City of Lawrence, Kansas

HOMELESS ISSUES ADVISORY COMMITTEE

June 12, 2012 Minutes (Lawrence City Commission Room)

Members present: Hubbard Collinsworth (at-large), Brad Cook (Bert Nash Homeless Outreach Team), Wes Dalberg (Salvation Army), Karin Feltman (LMH), Brent Hoffman (Family Promise), Trent McKinley (LPD), Shannon Murphy (Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Reentry Program), Cary Strong (Lawrence Business Community), Elyse Towey (LDCHA)

Members absent: None

Staff present: Alicia Barlow, Margene Swarts

Public present: Dana Ortiz (Family Promise), Loring Henderson (LCS), CJ Brune, Hilda Enoch, Violet Smith, Stacy Pacholick (Salvation Army SSVF Program), Bob Nugent (City of Lawrence Transit Department), Saunny Scott, Pat Benebe

The meeting was called to order at 8:34 am by Chair Cook.

ITEM NO. 1 Introductions

The members of the HIAC and guests introduced themselves.

ITEM NO. 2 Approval of the Agenda and the May 8, 2012 Minutes.

Motion by Collinsworth to approve the Agenda and the May 8, 2012 meeting minutes of the HIAC; seconded by Towey.

Motion passed unanimously.

ITEM NO. 3 Housing Vision Reports

A. Non-Housing – Transportation – Bob Nugent, City of Lawrence Transit

Nugent passed out a packet and discussed some changes to the Transit routes.

Nugent said Transit is changing services on Route Three. The department introduced the “flex ride” service a few years ago, which is a service where riders call in advance and the buses will arrive to pick them up at their current location. The program started with a partial flex route. Nugent said it typically takes about six months to implement this type of service and thus far it is mostly found in residential routes. There is currently a few fixed routes that run schedules both early and late in the day.

Nugent said the location of the new LCS building on Franklin Park Circle has resulted in changes within Route Five. With the new location of LCS, Transit has changed the current route to go across to O’Connell Road. There had been two buses assigned to this route to run a thirty-minute service, but Transit is not seeing an increase in ridership. As a result of this data, Transit is going back to hourly service. If ridership changes drastically, they will make changes.

Nugent said Routes Nine and Ten are not changing. There will be two new routes, including Route 29 and another route to the southwest. The potential for ridership with number of beds in this area is much higher than south central Lawrence where they do have service on Route 11. This plan started with three buses, but now it has grown to four or five. Residents have been asking for this route for a long time, and the City and Kansas University are working together to pay for this enhancement.

Nugent said in addition the University looked at their routes and found the weakest portion was the route along Naismith Drive to 23^rd Street, Alabama Street, Louisiana Street, and back. Transit will be cutting that off at campus to be able to provide for a new route. From the City’s perspective, they still need to provide something there, as there are a lot of international students and it is adjacent to a lower income area. The route that runs from Haskell along 19^th Street to the University is only running 160 days a year. The University routes will not start up until the University starts their fall session. The city routes will start on the first of August. Nugent indicated the City bus hours of operations were from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM Monday through Saturday. There has been some question and discussions about implementing later service or a Sunday service.

Feltman commented that a lot of the workers at LMH work shift work and later shifts, and they need a way to get to work.

Nugent replied that there had been some conversations, and he believes that they need to match the demands of the ridership with what Transit provides. In Louisville, KY, they had a night service, which they did for the local UPS facility because the company has headquarters there. That community did adjust their routes and timing to accommodate that aspect. Nugent said there are no cookie-cutter approaches to transit determinations.

Feltman said from the hospital standpoint, especially concerning Emergency Room practices, they often use bus passes to be able to send people back to their homes. Often they have also had to pay for taxi services out of hospital budget. In addition, Sundays are the days where there are very few other clinics available in cases of crisis, so this day provides higher traffic as well.

Nugent responded that research indicates if they run a route for 12 hours, ridership may be 100 during week, 50 on Saturday, and 25 on Sunday. That information is taken into consideration for establishing routes.

Collinsworth said with the new Dillons location being built Route Seven has been affected.

Nugent said Transit has relocated the stop to a shelter nearby. When the City puts in a shelter location, the idea is to drive people toward the shelter. Transit took the Dillons area stop out of the route with the intention of trying to get people to go to the shelter located half a block away. The shelters are large investments and the Transit Department wants people to use them.

Murphy commented jail staff are very excited about the new routes, especially for facilitating visitors. She said the route enhancements will be a great help to get families to their location.

Nugent added if one looks at the route design, it should be very helpful. He said Transit is also looking at options with the South Lawrence Trafficway, if and when that project goes through.

Enoch asked if flex routes would help 3^rd shift workers in the community.

Nugent said typically when flex routes are opened, they open to whole city. Transit does have the T-lift program, which is basically the same as the flex route program. This service is very expensive, running about $20 per passenger. This is a great service, but very expensive, especially if running through whole city.

B. Emergency Shelter/Temporary Housing – Dana Ortiz, Family Promise

Dana Ortiz, Executive Director of Lawrence Family Promise, said Family Promise is a national organization with 177 chapters and it was started by two women. In Lawrence, the organization has been in operation for four years. In 2011 Family Promise served 18 families. Ortiz said while this may not sound like a big number, all of those families are still in permanent housing. In addition, all families served from 2010 and 2009 are still in permanent housing. Ortiz said the reason this formula and strategy works is because of the network of volunteers. Within the program, families are housed in congregations and churches around Lawrence.

Ortiz said Family Promise has only one full time staff member, but they have added a few part time staff members. At the Day House, 905 Tennessee, they are remodeling the basement into a safer toddler-friendly space. In addition they are turning the third floor into a space for teenagers, which will give them a special place on their own.

Ortiz said Family Promise has provided 4,300 nights of lodging and 14,000 meals since they began operations. The volunteer congregations provide dinner and grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches. The organization has worked with 68 individuals, and the average length of stay was about two months. There have been 12,000 hours of volunteer service, and most of the organization’s work is done by volunteer labor. Ortiz said the organization will put something out on Facebook advertising a need, and volunteers step up to help. She said in addition Family Promise is starting to work with LCS to provide services as many of the clientele overlap.

Ortiz said the organization has an operating budget of $165,000 and this money comes from donations. Family Promise requires that the parents in the program have childcare services in place, and the organization works with SRS as well as other childcare opportunities throughout the network. Ortiz added some of the volunteers do babysitting as well. Family Promise does require that program participants are a family. The organization does background checks to check for a history of violent crime or sex abuse, and they do not take in family members with untreated mental illness as most of their work is done by volunteers, who are not trained for working with this type of client.

Ortiz said Family Promise has had two recent graduations, so they have openings for two families, or up to six individuals.

Murphy asked about serving family members with a history of violent crimes.

Ortiz answered that they do take felons, however if there is a history of violence and it is a cycle, they are not eligible for the program.

Cook asked Ortiz to talk about the network of providers and congregations.

Ortiz explained that within the network, there are some transitional housing options. She said if someone has some ideas or some properties in mind, they are happy to discuss it.

Enoch asked how many people within the Family Promise network looking for work would work 3^rd shift.

Ortiz answered that it would be very difficult for program participants to work 3^rd shift. The families with children are required to have an adult with them, and if that is not an option Family Promise does require child care.

Feltman added that there would be some difficulties for volunteers if people were leaving overnight. For example, the building she works with locks at 10 pm for safety reasons. There would also be challenges for volunteers, who work during the day but sleep there over night.

Hoffman asked what kind of follow-up there is when a family graduates.

Ortiz replied when a family graduates, the connection is not severed. Some have moved out of the community, moving to other states and such. Family Promise is rolling out a program called family mentoring, which is similar to Big Brothers, Big Sisters. This program will pair families in the network with trained, previously graduated families who wish to volunteer.

The organization also keeps in touch with families via newsletters, support groups, and in addition many of their volunteers are former graduates. Family Promise also has a graduate on the Board of Trustees. The relationship with graduates is very tight.

Hoffman asked what other organizations Family Promise works with, including any City or county groups.

Ortiz answered they have some families that have worked with Tenants to Homeowners, and the organization works with nearly every social service agency in town. A lot of Family Promise referrals come from the Lawrence School District.

Feltman asked how many people inquire about the program.

Ortiz responded that from April 10^th to May 11^th, they had 40 separate family referrals in a 30-day period. None of these families were staying at the shelter, and these 40 families all had to be turned away.

C. Transitional Housing/Supportive Services – Salvation Army SSVF Program, Stacy Pacholick

Pacholick handed out brochures on the Salvation Army Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) project. She said she is here to let the committee know about the program as no organization can do everything alone. This particular program is a grant program, and is based on the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) model. Participants in the program have to be a veteran and either head of household or spouse of head of household. They have to have served at least one day of active duty. The program can take all veteran participants except those with a dishonorable discharge. The participants have to be at or below 50% of median income, and they have to be homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness and have no other options. The program office is in Missouri, but the program does cover the entire state of Kansas.

Pacholick said services the program provides have to be focused on permanent housing, and this is meant to be a short term program. It is sometimes difficult to navigate the Veterans Administration system and their benefit programs. The program has peer mentors to help participants walk through the program. The program provides services, case management, rental assistance, deposit assistance, utility deposits, and utility arrears at a different location for two months. The SSVF program works with different organizations to help with the program delivery. The program can help pay for transportation, but the need has to be based on sustainability. For example, if transportation is needed to get them to and from a job and that job is the only way they can sustain housing, then they can help with this.

Pacholick said through emergency funds, the program has been able to help participants get drivers licenses, birth certificates, and social security cards that may be necessary. The program can help people with criminal backgrounds, and they are very open to helping with those discussions to make sure participants can be accepted. If someone has been laid off, the program can help them apply for employment, but there is only help offered for those who are trying to sustain jobs and housing. The program works hard to ensure they are not providing a way to enable or to worsen anyone’s condition. This program is for truly homeless people. In the beginning the SSVF program was able to take people with eviction notices, but under the grant regulations, 70% of funds must be used for people who are truly homeless. Because of this, they have had to limit homeless prevention to be able to keep the grant. Moving forward, they are going to require a court order for eviction. Pacholick said this issue weighs on the hearts of those administering the program, but this is how to get numbers back where they need to get them for the grant requirements. She said the program is very busy in Topeka and Wichita, where there are VA medical centers as they see a lot of referrals from that venue. In Lawrence, however, there have been many fewer referrals. Often service providers do not know if those they are serving are veterans. The program can also partner with other programs.

Feltman commented that one day of boot camp counts as a veteran. Many do not know the definition of veteran.

Pacholick added because the program works with veterans, it is sometimes assumed that it has rules like the VA who cannot work with anyone with criminal backgrounds.

Hoffman asked how they are getting word out about the program other than coming to meetings like this.

Pacholick stated she has been to multiple service agencies, SRS, and Housing Authorities. In the past two weeks, the program has seen over 20 referrals, so the word is reaching those who can refer for their services. The Salvation Army has gone to meetings such as this, and simply just talking to people who work every day with those who are homeless. She asked that others send referrals even if it is unknown if the participant can qualify for their services. They can determine if they qualify and if they are the best program fit for them. Pacholick said that even though the program does not have offices in the community, their staff often comes here to meet with people. Typically the meeting usually occurs in a public place, unless they feel more comfortable coming to the office.

D. Permanent Supportive Housing – Salvation Army Project Able

Dahlberg said the Project Able Permanent Supportive Housing program will be up and running in July. The Salvation Army is waiting to hire an employee, and agencies with referrals need to contact Vivian Baars.

E. Permanent Housing – Tenants to Homeowners

Rebecca Buford was unable to attend so Swarts gave a brief update of Tenants to Homeowners activities. The agency is in the middle of several projects including the Prairie Wind project from 24^th-26^th Streets off of Haskell. They have several houses with completed construction and several others started, and are still platting others. Development Services staff note that requests for help with down payment and closing costs have slowed down.

ITEM NO. 4 Discussion of Letter from HIAC to the City Commission in regard to Impact of LCS Relocation.

Cook introduced the letter and asked for comments.

Hoffman thanked Swarts for working on the letter.

Swarts added that Dresslar had a big hand in the project.

Feltman suggested adding to the memorandum that Family Promise had 40 families that had to be turned away, none of which were in the shelter or could fit in the shelter.

Murphy recommended adding it on the second page of the letter where it talks about Family Promise.

Hoffman asked if it would make sense to describe in more detail what the drop-in center would include.

Feltman responded that basic details are provided like bathrooms, laundry, and shelter.

Murphy stated that the committee does not know what ideas other community members might have, so her preference is to leave that piece open-ended.

Feltman said she would like to talk about the impact on downtown businesses.

Strong answered that the businesses he talked with had no real concerns.

Discussion continued on potential problems and whether to list issues that do not yet exist.

Loring Henderson, Executive Director of the Lawrence Community Shelter, asked if the committee had considered including what the drop-in center will not be, instead of just what it is. Henderson said, for example, this will not be a place for case management, only a place for services, bathrooms, coffee, or refuge from weather. This is not meant to be a center for social workers or in-depth services. Adding what the center is not may help describe what it would look like.

The committee continued discussing wording. They asked to offer an inclusion that service will not duplicate existing services.

Swarts said staff will revise and send the letter back to the committee for review.

Collinsworth asked if anyone had spoken with Downtown Lawrence Inc. for their input.

Strong replied that he did and they did not have concerns. He said no one had concerns for daytime, and most people felt the shelter relocation and the closing of the day center was not going to change things. Some people had concerns about night time such as could this increase people sleeping in doorways, for example. Strong said the overall consensus was that this issue may not cause problems. He does not want to make that an issue if it is not.

Hoffman asked about the letter including the shelter move in September. Henderson suggested changing that to “by end of the year” or “by December, 2012”.

Cook asked everyone to respond back to Swarts with their approvals. If the letter is approved, it will be sent on to the City Commission.

Swarts said the letter could be received as soon as the June 19, 2012 City Commission agenda if approved in time.

CJ Brune thanked the committee for taking this issue on. She said she would like to include excerpts from the letter in their newsletter.

It was noted that as it would be a matter of public record when received by the City Commission, that should not be a problem.

ITEM NO. 5 Acceptance of Brent Hoffman as Douglas County Regional Coordinator for the Balance of State Continuum of Car effective August 1, 2012.

The committee congratulated Hoffman on his new role.

Hoffman added there are only a few more meetings a month for a couple of hours each, and that he can also participate through conference calls as well as attending the meetings that are held in Lawrence or Topeka.

ITEM NO. 6 Miscellaneous/Calendar.

Henderson provided an update on the shelter, and the anticipated move-in date has changed. Originally LCS had said the move would be completed in September, then it was October, and now the projected move-in date is by the end of the year. LCS will move by the end of the year as the Special Use Permit (SUP) for the current building expires December 31, 2012. The relocation process is taking longer because the bid was tightly worded, with not a lot of leeway in what they could bid. The costs were all higher than expected, but the bids were close together. LCS picked a contractor that they felt they could work with and the agency went through the bid line by line twice to reduce the cost. This is now a reasonable number, and in line with how much money they have. This process has delayed construction but there is no problem finishing the project by the end of the year. LCS has signed the letter of intent with B.A. Green, and they should start construction in two weeks. Henderson said LCS has hired a new Family Program Director, which became a national search process. Elizabeth Stevens has been hired, and thus far LCS has been very pleased with her.

Hoffman asked Henderson to discuss the main reasons for the cost increases from the original projections.

Henderson responded that LCS included specific high quality materials in the bid. The cuts that were made are easy to live with, and they just went back through the bid and made a lot of decisions. One example of a change is that they rearranged the kitchen, moving it to an outside wall where exhaust could go straight outside, which saved several thousand dollars. Henderson commented even with the cuts it will still be a luxury hotel compared to what they have now.

Collinsworth asked if there is a public document available describing the facilities.

Henderson said they have a floor plan available that would be very close. Most of the changes made are not on the floor plan, but changing plumbing and other configurations. There are two parts to the building, which are the shelter area and the jobs area. The facility will have the jobs area, but in this phase of construction LCS is not doing formal public presentation. Henderson said LCS will have a concrete breaking in a couple of weeks.

ITEM NO. 7 Public Comment.

Enoch asked to recognize Captain Wes Dalberg’s commitment to the community and thanked him for his service with the Lawrence Salvation Army before he leaves for his new post at the end of the month.

Discussion followed on Dalberg’s replacement on the committee. His replacement with the Salvation Army is Lt. Matt McCluer.

Swarts provided the HIAC with information on Dalberg’s reception.

ITEM NO. 8 Adjourn.

Motion by Murphy to adjourn the June 12, 2012 meeting of the HIAC; seconded by Towey.

Motion passed unanimously.

Attendance Record

Members

01/12

02/12

03/12

04/12

05/12

06/12

07/12

08/12

09/12

10/12

11/12

12/ 12

Hubbard Collinsworth

Brad Cook

Wes

Dalberg

Karin Feltman

Brent Hoffman

Trent McKinley

Mike

Monroe

Shannon Murphy

Cary

Strong

Elyse

Towey

X - Meeting Cancelled Due to Inclement Weather

E - Excused Absence

U - Unexcused Absence

() – Last meeting in term.

* - First meeting in term.

^ - Last Meeting