City of Costa Mesa*

The County of Orange and cities within Orange County have been inconsistent in collaboration for support of shelters and services, which has resulted in missed opportunities to end homelessness. City Response: Over the past decade, the City of Costa Mesa has been developing a comprehensive system of care to serve those experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. The foundation of this system are the partnerships we've forged with the community, non-profits, business, and faith leaders, as well as extensive collaboration with fellow municipalities, the County of Orange, the State of California, and the Federal Government. A result is a three- pronged approach comprised of Outreach and Engagement, Emergency Shelter, and Housing and Employment services with an annual budget of over $3.6M. Outreach and Engagement: The City of Costa Mesa currently employs a team of five (5) full-time and four (4) part-time staff (8 FTE) to conduct community outreach and engagement. Further, the City contracts with City Net, a local non-profit outreach provider, to deploy two (2) additional outreach workers to expand coverage during after-hours. Since April 2019, City Outreach has facilitated successful housing placements for 135 formerly homeless clients. The City's annual budget for Outreach and Engagement is just over $1.2M. Emergency Shelter: In April 2019, the City of Costa Mesa partnered with a local church to deploy a 50-bed temporary shelter for residents experiencing homelessness. Over a two- year period, the temporary shelter assisted a total of 253 individuals, served a total of 133,000 meals, and facilitated successful housing placements for 77 shelter guests. FAIR DRIVE, COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA 92626 (714) 754-5099 • FAX: (714) 754-5330 • TDD: (714) 754-5244 • www.costamesaca.gov Mr. John Siragusa, Foreperson 2022-2023 Orange County Grand Jury November 3, 2022 Through our collaborative efforts and strong partnerships, the City of Costa Mesa, County of Orange and City of Newport Beach opened the 70-Bed permanent Bridge Shelter in April 2021. In the first year of operation, the Bridge Shelter assisted a total of 204 individuals with shelter and associated services, as well as facilitating exits to permanent housing for 33 shelter guests. The City's annual budget to operate the Bridge Shelter is approximately $2.4M. Housing and Employment: The overarching goal of the City of Costa Mesa's response to homelessness is to increase income and secure housing for those we serve. The City currently partners with Chrysalis and Trellis to provide an array of employment services to both sheltered and unsheltered residents. Currently, the City of Costa Mesa is partnering with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), and the County of Orange to convert a Motel 6 located at 2274 Newport Blvd., into 88 units of permanent affordable housing, of which, 10 units are designated for individuals receiving services as part of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), 30 units are designated for veterans, and 47 units are designated for very-low-income Costa Mesa seniors. The City's total contribution to the Motel 6 Housing Project is $5.75M.

There are an insufficient number of rental units available to those existing Emergency Shelters, resulting in the majority returning to homelessness when leaving the shelters. City Response: The City of Costa Mesa disagrees with this finding. While we agree that the lack of housing units and extremely-low vacancy rates in Orange County have increased the amount of time one must wait to secure housing, there is no data from the Bridge Shelter to support the claim that the majority of shelter guests exit to homelessness. In fact, since April 2019, the City of Costa Mesa has successfully housed a total of 252 homeless individuals, with 117 of those exiting directly from the City's emergency shelter. The City's robust case management and supportive services model has been extremely successful in identifying and securing housing options for both sheltered and unsheltered individuals. Please see the City's responses directly below each of the Recommendations: