Board of Supervisors Richard Valle President Board of Supervisors January 14, 2020 Honorable Tara Desautels Acting*

Although most independent living home operators are well intentioned and do their best to provide a safe and secure living environment for their tenants, profits are so low in this industry that the money needed for repairs, capital investments and suitable client services often does not exist. ALAMEDA COUNTY RESPONSE TO THE 2018-2019 GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT Response to Finding 19-20: The Board of Supervisors agrees. The Healthy Homes Department has conducted research to find the location of independent living homes and has found that homes once advertised as being open for business had ceased to exist. In speaking with independent living home operators, staff have been told that financial challenges were a factor in these facilities closing down.

Existing programs - Healthy Homes Department, Independent Living Association, Group Living Facilities Working Group - have laid the groundwork for a comprehensive approach to addressing independent living issues, but a lack of resources, coordination and focal leadership has limited their effectiveness. Proactive attention to identification and inspection of rental units, education of operators, and subsidies for home maintenance and repairs, and peer reviews must be elements for better housing of vulnerable adults. Response to Finding 19-23: The Board of Supervisors partially agrees. The Healthy Homes Department has made good use of existing resources; however, grants and available funding have not kept pace with the cost of living.

There is a need for a searchable web-based database containing information about the location and quality of independent living homes in Alameda County. The database would allow investigators to systematically document complaints and conditions and would assist social workers and consumers to make appropriate placements. Response to Finding 19-24: The Board of Supervisors agrees that a searchable database would be helpful to the community and to government agencies.

The service area of the Group Living Facilities Working Group and the Group Living Strike Team is limited in geographic scope to unincorporated areas of Alameda County. Furthermore, the Strike Team is ad hoc and dependent on interpersonal relationships between individual agency staff. Response to Finding 19-25: The Board of Supervisors disagrees. Alameda County currently has a formalized Strike Team model that has been operational since approximately 2014. Members of this Strike Team include the following: Regional Community Care Licensing (CCL), Adult Protective Services (APS), Long Term Care Ombudsman (LTCO) programs, Behavior Health Care Services, law enforcement and other community partners.