Over the past year, the Cities of Garden Grove, Fountain Valley and Westminster have created a tri-cities partnership in an effort to address the growing challenges of homelessness in the Orange County Central Service Planning Area (Central SPA). The collaboration would advance a regional effort to close gaps in the system of care, and to increase the level of care that is provided to the homeless population.

The 2022 Orange County Point-In-Time (PIT) Count concluded that Orange County has a total unsheltered count of 3,057 individuals. The cities of Garden Grove, Fountain Valley and Westminster have a combined count of 475 unsheltered individuals, which represents 15.54% of the unsheltered population in the County and 31.21% of the unsheltered population in the Central SPA. Per the 2022 PIT Count, the individual PIT numbers for Garden Grove are 391, Fountain Valley was 38, and Westminster was 159, collectively representing both sheltered and unsheltered numbers.

In November 2022, the cities of Garden Grove, Fountain Valley and Westminster entered into a Comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (Tri-Cities MOU) to cooperate on the development of a future navigation center in the Central SPA. The Tri-Cities MOU achieves a major milestone to memorialize the Tri-Cities partnership and lays out the details of the future CCNC. A separate Memorandum of Understanding between the County of Orange and Garden Grove was approved in December 2022 (County MOU). The County MOU provides for funding totaling $11,550,000 to the City for construction and operation of the CCNC, including a one-time allocation of $5.3 million to acquire and rehabilitate the CCNC, and ten annual installments of $625,000 for operational cost commencing July 1, 2023.

On September 13, 2022, City Council approved a Purchase Agreement for the acquisition of 13871 West Street for the development of the CCNC. The navigation center is anticipated to provide 85 individuals experiencing homelessness within the Central SPA with emergency housing and supportive services. The supportive services that will be offered at the CCNC include: 1-on-1 case management; mental health and stabilization services/resources; substance use counseling; outpatient health services; education services; employment assistance and job training; life skills development; and transportation. The navigation center will be a referral-only based facility with managed transportation.

On October 17, 2022, the City released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Operator of the CCNC. Leading up to the release of the RFP, City staff conducted extensive outreach to Continuum of Care organizations throughout Southern California to inform homeless service providers about the opportunity, including: San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, and Los Angeles counties. Additionally, the City’s current homeless service providers were notified about the RFP, and were given an opportunity to submit a proposal for consideration. At the conclusion of the RFP deadline of November 17, 2022, one formal proposal was submitted by Volunteers of America of Los Angeles to operate the CCNC. 

A formal evaluation of the Volunteers of America of Los Angeles (VOALA) proposal began with a comprehensive review by the Tri-Cities Evaluation Committee comprised of city staff and public safety representatives from Garden Grove, Fountain Valley and Westminster, and the County of Orange (Office of Care Coordination). During the RFP evaluation period, City staff from the Cities of Garden Grove, Fountain Valley and Westminster toured VOALA’s Hope for Home Navigation Center in Pomona and A Bridge Home Navigation Center in Los Angeles. These tours allowed City staff to assess VOALA’s ability to effectively operate navigation centers that are similar to the CCNC, and provided an opportunity to interview key staff that will be involved in the operations of the CCNC.

The RFP evaluation period also included review of VOALA's references that were provided in their proposal. VOALA provided references from the following organizations: California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, City of Pomona, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and the County of Orange Office of Care Coordination. The feedback that was received during the reference checks was positive and reflected VOALA’s experience and success administering homeless service programs.

Additionally, City staff conducted a cost analysis to determine if the proposed annual operating cost is comparable to navigation centers in Orange County that are similar in size and specifications. City staff reached out to the Cities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Santa Ana and the County of Orange to collect information about the staffing levels and operational budgets for their navigation centers. Through the cost analysis, staff was able to identify several areas in the proposed budget that could be adjusted, which resulted in several rounds of negotiations with VOALA.

VOALA will be leveraging their existing contracts with Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals – Orange County (GBHI-OC), and Supportive Services for Veterans and Families (SSVF) Outreach Team for the CCNC. GBHI-OC is a program dedicated to providing true wraparound services to veterans and the general population alike who deal with substance abuse, mental health or co-occurring disorders. The program offers linkage services to other community stakeholders who share similar goals of uplifting and helping our targeted population to self-sustainability. The SSVF Outreach team will be in the CCNC 1 day a week to link the Veterans with the VA, help them access benefits, and link them to rapid rehousing and housing deposits.

Lastly, VOALA produced the Draft Policies and Procedures for the CCNC in Exhibit C, which will be reviewed by the County’s Office of Care Coordination to ensure they meet the County of Orange Standards of Care for Shelter Providers. These regulations are the guiding principles for shelter providers in Orange County, and the County has agreed to assist with the annual monitoring of the CCNC to ensure these regulations are closely followed and a high level of care is provided at the CCNC.

It is recommended that the Council approve an award of contract to VOALA to operate the CCNC. The term of the agreement shall be for period of two (2) years from full execution of the agreement, with an option to extend said agreement additional three (3) years, for a total performance period of five (5) years. Option years shall be exercised one (1) year at a time, at the sole discretion of the CITY.  As outlined in the Tri-Cities MOU and the County MOU, the VOALA contract for Fiscal Year 2023-24 will be funded by the Cities of Garden Grove ($1,143,817), Fountain Valley ($297,280), Westminster ($503,178), and County of Orange ($625,000).

Additional information to highlight about VOALA. The non-profit organization was founded in 1896 and is one of Southern California’s oldest and largest nonprofit organizations. VOALA has capacity and expertise serving people experiencing homelessness through a full continuum of services, including: over 2,800 beds of interim housing shelter; community-based outreach and engagement; housing-focused case management; housing navigation; comprehensive service linkages; financial assistance; post-move-in stabilization; and homelessness prevention. Some of VOALA’s largest shelter programs include Pathways to Home (300 beds—the largest homeless shelter in Los Angeles), Hope for Home (126 beds in the city of Pomona), a Project Roomkey Shelter in Pomona (126 beds), South Los Angeles Women’s Shelter (125 beds), 100-bed shelter in La Puente, and a 100-bed shelter in Hacienda Heights. The agency serves more than 13,500 unhoused people annually through more than 90 programs.

The proposed contract with VOALA calls for $2,569,275 for the first year and $2,697,739 for the second year to operate the CCNC.  This amount is substantially in line with the cost estimate included in the Tri-Cities MOU.  Per County MOU, the County of Orange will provide annual funding of $625,000 for ten years for the operation of the CCNC.  Per cost allocation plan outlined in the Tri-Cities MOU, the City of Garden Grove's share is 58.83% of the remaining operating costs, equivalent to $1,143,817 for Fiscal Year 2023-24 and $1,219,185 for Fiscal Year 2024-25.  These amounts will be included in the fiscal year 2023-2025 biennial budget.

It is recommended that the City Council: 

• Award a contract to Volunteers of America of Los Angeles with in the not-to-exceed amount of $2,569,275 for the initial year and five percent cost inflation annually thereafter;

• Authorize the City Manager, or her designees, to execute the agreement, and make minor modifications as appropriate thereto, on behalf of the City; and 
• Authorize the City Manager, or her designees, to exercise option terms and sign the amendments.