Item 25 - Public Hearing - Fiscal Year 2025-26 City Budget

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The City continues to address the needs of the unhoused community by providing resources that address, limit, and prevent our neighbors from becoming unhoused. The City cannot single-handedly eliminate this ever-growing issue. As a result, the City collaborates with other government agencies, including the County. Internally, various City departments play a vital role in ensuring that there are several pathways to assistance, including the provision of more permanent housing. Four Point Homeless Strategic Plan The City of Santa Ana established the four-point Strategic Plan to address the issues related to being unhoused. It is organized around the following four core strategies: 1.Clean: Reduce negative impacts on the community to ensure Santa Ana is clean and safe. 2.Outreach: Be persistent in our contact with anyone currently unhoused. 3.Housing: Reduce the number of Santa Ana’s unsheltered community. 4.Communication: Have an engaged and informed community regarding the unsheltered, along with proposed solutions. Response Teams The Quality of Life Team (QOLT): A multi-disciplinary team to address quality of life issues throughout the City. The team addresses issues in the field, including outreach services, encampment clean-ups, and enforcement actions when necessary. Santa Ana Multi-Disciplinary Response Team (SMART): A pilot program between the City and the non- profit City Net. City Net provides outreach teams to engage with individuals on the streets, for the purpose of connecting them to shelter, critical services, and mental health and medical treatment. It has allowed for the expansion of trauma-informed case services and provides enhanced outreach. Their purpose is to efficiently use City resources by diverting calls from the Police Department to SMART teams in the field. This allows the SMART team to focus on all non-emergency calls and focuses on providing services, addressing mental health needs, and helping more individuals transition out of being unhoused. Full Time Employees Assigned for Unhoused Community Support The Community Development Agency (CDA): Three staff members providing support to the unhoused community which helps provide funding to non-profit service providers for a range of services, including rental assistance and landlord incentive programs. CDA also focuses on implementing emergency and permanent housing solutions, managing State and Federal grant funds, and overseeing the Homeless Navigation Center and the Outreach and Engagement program. The Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD):Ten dedicated Quality of Life Team (QOLT) team members that focus on enforcement and outreach services. The department is expected to exceed 24,000 related calls in FY25-26, collaborating with the Santa Ana Multi-Disciplinary Response Teams (SMART). The Planning & Building Agency's (PBA): Three staff members dedicated to supporting the unhoused community in the Code Enforcement Division. Code Enforcement addresses private property issues, such as illegal encampments and property maintenance, to prevent public nuisances with property owners. The Public Works Agency (PWA): Six dedicated staff members responsible for cleaning and sanitizing public property in addition to sorting the private property of individuals in encampments.