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Memorandum of Understanding- Homeless Shelter <br />September 4, 2018 <br />Page 2 <br />The City has a long history of providing services to alleviate and prevent homelessness for Santa <br />Ana individuals and families. When seeking solutions to homelessness, the City considers both the <br />immediate crisis in our community as well as the on-going need for permanent solutions. Each <br />year, the City awards funds to non-profit homeless service providers to address homelessness and <br />has been a leader throughout the County in the development of affordable and Permanent <br />Supportive Housing. <br />In January 2018, the City created the Quality of Life Team (QOLT) to address a number of concerns <br />related to municipal code violations, property storage and improper use of public/private property. <br />This multidisciplinary team is comprised of staff from the Santa Ana Police Department, Parks and <br />Recreation, Public Works, Code Enforcement and Orange County Healthcare Outreach workers. <br />This successful best practice outreach model has increased the efficiency and response time in <br />addressing quality of life issues. From January 2018 to August 2018, the Quality of Life Team has <br />successfully responded to 999 locations, contacted 1,717 homeless individuals (may include <br />duplicates), and addressed 1,081 encampments. <br />Given the significant need to address homeless in Santa Ana, the lack of available shelter beds for <br />Santa Ana's use, the impacts of the Courtyard Emergency Homeless Shelter and its close proximity <br />to the Downtown and surrounding communities, the City Council directed staff to negotiate a <br />Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the County to relocate the Courtyard to a more suitable <br />location and to add bed capacity specifically for Santa Ana's use. <br />The purpose of this Memorandum is to provide a basic understanding concerning discussions <br />between the City and County with respect to the proposed Courtyard replacement homeless shelter <br />site. In addition, the MOU will set forth provisions that the City and County contemplate including: <br />1. City, in collaboration with the County, to select and acquire a site(s). <br />2. City to contribute $3.5 million in one-time State HEAP grant funds for the site(s) acquisition <br />and improvements. <br />3. City to contribute $1 million for admin/ops for 15 years. <br />4. County to commit $10 million for the purchase of the site(s) or to lease the site(s). <br />5. County to operate site(s) for approximately 600 beds of which 475 will be allocated based <br />on proportional share of unsheltered homeless in the Central SPA. <br />6. County to prioritize 125 beds for Santa Ana. <br />The MOU to transition "The Courtyard" emergency homeless shelter to a more suitable location <br />will provide the following benefits to the City of Santa Ana: <br />1. Mitigate the negative impacts of homelessness in Downtown Santa Ana and surrounding <br />communities by transitioning the Courtyard homeless shelter to a more suitable location <br />and facility designed to maintain a safe and healthy environment. Locations will be <br />considered to be a safe distance from schools, parks, residential, and other sensitive uses. <br />2. Provide unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness a safe place with supportive <br />services to assist them to transition out of homelessness and into housing. <br />65C-2 <br />