CC SR 20230207 03 - Homelessness Plan Survey Authorization
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 02/07/2023
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Regular Business
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action to issue a Homelessness Prevention Plan Community
Survey.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Authorize Staff to issue the proposed Homelessness Prevention Plan Community
Survey to solicit public input on homelessness response in the City.
FISCAL IMPACT: Costs associated with this are included as part of the City’s contract
with Focus Strategies, funded through a South Bay Cities Council of
Governments grant. No additional costs will be incurred through the
recommended action.
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
ORIGINATED BY: McKenzie Bright, Administrative Analyst
REVIEWED BY: Karina Bañales, Deputy City Manager
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. Draft Community Survey (page A-1)
B. City Council Policy No. 2 (page B-1)
C. September 6, 2022 staff report
D. December 21, 2021 staff report
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION:
On July 13, 2021, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved funding
recommendations for Measure H - eligible Homeless Initiative strategies (Innovation
Grants), allocating $1,905,000 to the South Bay Cities Council of Governments
(SBCCOG). In August 2021, the City applied for $20,000 to hire a consultant to develop
the City’s Homelessness Plan that is intended to prevent and combat homelessness in
the City by, among other things, connecting unhoused persons with county resources. In
October 2021, the City was notified that the SBCCOG Board of Di rectors approved the
City’s request.
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RANCHO PALOS VERDES
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On December 21, 2021, the City Council authorized a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) with the SBCCOG, accepting the $20,000 grant allocation and authorizing the City
to proceed with work (see Attachment D). The SBCCOG finalized a statement of work
with the County and executed the MOU. The SBCCOG subsequently increased the City’s
grant allocation to $30,000 to meet consultant costs.
On September 6, 2022, the City Council awarded a professional services agreement to
Focus Strategies to develop the City’s Homelessness Plan, which included conducting
community engagement to enhance the development of the plan (see Attachment C).
To gather public input, as well as potentially gain insight from residents who personally
experienced homelessness or housing instability, Focus Strategies and Staff determined
a survey would be most appropriate.
Staff and the consulting team will solicit public feedback on the proposed project via a
community survey, which will be distributed via listserv messaging and social media. The
draft community survey (see Attachment A) consists of eight questions: five of which
pertain to observations of and ways to address homelessness, and three demographic
questions of the responder.
Per City Council Policy No. 2 (see Attachment B), the City Council is required to authorize
the issuance of the draft community survey. Staff believes the issuance of the community
survey is an important tool to collect public feedback that would otherwise not be as
available or robust. If authorized, the survey will be available to the public in a digital
format.
The community survey, if approved, will be available for two weeks, from February 8-22,
2023. Staff and the consulting team will analyze the information and data gathered from
the community survey to help inform the recommendations proposed by the
Homelessness Plan. The results of the survey will be incorporated into the Plan, which is
tentatively scheduled to come before the City Council on Ap ril 18 and following adoption,
will be available on the City website.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends the City Council authorize Staff to issue the community survey to solicit
public input on homelessness response in the City.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following alternative actions are available for
the City Council’s consideration:
1. Identify modifications or draft additional survey questions.
2. Direct Staff not to issue the community survey.
3. Take other action, as deemed appropriate.
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CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES
COMMUNITY SURVEY
DRAFT FEBRUARY 7 , 2023
HOMELESSNESS STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
Thank you for your interest in the City’s effort to develop and implement a Homelessness
Strategic Plan (Plan). As part of the City’s commitment to hearing the views of people who
live and work in Rancho Palos Verdes, the City is seeking community input on the priorities
and strategies of this Plan.
The City has engaged the services of an outside consulting firm, Focus Strategies, to provide
technical assistance in developing the Plan. Focus Strategies is a national consulting firm
based on the West Coast that has over 16 years of experience helping communities improve
efforts to end homelessness.
The input you provide in this survey will be incorporated into the City’s Plan to address
Homelessness in Rancho Palos Verdes. We appreciate your feedback!
Survey Questions
1. How big of a challenge do you think homelessness is in Rancho Palos Verdes? Please
select the challenge that best describes your opinion. (select one)
o A very big challenge
o A Moderate challenge
o Somewhat of a challenge
o Not a challenge
2. How important is addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness in
Rancho Palos Verdes? (select one)
o Very important
o Moderately Important
o Somewhat important
o Not at all important
A-1
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3. What is most important to you in addressing homelessness in Rancho Palos Verdes?
(open-ended)
4. What would a successful Homelessness Strategic Plan look like for you? (open-ended)
5. From your perspective, what else should we know about solving homelessness in
Rancho Palos Verdes? (open-ended)
Demographics
The questions below ask about your demographics. This data will provide a summary of the
diversity of people who participated in this survey. Your responses will be anonymous and will
never be linked back to you individually.
6. Have you or anyone close to you ever experienced homelessness? (check all that apply)
o I have experienced homelessness
o Someone close to me has experienced homelessness
o I have never experienced homelessness, but I have been close to losing my house
before
o I have never experienced homelessness and nobody I am close to has
experienced homelessness
7. What is your annual household income?
o $0 - $48,000
o $48,001 - $95,000
o $95,000 - $159,000
o $159,000 - $190,000
o Over $190,000
o Prefer not to answer
8. What race/ethnicity do you identify with most closely? (Select all that apply)
o American Indian, Alaskan Native, or Indigenous
o Asian or Asian American
A-2
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o Black, African American, or African
o Hispanic/Latinx
o Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
o White/Caucasian
o Prefer not to answer
A-3
CITY COUNCIL POLICY
NUMBER: 2
DATE ADOPTED/AMENDED: 02/04/92
SUBJECT: Questionnaires sent to the public by City Council, Committee/
Commission(s) and Staff
POLICY:
It shall be the policy of the City Council that all questionnaires and/or surveys to
be sent by the City to the general public or special groups, whether generated by
Staff, City Council or Committee/Commission(s), be authorized by the full City
Council at a public meeting.
The City Manager shall be authorized, however, to approve any questionnaires
and/or surveys for information to be sent to other public agencies.
BACKGROUND:
The City Council recognized the need to establish a policy to control
questionnaires and surveys for information that are sent or delivered to the
general public and special interest groups.
B-1