REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Study Session on Citywide Plan to Reduce Homelessness and Its Impacts
Report
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study session is to provide general updates and to gather feedback on the latest draft of the City’s Citywide Plan to Reduce Homelessness and Its Impacts. The City Council prioritized special need housing opportunities for persons of all economic levels as set forth in Goal C of the adopted May 2024 Housing Element. Prior to that, in March 2021, the City Council endorsed Santa Clara County’s Community Plan to End Homelessness with three key strategies:
1. Address the root causes of homelessness through system and policy change
2. Expand homelessness prevention and housing programs to meet the need
3. Improve quality of life for unsheltered individuals and create healthy neighborhoods for all
To help implement these strategies, at the November 16, 2021 Council meeting, the City Council directed staff to form an Ad Hoc Homelessness Taskforce and to engage a consultant, Homebase, to manage the Taskforce process. The intended purpose of the Taskforce was to allow community residents and stakeholders to identify and recommend potential City strategies to address the needs of Santa Clara’s unhoused population, which in turn would be incorporated into the City’s Homelessness Response Plan. On December 6, 2021, the City Council approved an agreement with Homebase to assist the City with facilitating the Taskforce and community engagement process, drafting a strategic plan framework, and preparing a draft of the City’s Homelessness Response Plan. The City continued the engagement with Homebase in the sixth cycle Housing Element.
In the spring of 2022, staff worked with Homebase to administer the selection of the Taskforce membership. Eight members were selected from a pool of over 130 applicants, including one representative for each Council District and two 'at-large' members, to form the Taskforce. Taskforce members represented a diverse set of backgrounds, including members who have experienced housing instability and members who have lived experience of homelessness as well as a mix of homeowners, renters, students, and people who work within the City. Five local agencies were affiliated with the Taskforce and advised through the process. These agencies included the Bill Wilson Center, Abode Services, HomeFirst, Destination: HOME, and the County’s Office of Supportive Housing.
The Taskforce met virtually once a month for six months from April 28, 2022 through October 27, 2022. All six meetings were live-streamed for public viewing and participation. During this period, Homebase conducted additional outreach that included research and data gathering, focus groups with service providers and City staff, twelve (12) interviews with people with lived experience of homelessness, a virtual community forum with over 70 participants, a survey of the business community with over 270 responses, and public comments during the Taskforce meetings and via email. Following these meetings and based on additional research and outreach, Homebase drafted a plan which was later posted on the City’s website for public review.
On January 10, 2023, City staff and Homebase presented the draft plan and gathered feedback at a City Council study session. During the study session, staff provided background information on homelessness, summarized stakeholder input, and received feedback from the City Council on the draft plan. Comments on the draft plan from Taskforce members suggested prioritizing prevention, outreach and case management, targeting subpopulations with specific services, mental health support services, increasing broad-based support for basic needs services and shelter, and creating concrete strategies with specific goals, estimated costs, and the entity who is responsible for implementation.
Members of the City Council commented on a multi-faceted approach with the importance of prevention, adding protections against evictions, having mobile case management and outreach, looking at initiatives in other cities, engaging local organizations and volunteers, improving the City's homelessness resource webpage, increasing housing and shelter options, increasing trash cleanups, increasing Wi-Fi access, addressing mental health and substance abuse, creating storage solutions for unhoused residents, using metrics to measure impact, and providing a budget to understand what priority services might cost to implement.
DISCUSSION
Homelessness is a multi-faceted issue and many of the services and programs available to City of Santa Clara residents are part of a countywide system supported by various funders, including the County. These services help prevent homelessness, assess vulnerability, connect unhoused residents with emergency shelter and housing opportunities, and connect people with a range of health and human services. The City of Santa Clara contributes resources to this countywide system, in addition to the targeted services it provides within the city itself. As it is important to understand how this system works, and the City’s role within this system, staff has invited the Santa Clara County’s Office of Supportive Housing to participate in the study session. This discussion entails several elements on homelessness and the following areas of discussion:
1. Overall policy landscape
2. Funding for housing and services
3. Homelessness prevention and crisis response
Overall Policy Landscape
Since the January 10, 2023 study session, the overall policy landscape on this issue has changed significantly at both at the federal and state levels. On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state and local governments have the legal authority to implement and enforce ordinances that prohibit homeless encampments on public property (Johnson v. Grants Pass). This ruling removed a legal barrier to encampment clearance when no shelter or interim housing is available. Shortly after this ruling, on July 25, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom issued executive order N-1-24 directing state agencies to adopt policies that address encampments on state property provided there is notice, outreach, and temporary storage of personal belongings. This executive order also encouraged local government to adopt similar policies and upcoming funding programs such as the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention Program (HHAP) that will require counties and large cities to comply with state encampment policies to receive these funds. On May 12, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom released a model ordinance for cities and counties to address unhealthy and dangerous encampments. Some cities in the Bay Area have adopted new policies and procedures related to encampment clearance and enforcement.
Funding for Housing and Services
Another factor affecting homelessness response efforts is dwindling funding for housing and services. Federal budget cuts for emergency housing vouchers and proposed cuts to other housing and human service programs will directly impact clients who are unhoused or at risk of losing their housing. Funding for new affordable housing production is also in short supply as Santa Clara County’s Measure A funds have mostly been deployed and the regional bond measure for affordable housing did not pass.
Homelessness Prevention and Crisis Response
As the City of Santa Clara works to increase its affordable housing supply, a process that takes years, it has invested in homelessness prevention and crisis response to ensure the City remains a safe and clean community for all, and to ensure that individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness have resources to meet their basic needs. With the goal of keeping people stably housed, the City supports various homelessness prevention services through the County and service providers, including the County’s Homeless Prevention System, a Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program, landlord/tenant mediation, domestic violence services, a 2-1-1 hotline, among others. To assist people who are experiencing homelessness, the City provides services such as mobile shower and laundry services and works closely with partners to connect individuals to shelter, housing, and mental health and behavioral health services.
Since the January 10, 2023 study session, City staff has been busy working on a number of key work efforts to further expand the City’s homelessness prevention and crisis response. These efforts include, but are not limited to, securing $1,800,000 in grant funding for homeless services, forming an internal working group to coordinate on homelessness best practices and to explore partnerships, researching what it takes to develop and implement various homeless programs and services including a safe parking program, street outreach and case management, emergency/inclement weather shelter, procuring a vendor to provide mental health coordination services, and continuing to work closely with the County and LifeMoves to advance a Homekey funded family interim housing project. More information about these efforts can be found within the draft workplan referenced below and will be covered in the study session presentation.
In addition, in January 2025, City staff organized over 60 volunteers made up of staff and community members over two days to canvass the city for the 2025 Point in Time Count and in person survey. While city level data for this count will not be available until Fall 2025, staff did observe a growing number of people living in oversized vehicles and cars in Santa Clara. Additional City level demographic information can be found in Attachment 1.
The purpose of this study session is to provide general updates and to gather feedback on the latest draft of the City’s Citywide Plan to Reduce Homelessness and Its Impacts (“Draft Response Plan”). The Draft Response Plan includes the following six Strategy Areas and 34 associated work items (Attachment 2):
• Strategy Area 1: Prevent homelessness for City residents who are at-risk
• Strategy Area 2: Increase availability of short-term shelter, permanent supportive housing, and Extremely Low Income (ELI) housing
• Strategy Area 3: Conduct proactive street outreach to engage people who are unsheltered and connect them to resources
• Strategy Area 4: Address basic needs of people living outside, including health, and hygiene
• Strategy Area 5: Reduce the impacts of unsheltered homelessness throughout the community
• Strategy Area 6: Foster productive community conversation about the causes, needs, and experience of homelessness to foster support and volunteerism
The strategies and work items were developed in coordination with the City’s 2023-2031 Housing Element and the County’s 2020-2025 Community Plan to End Homelessness and informed by input collected from the Homelessness Taskforce, community engagement efforts, City staff, and the City Council. They are designed to respond to identified community needs and service gaps through a combination of short- and long-term actions that are cost-effective, impactful, and balance compassionate support, service accessibility, and public safety.
The draft Response Plan includes an Appendix A that outlines a comprehensive two-year implementation workplan made up of 34 individual work items to guide planning and monitor progress of the City’s homelessness response efforts (“Two-Year Workplan”) (Attachment 3). For each work item, the Two-Year Workplan identifies the relevant Strategy Area, status of work efforts (if any), department(s), and resource needs (if any). The Two-Year Workplan groups the 34 work items into the following three categories:
• Ongoing
Work items that are currently being implemented with existing resources.
• Planned
Work items that staff can reasonably initiate within the next two years, based on projected funding and staffing capacity.
• Pending / Resource-Contingent
Potential work items that will require additional funding and staffing capacity to implement.
It should be noted that these work items should be considered in the context of the various umbrellas that the City is operating under (e.g., U.S. Constitution, state penal code, fiscal limitations, etc.).
The draft Response Plan also includes an Appendix B that provides a corresponding budget that includes the cost of budgeted or funded services, along with additional estimated costs, to implement the proposed ongoing and planned work items in FY 2025/26 and FY 2026/27.
Based on the study session discussion and City Council’s feedback on the Draft Response Plan and corresponding Two-Year Workplan, staff plans to bring back a final Response Plan and the corresponding Two-Year Workplan for Council consideration and adoption in Fall 2025.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action being considered does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(a) as it has no potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
FISCAL IMPACT
While there are no costs to present the information in this report other than staff and administrative time, costs could be incurred or proposed depending on the recommendations or direction provided by Council in this study session to bring back proposals for funding consideration. The Two-Year Workplan and implementation budget that can be found respectively in the Draft Response Plan’s Appendix A (Attachment 3) and Appendix B (Attachment 2) provide more information about potential costs and future resource needs.
COORDINATION
This report was coordinated with the Community Development Department, City Manager’s Office, Police Department, Finance Department, and City Attorney’s Office. In addition to these departments, the Two-Year Workplan was coordinated with the Public Works, Library, and Parks and Recreations Departments and the Office of Emergency Management.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall Council Chambers. A complete agenda packet is available on the City’s website and in the City Clerk’s Office at least 72 hours prior to a Regular Meeting and 24 hours prior to a Special Meeting. A hard copy of any agenda report may be requested by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at (408) 615-2220, email clerk@santaclaraca.gov or at the public information desk at any City of Santa Clara public library.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
The purpose of this report is to support a study session on the City’s Draft Citywide Plan to Reduce Homelessness and Its Impacts and the associated Two-Year Workplan. The study session will gather general input on the Draft Response Plan’s strategies, the Two-Year Workplan, and more detailed feedback on the following key work items:
1. Work Item 2.1 - Temporary hotel program
2. Work Item 2.2 - Overnight inclement weather program
3. Work Item 2.3 - RV safe parking research
4. Work Item 3.1 - Street outreach and case management team
5. Work Item 5.2 - Funding to supplement cleanups and towing
After the study session, staff will make updates to the plan and return to City Council for its adoption. Staff will also propose budgetary appropriations to implement key work items.
Staff
Reviewed by: Afshan Hamid, Director, Community Development and Christine Jung, Deputy City Manager, City Manager’s Office
Approved by: Jovan D. Grogan, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. City of Santa Clara Homelessness Data
2. Draft Citywide Plan to Reduce Homelessness and Its Impacts
3. Draft Citywide Plan to Reduce Homelessness and Its Impacts - Appendix A: Two-Year Workplan