LTC 366-2018 Miami-Dade County Hmeless Trust Eliminates Hotel Fu���.���! �
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
No. LTC #
366-2018
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of t�e City C�mmission
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: June 28, 2018 �
SUBJECT: Miami-Dade County Homeless Tru Eliminates Hotel Funding
The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to advise that the Miami-Dade County Homeless
Trust (Homeless Trust) notified the City that it was eliminating countywide hotel funds to shelter
families and vulnerable populations when shelter is either unavailable or not suitable.
For many years, the City has been receiving a grant for $10,000 a year from the Homeless
Trust to provide temporary hotel lodging for homeless families and vulnerable individuals
including transgender persons for whom appropriate shelter is not available. The Homeless
Trust has advised the City that the Continuum of Care (CoC), of which the Homeless Trust
serves as the lead agency, has been working towards eliminating its reliance on hotels for short-
term housing. In June 2016, the CoC adopted Equal Access Policies that address placement
concerns, and all emergency shelters currently accept transgender and non-gender conforming
persons regardless of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
Further, the Homeless Trust reports that capacity to serve families with minor children has also
increased significantly within the CoC, and while not all available family beds are funded
through the Homeless Trust, opportunities to secure additional family beds through other
funding sources exists.
The City has primarily used these grant funds to place families with children in shelter when
traditional shelters beds were unavailable. Staff has been assured that the Homeless Trust will
help secure shelter placements for homeless families through its shelter network should the
need arise.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or Maria Ruiz, Director of Housing and
Community Services.
JLM/KGB/MLR