beyond the targeted service groups also have been utilizing these service centers. There is a 4th service-center that is planned to be opened in Ukiah adjacent to RCS’s Winter Shelter and an application is pending for a 5th service-center to be operated by Nor Cal Christian Ministries. Mendocino County Marbut Report - The current situation is not the result of a strategically developed decision making process. Having so many day service centers in a small area will likely produce many unintended negative affects and effects for both the individuals experiencing homelessness and for the general public within Ukiah. The negative issues will likely include: - Reduction of case management accountability, - Dilution of service impacts, - Increased “service shopping,” - Expansion of the bread-crump trail through neighborhoods. Looking to the future, based on the number of individuals experiencing homelessness, there only should be one location where “day services” are provided in Ukiah. This researcher understands that there has been efforts to coordinate in this area, but during the time of this research project, the services being delivered in this area were a series of individualized tactical decisions, rather than being part of a coordinated strategic effort. All the above agencies should work together to merge their efforts and resources at one single location (a possible logical single location would be adjacent to RCS’s Winter Shelter). Mendocino County Marbut Report - Sheltering and Transitional Housing Recommendations 17 - Must Have a Winter Shelter in Ukiah, However it Is Inconclusive If an Extreme Weather Shelter Is Needed in Fort Bragg Based on the survey data and actual shelter use data, there is a critical need for a Winter Shelter within Ukiah. As for Fort Bragg, the data is less conclusive on a need for an Extreme Weather Shelter within Fort Bragg. For the purpose of this report, a “winter shelter” is a facility that opens and then continuously operates for a defined period of time during the winter, whereas, an “extreme weather shelter” only opens on an as needed basis when the weather is so extreme that it hits certain codified thresholds that trigger the opening of a facility on a temporary basis. In Ukiah, based on the research data, there is an actual need for a year-round emergency shelter for homegrown individuals, especially for single adult males and to a lesser extent adult females. Since the RCS Winter Shelter already exists, the most cost effective way to create year round inventory would be to add additional operating months to the current Winter Shelter schedule (rather than creation of a new facility). It is critical to thoroughly think through sheltering options well in advance of any possible new openings and changes. If sheltering is developed without admission criterion, and if thoughtful clinical protocols/procedures are not utilized, it is then possible that the overall situation could get worse for both the individuals experiencing homelessness and the community-at-large. Like medical patients that are harmed by receiving an incorrect diagnosis that leads to a bad treatment plan, individuals can be harmed by having bad screenings, protocols and procedures at a shelter. In order to have positive outcomes, any sheltering operation in Mendocino County, whether seasonal or year-round, must have and/or do the following (partial listing of key protocols and procedures): - be limited to individuals experiencing HUD-defined homelessness, - guests need to be established within HMIS, - stays longer than 3 days should be limited only to homegrown residents of Mendocino County, - have holistic wrap-around services that address the core triggers of homelessness on-site, - have proper design buffers. As for Fort Bragg, the data does not indicate the need for a “winter shelter,” and the data is inconclusive on the possible need for an “extreme weather shelter.” Ideally, further evaluation would occur after realizing the improvements connected to implementing the recommendations of this report, especially Recommendations 5, 6, 10 and 11. After assessing the improvements, there might be a need for an extreme weather shelter - or - there might be a simpler alternative that addresses the lower residual need - or - it might not be needed at all. Mendocino County Marbut Report - 18 - Need to Strategically Optimize Placement at Willow Terrace When it Opens The Willow Terrace project presents an amazing opportunity to positively house up to 37 individuals who are currently experiencing homelessness. This is an one-time opportunity that must get done correctly from the start. Doing it correctly would create an amazing opportunity to reduce street-level homelessness while helping 37 individuals. However, inappropriate placements could actually make things worse for the adjacent neighborhood and fail to help the individuals that the program is trying to help. This researcher recommends that HHSA take the lead in working with the developers, key stakeholders and other relevant agencies to develop admission placement protocols and procedures that would maximize the chances for success for the incoming residents. Based on analysis of the survey data, especially around the issues of homegrowness and mobility, this researcher strongly recommends placing as many Ukiah residents into Willow Terrace as possible. 19 - Source New Housing Opportunities of All Types Whenever Possible There is a critical need to increase the number of both “short term” and “longer term” housing placements across the spectrum for men, women and families with children. To be successful, there needs to be an increase in inventory capacity of all types of housing within Mendocino County. Because of Federal budget cuts, which started during the Obama administration and have continued under the Trump administration, the financial burden is shifting to local governments to fund additional short-term transitional rapid-rehousing units and longer-term supportive housing units. The reality is there likely will be less Federal funding going forward for programs such as Rapid Rehousing and Permanent Supportive Housing. Less Federal funding is only the first challenge. The second challenge is the fact that Mendocino County’s housing vacancy rate is functionally at 0%, and the recent fires have only exacerbated this tight housing market. The Willow Terrace project could be a great source for housing placements especially for Ukiah residents. Additionally, the proposed monthly case management meetings outlined in
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  [See Above] also pertain to stolen shopping carts. It is important to realize that because of the mobility of shopping carts, disease transmission and vector control issues can actually become worse because the negative effects are moved around the community. Beyond all the negative effects listed above, it should always be remembered that a stolen shopping cart is an actual theft of property and should not be tolerated. The City of Buena Park California very successfully addressed a severe stolen shopping cart problem that the City had been dealing with for years. Within in 2 months of approving their action plan, the number of stolen shopping carts within the City went from over 500 stolen shopping carts to functionally 0. The really good news is Buena Park has sustained functionally 0 stolen shopping carts on the streets since implementation of their initiative. Mendocino County Marbut Report - The key to Buena Park’s success was a full and equal partnership between the police department and merchants. In Buena Park, the initial recovery phase of stolen shopping carts was led by the police department. Once Buena Park got to functionally 0, which occurred of street-level implementation, the maintenance phase was then led by the merchants. This researcher has shared the nuanced details of the Buena Park initiative with key stakeholders within Mendocino County. With just a few small tweaks, the Buena Park initiative can easily be replicated within Mendocino County within a period of 30-45 days. 22 - Engage Van-campers, and Impound Vehicles When Necessary Most “van-campers” are part of the North-South Travelers cohort and are from outside of Mendocino County. Additionally, it is very important to note that most of the van-campers are not experiencing HUD-defined homelessness. Like the overall cohort of North-South Travelers, most van-campers reside most of the time in the parking lots around Walmart, Jack-in-the-Box and Safeway. This researcher observed many van-campers frequently involved in drug use, in drug sells and in panhandling. Additionally, some of the van-camper vehicles present serious sanitary, vector control and environmental safety concerns. Many van-camper licence plates were expired and/or were from out of state. In order to address these issues, law enforcement officers need to engage these van-campers. Furthermore, when appropriate, law enforcement needs to cite and impound these vehicles, and all trespass laws should also be fully utilized. 23 - Engage Car-campers It should be noted that “car-campers” are not a sub-set of van-campers, but are instead part of the homegrown cohort of individuals experiencing street-level homelessness. Specifically, most car- campers are experiencing HUD defined homelessness and about half have family ties within Mendocino County. It is interesting to note that relative to other sub-groups experiencing homelessness, car-campers have higher levels of employment. It is strongly recommended that HOTeams be utilized to engage car-campers with the goal of placing car-campers into longer-term supportive housing [See Recommendation 14 Above]. Mendocino County Marbut Report - Longer Term Recommendations 24 - After the Willow Terrace Opens, After Duplication is Reduced, and After Utilization is Increased, then Re-look at the Overall System Volume Needs Several individuals that this researcher interviewed felt there was an immediate need to fund construction of new service inventory (eg construct new buildings and create new programs). This researcher agrees there is a critical need for additional inventory, but this researcher is not yet convinced that there is a need to construct new buildings nor establish new programs in order to create “new” inventory. There are 4 recommendations in this report that could significantly increase “new” service inventory which would be available to locally homegrown individuals that are experiencing homelessness. The 4 recommendations are: + Recommendation 5 - reduce duplication of services, + Recommendation 6 - increase utilization of current physical infrastructures, + Recommendation 11 - establish and follow eligibility criterion, + Recommendation 18 - optimize placements into Willow Terrace. This researcher beleives that it might be possible to organically gain enough increased inventory through implementation of the 4 recommendations above to meet the need. Additionally, it is possible with improved case management and outreach, that the need for services could also drop. Therefore, the question of “whether to construct new inventory” should be re-asked after the results of implementing these 4 recommendations are fully realized. 25 - Need to Conduct Deeper Data Dives Into the Issues of Employment, Out-of-towners and High Levels of Chronicness Building on the individualized survey data for this study and report, deeper data dives need to occur regarding the interrelated issues of employment, levels of chronicness and why out-of- towners come to Mendocino County after the onset of homelessness. Specifically, this researcher suggests conducting a series of “research focus groups” in order to gain a better understanding of how these 3 issues interrelate. This researcher has already begun to work with HHSA staff on how to conduct these focus groups. It is hoped that deeper information gained regarding these 3 topics will be useful in developing strategies on how to address the “1-3 year chronic bubble” and in developing strategies that deter out-of-towners from coming to and then remaining in Mendocino County after the onset of homelessness. Mendocino County Marbut Report - 26 - Replicate the Data Analyses Within This Study in the Remainder of the County This researcher can make some educated assumptions about the remainder of the County, but these assumptions would be based on unscientific observations, anecdotal stories and data inferences, rather than on direct observations and scientific data. At some point in the near future, the data analyses that were conducted in and around Fort Bragg, Ukiah and Willits should be replicated throughout the rest of Mendocino County. 27 - Create and Implement a Public Relations Campaign in Order to Engage the General Public as a Proactive Partner with this Effort Once the recommendations within this report have been adopted and/or amended and/or rejected [See Recommendation 2 Above], a comprehensive public relations campaign needs to be developed and implemented in order to gain buy-in and support by the general public for the approved set of strategic recommendations. 28 - Set Up a Feed Back Loop to Guide Ongoing Improvements . . . Set Up a Checkup Plan Communities that have had the long term sustainable success have all set up checkup processes to make sure the adopted recommendations are properly implemented. Furthermore, and maybe even more important, these successful communities have created feed back loops that give guidance in real-time on when adjustments need to be made. There are three things leaders need to be aware of when a comprehensive strategic plan is implemented: 1- some mid-course adjustments will need to be made, 2- system improvements will in turn unveil new opportunities not previously seen, 3- the law of “unintended consequences” always kicks in . . . sometimes this is good – while other times it means underlying issues that were hidden before, now become exposed and need to also be addressed. Checkup Plans and Feed Back Loops: - should not become bureaucratic and should not become a bunch of meetings, - need to be rigorous, - need to be independent, - should have a regular set of check points (after 2 months, after 6 months, after a year, etc.). Mendocino County Marbut Report - Next Steps * Adopt and/or amend and/or reject the above recommendations. * Assign ownership of each adopted recommendation to one person by name with a targeted timeline of implementation. * Just start implementing. * Establish a checkup plan. Mendocino County Marbut Report - Exhibit 1 - Program/Agency Site Visits, Tours, Meetings and Conference Calls ( ) partial listing Judy Albert, MFT Project Sanctuary Program Director Sheriff Tom Allman Mendocino County Sheriff-Coroner Lara Anderson Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center Former Hospitality House Administrator Carmel J. Angelo Mendocino County Chief Executive Officer Amanda Archer Mendocino County Youth Project (MCYP) Levine House Care Manager III Tami Bartolomei City of Ukiah Community Services Administrator Julie Beardsley, MPH County of Mendocino Health and Human Services Agency Senior Public Health Analyst Heather Blough Community Development Commission of Mendocino County (Housing Authority) Housing Manager Mendocino County Marbut Report - Traci Boyl Plowshares Executive Director Officer Joe Breyer Fort Brag Police Department Police Officer Deputy Matthew Carlson Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Sheriff’s Deputy Valicia Catching DSR Security Services Manager Tammy Moss Chandler Mendocino County Health and Human Services Director and Acting Recovery Director Chief Chris Dewey Ukiah Police Department Chief of Police Becky Driscoll Little Lake Health Center Health Center Director Bekkie Emery County of Mendocino Health & Human Services Assistant Director Angelica Figueroa Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation Project Manager Mendocino County Marbut Report - Sarah Gavette Manzanita Services, Inc. Program Coordinator James “Batman” Gibney Hospitality House Senior House Manager Lt. Charles P. Gilchrist Fort Bragg Police Department Hon. Gerry Gonzalez Willits City Council Mayor Sarah Gravette Manzanita Services, Inc. QA Program Coordinator M. Lynette Guenther Walmart Store Manager Libby Guthrie, Ed.D. MCAVHN Executive Director Drew Hair-Iacomini Ford Street Project Community Support and Housing Programs Director Kristina Harju Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center Programs Manager Mendocino County Marbut Report - Elizabeth Hart Willits Community Services & Food Bank Client Services Ed Haynes, DVM Ukiah Veterinary Owner Tony Huerta Nor Cal Christian Ministries Executive Director D.E. (Rick) Johnson, PE Plowshares Former Board Member Lynelle Johnson Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center Board President Jody J. Johnston Mendocino County - Health & Human Services Agency Senior Program Manager - Adult and Aging Services Division Brian Klovski Mendocino County Health & Human Services Agency HOME Team Unit Program Specialist Ryan LaRue Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation Director of Development Sgt. Brandon Lee Fort Bragg Police Department Mendocino County Marbut Report - Wendy Lee MCAVHN Outreach Testing Counselor Officer Kevin Leef Willits Police Department Police Officer Chief Fabian E. Lizarraga Fort Bragg Police Department Chief of Police Tony Marsh Redwood Community Services Winter Shelter Patrice Mascolo Plowshares Office Manager and Executive Assistant Dennie Maslak Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency Staff Assistant III Hon. John McCowen County of Mendocino Chair and Second District Supervisor Brad McDonald Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation Chief Executive Officer Daniel McIntire Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation Director of Property Management Mendocino County Marbut Report - Lt. David McQueary Ukiah Police Department Anne Molgaard Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency Chief Operations Officer, Acting HHSA Director Adrienne Moore City of Willits City Manager Mark P. Mountanos M.P.Mountanos Coffee Owner Hon. Maureen Mulheren City of Ukiah / Connect Insurance City Councilperson / Independent Insurance Agent Wynd Novotny Manzanita Services, Inc. Executive Director Joanna Olson Mendocino County Youth Project (MCYP) Executive Director Paul Otto Not Cal Christian Ministries Board Member Jennifer Owen City of Fort Bragg Special Projects Manager Mendocino County Marbut Report - Mike Pallesen Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation Special Projects Manager Blythe Post Mendocino County Office of Education Foster and Homeless Youth Services - Manager IV Debra Ramirez Project Sanctuary Shelter Director Stacey Ramsey DSR Security Services Owner David Rapport City of Ukiah Contract Assistant City Attorney Paula Redding Manzanita Services, Inc. Benefits Advocate Sarah Reith Stories / Mendo Voice Author / Journalist Lucresha Renteria Mendocino Coast Clinics, Inc. (MCC) Executive Director Shannon Riley City of Ukiah Deputy City Manager Mendocino County Marbut Report - Kelsey Rivera Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency Deputy Director - Adults and Aging Services Division Hon. Saprina Rodriguez Willits City Council Councilwoman Linda Ruffing City of Fort Bragg City Manager Hon. Stephen Scalmanini City of Ukiah Councilman Craig Schlatter City of Ukiah Community Development and Planning Director Camille Schraeder, MA Redwood Community Services (RCS) Executive Director Tim Schraeder, MFT Redwood Quality Management Corporation Chief Executive Officer Anna Shaw Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center Executive Director Officer Joseph Shaw Fort Bragg Police Department Police Officer Mendocino County Marbut Report - Faith Simon, RN, MSN and FNP Fort Bragg Rural Health Center - Adventist Health Street Medicine Project Joel Soinila Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Productivity Engineer Linda Jo Stern, MPH Fort Bragg Street Medicine Advocate Maya Stuart, MA Mendocino County Health & Human Services Agency Program Administrator & MCHSCoC Chair Leanna Sweet, RN Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Director of Population Health Care Management Elizabeth Swenson North Coast Housing Action Team Coordinator Darcy C. Vaughn City of Ukiah Contract Assistant City Attorney Sgt. Noble Waidelich Ukiah Police Department Police Sergeant Jacqueline Williams Ford Street Project Executive Director Mendocino County Marbut Report - Sage Wolf Redwood Community Services, Inc. (RCS) Homeless Services Captain Justin Wyatt Ukiah Police Department _ _ _ Conversations and interviews with numerous individuals experiencing homelessness Conversations with numerous area citizens and merchants Conversations with several individuals from the faith-based community Experienced homelessness on streets Fort Bragg Police Department Ride-a-long Mendocino Sheriff Department Ride-a-long Met with the Board of Directors of Plowshares Met with the Mendocino County Homeless Services Continuum of Care Spent time at Libraries Ukiah Police Department Ride-a-long Visited several Federal, State, County and City Parks within Mendocino County Many others, some of whom requested anonymity Mendocino County Marbut Report - Exhibit 2 - Robert G. Marbut Jr., Ph.D. Biography Dr. Robert Marbut has worked on issues of homelessness for more than three decades: first as a volunteer, then as chief of staff to San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, next as a White House Fellow to President H.W. Bush (41, the Father), later as a San Antonio City Councilperson/Mayor-Pro-Tem and more recently as the Founding President & CEO of Haven for Hope (the most comprehensive homeless transformational center in the USA). In 2007, frustrated by the lack of real improvement in reducing homelessness, and as part of the concept development phase for the Haven for Hope Campus, Dr. Marbut conducted a nationwide best practices study. After personally visiting 237 homelessness service facilities in 12 states and the District of Columbia, he developed The Seven Guiding Principles of Homeless Transformation which focuses on root causes and recovery, not on symptoms and short term gimmicks. Since then, Dr. Marbut has visited a total of 839 operations in 25 states, plus Washington, DC and Mexico, DF, and has helped hundreds of communities and agencies to dramatically reduce homelessness. He has consulted with more communities and organizations than anyone else in the USA. These Seven Guiding Principles of Transformation are used in all aspects of his work to create holistically transformative environments in order to reduce homelessness. He earned a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas in International Relations (with an emphasis in international terrorism and Wahhabism), Political Behavior and American Political Institutions/Processes from the Department of Government. He also has two Master of Arts degrees, one in Government from The University of Texas at Austin and one in Criminal Justice from the Claremont Graduate School. His Bachelor of Arts is a Full Triple Major in Economics, Political Science and Psychology (Honors Graduate) from Claremont McKenna (Men's) College. Dr. Marbut also has completed three post-graduate fellowships, one as a White House Fellow (USA's most prestigious program for leadership and public service), one as a CORO Fellow of Public and Urban Affairs, and one as a TEACH Fellow in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the State of Qatar (1 of 13 USA educators selected). He was also a member of the Secretary of Defense’s Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC-63) 2000 class which focused on Special Operations. JCOC is the Secretary of Defense’s premier civic leadership program. Contact Information: Robert G. Marbut Jr., Ph.D. www.MarbutConsulting.org 6726 Wagner Way [email protected] San Antonio, TX 78256 210-260-9696 March 18, 2018 (2:42pm) C:\RGM Files Docs On 2nd Acer\Consulting\MendocinoCA\ReportsAndPresentatioins\MendocinoStrategicActionStepsFINAL.wpd Mendocino County Marbut Report -