City of Anaheim Office of the City Manager September 14, 2022 The Honorable Erick L. Larsh Presiding Judge of the*

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. Response 3: The City partially agrees with this finding. The ability to bring emergency shelters and accompanying services online is heavily dependent on the availability of funding for both capital and operations, which is a significant continued investment that requires sustained political will and financial resources. As it relates specifically to Anaheim, the City believes we have done our fair share to be good partners and have engaged in meaningful collaborations that have brought forth shelter and service opportunities that have benefited the entire North Orange County area. In 2017, the City of Anaheim partnered with the County of Orange and willing neighboring cities on bringing online an Anaheim-based emergency shelter to serve the region. The Bridges at Kraemer Place shelter is a 200 bed shelter made possible through collaboration with the County and cities of Fullerton, La Habra, and Brea. The project included one-time capital costs from the cities to construct the shelter and a commitment from the County to fund ongoing operating costs and services. The City acknowledges that the provision of emergency shelter is the result of available funding and ability to site shelters in willing host cities, which can lead to inconsistent approaches when resources and/or political will are not aligned towards the goal of ending homelessness. In Anaheim, the availability of both elements has led to significant achievements including the ability to build three shelters in 79 days to address immediate needs. Currently, the City hosts and funds the Salvation Army shelter which provides 325 200 S. ANAHEIM BLVD. shelter beds. SUITE 733 ANAHEIM, CA 92805 TEL (714) 765-5162 FAX (714) 765-5164 www.anaheim.net The City is supportive of continued County efforts that increase shelter options regionally.

There are an insufficient number of rental units available to those exiting Emergency Shelters, resulting in the majority returning to homelessness when leaving the shelters. Response 4: The City partially agrees with this finding. Within City and County operated and funded shelter contracts, there is flexibility regarding the length of stay at emergency shelter programs as it is understood that every household's housing process and timeline is varied. Additionally, the City and the County recognize that returning people to unsheltered homelessness would further disengage the homeless population from accessing available supportive services and discourage progress from securing permanent housing. Anaheim has invested in both shelter and permanent housing options. Under the umbrella of the Anaheim Housing Authority (AHA), we have already created over 200 units of permanent supportive housing (PSH) that are operational today and have facilitated the creation of an additional 215 units of PSH, which are in varied stages of development, with the majority coming on line within one year. In addition to specific PSH units, AHA has a pipeline of affordable housing development that will bring forth another 300 units of affordable housing within the next five years. In recognition that development takes time, the Housing Authority has an established priority within its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program for persons experiencing homelessness. This priority has been in place for over a decade. In the last year, AHA received a new allocation of 275 Emergency Housing Vouchers specifically to provide housing assistance for persons experiencing homelessness. The issuance of these vouchers has been a collaborative effort as the Orange County Continuum of Care Board (CoC) has played a vital role in identifying eligible recipients through the Coordinated Entry System. We are aware that many of these vouchers have been matched to individuals in our shelters. However, it must be noted that Orange County is an extremely tight rental market, with vacancy rates hovering at or below 2%. Given these conditions, the challenges of finding available rental housing are exacerbated when other factors such as lack of or adverse rental history and/or negative credit are also at play. In an effort to incentivize landlords to accept these vouchers, Anaheim, as well other County jurisdictions, recently began offering lease up bonuses and other move in incentives as a means of increasing the availability of rental options for persons exiting homelessness. The City has also used entitlement program funding, specifically Emergency Solutions Grant and HOME Partnership Program funding to provide both short term rental assistance, defined as up to 24 months, and support services necessary to keep individuals and families stable in a scattered site rental. These programs all link to permanent housing options. Anaheim looks forward to continuing to collaborate with our County partners as we continue to increase the inventory of affordable housing on a regional level. Recommendations