The Homeless Outreach Services Division provides shelter placement, family reunification assistance, temporary employment, identification document replacement services, extended supportive services, care coordination, and housing referrals for homeless persons in Miami Beach. The Division's operating budget for Fiscal Year 2023 is $4,291,000.
Since the last Public Safety Neighborhood & Quality of Life update, the Homeless Outreach Services Division has taken the following measures to address homelessness:
1. Additional Contracted Shelter Beds
The City of Miami Beach currently contracts with four (4) emergency shelter providers and one (1) substance abuse treatment provider to offer shelter placement services to the City's homeless population. Currently contracted providers include Miami Rescue Mission, Sundari Foundation, Inc. (Lotus House), Camillus House, Salvation Army, and New Hope C.O.R.P.S.
To further address the needs of the women in our community, the City of Miami Beach and the Sundari Foundation, Inc. (Lotus House) executed an agreement for four (4) emergency shelter beds in April 2022. Lotus House specializes in evidence-based trauma counseling and resolution, health and wellness programming, and educational advancement for women and children. The Homeless Outreach Services Division has since seen an influx of females requesting emergency shelter and homeless-related services. The shortage of female beds in the Continuum of Care (CoC) posed a challenge to assisting females with ending their homelessness. The Administration negotiated two (2) additional shelter beds at Lotus House, increasing the total bed roster to six (6) beds.
Below is a breakdown of the beds the City purchases:
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Miami Rescue Mission
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15 Beds
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Sundari Foundation
(Lotus House)
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6 Beds
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Camillus House
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12 Beds
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The Salvation Army
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23 Beds
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New Hope Pre-Treatment/ Emergency Shelter
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2 Beds
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New Hope Residential Treatment
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3 Beds
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2. Homeless Employment Program
Favela Miami, a not-for-profit organization, was contracted by the City of Miami Beach to provide temporary employment services to homeless individuals that accepted shelter services. Under this agreement, Favela Miami interviewed, hired, and supervised sheltered homeless clients to conduct street outreach to homeless peers. The Administration reviewed program goals with Favela Miami, and all parties wish to amend the program's Scope of Services and Budget to allow sheltered clients to be temporarily employed with the Sanitation Division of the City's Public Works Department, resume-building assistance and referrals to temporary job agencies. This amendment will connect homeless clients to additional resources to promote permanent employment transition.
3. Grant Agreement with the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust for $125,000
The City of Miami Beach executed a grant agreement with the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust (“Homeless Trust”) for $125,000 to address and reduce homelessness. Under this agreement, the Homeless Trust will facilitate hostel placements for single, homeless persons employed in the City for whom a traditional shelter placement may adversely impact the client's employment. The Homeless Trust will also offer shared housing support via housing navigator(s) that will coordinate shared housing, the move-in process, and follow-up case management for up to twelve (12) homeless clients.
4. Allocation of HUD Grants for Additional Specialized Programming
On July 29, 2022, the Homeless Trust issued a notice for the 2023 Request for Applications (“RFA”) for new federal funding from U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (US HUD) to provide housing, support services, and other eligible activities benefiting persons experiencing homelessness. The Homeless Trust worked with several CoC providers as part of a Collaborative Application process for the Continuum of Care Program Competition. On September 8, 2022, the City applied for two new projects to address unsheltered homelessness - Hand Up Project and MB Cares Project.
The Hand Up Project is designed to provide support services via Peer Specialists to the unsheltered homeless in Miami Beach. The project will focus on wrap-around support services, including, but not limited to, finding and obtaining suitable and affordable housing, mentorship, general life-skills training, employment search assistance, and child-care funding.
The MB Cares Project is designed to provide support services to the unsheltered, chronically homeless households without children referred by the CoC to Miami Beach's Stability Voucher Program managed collaboratively by the Homeless Trust and the Housing Authority of the City of Miami Beach. Staff will work to connect clients to primary care resources, focusing on accessing mainstream benefits and increasing income to promote housing sustainability.
Following application reviews, the Office of Housing & Community Services has awarded $635,560 for the Hand-Up Project and $2,037,083 for the MB Cares Project over a three-year term. Funds are slated to be available on October 1, 2023.
5. Interlocal Agreement between the City of Miami Beach and the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust
The City of Miami Beach received a request from the Homeless Trust for $3 million to scale housing needed to combat homelessness in Miami-Dade County further. The Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee (FERC) recommended $1 million to be allocated to the Homeless Trust and on October 26, 2022, the Mayor and Commission approved the $1M allocation from General Fund Reserves via Resolution No. 2022-32381.
At this phase of the interlocal agreement or Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") negotiation, the Administration has identified the following issues for clarification or to be expressly discussed:
· Verification of property ownership status for both facilities (acquisition documentation/warranty deed to be provided by the Homeless Trust);
· Timeline for renovations at the Blue Village and Mia Casa properties;
· Target date or milestone to commence benchmark tracking (potentially once the Blue Village achieves Certificate of Occupancy for the forty-five (45) units and sooner for the ten (10) beds at Mia Casa);
· Timeline and milestones for disbursement of funds;
· Designation of units and beds for the City of Miami Beach via the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS);
· Responsibility of the Homeless Trust to bear cost and expenses toward repairs, maintenance and/or operations of the units/beds (facilities) post renovation;
· Reporting, review and/or approval process for third-party operators; and
· Discussion of redistribution of units/beds if additional properties are acquired by the Homeless Trust.
Although target goals/outcomes are still being negotiated, below are the proposed benchmark categories to be measured and tracked under the MOU:
· Occupancy Rate: Number of clients (individuals or households) served through placement to a unit or bed
· Housing Retention: Number of clients who do not return to homelessness one (1) year after placement to a unit or bed
· Income growth: Number of clients placed in permanent housing who obtain or increase income due to program participation.
During the February 17, 2023 FERC meeting, the Administration was directed to transmit the MOU to the City Commission for consideration with a recommendation to identify and appropriate additional funding.
The Office of Housing and Community Services will be responsible for administering the MOU and will work in partnership with the Homeless Trust to refer eligible clients (individuals and households) to the program. The attached draft MOU highlights the shared responsibilities between the City and the Homeless Trust to ensure successful outcomes. Once the MOU is fully negotiated, approved, and executed, the Administration will provide quarterly updates as part of the current Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee (PSNQLC) standing bi-monthly update item regarding homeless services and activity.
The following are FY23 service numbers for Homeless Outreach Services, encompassing October 1, 2022 - January 31, 2023:
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Shelter Placements
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226
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Family Reunifications
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115
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Outreach/ Walk-In Center Contacts
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2,424
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6. Specialized Outreach
New Hope C.O.R.P.S. (“New Hope”) provides evening street outreach and engagement to the homeless population of Miami Beach seven nights a week from 7 p.m. - 3 a.m. Contracted services include recovery housing for clients in treatment, and pre-treatment and Level 2 residential (voluntary and/or involuntary Marchman Act) treatment beds.
The following are reported service numbers for New Hope Specialized Outreach, encompassing October 1, 2022-January 31, 2023:
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Contacts
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1,533
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Engagements
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242
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Pre-Treatment/ Emergency Shelter Placements
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51
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Residential Treatment Placements
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8
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This agreement has also facilitated the placement of two (2) individuals into Residential Treatment by Miami Beach Homeless Resource Officers through the Marchman Act Program.