LTC 387-2017 Response to Homeless Services Article by the MiamiMIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC #
387-2017
TO: Mayor Philip Levine and Members
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: July 28, 2017
SUBJECT: Response to Homeless Services
LETTER TO COMMISSION
City Commission
by the Miami New Times
The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to provide additional information and clarification
regarding an article published July 10, 2017 by the Miami New Times regarding the City's walk-
in center for homeless persons.
The article, quoting two members of the City's Committee on the Homeless as sources, claims
that the City's homeless walk-in center is "randomly closed during business hours" and alleges
that the City's outreach staff is "rude or dismissive." The article went on to quote three people
who identified themselves as homeless who criticized the City for requiring them to "prove" their
homelessness and took longer than 30 minutes to process their request for help. We will
address each of these statements below.
The City, which operates the only municipal walk-in center serving the homeless in Miami -
Dade County, is open Monday through Friday, 7:30am — 12pm and 1 pm — 3:30pm. Our walk-in
center provides a variety of services in addition to shelter placement including:
• Care coordination (coordinated case management services held Thursdays)
• Employment services (offered Monday through Thursday)
• Identification document replacement (offered daily)
• Relocation services (with validated consent from the receiving party offered Mondays
and Wednesdays)
• Support group meetings for those transitioning from the streets (offered Tuesday through
Friday)
• Access Florida services (including LifeLink and SNAP benefits offered daily)
• Legal services from the Office of the State Attorney (Wednesdays only)
The City is a member agency of the Miami -Dade County Continuum of Care (CoC) led by the
Miami -Dade County Homeless Trust. As a CoC member agency, the City must adhere to US
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations for the certification and
provision of services for people who are homeless. The definition of "homeless" is established
by HUD and delineated in 24 CFR Parts 91, 582 and 583 as:
(1) An individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence;
(2) An individual or family who will imminently lose their primary nighttime residence;
(3) Unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age, or families with children and youth; or
(3) Unaccompanied youth under 25 years of age, or families with children and youth; or
(4) Any individual or family who is fleeing, or is attempting to flee domestic violence.
As a condition of service within the CoC, clients must have a Homeless Verification Form
completed by staff certifying that the client is homeless based on the selected HUD criteria and
documentation provided by the client. The certification accompanies the client's placement into
shelter as well as referrals to all CoC services. In order to certify a person as homeless, the
client must submit documentation that proves his homelessness (i.e. eviction papers) or must
be witnessed by City staff (including police) residing in a place not meant for human habitation
(i.e. the streets).
Furthermore, prior to the receipt of services, the CoC requires that all clients complete several
documents authorizing the provision of services including:
• HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) Notice of Uses and Disclosures
• HMIS Consent to Release and Exchange of Information
• Provider (City) Consent to Release and Exchange of Information
• Acknowledgment Client Rights and Responsibilities
• Acknowledgement of Grievance Procedures
• HUD Client Questionnaire
Once the client completes the required documentation, staff conduct a criminal background
check to ensure that clients are not registered as sexual offenders (as this would preclude their
placement in shelter) and an assets and skills assessment to determine the resources and
strategies that will be pursued to ensure the client's transition to permanent housing and
independence. The paperwork and assessment process can take up to three hours depending
on the client's cognition and participation. This process becomes the foundation for the
provision of services and the client's ultimate success.
The City contracts with several shelter providers. These providers must review their respective
client bed rosters and advise the City if any clients have exited their program by 9am each
weekday. Once the City has identified a client for placement, a formal request is sent to the
shelter provider seeking permission to place the client. All shelters must provide prior consent to
client placement. This process usually takes up to one hour enabling providers to review their
records and the client's history to determine if he/she is a suitable placement. Shelters reserve
the right to refuse placement of any client who has had previous behavioral problems or whose
history they feel is incompatible with its environment.
Once the documentation is complete and the shelter consents to receiving the client, the client
is transported to shelter. All emergency shelter providers are located in Miami. Staff's goal is to
make the first drop-off of the day to shelters by noon so that clients can have a meal upon
arrival. All shelter placements should be completed by 3pm as shelter administrative offices
typically close by 4pm. The time of shelter clearance and traffic impact the actual time of arrival
to shelter and return to the office. On at least two instances last year, staff had to leave early to
accommodate simultaneous shelter placements at multiple providers and relocations at the
Greyhound Bus Depot in Miami. Please note that the Homeless Outreach Office utilizes two
vans for client transport. During the school year, one of these vans is used after 4pm by
Success University for client transport.
As you know, all visitors to City buildings must sign the visitor log upon arrival. City staff audited
the visitor logs for the Homeless Outreach Office and found only one entry for either of the two
committee members quoted in the article. On at least three other office visits, one of the
members was asked to sign -in and she refused staff's request. City staff has repeatedly invited
members of the Committee — and the public -at -large — to visit the office and join the team in
outreach and to participate in the CoC process from engagement to placement. The process
has many dimensions and is influenced by many factors including client history, client cognition
and bed availability, among others. No two clients are alike — and neither are their engagements
or service plans.
The homeless population in America is varied. Each community is influenced by the economic
conditions and cultural influences of its resident population. More than 95 percent of all people
served by the City became homeless in another community and migrated to our community.
This is an anomaly not encountered in other metropolitan areas with a homeless population. In
San Francisco, for example, 71 percent of their homeless population had former residences
within the area. This population had a connection to their community that pre -dated their
homelessness and included their previous homes and places of work.
Conversely, our City's homeless population, as a whole, lacks these historical connections as
they neither lived nor worked here. Oftentimes, this lack of connection, leads to objectionable
behaviors including criminal offenses. The Miami Beach Police completed 1,645 arrests of
people claiming to be homeless in FY 15/16. Sixty-three of these people were arrested five or
more times. On average, the top 10 residents with arrests who claimed to be homeless in
FY15/16 were arrested 12.2 times for crimes ranging from trespass to strong arm robbery.
All three of the homeless persons quoted in the article (none of whom reported living in Miami
Beach prior to becoming homeless) have been arrested since arriving to our area. Collectively,
they have 11 local arrests for crimes ranging from trespassing to battery. One of the three
quoted homeless residents was placed in shelter and exited before completing his care plan.
Another refused shelter stating he was accepting nothing less than permanent housing from the
City. The last of three homeless residents quoted cursed at staff when advised that HUD
requires a verification of homelessness and subsequently left the office (but has subsequently
returned to use the office telephone as recently as July 11 th)
Florida ranks 10th in the nation in homelessness:
The data above is based on the Point -In -Time Survey conducted annually during one night each
year in which the homeless population is counted by homeless staff and community volunteers
nationwide. While the City tracks the Point -In -Time data similar to other communities, it also
10
Florida
Criteria
ValueRank
Homeless Per 100K
209 10
Residents
Unsheltered Homeless Per
109 5
100K Residents
Shattered Homeless Per
100 23
100K Residents
The data above is based on the Point -In -Time Survey conducted annually during one night each
year in which the homeless population is counted by homeless staff and community volunteers
nationwide. While the City tracks the Point -In -Time data similar to other communities, it also
tracks individual, aggregate and longitudinal client data on a daily basis through the Client
Information Management System (CIMS). The homeless population in our City can be seen
through the lens of both the Point -In -Time and CIMS data:
1 —Based on 100,000 per capita. Please note that City's population is 86,753 residents.
2 - The Point in Time Survey was conducted January 26, 2017.
3 —Actual homeless served are non -duplicated individuals self -identified as homeless and served by police and outreach services.
Last fiscal year, the City placed 537 individuals into shelter — more than five times the rate for
the State of Florida. Of these, 197 successfully transitioned to permanent housing. Please note
that these numbers only reflect the outcomes for the 52 City -purchased shelter beds and do not
reflect the outcomes of the 55 shelter beds funded by the Miami -Dade Dade County Homeless
Trust. The City is unable to track longitudinal placements at Trust -funded beds because of
current data privacy protections. The City actively refers to Continuum of Care (CoC) and non-
CoC community-based providers including those with transitional, supportive and Housing First
resources.
The City is more than just an outreach team. The City's demonstrated success — which has
been lauded at the Metro Lab Workshop on Big Data and Human Services held in Seattle this
past January and has led to City staff providing consultations on its best practices to
representatives from Sunny Isles Beach, North Miami Beach and Miami -- is attributable to its
care coordination process, a starkly different approach than traditional case management and
vastly more cost-effective and centered on client assets than Housing First. Care coordination
centers on client responsibility building on natural assets to create a sustainable living plan that
limits reliance on external resources.
Case
ModelTraditional
Housing First
...Model
ModelManagement
Client entry:
Client entry:
Client entry:
Emergency shelter
Permanent home (regardless of
Emergency shelter
income or client sustainabilit
Focus:
Focus:
Focus: Securing stable financial
Transitioning client to permanent
Getting client to accept
source, accessing community
housing
wraparound services to remain
resources in conjunction with
stably housed
natural assets and obtaining
sustainable, independent
housing
Typical Length of Support:
Typical Length of Support:
Typical Length of Support:
Up to 90 days regardless of
Indefinite (as long as client
=/< 6 months (but can exceed 1
outcome
remains housed)
year
City staff upholds the highest commitment to excellent customer service. The nature of our
business is to interact — often repeatedly — with people who are at arguably the lowest point in
their lives. People do not become homeless and remain homeless if they have a stable support
system, financial savings and strong resiliency skills. Those that find themselves on the streets
are typically long unemployed, separated or estranged from families/friends and the truth of their
circumstances, and grapple with depression, solitude and other obstacles (including addiction
and mental illness).
Our Outreach Team's goal is to offer empathy and a clear path to emerge from their
homelessness. The clear path may mean returning to the workforce, drinking less alcohol or
adhering to rules while in shelter to enable the transition to independent permanence. This may
not be the path they choose for themselves and the mere suggestion may be perceived as
inflammatory. However, our goal is to support our client's return to the role of contributing
member of our community. This cannot be accomplished if our homeless residents are not held
to the same standards of personal success and accountability as all other members of our
community — albeit perhaps with extra help such as food subsidies, counseling and support
services.
In 2015, the City identified 64 chronic homeless individuals who were drivers for a high volume
of calls for service. Some had been homeless for as many as 20 years. Most had come to
Miami Beach homeless and stayed. For 18 months, these individuals received elevated
engagement efforts from the City's Homeless Outreach Team and Police in hopes of convincing
them to receive services. Both City teams would meet at least monthly to discuss progress and
explore alternative engagement strategies in their joint effort to engage and serve these
individuals. Below, please find the outcomes of this effort as well as the arrests experienced
since July 1, 2017 by this group:
1- This accounts only for those permanently housed through the City's efforts.
2- There have been no engagements recorded from either Police or HOT during this period.
The author of the New Times article was invited to visit the office and meet the team. She did
not accept this invitation. Our invitation stands for Ms. Lipscomb. We extend the same invitation
to the members of the Commission. Homelessness is more than a number tallied one night of
the year. The challenge of ending homelessness is more than just having a roof under which to
sleep. We firmly believe that homelessness is not an intractable problem. However, it cannot be
solved without candor, resolve and clarity of purpose and goals.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Maria Ruiz, Director, Office of Housing
and Community Services.
JLM/ B/MLR