County of Sonoma 575 Administration Drive, Room 1o2a

F2. F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8. F10. F11, F12. F13 (Attach a statement specifying any portions of the findings that are disputed with an explanation of the reasons.)

lnadequate coordination between the various involved County agencies led to an inefficient and less effuctive response to cold weather emergencies that negatively affected the health and safety of unhoused people, we disagree with this finding. The county coordinated with the relevant county agencies, as well as outside stakeholders.

At the time of this complaint (April 2022) and throuth the time of this repoG the County fuiled to create formal policies and procedures to protect unhoused people during cold weather emergencies. We disagree with this finding. The County had existing policies and procedures in place to protect unhoused people during cold weather emergencies that were implemented in this event Revised June 2022 Response to GJ Report Form

Failure by the County, includint the Eoatd of SuPervisors to plan and prepare in advance for warming centeB durint e,(treme weather emertencies, results in inefficient lastminute responses, leaving unhoused individuals exposed to severe cold. We partially disagree with this findinB. On June L2,2023,ihe Board of SupervisoB adopted the Extreme Temperature Response Annex to the Emergency Operations Plan. The Plan outlines the policies, procedures, and area partners' roles in response to an extreme temperature incident and provides criterion for implementing this annex to unincorporated Sonoma County. lt also positions the County as the Operational Area to prioritize the support of pre-established facilities and the expansion of their warming or cooling services and if necessary, establish additional facilities.

A lack of identification of, and aBreements with, warming facilities in advance of cold weather emergencies leads to a deficit of easily accessible spaces when those emertencies occur. We partially disagree with this finding. On June 12,2023,ihe Boardof Supervisors adopted the Extreme Temperature Response Annex to the Emergency operations Plan. The Plan positions the County as the Operational Area to prioritize the support of pre-established facilities and the expansion of their warming or cooling services and if necessary, establish additional facilities. Locations will be established through pre-authorized memorandums of understanding and used as contingency locations when there are gaps in service across the OperationalArea. Furthermore, since 20L0 the winter shelter in west-county has been operating from the Guerneville Veterans Memorial Building. The winter shelter program provides emergency food and sheher during the wettest and coldest months and is open seven days a week from 5:00 pm to 7:00 am and provides services including: meals, bedding, shower facilities, and limited supplies for daily needs. The county contracts with west county community services to provide winter shelter operation services.

poor and inconsistent communication with unhoused people results in individuals needlessly remainint unsheltered during cold weather emergencies. we partially disagree with this finding. consistent communication is always ideal, but the reason that people remain unhoused during cold weather emergencies is not solely, or even primarily, because of "poor and inconsistent communication." People often do not want to leave belongings, a pet, companions, a set-up tent or lean-to, just to lose track of those when the event is over' lt 2022 Revis€d June Response to GJ Report Form also can be more difficult (i.e., more exposure to cold, wet weather, or unsafe travel) during the event itself to physically move from an encampment location to a shelter, and then back aBain when the emergency ends. Sometimes the best pathway is what providers like West County Community Services do - give unhoused individuals warm food, blankets, coats, and clothing where they are located versus communicating places where they can go with significant difficultly. As we have noted to the Grand Jury, the real solution to protecting the unhoused in cold weather emergencies is to build more housing.

At the time of the complaint and throuth the winter ol2022'202?,lhe County failed to consistently determine when the temperature and other weather conditions constituted a cold weather emertency. Warming Centers 10 F13. The County failed to consistently collect and utilize 2022 Revis€d June Response to GJ Report Form data such as costs, staffing, facilities, and the number of unhoused individuals who took advantage of the limited number of warming centers in the County, which hinderc the ability to plan for future cold weather emergencies. We disagree with this finding. The Department of Emergency Management works closely with the National Weather Service to determine when the temperature or other weather conditions constitute a cold weather emergency. These events must meet established criteria. Once these weather events meet criteria the appropriate weather emergency is declared. DEM works closely with all county stakeholders to provide updates on weather conditions as they are received from the National Weather Service. During severe events, daily convenings are hosted by DEM where a National Weather Service representative is always present to provide real-time updates so decisions can be discussed and implemented as appropriate and necessary. The County is also consistently collecting and utilizing data to plan for future cold weather emergencies.

The County failed to consistently collect and utilize data such as costs, staffing, facilities, and the number of unhoused individuals who took advantage of the limited number of warming centers in the County, which hinders the ability to plan for future cold weather emergencies. We partially disagree with this finding. Perfect data collection is always ideal. But during weather emergencies, we're not able to insist on rigorous data collection from volunteers, faith groups, and under-staffed service providers. As to planning for future cold weather emergencies, we believe that we have a good sense of what is needed: We need a scaled capacity in each section of the county (North, Sonoma Valley, Mid-County, West, and Petaluma)that is based in part on available facilities & staffing, in part on the unsheltered point in time count, and in part on that region's past pattern and practice (i.e. the interest by the unhoused to go to warming centers isn't consistent - Russian River clients will have different approaches than Santa Rosans). Looking at this too cynically, the push for more and better warming centers can be an excuse by some to avoid addressing the region's need for more housing. We need to turn "at least my neighbor isn't dying in the cold" into "how can I support more housing for all income levels so no one's outside." Revised Jwe2022 Response to GJ Report Form