LTC 045-2004 Quality of Life and Homeless Outreach initiative CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No. o45-2oo
To:
From:
Subject:
Mayor David Definer and
Members of the City Commission
Date: February 20, 2004
Jorge M. Gonzalez ~.
City Manager 0 ~'
QUALITY OF LIFE AND HOMELESS OUTREACH INITIATIVE
The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to provide information and current results on
recent Quality of Life and Homeless Outreach Initiative over the past four months.
The Commission has expressed the desire to improve the impact of city services on the
quality of life of Miami Beach residents. Since many conditions affect both the real and
perceived quality of life, city administration has taken action to focus and coordinate city
resources on an array of quality of life issues including parking, infrastructure,
transportation, appearance and use of public areas, and public safety.
While Iong-te.. and complex issues move to resolution, the city has been aggressively
targeting conditions which directly affect many of the city's residents and visitors - noise,
aggressive driving, vagrancy, prostitution, panhandling, and cleanliness and rehabilitation
of public areas. Outreach to the homeless, whether homeless by choice or by
circumstance, has been intensified.
In addition, city departments are refining intemal processes, redirecting resources and
developing feedback systems to evaluate ongoing operations and their capability to effect
positive impact on quality of life issues. Long-term strategies may include
recommendations for legislative changes.
Summary of Strategies Used to Date
City departments have been encouraged to experiment with new approaches to delivery of
services affecting quality of life issues. Some efforts have succeeded and are being further
refined and enhanced, while some have been discontinued in favor of other approaches.
Combined Operations: In October 2003, four departments initiated a collaborative effort
to reverse what appeared to be emerging trends related to prostitution, graffiti, illegal
activities, and the results of after-hours use of parks and the beaches. The Police, Public
Works, Parks and Recreation, and Neighborhood Services departments focused their
resources on curbing after-hours cdminal activity in and around parks and the beach,
ensuring that parks are safe and clean, stdctly enforcing laws and ordinances intended to
preserve the quality of life expected by residents and visitors, and intensifying contact and
outreach to the homeless.
Between mid-October and December 2003, police officers were put on special details to
patrol parks and beaches dudng late night and early morning hours. Homeless outreach
staff were scheduled either to accompany officers or be available to assist officers with
placement of homeless during late night and eady morning hours. Public works staff were
on-cell to remove debds from the beaches and public areas.
A number of challenges affected performance of the combined operations effort as it was
originally conceived. In December, 2003, department efforts were refocused to favor a
special daytime task force.
Special Daytime Task Force: Mirroring early morning and nighttime collaborative efforts,
a task force of police, public works/sanitation, code enforcement, and homeless outreach
staff jointly visit areas in the city twice a week during daytime. The team's objective is to
address the full range of issues present at any given location in order to have the maximum
possible impact. Typically, the team addresses homeless individuals at the site, lifter,
graffiti, landscepe, and infrastructure (curb, sidewalks). This approach has been
successful in concentrating city resources to make a noticeable impact on targeted areas.
Enforcement: Between mid-October 2003 and January 2004, police alloceted law
enforcement resources in a variety of ways.
From October through December 2003, special details of overtime police officers
augmented late night and early morning shifts, and pdvate security was hired to patrol on
bicycles primarily in the Ocean Drive area to augment routine day patrols. In addition, late
shifts were changed to provide a four-hour overlap to increase police presence during late
night and early morning hours.
In January 2004, police began using one hour of shift overlap time (three shifts per day) to
concentrate law enforcement resources on traffic, parking, quality of life issues and cdminal
activity in targeted areas throughout the city.
Strategic Investigation Units (SIU) target prostitution and drug activity, and all shifts target
aggressive driving and enforce noise ordinances. In addition, police regularly work with
ddvers and club owners in the entertainment district to voluntarily curb excessive noise.
The police department is pursuing expansion of the city jail to a full-time operation so that
officers can return more quickly to patrol and duty assignments after making arrests.
Currently, the police department is planning to contract with Miami-Dade County for jailors
and transport of prisoners both to the city jail and to the Miami-Dade County jail.
Clean up: Sanitation crews remove litter and debds, maintain and make repairs to city
property, and attend to the overall appearance of public areas. In response to outreach
efforts by other departments, crews coordinate clean-up and rehabilitation of park and
beach areas as requested during non-scheduled work hours and perform intense clean-up
and graffiti removal from public property during daylight hours. If necessary, a second
quick-react cleaning team performs any extra sanitation work identified by police or others.
Neighborhood Services is pursuing use of the Teen Job Corps to assist in removing graffiti
from private property.
Code Compliance: Code Compliance follows up with notices for graffiti removal and
issues citations as necessary. Efforts are underway to review and if necessary, revise
existing quality of life ordinances.
Neighborhoods: Seven community and environmental events and clean-up efforts have
been scheduled in partnership with ECOMB, Miami-Dade County, Teen Job Corps and the
Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce to address neighborhood quality of life issues.
Homeless: From October through mid-December 2003, the Neighborhood Services
homeless outreach staff adjusted their schedules to be available to assist police with
homeless individuals found after hours in parks and on beaches. Initially, outreach staff
and police planned to operate as a unit dudng late nights and early morning hours. That
effort did not materialize as planned; so there will be ongoing refinements to ways outreach
staff and police can work most effectively with regard to the homeless population.
The outreach team continues to provide referral and transport services to shelters for the
homeless during nighttime as well as day hours. In addition, the outreach team pays for
relocation and other assistance to aid the homeless as well as locating shelter for animals
accompanying homeless individuals who are referred to shelters.
Summary of Results to Date
Special Daytime Task Force: The special daytime task force of police, public
works/sanitation, code enfomement and homeless outreach staff has conducted 19
joint visits to areas throughout the city. The task force has successfully resolved over
140 cases related to the homeless, infrastructure, code violations, graffiti, litter and
similar issues in the areas they have visited.
Enforcement: From mid-October through mid-December 2003, special late night-early
morning police details made 241 quality of life arrests. The special details, Strategic
Investigation Units (SIU) and routine day and night shifts made a combined total of 1542
arrests in 21 categories, including arrests for prostitution, various driving and traffic
offenses, drug violations, driving under the influence, assaults, violations of city and county
ordinances, burglaries, vandalism, robbery, disorderly conduct and intoxication, and
panhandling.
From January 12 to February 8, 2004, police made 219 arrests and issued 1437 citations
during the three hours of shift overlaps each day (one-hour overlap for each of three shifts
per day). During shift overlaps, police targeted criminal activity and quality of life issues in
specific areas of the city.
Arrests and Citations During One-Hour Shift Overlaps
January 12 to February 8, 2004
Arrests 219 Traffic citations 1437
Felonies 28 Parking 937
Misdemeanors 191
Homeless Outreach: Over the 78 day pedod from October 1 to mid-December 2003, the
Neighborhood Services homeless outreach team made 1042 contacts with homeless
individuals. Of those contacted, outreach staff relocated 11% (116 individuals) and placed
12% (126 individuals) in shelters. Relocations averaged almost 2 people per day.
In January 2004, the outreach team made 421 contacts with homeless individuals, placed
58 People in shelters, and relocated 27 people out of the area.
Outreach staff have assisted homeless individuals in a number of ways: referral for day
labor; assistance with identification, work permits, and legal papers; transportation costs;
and temporary housing for families. A full report on homeless outreach will be referred to
the Finance and Citywide Projects Commission Committee.
Funding
City resources are dedicated primarily to sustaining routine enforcement, sanitation, and
maintenance operations. Special operations have been added to intensify response to
conditions that compromise the ability of our routine operations to maintain a clean and
safe 24-hour environment for our residents and visitors. These special operations have
been funded from several sources.
During review and adoption of the budget for FY 2003-04, the City Commission approved
use of $150,000 in resort tax to enhance existing efforts of the homeless outreach
program. The outreach team has drawn from these funds to relocate and provide shelter
for homeless individuals, hire an additional outreach team in order to expand hours of
operation, provide hotel rooms for families, and secure additional beds with new providers.
A summary of those expenditures is attached.
Where appropriate, RDA funds available for community policing, and LETF funds available
for specific law enforcement programs will be used to fund special operations and activities
that increase the city's usual levels of service to the community and positively impact
quality of life issues. The Commission recently appropriated $100,000 from the Police
Confiscation Trust Fund budget for fiscal year 2003-04 to fund a 60-day contract with
Miami-Dade County for full-time operation of the city's jail and to transport prisoners to the
jail for processing and then to transport to the county jail. This will allow police officers to
remain on their patrol and duty assignments.
It is my recommendation that this issue be referred to the Finance and Citywide Projects
Committee to further discuss and receive direction.
JMG:RCM:MMD/ptw
Attachment
F:\cmgr~$ALL~TC-04\quality of life.doc
City of Miami Beach
Neighborhood Services Department
Office of Homeless Coordination
Homeless Services:
A Progress Report on Homeless Outreach Efforts
October 2003 - January 2004
II.
III.
Report Item
Index
Office of Homeless Coordination Overview
a. Services provided
b. Funding sources
c. Reporting requirements
Service Report Overview
a. Number of clients contacted/demographic summary
b. Shelter services
c. Permanent Housing
d. Relocation services
e. Meal services
f. Transportation services
g. Support services
Staffing Report
a. Staff levels- contractors/interns
b. Staffing requirements
i. Intake
ii. Relocations
iii. Shelter placements
iv. Identification
v. Entitlements applications
IV. Financial Report
Vo
a. Shelter costs
b. Relocation costs
c. Storage costs
d. Transportation costs
e. Identification & Support Services costs
f. Staffing costs
Progress Evaluation
a. Process/accountability
b. Customer service
c. Staffing
d. Shelter services
e. Relocation services
f. Additional Infrastructure costs
g. Expense Summary
Page
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I. Office of Hotneless Coordination Overview
Services Provided
The Office of Homeless Coordination provides prevention and intervention services to homeless individuals
in the City of Miami Beach. Homelessness is defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development as a person meeting one of the following criteria:
® Living in a place not meant for human habitation, i.e. street, car, parks, abandoned building, bus
station, etc.
® Living in an emergency shelter
® Living in transitional or supportive housing (for people coming from the streets or shelter)
® Living in either a place not meant for human habitation, an emergency shelter, or transitional or
supportive housing, but currently in a hospital or institution on a short-temi (30 days or less)
® Being evicted within a week from a private dwelling (and have a certified, legally-binding eviction
notice) and have no subsequent residence identified and no resources and support networks to obtain
housing.
® Being discharged within a week from an institution (prison, hospital, foster care, etc.) having
stayed long-term (31 or more days) and housing is not being provided as part of the person's discharge
planning and have no subsequent residence identified and no resources and support networks to obtain
housing.
® Victim of domestic abuse and no subsequent residence has been defined and no resources and
support networks to obtain housing.
Our goal is to end homelessness in our City through collaboration with community-based providers and
utilizing the Continuum of Care framework as a means to access services and permanent housing for
homeless individuals.
The Office provides the following service to homeless individuals:
® Intahe and assessment - This enables staff to determine what services are needed and what
placement is appropriate to the client.
® Outreach services - The Office conducts outreach missions at least twice per week throughout the
City to locate and assist homeless individuals who may not otherwise access services.
® Shelter placement - The City currently contracts with The Salvation Army and Miami Rescue
Mission for shelter beds. The City is currently negotiating to acquire addiction treatment beds from Better
Way of Miami, Inc. In addition, when the client is eligible and space is available, the Office facilitates
placements at the Miami-Dade County Homeless Assistance Centers (Miami and Homestead), Camillus
House and Beckham Hall. When eligible, clients are referred for transitional housing through providers such
as Carrfour Supportive Housing.
® Referral services - This service enables staff to connect homeless clients with community-based
services such as job placement, legal and medical services, counseling and entitlements (such as food
stamps, Medicaid, disability payments, etc.).
® Identification services - Homeless clients often lack identification which enables them to access
services. The Office assists in obtaining birth certificates, Social Security cards, immigration documents,
work permits and Florida identification cards.
® Retocation services - Homeless clients are often stranded in our City after failed employment
opportunities, family break-ups or unexpected lay-offs. Our Office provides one-way bus transportation to
those clients who have someone at their destination who is willing to provide assistance. In order to ensure
that clients can sustain these trips, the Office provides meals for the duration of their travel.
® Storage services - For those clients who have possessions and have accepted shelter placement,
the Office provides storage of their personal effects for the duration of their s~rvices.
® Homeless prevention services - The Office provides emergency rent assistance to families and
individuals at risk ofhomelessness due to eviction proceedings. Through emergency shelter grant funds, the
Office has provided rent and deposit assistance as well as relocation assistance. Through this initiative,
individuals and families are served prior to becoming homeless.
Funding Sources
The Office of Homeless Coordination currently has several funding sources including: ® City of Miami Beach General Fund - $58,725
® Community Development Block Grant Funds - $100,568
® Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust - $71,193
® Special Allocation/Resort Tax Funds - $150,000
City of Miami Beach General Fund - The funds allocated provide for one full-time position (Program
Coordinator) and general office expenses such as telephone and office supplies.
Community Development Block Grant Funds - These funds are divided into two functions: 1) Emergency/Transitional Housing - ($71,968) - These funds help pay for shelter services.
2) Emergency Rent Assistance - ($28,600) - These funds provide emergency rent assistance to
those facing eviction or transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing.
Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust- These grant funds, scheduled to end June 2004, provide funding for
two contracted outreach workers and partial funding for an intake specialist.
Special Allocation/Resort Tax Funds - These funds have been used to provide: 1) Augmented staffing (2 additional outreach/intake workers)
2) Additional shelter beds (19 in September 2003 to 41 in October 2003)
3) Relocation services (via Greyhound Bus Lines)
4) Food (for clients being relocated)
5) Storage services (for clients accepting shelter services)
6) Transportation tokens (enabling clients to seek work or attend medical/legal/entitlement
appointments)
7) Identification services (Florida identification and copies of birth certificates and immigration
documents)
Reporting Requirements
The Office of Homeless Coordination provides monthly financial and service reports to the Miami-Dade
County Homeless Trust and the City of Miami Beach Office of Housing and Economic Development as a
condition of receiving grant funds.
4
II. Service Report Overview
Number of clients contacted
The Office of Homeless Coordination tracks the number of people it serves through client contacts. Chent
contacts are those exchanges between staff and clients in which either the offer of services or actual services
are being provided. The following chart documents client contacts since May 2003.
Month # of Contacts
May 2003 209
June 2003 397
July 2003 283
August 2003 240
September 2003 105 * (50% staffmg)
October 2003 304
November 2003 413
December 2003 414
January 2004 421
The self-reported reasons for homelessness include: loss of employment, unexpected illness, family
problems and addiction.
Shelter services
The Office of Homeless Coordination provides emergency shelter for homeless clients accepting services as
well as those referred by Miami Beach Police. Shelter placements are the first step in enabling the process of
client stabilization. During this time, clients are assessed and the process of establishing a service plan
towards permanent housing commences through joint effort between the client, Office and shelter. Typically,
this process will include:
* Ensuring clients have appropriate identification and work documents
* Applying for appropriate entitlements (disability, Medicaid, etc.)
* Medical screening (including tuberculosis test)
* Search and obtainment of employment
* Access to support services (counseling, Alcoholics Anonymous, etc.)
The following chart documents shelter placements since May 2003. It is important to note that additional
funds enabling the acquisition of additional shelter beds were made available in September 2003 and were
sustained throughout the remainder of the calendar year with the infusion of Resort Tax dollars.
Month # of Placements
_~) 9_0_3.. .............................................................. _~ .................................
June 2003 50
__J~_2_o.._o.._3. ................................................................................... ~2~ ............................
_A_.u~.s_t_~_00_.3_ ............................................................ 3_~ ......................
.~_~_e.~ ~_r _.2_0,9_~ ................................................................ ~.._7._~_ ...........................
._0~_t._o.~r2_0_~3_ ............................................................ ~_5_*_ ............................
November 2003 36*
_ D_.~_c.~ .m_b~..2... _0.0_~ ............................................................ 79_*_ ..............................
_,~U_ _ .ary__2_9_0_4. .............................................................. ~.$_*. .............................
* Represents non-duplicatedplacements of individuals in shelter. In the ~ast, clients may have been placed more than once within a month if
they voluntarily left shelter. Clients are now only placed once and ~rovided with support services to ensure success. Clients voluntarily
withdrawing from shelter terminate their rights to additional City services.
With enhanced reporting procedures and additional staff, the Office has been able to track placements by
gender since October 2003. A review of these statistics identifies the typical homeless person accessing
shelter services in our City as male. In general, 31 percent of all shelter placements stay at least seven days.
The vast majority of placements remain in shelter for less than seven days either because of voluntary
withdrawal or failure to comply to shelter rules.
Month Male Shelter Female Shelter
Placements Placements
October 2003 39 (71%) 16 (29%)
November 2003 23 (64%) 13 (36%)
December 2003 55 (79%) 15 (21%)
January 2004 48 (82%) 10 (18%)
It is important to note that all placements documented since October 2003 are not duplicated. Since the
establishment of case management procedures and adherence to service rules by the United States
Department of Housing & Urban Development, no client has withdrawn from shelter and subsequently
requested a repeat placement.
The Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust considers shelter placements of seven or more days to be a
standard in measuring success. While the City is home to many chronically homeless individuals, the Office
has significantly increased the number of shelter placements greater than seven days and thereby eliminating
the revolving door to shelter for many homeless. Since April 2003, 31.03 percent of all placements have
been for seven or more days. The following depicts new placements (those newly placed within the reporting
month) that stayed in shelter seven or more days:
Month # of Placements > 7 days
October 2003 26
November 2003 12
December 2003 16
January 2004 18
Permanent Housing
The ultimate measure of ending homelessness is ensuring that previously homeless clients access and
maintain permanent housing. Through concerted case management efforts that support and guide a client
through the Continuum of Care, the Office has successfully placed 14 people in permanent housing since
October 2003. The following is a breakdown of successful permanent housing placements that represent the
end ofhomelessness for these clients.
Month # of Placements
October 2003 2
November 2003 4
December 2003 3
January 2004 5
It is important to note that many of those placed in pem~anent housing since October 2003 are the most
difficult to serve: homeless persons with mental health issues.
6
Relocation Services
The Office of Homeless Assistance has provided relocation services to homeless clients since October 16,
2003. In order to receive relocation assistance, clients must provide a contact at their destination that vouches
for the client. This contact is then verified via telephone prior to purchasing a Greyhound Bus Line ticket.
Once the bus ticket has been purchased, the client is provided with sufficient meals to cover the duration of
his/her travel and then transported to the bus depot by Office staff. The following summary of relocations
provided by month and gender demonstrates that males represent a disproportionate share of relocations
provided.
Month Male Relocations Female Relocations
October 2003 26 (84%) 5 (16%)
November 2003 33 (59%) 23 (41%)
December 2003 35 (88%) 5 (12%)
January 2004 24 (88%) 3 (12%)
Meal Services
Meals are provided to those clients being relocated out of town. Each relocated client receives sufficient
meals to cover the duration of his/her travel. Since October 16, 2003 when relocation services began, 154
clients were provided with 766 meals. An average of 4.9 meals were provided to each client served through
relocation services.
Transportation Services
In order to seek employment or apply for entitlements or seek assistance from community-based providers,
homeless clients are often provided with Miami-Dade County Transit Authority tokens that enable them to
access public transportation. The Office has distributed 499 tokens to 104 clients since October 16, 2003.
Support Services
Homeless clients have unique needs that create a barrier to accessing services to end homelessness. The first
of these is the absence of natural support networks. The second is the marginalization within society that is
derived from isolation, lack of identification, and deprivation of human needs.
Homeless clients have a variety of basic needs: shelter, food, clothing, access to medical and mental health
care, and employment among others. Through an integrated referral network, the Office of Homeless
Coordination refers homeless clients to community-based providers to access needed services. Among the
network of providers are: Miami Beach Community Health Center, Jewish Community Services, Legal
Services of Greater Miami, Ayuda, Miami Beach Hispanic Community Center, Social Security
Administration, Miami Beach Community Development Corporation and the Florida Department of
Children and Families.
The following is a summary of formal referrals made on behalf of homeless clients since October 2003:
Month # of Referrals
October 2003 37
November 2003 42
'-~-e~,~D-O-6~ .............................................. ~'~ ..................................
_J_a~3~ ............................................................................. ~.~ ....................................
In addition to agency referrals, the Office of Homeless Coordination provides case management services to
all clients accepting shelter placement. With this effort, clients are guided through the Continuum of Care to
ensure that they stabilize, receive medical, legal and mental health assessments, seek employment and/or
entitlements, and have a personal strategy to end their homelessness and gain permanent housing.
The following chart depicts the case management loads for the Office of Homeless Coordination:
Month Client Caseload
October 2003 62
November 2003 75
December 2003 112
._~u~_~_~.9~ ........................................................................ _8__8. ....................................
III. Staffing Report
Staff Levels
The Office of Homeless Coordination has one full-time City employee and contracts additional staff. The
Office of Homeless Coordination is manned by the following:
# - Position Title Primary Function i Funding Source
1 - Program Coordinator Day-to-day program management General Fund
1- Intake Specialist Maintains client data and generates reports to Miami- . Miami-Dade County Homeless
Dade County Trust ! Trust/Resort Tax
2 - Outreach Workers Outreach and intake of homeless clients i Miami-Dade County Homeless
] Trust
2 - Outreach Workers Outreach and intake of homeless clients t Resort Tax
Since the flow of those seeking services often peaks unexpectedly, staff from other divisions has been
diverted when necessary to ensure that all clients seeking assistance are processed in a timely manner. The
following staff provides assistance to the Office of Homeless Coordination when demand requires it:
# - Position Title Primary Function { Funding Source
1 - Intake Specialist (100%) Intake of homeless clients I Office of Children's Affairs/
I General Fund
1 - Outreach Worker (20%) Outreach and intake of homeless clients ! Office of Children's Affairs/
I General Fund
I
In addition to paid staff, the Office has entered into a partnership with various secondary education
institutions to have non-paid interns. While those placements from Miami-Dade Community College and
Florida International University have negligible long-temi impact because of the short duration of their stay
(typically eight hours), the interns from Barry University's School of Social Work provide a consistent and
significant presence.
I3 - Social Work Interns
Intake and case management of homeless clients
Weekly Hours Provided
# - Position Title
Primary Function
i 20 hours each
The purchasing, contract management and payroll functions for the Office of Homeless Coordination arc
provided by the Office of Children's Affairs.
Staffing Requirements
The provision of services to homeless clients is time-consuming. In addition to the time spent on outreach,
homeless clients face a set of challenges that can range from lack of identification and unemployment to
mental health issues and addiction. As such, they tend to require more staff time than clients served through
other divisions. In many cases, services are contingent upon the availability of the services provider (i.e.,
Department of Motor Vehicles, Social Security Administration, etc.).
The following chart documents the average length of time spent on each service provided by client:
Service Provided/Frequency # of Staff Needed Average Length of Time
Intake & assessment/Once 1 1.5 hours
Relocation assistance/Once 2 2.25 hours
Shelter placement/Once 2 2.0 hours
Identification services (w/appointment ~ 2 2.0 hours
.P~_./...~£~ .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Entitlements application (w/ 2 2.0 hours
.._a. pP_O_.'_m._~__n~)Lg.n_s~
IV. Financial Report
Shelter Costs
The City contracts with two providers for emergency shelter services: The Salvation Army and Miami
Rescue Mission. Clients placed with these providers must sign a form acknowledging the rules and
conditions for their shelter. Emergency shelter placements typically range in duration from one night to up to
six months, depending on the client's stability and availability of transitional housing. Shelters typically
provide clothing, three meals a day and needed toiletries. Case management is a separate service which
typically doubles the daily bed cost. We currently do not contract for case management services for our
shelter beds.
Currently, the City pays a guaranteed rate of $15.00 per bed, per night at the Miami Rescue Mission. These
are beds exclusively for homeless males. The Miami Rescue Mission accepts placements from 7am until
5pm. Our current capacity is 10 beds. Typically, we utilize these beds for Police Department referrals and
males beginning services with the Office. The monthly cost for the Miami Rescue Mission is $4,500.
The City contracts with The Salvation Army at a guaranteed rate of $15.45 per bed, per night. These beds
can be managed for males, females and families. The Salvation Army accepts placements 24 hours per day.
Our current capacity (when the ratios are maximized) is 31 beds. Typically, we utilize The Salvation Army
for female and family placements as well as those males that have been stabilized and are progressing who
had been originally placed at the Miami Rescue Mission. Our monthly cost for The Salvation Army is
$14,369.
The total monthly cost for 41 beds is $18,869.
Relocation Costs
Since October 16, 2003, we have provided 154 homeless clients with relocation services. Thus far, the Office
has documented only five relocation retumees (less than 3.2 percent). The following is a summary of the top
six cities to where clients have been relocated representing 27 percent of all relocations.
City # of Relocations
Atlanta, GA 9
Philadelphia, PA 8
New York City, NY 7
Washington, DC 6
Orlando, FL 6
Los Angeles, CA 6
The following is a summary of the top five states to where clients have been relocated representing 44
percent of all relocations.
State # of Relocations
Florida 23
California 13
New York 13
Pennsylvania 10
Georgia 9
Our City's warm client, plentiful tourist supply and abundant restaurants and hotels make it a desirable place
for the homeless. Conditions in our City make it easier for homeless individuals to survive because of our
geographical location (the waim South) and community assets (tourists that can be panhandles, garbage
dumpsters with plentiful food, and sandy beaches to sleep).
The City's cost since October 16, 2003 to provide relocation services has been $16,065.50 or an average of
$104.32 per client.
In addition to providing the bus ticket for relocation, the Office provides clients with sufficient meals to
cover the duration of their travel. Since October 16, 2003, the Office has provided 766 meals to 154 clients at
a cost of $1,333.44 or $8.65 per client.
Storage Costs
The cost of maintaining a storage space for the possessions of homeless clients placed in shelter is $118.35
per month.
l0
Transportation Costs
Through thorough intake and case management processes, the Office has actively sought to reduce the costs
associated with transportation tokens by encouraging clients to apply for county assistance. From October
through December 2003, the Office has distributed 422 tokens to 90 clients. Here is a breakdown of this
distribution:
* Token supplies were depleted and could not befilled in a timely manner.
While tokens typically cost $1.00 each, we have not expended any funds for tokens since October 2003.
However, we do anticipate the likelihood of purchasing monthly bus passes for employed clients seeking
transition to permanent housing.
Identification and Support Service Costs
Many homeless clients lack identification and necessary legal documents to access shelter, employment or
entitlements. Emergency shelters will not accept anyone for placement without valid photo identification.
Furthermore, without appropriate documentation and support documents, homeless individuals cannot apply
for entitlements or other community-based assistance.
Since October 16, 2003, the Office has assisted 24 homeless clients in obtaining birth certificates, photo
identification, work permits and travel documents (passports/visas) at a cost of $441.99.
Staffing Costs
The Office has expended $25,003.26 to hire additional contracted staff to assist with the increase in demand
for relocation assistance and shelter placement. As a result, the City has established two, full-time outreach
teams to enable the simultaneous services of outreach, shelter placement and relocation while maintaining
full office hours for walk-in clients seeking assistance. The increase of more than 2,480 man-hours enabled
the office to process more clients more quickly and deterred the refusal of services.
V. Progress Evaluation
Process & Accountability
Since September 2003, the Office of Homeless Coordination has streamlined the intake and placement
procedures while establishing methods of accountability throughout all aspects of its operations. Complete
client histories are now maintained which include:
* Completed intake forms
* Copies of identification
* Services history
* Longitudinal case notes
* Service plan
In anticipation of the eventual implementation of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust's Homeless
Management Information System, the Office has established a database documenting all contacts, shelter
placements, relocations and services provided.
The Homeless Census of April 2003 identified 384 homeless persons in our City. The Homeless Census of
December 2003 (conducted immediately after the FTAA) showed a significant decline to only 304 homeless
persons. (It is important to note that at least five homeless persons were counted twice but the census pages
had been certified when the error was noted). Therefore, since the implementation of the additional outreach
and service efforts, the City has experienced a 21 percent reduction in its homeless population. It is important
to note that this reduction is being experienced during the winter - the peak time for homelessness in our
City.
Customer Service
Ensuring that all clients receive services in an effective, accountable and professional manner, the Office has
focused efforts on improving service delivery from the clients' viewpoints. We have established fixed office
hours, established dates and times for specific services and improved our response time to calls received via
the Homeless Hotline.
We now distribute Client Satisfaction Surveys to all clients served in order to gauge our effectiveness and
customer service. The Office forwards these surveys to the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust as a means
of reporting service quality among outreach service providers. Our customer service ratings have
consistently exceeded 60.0 (on a 66.0 scale) since June 2003.
Staffing
While the General Fund supports one full'-time position, the Office of Homeless Coordination has had a
staffing level of three workers since October 2002 funded by grants. Its grant with the Miami-Dade County
Homeless Trust requires a minimum staffing level of four people (including the City-funded position).
In October 2003, with the infusion of additional funds allocated through the Resort Tax, additional staff
members were contracted to adequately process the influx of homeless persons seeking relocation assistance
and shelter services. At one point in November 2003, the Office had six contracted staffers to meet the
burgeoning requests for services in addition to 1.5 staffers on loan from the Office of Children's Affairs.
Because of the inherent turnover rate in the field and the contracted nature of our staff, we have had some
difficulty in sustaining consistent staffing levels. As of January 1, 2004, the Office has service agreements
with five contractors to provide outreach and intake services. The contractors' rates vary from $9.81 to
$15.00 per hour depending on the scope of services provided.
It is necessary that a total staff of five people be retained to maintain existing service levels at a cost of
$66,560 for the remainder of the fiscal year.
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Shelter Services
There are several issues associated with the provision of shelter services. Among these:
* Having beds available for those voluntarily seeking shelter (males, females and families)
* Having beds available for those who would otherwise be arrested for life-sustaining activities
* Managing available beds to minimize the number of unused, vacant beds while considering the
need for police-referred beds
The Office has sought to maximize its bed inventory by actively using case management to effectively and
efficiently move people through the Continuum of Care to appropriate transitional or permanent housing.
The Office has used the beds at Miami Rescue Mission to serve males accessing services for the first time as
well as maintain bed vacancies enabling the Police Department to make bona fide offers of shelter in
exchange for not arresting those guilty of life-sustaining offenses, i.e. sleeping in parks, impeding the public
right-of-way, etc. The beds at The Salvation Army have been used to house females and families and those
male clients who have shown progress while at the Miami Rescue Mission.
Based on service levels and clearance rates for the past three months, it is recommended that the City
maintain existing bed levels (41) and to add five (5) addiction treatment beds. The addition of treatment beds
will enable the Office to address the needs of those homeless persons whose addictions pose an obstacle to
ending homelessness. Better Way of Miami, Inc. is available to provide treatment beds at a cost of $40 per
day, per bed. Unlike traditional emergency shelter beds, three of these treatment beds do not have to be
guaranteed meaning that the City would pay only when the bed is filled.
The amount necessary for the provision of 46 emergency shelter beds for the remainder of the fiscal
year is $200,552 or $25,069 per month.
Relocation Services
Within the first three month of initiating this service, the Office relocated 154 homeless people at an average
cost of $104.32. The subsequent demand for this service should subside somewhat because of the high
volume of people originally relocated. Once a person receives relocation assistance, he/she is no longer
eligible to receive this service in the future.
We have encountered a unique problem as a result of this service: homeless individuals from other
municipalities have attempted to access the City's relocation services. In response to this additional concern,
the Office further scrutinizes clients seeking relocation services to ascertain that only Miami Beach homeless
persons are provided with this service.
In light of past usage and the subsequent anticipated reduction in demand for this service, it is
necessary to allocate $41,464 for this service enabling the Office to serve an average of 42 homeless
persons per month for the next nine months or a total of $52,577.28 per year.
Additionally, it necessary to fund $4,360 for food to enable the provision of meals to those being
relocated.
Additional Infrastructure Costs
The transportation of clients from outreach sites to the office, shelters and other service points is a key
logistical issue for the Office of Homeless Coordination. The existing sedan, which was a surplus vehicle at
the time of acquisition last year, has had significant down time because of repeated breakdowns. While we
have redirected an old fleet vehicle from the Log Cabin Training Center, the Office needs at least two
reliable vehicles in order to maintain service functions and the efficacy of processing clients.
As such, it is necessary to purchase a new vehicle/sedan at a cost of $13,083. The cost for vehicle
operation will be extended to the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust grant.
Many of homeless clients lack personal identification which prohibits them from access to shelter and
support services. As such, since this is a threshold barrier to ending homelessness, the Office is seeking
funds to enable the provision of identification, birth certificates and employment documents. An additional
$2,160 is necessary for the identification and replacement document costs and will enable us to serve
an average of 10 clients per month.
Expense Summary
Item/Service Expense to Date I Remaining Annual Cost ] Unfunded Balance
I Projected
(10/03 - 01/04) i
~ Expenses to
! maintain 1't
i Quarter Services
I Levels*
!1 (02/04 - 09/30)
Staffing l $40,445 ] $66,560 $107,005 '~ $66,560
Shelter 2 $75,476 i $200,552 $276,028 i $128,584'*
Relocation Services 3 $16,065 i $41,464 $57,529 i $41,464
Food for Relocations 4$1,333 i $4,360 $5,693 i $4,360
Vehicle 5 'i $13,083 $13,083 i $13,083
Identification/Documents 6 $4421 $2,160 $2,602! $2,160
r?_x._ s_ ......................................................................................... ,? ,_T ............................... d. 7 9_ ................................. _ $_4... 0_?_.
* These are projected amounts to maintain existing service levels from 02/02 through 09/04.
** The unfunded balance reflects $71,968 in CDBG funds which are budgeted but yet to be expended.
1 - This represents a total staff of five people (including Program Coordinator).
2 - The amount represents 41 emergency shelter beds and 5 treatment beds for a total of 46 beds.
3 - Projecting to serve an average of 42 homeless persons per month.
4 - The meals are provided solely to those clients receiving relocation services.
5 - This is the projected cost for a sedan to replace the existing vehicle that is experiencing multiple
down days each month.
6 - These funds will enable the Office to serve an average of 10 clients per month with Florida
identification cards, birth certificates and work permits.
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