Explanation
BACKGROUND
This Ordinance authorizes the Director of the Department of Development to enter into not-for-profit service contract with the Community Shelter Board (CSB) in an amount up to $300,000.00 for the Transitional Housing Pilot Program. This one-year contract will commence on September 12, 2022.
The City of Columbus is committed to supporting our shelter system and improving the systems that support people experiencing homelessness. However, people with histories of living on the land are our hardest to find and hardest to serve. This pilot is being made available to these individuals so we can better understand equitable options for people who have not successfully exited our shelter system. This program will help prepare individuals to take on permanent housing and its’ responsibility. For the participants, it provides them a mailing address, access to a telephone, relief from inclement weather, and the opportunity to prioritize the long term goals of health and housing security.
Pilot participants will receive hotel lodging, material assistance, and individualized case management as they work to transition into subsidized rental or permanent supportive housing. The goal of the pilot is to evaluate interventions that provide a short-term safe space for individuals living on the land as they work toward securing long-term, stable housing. The pilot will be managed by the Community Shelter Board, with Equitas Health providing on-site case management tailored to the needs of each individual.
The services included in this contract cannot be provided by existing city employees because these services are beyond the City’s current staffing capacity to provide.
Emergency action is requested to provide these essential services to people experiencing homelessness without interruption.
FISCAL IMPACT: Funding is available in the Neighborhood Economic Development fund (2237).
CONTRACT COMPLIANCE: The contract compliance number for Community Shelter Board is 004795 and expires on 01/10/2024.
Title
To authorize the Director of the Department of Development to enter into a not-for-profit service contract with the Community Shelter Board (CSB) in an amount up to $300,000.00 for the Transitional Housing Pilot Program, to authorize the appropriation and expenditure of $300,000.00 from the Neighborhood Economic Development fund; and to declare an emergency. ($300,000.00) (AMENDED BY ORDINANCE 3234-2022 PASSED 12/5/2022) BA
Body
WHEREAS, there is a need to pilot a program that will address the needs of individuals who have not successfully exited our shelter system; and
WHEREAS, for those individuals who have lived on the land in a long-term capacity, a transitional housing option with individualized case management will allow them to focus on the barriers that have held them in an unsheltered situation; and
WHEREAS, the Director of the Department of Development desires to enter into not-for-profit service contract with the Community Shelter Board (CSB) in an amount up to $300,000.00 for the Transitional Housing Pilot Program; and
WHEREAS, for the participants, the program will provide them a mailing address, access to a telephone, relief from inclement weather, and the opportunity to move out from under a survival mentality and hopefully into a thrive mentality as they establish themselves in permanent housing and living; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the Department of Development in that it is immediately necessary to authorize the Director to enter into a not-for-profit service contract with the Community Shelter Board (CSB) to facilitate the Transitional Housing Pilot Program, such immediate action being necessary for the preservation of the public health, peace, property and safety; NOW THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That the Director of the Department of Development is hereby authorized to enter into a not-for-profit service contract with the Community Shelter Board (CSB) in an amount up to $300,000.00 for the Transitional Housing Pilot Program. This one-year contract will commence on September 12, 2022.
SECTION 2. That from the unappropriated monies and from all monies estimated to come into said fund from any and all sources and unappropriated for any other purpose during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, the sum of $300,000.00 is appropriated in Fund 2237 (Neighborhood Economic Development Fund), Dept-Div 44-01 (Administrative Division), in object class 03 (Services) per the account codes in the attachment to this ordinance.
SECTION 3. That the expenditure of $300,000.00 or so much thereof as may be needed, is hereby authorized in Fund 2237 (Neighborhood Economic Development Fund), Dept-Div 44-01 (Administrative Division), in object class 03 (Services) per the accounting codes in the attachment to this ordinance.
SECTION 4. That this contract is awarded pursuant to the relevant provisions of Chapter 329 of City Code relating to the process for awarding not-for-profit service contracts.
SECTION 5. Funds are hereby deemed appropriated and expenditures and transfers authorized to carry out the purposes of this ordinance and the City Auditor shall establish such accounting codes as necessary.
SECTION 6. That the City Auditor is authorized to make any accounting changes to revise the funding source for all contracts or contract modifications associated with this ordinance.
SECTION 7. That for the reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, this Ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force from and after its approval by the Mayor, or ten days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.