55C - RESO OC HOUSING FINANCE JOINT POWERS

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• If someone were placed in supportive housing (i.e. housing that included some social and health services onsite or nearby), then ambulance transports would be reduced by 78% among this population. The study also noted that "those in supportive housing reported ... 100% fewer arrests, compared to those who are chronically homeless living on the street or in emergency shelters." • The average cost of services is 40% lower for the chronically homeless in supportive housing ($51,587/year) when compared to the cost of the chronically homeless on the streets ($85,631/year) even taking into consideration the cost of the housing. • Looking solely at health service utilization, the estimated average annual cost of homeless who are housed ($26,158) is half the annual cost incurred by those on the street or in emergency shelters ($51,855). This disparity is greater between those in supportive housing ($43,184) and those who are chronically street homeless ($98,199). • For the chronically homeless who are the most frequent users of services, those 10% of the chronically homeless cost $439,787 per person per year when `on'the street, but only $55,332 per person per year when in supportive housing. • If all of Orange County's chronically homeless were placed in supportive housing, the region would save about $42 million a year. About Supportive Housing. As noted, the concept of supportive,housing is intended'to provide long- term housing (such as an apartment or,shared unit or similar) to a homeless person (typically chronically homeless), as that person is likely unable to -'remain in housing without some daily (or near daily) assistance in terms of social services, mentafheath care, or similar:. Thus, supportive housing allows individuals and families to remain in their own apartment, but a qualified service provider is onsite or nearby to ensure that the individual or family,is�taking the steps needed and getting the care they need to remain housed. Supportive housing is most geared towards those`chronically homeless. Persons who are not chronically homeless often can benefit,from more typical (and less costly) affordable housing, Section 8 programs (rental assistance), rapid -rehousing (short-term,housing to allow someone to quickly get back on their feet after a homeless.experience) or transitional housing (medium -term housing that can help a person re-establish'their societal•footing with a job or jol�training for 2-24 months). Efforts to Promote Supportive -Housing in Orange County. In 2017 and 2018, policy makers around the county started discussing a goal of providing,up to 2,700 units of supportive housing across the region. The number was developed in part from data from the 2017 Point in Time Count. While some entities discussed breaking down,the entire 21700 and assigning a population -based share to each community, a more achievable goal may be to use,the 2,700-unit number as a stretch target across the region. Not every city will have the desire to site supportive housing or the sites for it. Judge David O. Carter of the US District Court in Santa Ana also has discussed the 2,700-unit number, seeing it as an important part of the "housing pipeline" —where a real homelessness solution involves transitioning the chronically and other homeless from the streets to emergency or bridge shelters to transitional housing and finally to supportive housing. Without enough units and beds at each step — including supportive housing — the system and solution fails. In 2018, the Association of California Cities — Orange County worked with local legislators (including Assembly Members Daly and Quirk -Silva and Senators Bates, Moorlach, and Nguyen) to pass AB 448. This bill was intended to allow the cities of Orange County and the County of Orange to work together to 55C-38