Transcript

Captions from City of Boulder YouTube recording.

[0:00] so I'm sure if T wants you to see it she'll sent it to you we were I was telling her asked her if she seen Mr Smoke's email ah he he's still been corresponding with me he's mad that there's not a way to see it in the mun code and that's fair you know we're trying to get them to publish but anyway yeah I wasn't fast enough on my reply Teresa even though I don't think it would have mattered good afternoon everybody hello sir hi there good afternoon Aaron Ryan hello Alicia everyone Teresa hello good evening everyone I'm just gonna adjust my lighting here Ryan are you ready I got my uh my Ram and my cash cleared I restart of the

[1:00] computer I'm ready to rock got some caffeine we'll see well yeah that's that's kind of a baseline day so yeah what could go wrong looking forward to it I'm remember you said that Ryan that's a jinx if I've ever heard one I know I the wheels were turning as I was I was just going to shut up I'll shut up now and well and was like what happens cuz you know if if our facilitator somehow goes offline is that then go to you Aaron sure you all got it figure it out we haven't like done that line of secession oh what go wrong it's homelessness

[2:28] e e

[3:28] e e

[4:28] e e

[5:28] e e

[6:28] e e e

[7:50] I'm going to I'll call us to order welcome everyone to the Thursday February 13th 2025 special meeting of the Boulder City

[8:01] Council Elicia can you do a roll call please yes sir thank you and good evening everyone we'll start tonight's roll call as usual with council member Adams present Benjamin present mayor Brockett present mayor protim fuls I thought she was here all right Maris present shuar here spear present wallik here and Wier present mayor we have our cor thank you Leisa okay I'm going to start uh by requesting a motion to amend the agenda to add item 2B which would be the introduction first reading and consideration of a motion to order published by title only and adopt

[9:00] by emergency measure ordinance 8687 amending section 5518 suspension of facility privileges BRC 1981 to expand the list of facilities or buildings from which persons may be suspended for conduct endangering the health safety or welfare of users or visitors and setting forth related details no moved second got a motion a second can I have a show of hands on that motion to amend the agenda please I got eight on that so that's unanimous all right and then what that means then is our uh first item um on um on our agenda for this evening is to go into executive session and then once that's concluded we'll come back to what is now the item to be that um ordinance that I just described so let me switch to my other script all right the one second

[10:00] the city manager and the City attorney have requested an executive session pursuant to CRS section 246 424b for a conference between city council and the attorneys for the city for the purpose of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions regarding emerging federal guidelines this topic announcements announcement provides as much detail as possible without compromising the purpose for which the executive session is authorized so I will now entertain a motion to convene an ex itive session pursuant to CRS section 246 424b for a conference with the attorneys for the city for the purpose of receiving legal advice on specific legal questions regarding emerging federal guidelines so moved like three can I get a second second we got a motion and a second so this motion for executive session must pass by 2third of the Quorum of council present so Elicia can we do a vote

[11:03] please yes sir we'll do the vote for the executive session item 2A we'll start it with mayor Pro Tim fols which is who's not here so we'll start with marus yes shuart yes spear yes wallet yes Wier yes Adams yes Benjamin yes and mayor Brockett yes the vote to go into executive session is hereby approved unanimously very good so that was an 8 to zero vote to go into executive session the motion has passed so the council will now recess and reconvene immediately in a virtual executive session to discuss the matter previously stated for purposes previously stated so

[12:01] I'll recess us from this meeting now we'll see you in the virtual executive session e

[13:28] e e

[14:28] e e

[15:27] e e

[16:27] e e

[17:27] e e

[18:27] e e

[19:27] e e

[20:27] e e

[21:27] e e

[22:27] e e

[23:27] e e

[24:27] e e

[25:27] e e

[26:27] e e

[27:27] e e

[28:27] e e

[29:27] e e

[30:26] e e

[31:26] e e

[32:26] e e

[33:26] e e

[34:26] e e

[35:26] e e

[36:26] e e

[37:26] e e

[38:26] e e

[39:26] e e

[40:26] e e

[41:26] e e

[42:26] e e

[43:26] e e

[44:26] e e

[45:25] e e

[46:25] e e

[47:25] e e

[48:25] e e

[49:25] e e

[50:25] e e

[51:25] e e

[52:25] e e

[53:25] e e

[54:25] e e

[55:25] e e

[56:25] e e

[57:25] e e

[58:25] e e

[59:25] e e

[60:09] in this executive session we Teresa tapate desire airas Luis Toro Taisha Adams Sarah Huntley Matthew Benjamin Nicole spear Mary Rivera vaner Chris Reynolds Tara Wier Chris meschuk Lauren furz Tina Marquis car Caso Mark wallik Aaron Brockett Ryan schard and Roberto Ramirez for the record if any person who participated in the executive session believes that any substantial discussion of any matters not included in the motion to go into executive session occurred during the executive session or that any improper action occurred during the executive session in violation of the open meetings law I ask that you state your concerns for the record at this time all right seeing none I will go ahead

[61:01] and continue us back to the February 13th special meeting agenda and resume that special meeting all right we have one item of business left on that special meeting Elisha if he can take us to the consent agenda please all right sir thank you our consent agenda tonight consists of items item 2 a very good um so I would invite a motion on the consent agenda if anyone has any comments or questions about it I make a motion to pass our consent agenda second all right I've got a motion in a second seeing no other hands raised uh Elicia can we do a roll call vote please yes sir thank you we'll start the agend uh the roll call vote for the consent agenda item 2A with mayor Pro Tim Furs

[62:01] yes council member marus yes shoard yes spear yes wallik yes Winer yes Adams yes Benjamin yes and mayor rocket yes the in the consent agenda item 2A is hereby adopted by emergency measure that is ordinance 8687 okay very good well thanks everybody um that concludes our special meeting for February 13 2025 so I'm going to go ahead and gavel that closed it's 558 p.m. and if we can just take a two-minute pause please so we don't start earlier than anything body expects and then um Ryan I'll hand it over to you to facilitate the study session um

[63:01] starting at 6m thanks everybody e

[64:24] e e

[65:24] e e e

[66:31] good evening and welcome to tonight's study session of the Boulder City Council I am council member shoard thank you for joining us we are we have on tonight's agenda one item that item is the homelessness programs evaluation process to update strategy and high utilizer update before we get into our work item I would like to outline how the meeting will be conducted we will review the staff's presentation and then we'll have time for questions at the end of the

[67:01] presentation we will conduct our Council discussion with staff if you have questions please wait for staff to complete the presentation I believe staff is doing three presentations each one corresponding to one of the qu three questions in the memo we will now turn to our city manager nura Rivera Vander to introduce our introduce our item Maria thank you so much council member Shu hard uh this is an item uh of great interest to both you all and to community um it has been something often discussed and in particular we started originally discuss uh discussing um conversation around the evaluation of HSBC uh but as staff has shown in uh what is a great memo and hopefully a great presentation um there is uh you can't talk about one part of it if we're not talking a little bit about the system um and so I'm going to turn it to Kurt Fern hubber our director of Housing and Human Services to kick us off but I

[68:01] also just want to thank we have a variety of uh colleagues from the county we have some external guests and some Consultants with us and just wanted to thank them for staying with us on this late night uh and joining us for the evening so thanks so much Kurt uh good evening Council thank you uh so I'm Kurt Fern hover and I support the Department of Housing and human services tonight will be presenting a lot of data evaluations and strategies to address homelessness however before we start I want to ground Us in this conversation that this work is about impacting the lives of individuals and families I want to share a very short story our peer support program started with Focus re-entry a couple years ago there was an individual that had been unhoused for several years and had transitioned into housing successfully they were later hired as a p Navigator and began assisting others who are also going into housing or just landed in

[69:01] housing this peer has been helping individuals in groups with activities such as how to connect with food food bank where to go for Medical Counseling heal as well as group activities that include fun learning relationship building and connecting with our community a few weeks ago we opened the uh extreme weather shelter this peer on their own initiative came over to spend time with those staying there with painting pictures playing games and building relationships this peer has become a successful role model not only did this individual help others but they found real pride in the process of doing so I think you'll find that our Community Partners and our staff are Relentless in their dedication to helping individuals like homlessness and stay successfully in their housing I want to more fully lift up the individual while going through these steps of exiting homelessness we are partners with them

[70:00] in this journey and if we could um just hold on for one second sorry just looking at the we could pull the slides up um we could move on to that thank you and you can um go to the next slide um so T tonight as mentioned we have three sections uh the first is led by Megan Newton who will cover the results of this work over the last year and present some Trends we have seen we will then receive a report on the evaluation which is presented by Meg Chamberlain of the public policy Associates the last section will'll focus on how we move forward with evolving our homeless strategy from 2017 this new hom strategy work going forward will be led by Mark Wolf the assistant

[71:00] city manager and with him Mandy Chapman of fch Consulting we also have with us tonight Susanna Lopez Baker and Trevor Beringer uh to answer any questions you may have of Boulder County and then we'll pause after each presentation just discuss the um Associated question um if you could go to the next slide thank you and so as we look at 20 uh at the update from 2017 our when our homeless strategy was initiated I want to just highlight a few very short Milestones since that time so over 2,000 people have exited homelessness from our city a local voucher program has allowed us to House people that would have otherwise struggle to find housing with our federal and state voucher requirements 37 79 people were able to avoid ever entering homelessness as a result of our

[72:00] diversion program we open a covid recovery center for respit and care for covid positive unhoused individuals thinking it would be a few weeks it ended up being open for over two years two more permanent support of housing developments were opened over this time and we now have three in Boulder our citizens passed an eviction prevention program eest that has served over 2,300 individuals with eviction prevention mediation rent and services The Haven Ridge organization has expanded its program with a larger facility and more beds Bridge houses ready to work open in South Boulder and expand expanded elsewhere and finally we opened a day service uh Center nine months ago post to Services individuals and if you can turn to the next slide I will now hand it over uh to Megan who will uh start this summary of

[73:01] last year thank you good evening Council can you hear me okay great for some reason it keeps give me a warning about my camera so I'm going to do this with camera off I apologize good evening my name is Megan Newton I am the policy adviser on homelessness in housing and Human Services and I'm going to start the first part of this this discussion and I'll quickly lay the groundwork reviewing the current system key data Trends and program developments from this past year on this slide it's showing the current Continuum of services I want to be sure to say that this is not the entire network of support but this is only showing programs that the city provides funding towards the system focuses on six core areas prevention Outreach shelter housing and housing retention and we also have some Health Services attached to these programs as you can see the city's Investments are across the entire Continuum next slide

[74:01] please in the next few slides we're going to look at some of the trends around homelessness and Boulder the past couple years the graph on your top left shows data from coordinated entry indicating an increase in individuals who report to have been in Boulder for less than a month at the time of their CE screening this trend just informs how we tailor our homelessness response strategies and while we know this number is high a majority of the individuals are coming from the region and it underscores the importance of working on these issues regionally the top right graph shows point in time numbers of unsheltered single adults during the last two years while the bottom right graph shows point in time numbers from the last two years for single adults but includes both sheltered and unsheltered um as you can see all of those numbers have been going down in each count um for the last couple years um the bottom left shows the exits from homelessness over the last few years um we in 2024 we had 264

[75:03] people exit homeless which is a homelessness which is a slight decrease from the last two years next slide please now we're going to look at some shelter Trends um in the previous slide we saw some decreasing Trends in point and time numbers but we have seen an increase in individuals accessing services and the shelter the graph on the left um shows a percentage of knights with capacity turnaways per month um that peaked in November with 80 83% of the nights having turnaways um warmer months were a little bit lower since such as May and October um where rates were around 48% you can see in July we added 20 embeds with fairly little impact to the system the graph on the right um shows the average number of turnaways per night per month which follows a similar seasonal Trend hitting a Peak at November I do want to

[76:01] point out though that all of these numbers although these just show this year they're all higher than previous years um shelter demand at the shelter has been higher this year than we've seen before next slide um this is a third year in a row where we've added an additional shelter um to support overflow during an extreme weather event um as these events have occurred year after year we've been we've been better prepared um the one that we just did in January we were able to serve 90 Unique Individuals over a three period um utilizing 884 Personnel hours at a cost of 31,32 doar this year we increased our partnership and coordination with with all roads and focus re-entry and it helped us to have a smoother experience next slide please now we'll transition into some housing Trends um as I said just before 264 individuals exited homelessness in

[77:02] 2024 which is a slight decrease from last year um the graph on the left the purple bars show the number of individuals entering the system during those time periods while the yellow bars show the number of individuals exiting and although we saw fewer individuals exit in 2024 due to the also a decrease in individuals entering the system the exit rates are actually improving the 39 with a 39% ex exit rate um in 2024 um that's been higher than previous years um the graph on the right shows the number of individuals exiting by month High numbers in January and October reflect the opening of bluebird and Zenia which are dedicated permanent Supportive Housing projects um we are concerned the exits are going down despite having these be these two big projects opening this year um but I will also note that so we had some State housing vouchers that were frozen in 2024 which likely contributed to the

[78:01] decreased exits um we do have some additional units coming on line this year through Hilltop and rally Flats as well as some State housing vouchers that are attached to the day Services Center um so but overall we are expecting fewer new resources in 2025 next slide please so we looked at the response system we've looked looked at some Trends now I'm going to go quickly through some of our new programs I'm starting with the day Services Center um the day service this day Center is intended to offer a low barrier entry point for people who may not be accessing other programs um and connecting them to critical Services all in one location so these are basic Services as all the way up through housing um since opening the day Services Center has recorded thousands of visits showing the high demand for daytime services there are currently 15 partner agencies providing services within the day Services Center um 85% of

[79:01] the clients accessing the center also connect with partner programs meaning they're not just going for a shower or a meal but they're also accessing Services as a pathway to long-term Solutions um the site has on-site Behavioral Health addiction treat Addiction Services Medical Care respit peer support Specialists um and housing navigation all trying to meet the different needs of the folks entering this entering the center um we were also able to get 30 State housing and vouchers tied to the center and so those folks are already starting to get mashed and connected to housing um the graph on the right shows the average daily attendance where started out fairly even but spiked up um later in the year probably both D due to the weather and due to um folks learning of the center next slide please um while permit support of housing has been shown to Be an

[80:02] Effective solution um some people still struggle with isolation Behavioral Health needs and navigating services so using arpa dollars we we started a program called building home that helps individuals overcome these challenges and to support long-term success um focus re-entry leads the peer support program providing one-on-one support as well as out classes and social support all roads operates the housing retention team providing clinical Support Services to individuals the program has been highly successful they had an 88% retention rate for 2024 and a 94% retention rate over the last two years um but as I just noted this program is arpa funded so we are currently exploring next steps for what happens when this funding expires next slide please now going to turn it over to Carl Castillo real quick to give us a brief

[81:00] update on the high utilizer initiative thank you Megan um yes my name is Carl Caso I'm the chief policy advisor in the city manager's office and the I'm going to briefly speak about these next two slides um and I wanted to highlight that as we shift to discuss High utilizers We Are focusing on a different kind of effort we're not talking about decreasing the number of unhoused individuals rep about decreasing utilization of the criminal justice system this is a crime reduction effort that focuses on responding to individuals that have the greatest impact to community Public Safety while also exposing them themselves to harm but um the reason we're including this in this conversation is because it overlaps what our homelessness work all of the individuals on the high utilizers list are currently unhoused and the primary solution to help respond and help them is is to help them exit homelessness so that's the connection um this in fact began as an effort in

[82:01] 2022 between the um housing housing and Human Services and our Poli department but um as you all know it has expanded into a task force composed of cross agency leaders involved in criminal justice and all the service providers um this slide here um I think one one thing I need to highlight is there is no program right now this is essentially a an initiative ongoing collaboration there's been no new funding that has been directed for this purpose um nevertheless it is a new use of our existing resources that has resulted in some uh and some successes and what you see there on the far right of this slide is that of the individuals that have been put on the high utilizers list since three years because each year we've rerun it um 25% of those have since been housed and are still housed uh so certainly a success but we know

[83:00] that this is not enough uh next slide please so this is where we talk about the program uh the proposed program and this is this is what we spoke with council at The Retreat uh last year um the um these bulbs hanging there hanging there on the slide are describing the comprehensive response that we feel is really needed to move the needle now and in the future uh with regards to high utilizers it describes a program that um would be about $5 million in the first year um recognizing that this was a very difficult time to be considering raising that kind of money um we did scale it back to a phase program that focuses on the three blue bulbs that are hanging there um the green bulbs would be provided instead through existing resources kind of re can't think of the word but basically reallocating some existing resources so it wouldn't cost any additional funds

[84:02] um and we are exploring ways to to do that and this would cost this phase approach would cost $1.7 million um So currently we're exploring how we can fund this and one of the approaches is to to reach out to our philanthropic community and we're doing that and we're doing that by by uh an awareness campaign where they understand their or goals and um we believe that while we have not made any formal requests yet we'll basically kind of Tes in the water seeing you know what resonates and what the initial thoughts are we believe that fundraising is the best way to engage the community and being part of the solution uh last thing I want to highlight is that some people ask why Focus resources on so few people especially individuals who are hard to support and the answer I believe is it is great it provides us the greatest opportunity to improve the greatest number of lives and that's both the people who are on the high ERS list as

[85:01] well as those who are H and just generally the community so it's just a an important way to look at um the different perspective when we measure success and we measure Effectiveness when we talk about the high utilizer proposed program uh back to you Megan next slide thanks Carl um on this final slide I'm just going to talk through a couple growing areas of need around both prevention and family homelessness um we know the best way to reduce homelessness is to prevent it from happening in the first place um this avoids disruption and Trauma for individuals and families um prevention is also the most coste effective intervention um some of the key strategies that we've been using is legal services and mediation to help prevent evictions before they happen financial assistance and Rental support to help residents stay housed and then a high level of collaboration between government nonprofits and Community

[86:01] Partners um which strengthen these efforts uh the graph on your right shows family homelessness um through bvsd um mckin vento which is the definition used by the federal government in the schools um and as you can see um those numbers remain high postco and Beyond the mar the Marshall fire surge um they show a sustained need for support um in and in 2024 um we saw a record demand for eviction prevention Services um stretching all available resources we've tried to fill some gaps with arpa funds um but they will be expire expiring in 2025 2026 next slide so that concludes the very first part was just the quick updates before we get into the meat of the night with the system evaluation and the strategy development um so I think we would take questions on that part

[87:01] now thank you Megan Carl and Kurt um normally we do clarifying questions first but this item really is about what questions you have so I would suggest we just just do this this item we'll ask what what questions do you have and if you have any questions that are about clarifying what you heard just now please just roll that in if that feels good and then in the next presentation we'll do question and then feedback we can pull down the slides as well yeah please thank you let me um let's see here okay I thought I was going to see numbers uh in order of what people raise their hands but I'm not seeing that so Ryan if you pull up the participants tab it will show people in the order that their hand was raised sorry participants tab if you click on the button labeled participants on the

[88:01] bottom there we go thank you Aaron okay let me um sorry I'm uh yes okay so I see panelists and I see four with a hand but I'm and they are in the order that they raised their hands oh here we go okay I had to do a little refresh looks like Tara where Tara were you first can you does that look right were you first I think you were I could have been okay thanks thanks for the tutorial uh Tara please what is an insurance fund that's a fund we already have one um that is contributed both the city of Boulder Boulder County and Boulder housing partners and it basically just helps us to engage landlords in this work so some of them are skeptical to rent to folks who may not have a rental history um and so it ordered a kind of a selling point for folks is to know that if there's any damage to their unit up to a certain amount um that they could apply for those

[89:05] funds there anything else for you okay Mark think you might be on mute Mark of course I am I'm and I'm never on mute when I ought to be um uh with respect to family Hess um in terms of amounts of funding how much are we dedicating to that effort and how many people are we serving Kur or Elizabeth would you know a better answer to that one ccil Elizabeth Crow deputy director housing Human Services um I've actually got the Grant Management System platform pulled up for questions with 24 2024 numbers which we just got about a week ago um so I'd be happy to do a quick scan of some of the reports that we just

[90:00] got in and um and provide you a total um one example I can tell you in terms of the number of clients served just because I'm looking at it right now for the keep families House program in 2024 um the city allocated $450,000 toward that program which again provides up to three months of financial assistance um rental assistance and other supports for families who are housing insecure um so in 2024 they serve 624 on duplicated families through the project um that doesn't mean that those some of those families aren't also receiving services from other programs that we fund so there would be a fair amount of duplication um some of those families might be showing up on the mckenny vento list for example um span is another a agcy I can look up those numbers quickly for 2024 um maybe if there's another question uh could come back to me and I

[91:01] can provide a little more detail and what was the number that you just gave me and not not the number of people serve but the amount of the uh dollar the amount $450,000 to just for the keep fam's House program um we allocate other funds to EA for shelter basic needs um to safe house uh Progressive Alliance for for nonviolence for their shelter services and other supports those are the two agencies that we fund directly that primarily serve families for um prevention homelessness prevention as well as you know with vouchers I think the some of that information is in the memo um for people who are experience families who are experiencing um episodes of homelessness uh Ryan did you want to hear any comments at this time or just the questions I think think this is we're being asked to provide questions and then in the next presentation we have two more presentations that those are

[92:00] intended for feedback does that seem okay with you mark oh it's it's fine I want to know what the uh the order is moment yeah just the questions for now anything else any other questions then Mark NOP that's it okay thank you Tina yep and can I just ask a quick um clarifying off of Mark's question of the 450,000 or what the amount was is that all from City funds or is that a mix of other funds sure so that 450,000 is a non-competitive um allocation that we make through our Human Services fund which is local dollars um from the general fund effa does raise additional funds um to keep that program going as as well as for other programs which the city funds okay thanks um I so one of the um you mentioned that were anticipating fewer new resources and I'm wondering if that is something Boulder will be experiencing or if the whole

[93:01] region and state will be having the same um resource scarcities I'm just trying to get a a landscape of what we're looking at um sort of together as a state um I'll I'll start with that and I believe Elizabeth may have input to that as well um I think the biggest imp that we're experiencing now we we uh we knew about in advance and that's the cliff effect of oura uh funds um that's something that we'll be experiencing between now and the end of 2026 um and um uh our our building home program is our primary program within the homelessness scope um that's related to to arpa fund so that's a program that we're looking at either uh additional grant funding opportunities from the

[94:00] state um uh and so we're we're currently doing the review and compiling um and really analyzing the the various funding services that we have particular particularly Federal funding sources um and um looking at you know potential risk about that um but we don't really know uh where that's going at this point um Elizabeth if you can you want to add a little bit more about your efforts around that yeah so just as Kurt said there um in terms of arpa being one example um not only we have we been using arpa funds for some of the specific programs you've heard about but we've also been using arpa funds to help keep the keep the coffers more full um for our Older Adult Services and Family Resource

[95:01] schools programs which well before covid have been able to allocate um financial support including rental assistance to either families and older adults and I say older adults because we do have multigenerational households there um we've also been using some arpa funds over the last several years to supplement what we have for our epis program um when that program first launched we had to kind of borrow money from ourselves from the city which we've been paying back now um we no longer all the all the money is paid back we've paid ourselves back um and so we have a little bit more Revenue to be able to use for rental assistance legal support mediation we've also just increased the um the excise tax which will add a little bit more into that bucket um but we only of course have additional arpa funds to spend probably any more closer to 80 or 990,000 I believe um through the end of the arpa expenditure deadline

[96:02] um so so that's just saying right that that's another source that will be that will be going away there are also some federal arpa funds that have been going through the state um and then to the county for the Emergency rental assistance program um in the memo I believe we described the changes that have already been taking place and pretty dramatic decline in Boulder families and other families around the state who will be able to tap that source so we're already seeing those declines and um we're obviously tracking very carefully what the um what the impacts mean will mean if the demands stay as high as they are now and then so regionally do so you know I read a lot of headlines and I'll read a headline like Alamosa decides not to open a shelter or um you know a different town is doubling down on a camping band are we

[97:00] seeing the need in the region to be overall increasing should we be expecting more pressure to provide services and housing at a regional level um because we know a lot of the folks we're serving are not becoming homeless and Bolder do we are we sort of projecting out what the future might look like for us in terms of demand so um Elizabeth is also we ALS is running the initiative to connect with all of our nonprofit Partners as she spoke about and really um they're the ones that are probably closest to the um uh hearing hearing and understanding the trends of that um and uh in recent meetings that I've been in with those the organizations that are doing that work um they they are expressing a lot of concern around

[98:00] the ability to support according to the Le um uh regionally um and so um yes we are keeping an eye on that um but I'll also mention that um so our our family resource uh work in the in the schools they also provide rental support to uh to fam amilies um and Elizabeth mentioned the older adults we have rent support um at a at a smaller level within that program as well okay and then um just the final question for now we mentioned the importance of preventative dollars but about 80% of the people that we serve don't we can't really impact with prevention because they don't live in the city of Boulder do do we work work with regional Partners to see how we can help them create stronger preventative systems so that we have a sort of a

[99:01] regional effort on prevention that might sort of help all of us so Elizabeth you want to take that first I've got some ideas as well but yeah I'll I'll start off um so the short answer is yes we do have really strong Regional collaborations one of them is the family res ource Network which is a countywide network um managed by kind of administered by Boulder County that includes all of our local government agencies Human Services agencies as well as a number of nonprofits um that are working on many other supports for families but including um homelessness prevention um I myself um Vicky Ebner um Karen Armstrong several others from our city HHS team are directly engaged in F FRN um and that group is is really working not only on um kind of strategies that we can all use um kind of for impacts

[100:02] better than the sum of our parts and leaning into advocacy a little bit more um I think we included a link in the memo to a call to action that the FN um put together at the end of last year um we're still getting a little media Bounce from that but the goal of that was to really kind of provide a United message to our community at large um that our organizations are really really at capacity um for meeting these needs and dollars don't always create more staff time in capacity but but they but they often do and they certainly help enable those funds to be passed along to people who need them directly and so that's another kind of example of where we're not only um kind of turning to each other and saying what have you got but kind of putting back out to our community The Challenge and encouraging them to support these agencies with

[101:00] funds with time and certainly by paying attention to what policies are impacting people we're trying to serve thanks Nicole thank you and thanks so much for uh the presentation and just consolidating all the information the memo appreciate that um I just had a couple questions about the uh the resprit center since that's kind of a newer thing but um in the memo it mentioned that um there was going to be some clinical care expansion at the resit center and I was just wondering if you could talk a little bit about what that looks like sure um we we're partnering with h Clinic of family health um and they will be providing some clinical care both at the respit center so meaning the folks that are in the respit beds when they get typically they'll be discharged from the hospital um and they'll have a nurse-led care that comes into goes to those beds and help folk helps folks there at the shelter as well as connecting them to outpatient care for long-term needs as

[102:00] well um with that contract we were able to expand their services also into the day Services Center um so as you might have known historically there's been a street medicine team um that has that did have funding to continue so although this won't go out on the street it does provide another low barrier um location for F to come in and really access that Frontline Medical Care and then again with them being connected to Clinica um the good piece of that is then they can connect them to ongoing care uh after after they may be done in the respit program thank you know I appreciate knowing that um and that's that's really great that we were um doing that uh the other question I had is for families that are experiencing homelessness um are they is Clinica providing them with Services too do we have a place like the respit Center um for uh say that maybe a parent um needs to recover something like that what are we where where do

[103:01] families going in alia situations um so that's an area that Elizabeth um can also respond to um here again I'll start and then Megan feel free to to jump in as well so the short answer is because we don't have a family shelter like we do all roads for single adults that we don't have any anything that is um it's an no Apples to Apples comparison however it's true definitely that families in our community who are housing insecure or or homeless still can be served at Clinica there are also a number of other programs that help with that um some of which are again mentioned in the memo I think organizations everyone's familiar with Mother house if you're there you're not only sheltered if you're pregnant um uh person who's pregnant with with children um you're not only getting shelter but you also have access to those Medical Services there's a county

[104:01] program called family connects um which the city helped provide seed funding for years ago with our Health Equity Fund that um provides simil similarly um services to pregnant women their children um who may be homeless um and basically if you're if you're getting Services either through our family resource schools or one of our nonprofit agencies like effa you're you're in that Network um span is another example you're in that network if if that agency isn't directly able to connect you to Medical Services or provide those Direct Services they connect to others who can um I know from our family connects colleagues at Boulder County that sometimes that does mean you know referring to Sheltering opportunities that might be outside of our community which is never most people's first choice if they want to stay here and connected um but those opport opportunities exist as

[105:01] well thank you Matt thanks Ryan um thankfully my colleagues have asked much of the questions I lined up it leaves me only a couple um a question I have we you know we seem to know pretty well what it cost to build housing in our community um and in particular as we move into P psh work I was just wondering if you give us a sense on how much it costs to support pH psh sort of on a year-to year or ongoing basis uh sure I'll I'll take that one Matt thank you um so it's probably in the range of uh probably 300 to 450,000 a year um currently the the bluebird facility um is getting that from from various sources and um uh that is

[106:01] a um a component of that is definitely needed as we build that type of so that's something that we're not we're not really budgeting for in our standard of for but it's an extremely important components um of psh it's an ongoing cost um to the program um of of roughly in the you know three to $400,000 range and just declare that's three to $400,000 for like a bluebird that serves that number of people uh correct that's correct yes okay appreciate it um and sort of given what we've learned sort of in hindsight looking at the numbers and looking at some of the successes and other challenges in 2024 and also knowing we have a homelessness strategy that will come later this year and likely you know begin implementation in 2026 that leaves 2025 and we're already a month in and I'm just sort of curious

[107:00] based on what we saw in 2024 are there any uh are there any changes modifications things that in this year before we have a full flushed out strategy that you feel you want to tweak modify or or or switch around a little bit just based on what you're seeing and sort of adapting in real time so um can can add to this as well um I think that we've been adapting since 2017 and um that adaptation is is ongoing and the the adaptation I think um uh revolves around three or four different things one is getting um units or in place for people to transition to so having the assets um of housing the other is the voucher um the other is the support of

[108:01] services as we' just talked about and you know the other is the the outre and supports to get them um and the services they need to to make that transition um so I think along the way we particularly over the last two or three years we've seen some things where we have had to modify where we've seen holes or shortfalls um I think initially in our work over the last few years there's been great success in in housing a number of individuals and we we've had to play catchup in providing the services and support they need to be successful um in that housing and so one of the evolutions was you know the building home program um peer support program you know having more intensive and uh more capacity um in supporting

[109:00] behavioral health for individuals um you know helping with that transition also to substance use um I think the um where where I've seen the biggest maybe concern or hole in our program as we try to figure out how to grow would really be around the keeping the Services um uh at scale um to to the housing and continuing to try to develop the right housing resources that um the strategy is going to need um so Megan I with you off screen it's um I hope I'm not interrupting you but if you have something to add that would be great no I think you covered it it is one of those things that as things I think I agree with you that we've been changing flight for quite a while um to address things as they come

[110:01] up Matt anything else from you okay uh I don't see any more hands going once going twice okay uh Kurt back to you for our second of three presentations yeah so I'm going to uh yeah thanks for bringing up the slides and um I will hand it over to our our colleague um from PPA and let's go to there we go thank you it's all yours uh great um I wasn't aware I was presenting this slide but let me talk to you a little bit about um the HSBC evaluation um that we uh are um actually you know what uh Megan or Kurt this this was your slide to present was it not if not we can move forward it is so let's Megan can jump in on okay great I was like I'm gonna try

[111:01] and win this but I think that let's let the experts speak Megan go ahead no I just before Meg did her presentation on the evaluation just wanted to do a real quick review on HSBC and the current structure um and the HSBC executive team prior prioritize the system evaluation um to assess the effect iess and improved Services coordination Boulder City Council identified this evaluation as a priority um and HSBC engaged with public policy Associates to conduct the independent review um using both qualitative and quantitative analysis um so Meg is going to hear from PPA and she'll she'll present their findings um but one thing I wanted to add before Meg gets on here um is that due to feedback some changes have already started um around the the executive board where now two Representatives per government entity are appointed by each entity so no longer the County Commissioners that

[112:01] have have to approve those um and the chair will be rotating where historically it's been someone from the county as the chair but now it will start rotating so those those two changes of changes have already um come into effect but now I will turn it over to Meg desar her presentation thank you Megan okay so next slide okay uh sort of uh the conversation today uh I will be walking through what we learned during the 2024 system evaluation of HSBC um I uh want to start by thanking you all for the time to come and present I'm really excited to uh get to engage with you all um so uh if we could move on to the next slide let's let's get started so as Megan mentioned and hinted at we used a mixed methods approach in order to do both sort of the quantitative

[113:01] analysis of getting an understanding of all of the what is all of the data saying um from a number perspective what are the characteristics of the population what can we learn from the way funding is being allocated um and then we also used a a significant amount of primary data collection and qualitative analysis to um understand more of the perspectives on the ground so we did interviews with uh governing body parties including the city of Boulder City of Longmont Boulder County and the metro Denver homeless initiative we did round taes with system partners and service providers um throughout the HSB uh C system uh those were conducted through many of the work groups that are already part of hsbc's regular um process and then we did Focus groups with people experiencing homelessness and people who have lived experience but who are now housed we

[114:00] conducted those over the course of a week in the month of September in 2024 um with sheltered unsheltered and now housed individuals for 50 participants total uh if we could move on to the next slide so just to frame the conversation um we uh used the um usage framework to sort of guide our thinking here and to frame the analysis um so many of the research questions were focused around things that look at those foundations around how is the collaboration working what data and evidence are informing that and how is it be and and what is the equity and then um for this evaluation because of hsbc's focus we included programs that were focused on crisis response and housing and supports the prevention piece is less a part of that

[115:01] system in addition um it's important to note that the HSBC is a fairly unique and really kind of powerful collaborative that exists below the COC most homeless systems are collaborate collaborating at that COC level and HSBC has taken that even a level more granular and also as has been discussed throughout in different places this system serves single adults only so as I go through the findings know that those are the pieces that are um part of the evaluation um all right next slide please so I think the Topline finding here really is that our evaluation affirms hsbc's approach I think that um what we've learned um is not surprising housing first continues to be the best practice with a significant amount of evidence backing it up but on top of

[116:02] that like the usage framework is useful for a reason collaboration is deeply important as is datadriven decision making um and and those are things that HSBC is committed to unfortunately in me in not every case does the right approach mean that you will immed that you will have quick success um this work is continuing to be hard and messy and deeply impacted by context and local factors so as um we've already heard about this evening there are flows um from uh the region so homelessness is increasing in the region and particularly in Boulder counter uh County or at least for the years analyzed I should say the data we analyzed were from 2022 and 2023 but the large drivers which is the take-home were uh newly homeless and uh people

[117:02] coming uh from the geography and so the findings that follow are organized into six themes with some Associated recommendations for HSBC to consider as it's thinking on improving its impact so if we could go to the next slide please so um the findings are organized around Data Systems Equity Community climate housing and supports crisis services and collaboration um when I designed the presentation I I designed it to be like a a game board we could click into whichever conversation was of Interest first but we're just going to go through in order today so moving to Data Systems next slide please the uh evaluation finds that that there is a clear commitment to datadriven decisionmaking within HSBC and the value of this approach was reinforced both by the literature but

[118:01] also by the participants in the qualitative data Gathering um however a significant barrier exists in the um lack of integration between the major data system used in the county which is the Connex data system and the hmis data system which is the Nationwide data system and I think there are um if you read into more detail in the findings in the report there are good reasons for those disconnects but whatever it is it is for whatever reason it significantly limits the ability to really do some of that datadriven decision making and also thinking more about doing modeling and Predictive Analytics um as you move forward excuse me um and I know that there are already um some uh efforts in place to make that connection so I think that that is um something that is uh going to change and improve in the next

[119:02] uh in the future uh moving on to the next slide for Equity there is a general sense among providers among uh clients and overall that the things are being done equitably the most concerns particularly from people experience ing homelessness um were more related to not understanding the way the prioritization uh formula works and also not fully understanding that um the systems are distinct uh between those that serve uh single adults as opposed to families and some concerns around whether it was Equitable when they observed different outcomes in different populations so um this General sense could be formalized into Data through a regular process of equity assessment um and through um

[120:01] meaningfully engaging with those people with lived experience to include them in the decision-making processes the other recommendations include reviewing current data systems with an equity lens to incorporate more inclusive demographic options and consider how some of those um how the silos that exist between sort of the single adults as opposed to families um means that certain individuals fall between the systems or are overlapping so for example single adults that have and then lose and then regain custody of their child may move between the systems and that can cause real challenges so uh thinking more about how to better serve across those silos um next slide please uh a major finding particularly from people from the focus group work is that the community climate in the county is

[121:01] um fairly hostile to people experiencing homelessness um and so our recommendation there is to shift that through public education that really highlights the human stories behind the statistics and gives a platform to those with lived experience um I was in a webinar today about the welfare child welfare system talking about how home visits have really changed things and and one of the ways in which that conversation was most powerful is when she told a story about an actual family impacted and that is one of the things that we're recommending here next slide please so in the space of Housing and supports it's clear that the county prioritizes affordable housing and they are committed to the um housing first approach and I think that continuing that priority is of Great Value um in addition there are potential

[122:02] opportunities to um uh sorry excuse me as was already brought up in the questions permanent support of housing is an evidence-based um intervention that works longterm but also requires funding long term and so thinking about that now is an important way to identify sustainable Pathways also thinking about ways to leverage the fact that you have a regional collaborative with other cities um of different sizes and with different needs but there might be ways to leverage a collective effort to operate most efficiently finally one of the things we were careful to look into is the sort of newer options for emergency shelter um or at least some of the newer evidence of around things like safe outdoor spaces um and sanctioned encampments and while we found that there's evidence

[123:00] those can be effective in most cases to do that well it's it's it's quite expensive and so being cautious about whether undertaking a new effort as opposed to just continuing to invest in what you're already doing there's um there are tradeoffs there um okay next slide please um the next piece is looking at continuing to fund evidence-based retention services and evaluating them for efficacy and I think this is something that's already come up in our conversation today um or at least in some of the earlier presenters uh conversation around um the arpa dollars that were already um used to standup novel programs around retention and peer support which are he which are strong evidence backed practices um finding ways to continue that will be important um and in addition um continuing to fund

[124:00] some of the other pieces like landlord supports where um you're offering incentives to encourage landlords to take vouchers and those types of things th these are all crucial ways to make a the investment um that it takes to get someone housed last uh next slide please um similar to thinking about um uh shelter um uh I apologize I'm now realizing that I talked about this point on the housing slide and what I meant to say was that we also um did a deep dive into what the evidence around some of the alternative housing ideas like tiny homes and those sorts of things and we found similar to what I'm is on the slide here there should caution should be undertaken in

[125:01] deter in um in pursuing those because they often are if not more financially expensive similarly uh difficult to stand up so apologies for that confusion so on this slide for crisis response again considering the alternative shelter options um should be done with caution to determine their appropriate and not draw Focus away from long-term Solutions also crisis response services that were of most importance particularly um this is a finding from the focus groups um that um Street Outreach and case management were the consistently the um critical uh pieces for uh for uh resolving homelessness in addition um there were significant geographical gaps uh which had to do with the spread of the size of the

[126:00] county and is probably of less relevance directly to the city of Boulder um and again in the um crisis response vein uh peer support can be another evidence-based practice to engage individuals and get them involved in the system uh next slide please uh the last few slides are on um the collaborative as a whole our findings um here were uh there was a lot of discussion in all of our qualitative research around the sort of collaboration and we found a lot of strengths and a few challenges communication around service provision the ability to partner on funding opportunities um reducing duplication of services and working across silos were all huge strengths for challenges there uh were noted uh difficulties navigating

[127:00] diverse priorities for various stakeholders um and the qualitative data suggests that there are there may be conflicting priorities about geographic areas and partner organizations now I think it's worth also saying that the funding analysis the quantitative analysis didn't appear to support the concern about sort of major funding priority shifts um or disagreements but the perception that there are challenges is an important thing to note and so if we could move on to the next slide uh our largest our our key recommendation on collaboration is that it to move past those perceptions of of any kind of difficulty is the best option is through really clear and coherent governance and so revisiting the collective impact model to validate that choice of model or make updates where needed and ensure that all of the

[128:00] partners in HSBC understand the governance structure including roles responsibilities expectations and most importantly so that everyone knows um how disputes might be resolved and how their voice is important and and and um has a role uh next slide please um so our final recommendation uh it's similar to what it sounds like the city is already doing is to take an opportunity to create a shared vision for HSBC um and something that's shared with all of its partners that can be used to guide efforts throughout the SE the system this one was drawn largely from qualitative input and particularly from service providers identifying ident identifying a desire for a clear and shared vision of rallying call as it were um in order to keep uh making

[129:00] progress and moving forward um so for my final slide as I mentioned at the top HSBC is clearly committed to doing this work in the best and most sort of evidence-based way possible um and we recommend continuing that commitment um what we tried to highlight here and through the report are the opportunities to do more and better um and to reinvigorate the collaborative to really keep um the energy up um we also uh as I mentioned at sort of the beginning of this presentation in the framing slide HSBC is sort of a novel um approach to collaboration that gets below the COC level allowing for more sort of local tailoring but also bringing local entities together there isn't a lot of this in the evidence base and it would be interesting to put it out there so uh those are my concluding thoughts and um

[130:03] I really appreciate you all um taking me as I am a little bit uh less fluid and perfect than I I might have been um you know five hours ago so thank you so much and I welcome your questions and feedback well thank you Meg I actually thought it was perfect um we just need to look at the question can you so let's see here is there do we have the slide with the uh the question we put it in chat for you if you'd like okay does council have questions and feedback or feedback whoops I just I wanted to read it for the folks listening if they don't see it where it go here does council have questions or feedback on the areas of recommendation from the evaluation so for this one I suggest we do questions first and then um once we're done with questions then we will go and do feedback and reminder

[131:00] there will be one more uh presentation after this one so questions all right let me to my screen here I think Nicole you were you first Nicole yeah okay Nicole thanks yeah thanks for the presentation um so my my question is really around um kind of the the areas of recommendation here right they are um this is a large group with a diverse um cities we got some Commissioners staff everybody in there h i mean the to what degree kind of can we Implement some of these recommendations given that there's a lot more people that need to get by in to all these things so I guess I'm sort of just wondering you know what the um what the what the commitment is for um implementing some of the recommendations at that uh Regional level um well I'll I'll speak to that first um uh we may one of our County uh

[132:03] colleagues may also want to jump in for some of these questions as they is they think that they can add value there um I think some of the some of the recommendations um are I'll call them no cost uh recommendations like things around governance communication um and um those are areas some of which we've already uh begun to explore where we'll look forward in this next section around strategy I think it will be very important um because we're in a we're in a constrained environment financially and as you noted um a few minutes ago um it could be even more challenging than that so understanding how we set a strategy um for improvement um with uh um with with those uh resource

[133:02] constraints will be important the um again we'll get into this in our next section but I think some of the um um the modeling and evaluation of some of the things we're doing will also flow into our our strategy conversation um and I I think there also is work which is hopefully no cost work of how we collaborate Better Together particularly over this last year um with um at times challenges and stress with having um different Community Partners involved and um you know different leadership levels involved as well um so that's I think that's how I would see it at this point thank you um can I may may I restate and just you can just tell me yes or no that's it um it sounds like for the things that are no cost um it

[134:03] will be fairly easy to kind of implement those areas of recommendation and the places where we may get tripped up and there may be some differences would be um where there are costs attached to the recommendations that a fair summary I yes I think so and then as resources are tight we'll have to evaluate like which programs are doing well and which are not and if there need to be changes there as well continuing with questions Matt and then Tina thanks Ryan um got I got actually a few here um my first one really comes off one of the earlier slides um it was sort of talking about the qualitative analysis and saying that um there were interviews with governing bodies um I would consider this a governing body and I'm not sure Council was uh brought into this at all and so I just was just a

[135:00] little curious if that's Meg or folks from the county H how do we reconcile the input from the one of the if might be the largest fun of homelessness Outreach and services in the region uh not being Consulting because we set policy and budget for those things so I just want to know a little bit about why or how that might have been missed I uh don't know the answer to that unfortunately but I do know that um uh to our understanding the city of Boulder was included in that through um uh Devon kissk and uh a few other uh let's see Kurt Fern hover and well Kurt duh sorry and Vicky who's also who's also helped uh at different moments and so um there were but you're right I don't know the answer to why Council wasn't and so I um uh can only speak to unfortunately that those

[136:00] interviews also took place before I took over as project manager for this so I can't tell you the thinking behind it but we collaborated every one of our client meetings we worked with um both HSBC sort of representatives from the county level but also Megan and other members from sort of representatives from the city of Long Mon and so I know it was a collaborative decision I I can appreciate that response I mean certainly working with staff there are boots on the ground but they're executing the policy with the resources we provide them so um thinking about how we evaluate it it it does give me a little pause on how we got to some of these recommendations when the VAR governing bodies that set that policy and thus budgets were not consulted so I I'll just L leave that there I've made my point um the um I'll get to comments in a little bit I guess I have a question for the county um does the county accept these

[137:00] recommendations um just sort of curious if if that's the case hi Council Susanna Lopez Baker uh Boulder County Housing Department director um thanks for having us tonight um yeah I mean the county appreciates the work that Meg did we were briefed on this last month so it's new information for us too we'll continue to talk about it at HSBC but we're supportive of it I think like the evaluation showed we're really collaborative and we are committed to that collaboration we have a really good working history with the city of Boulder so we're excited about being able to implement this some of those changes are already underway I and I I'm excited to be able to bring more later this year to you in terms of some of the things that we'll be able to do especially those no cost items well yes we we always love no cost items this is a this is a problem that requires immense cost so um I guess my follow-up question would be um one how

[138:00] do we go about prioritizing these recommendations and and then furthermore I would say there's two in specific that I would say uh require perhaps some reconciliation um and that is specifically that you know there's a recommendation who ensure funding for psh housing um and this and seek out opportunities to leverage collaborative and operate efficiently you know that sounds lovely but yet we have this 1B funding to which the city is prohibited from using its allocation for psh so so we have policy being set and yet recommendations that are in conflict with such policy so I'm wondering how we go about reconciling that uh we also have the issue of the county cutting $4 million from its critical service support grants while also having a recommendation that says you need to put resources into those very things so I'm just wondering how the city has a seat at the table to reconcile these policy conflicts with the recommendations that are in front of us yeah thank you so I

[139:00] think just to clarify on the 1B funding uh you're not prohibitive from using it for development work so if you would like to build and put that into Capital dollars for psh great you are you are completely able to do that um it is limiting however on the Supportive Services dollars and I I just want to recognize that um and then as far as other other Cuts I'm representing the housing department so I can only speak to our department and we are not making any cuts to the system um but other departments I can't speak for I I appreciate that and at the end of the day I think this is the Crux of it you're not the policy Setter and so I don't want to point at that directly I appreciate the work you do this is a conversation between the policy Setters and those that set budget which is our you know counterpart uh as the Commissioners at the county so but but I pose these questions for community and for audiences to hear that that we have intrinsic conflicts um that need to be reconciled and so um there are a slurry other and I'll maybe save some more comments and let my colleagues um answer uh or or ask some questions but uh there

[140:01] is um a lot left to be determined in this process so but thank you appreciate it yes thanks and I just want to add one quick thing um our team is has not taken the star County Commissioners yet but we have it scheduled for March okay uh next to Tina the question hi um thank you for oops wait yep my mom you're good you're good thank you for joining us I saw that happen go ahead sorry um I just had a question about the public education recommendation and um one of the the conversations we have in our community is concerns um understanding that homelessness is a status that's not um that is not criminal and of itself but sometimes we see behaviors that the community is concerned about and with the public education piece do you have examples of

[141:00] a public education campaign that addressed both the concerns around behaviors that were difficult for you know shop owners store owners uh but also created The Human Side of the homeless Community um and and and just sort of the the recommendation felt a little bit um I'm concerned it doesn't address some of the concerns the community has that I I feel are legitimate as well I think that's fair um the piece uh I don't have an example off the top of my head uh but one thing I I I will say is that the goal I think is less to assuage concerns and more to help people understand that whatever Behavior you're seeing is because that person doesn't have a home to go do that behavior in um and

[142:02] so there is a lot to be said for I think the humanizing piece of like anyone could become homeless and the experience of being homeless means that you have every one of your worst days in public okay thank you I'm good okay any more questions before we go to feedback going once going twice okay feedback does anybody have any feedback Mark you're up thank you very much um I want to start by saying um I endorse every word that my colleague Matt Benjamin uh uttered on this subject um I think there are some major issues out there uh that have not been adequately resolved uh and that we have interests uh that are in contrast um to the County's interest uh

[143:00] I also want to um endorse um uh what my colleague uh council member Marquis said uh in terms of public education um surrounding homelessness and and dealing with hatred of homeless my my lived experience as a member of this body uh is that most people do not hate the homeless they do have great hostility towards antisocial and criminal behavior um they are hostile to the loss of Boulder Creek path as an amenity for all citizens um but it it's not the homeless that they hate and that's not something that's going to be cured by public education it's going to be cured by by effective governmental policies that bring Boulder Creek path back into a condition where people can comfortably bike it and walk it um and

[144:03] and frankly if there's if there is hostility there's a good de deal of hostility to governing bodies such as this one um we may not be capable of solving homelessness but it is certainly anticipated that we would do that we would be more effective than we are so I I I think this whole concept of uh public education to bring people around to a more benign view of of the homeless is both unnecessary and frankly I I think it's a little condescending I think people understand um what homelessness is about um what they what they dislike uh and are opposed to is the kind of behaviors that make it impossible to go down to the mall um and and recreate um peacefully um so I I I just you know I I read that and I I just

[145:01] don't think that's an appropriate uh methodology for bringing people around I think what brings people around are policies that uh better affect their lives and create better conditions for them as well as for the homeless thank you thank you Mark Matt well I think I'll I'll reciprocate the praise I think Mark and certainly Tina addressed that issue with the public education side quite clearly um I I've done uh I spent I spent a decade doing public for uh formative and summative assessment for various programs educationally and for scientific programs uh I I'm I I Mega you know I struggled with with the uh validity of this assessment I I had I'm just sorry I just I struggle with it because it lacks um quantitative

[146:00] depth and we are in the midst of a crisis and we need every layer of the onion peeled back um in order for us to really dive in in a resource constrained environment to put every penny where it has greatest impact and I and I I can't look at these recommendations AG go I yeah I know I know how to do that now I have more understanding of our situation than I did prior and and I can't say that so I I'm I'm struggling with where to go I think it's also case why we're also doing our own Consulting and I think it's it's also proof that we and and this isn't towards you Meg but and the work that your your team has done but the tension between us and the county couldn't be any more evident in regards to how this has uh been brought forth because the expectations with this evaluation was either by accident or by intention to leave out the very governing body that is is key here and some of our partners I'll say like even the boulder chamber was left out and other major

[147:00] stakeholders that have skin in the game here with both resources and impact were not brought into to the conversation and so that that's hard for me um in a lot of ways so um I appreciate the work and I appreciate what that brings to us a little bit but but I'm I'm I'm craving so much more depth and and deep understanding in order to feel like as a policy maker I've got something to to to to act on and I can go back to community and say yeah I know more about the direction we need to take ourselves um and and I'm struggling with that a lot here so um but I but I appreciate the effort that's gone in and and I think we can use some pieces where we applicable going forward so I appreciate that thank you thanks Matt TAA and then Tara thank you um I'm gon to go ahead and one thank you all for the effort of putting these pieces together um I was really excited about this particular session um because last year when I was

[148:00] fresh and new I we had something similar and um when I asked both individually with our directors as well as when we had our uh study session last year um I explicitly you know asked about you know program by program performance over year you know over multiple years or as much data that we had quantitatively um you know coupled with performance and and outcome data and um a year later and I'm still asking for the same things um you know we know that we are in a fiscally restraint um situation and so really having you know performance data that is qualitative and quantitative on all the programs that we offer is really really key at this point um and so I'm just um and which is why in the uh I made a request for the council agenda committee to you know get more information about our research agenda um for the city and more

[149:00] information about the evaluations that are currently in process because what a a pattern I'm seeing is um you know we'll ask a a you know a research question and and you know be told okay just wait oh we're researching that um wait and we'll get the information and then when we get it it's it's not quite at the green size um to to really make the decisions that we need to make and so um I look forward to the addition of the of the new um research project but at the end of the day um you know both the one year of data from the previous research project and then this data which is more Global um still I'm just concerned about how much money time and effort was spent um concerned around data collection and repeated data collection requests um from the same groups of people um and um yeah so I'm I'm I'm looking forward to the new one but I'm concerned about waiting another nine months to get information that

[150:01] we're going to need to activate on in the next couple of months thank you thank you Taisha Tara I guess seg going off that comment after how don't I think it was like 22 slides 25 slides I guess my question is what do we now know that we I didn't know yesterday I can't honestly think of anything it wasn't very detailed and how does this help us but I'm not saying that as a I actually would want to know if you would just take all those slides like what are your Five Points of what you're really trying to say would be helpful to me so if you can answer that and I don't mean it in a mean way you know that that would be good for me to know so that is my question what as opposed to a lot of words I like succinct things so just tell me what do you think this Council didn't know yesterday that you're now telling us today in a very short

[151:06] paragraph I I think we're on we're on feedback but Meg I don't know if you're I know there's a lot coming at you if you if you feel inclined to um to take that I think the floor is yours however you want to go ahead that is my combination feedback and question I don't uh have a better answer for you because this is not a two bullet point say it in a paragraph kind of problem this is not a problem that there is effective data that you can do kpis the way you can in other areas this is just not that type of problem I would highly recommend that you read the full report for the details and and also the climate of this

[152:00] meeting is indicative of the challenges around collaboration when that is one of the most important parts of solving this problem open and effective collaboration thank you Megan car anything else it's actually Margaret not Megan but thank you Ryan sorry it's actually Margaret not Megan I'm sorry I'm reading I'm just reading what's on the screen it says M I'm so sorry no problem it's been happening to me since I was six years old I appreciate it t anything else from your side okay um it looks like that might be it for feedback is there anything else going once going twice okay marget thank you for being with us and for the presentation um Kurt I think I will give it back to you um for our third and final presentation Brian thank you very much and I oh can I just interrupt for a

[153:02] second I want to apologize if I sounded me and I did not mean to be mean and I do want to collaborate I guess there's just a level of frustration that has really nothing to do with you because totally big problem and everybody wants to help solve it and so so yeah so you know I've never met you before please don't take it personally and I won't and I don't it's clear what coming our frustration that's all yeah there's clearly frustration and not a lot of trust happening right now and that's okay but I really do appreciate the feedback and I understand that this isn't what you needed right now um but I hope that at some point some parts of it will be of value thank you for your for the opportunity to speak with you thanks thanks a lot Margaret appreciate it okay can say something real quick okay Lauren please yes go ahead sorry I had to jump to my

[154:02] phone give you a minute I can see there's something going on with Lawrence screen give her just a minute maybe um can you hear me yeah yes yes Lauren go ahead thanks um so I just wanted to appreciate the report and the findings I do think you know the challenging part will be finding ways to implement them um but I I do hope that um we can Implement especially the no cost changes um but also look at ways to maintain what we have and find ways to build our programs as was outlined in this report um and I also did appreciate the recommendation around um kind of thinking about what the

[155:01] overall kind of some of the animosity around people who are homeless in our community I mean I I understand what other council members are saying and I also have seen that animosity um play out in ways that are that it can be pretty negative um so I I think just airing that out and having communication around it is important um Susan I hope or Susanna I'm sorry I can't see the names and I forgot um but I hope that you will pass along our council's frustration around being prohibited from using the 1B funding for um the Supportive Services component of Supportive Services um developments because that is one of the first for us one of the hardest pieces of the funding puzzle to come up with and one of the things that we were really hopeful that we would be able to do around this funding um if there was any chance to revisit it I know we would be really

[156:02] grateful um yeah thank you thanks Lauren can I say one more thing Ryan I'm so sorry I neglected to say it I meant to at the beginning but you as a council have some fabulous staff who I have had the true pleasure of getting to work with throughout this project and I just wanted to send some gratitude to Megan and Kurt and the other members of your team and Susanna also your team so thank you all and and with that I really appreciate the feedback thanks okay thank you Kurt I think I will hand the Baton back to you uh to do what's next yeah and so um I'm going to hand it over to mark wolf and I believe that he'll probably want the slides back up as well thanks Kurt Taisha did you have something before I just saw

[157:01] you um I appreciate that I'm not sure if I can wait until I I think the question may be applicable to this section as well so I'll just make a note and come back during uh Question Time thank you so much okay great good evening Council uh I'm Mark wolf assistant city manager uh I'm excited to help shift gears this evening and uh discuss the important work ahead in updating our 2017 homelessness strategy this directly addresses uh part of the key Council priority for 24 and 25 to review and update the homelessness strategy uh while we've seen tremendous success over the past eight years examples of which you've heard tonight we recognize the need to continue to adapt the landscape has significantly changed over over those eight years we had a global pandemic uh we have seen the the rise of uh opiate abuse including fentanyl in our community and the continued strains on our mental

[158:01] health and substance abuse systems this asks us to lean into what we do well but also evolve our programs and in and Investments to meet the moment just as in 2016 when Boulder LED in developing a regional strategy to address this and National problem we aim to do so again in 2025 to accelerate this crucial work we've engaged with clutch Consulting clutch specializes in transforming homelessness systems across United States working with cities like Denver Dallas Los Angeles Cleveland and Austin Texas you'll meet one of their Founders Mandy Chapman simple in a moment clutch has achieved significant reductions in homelessness in these communities ities through system transformation strategic redesign and implementation this isn't another analysis rather this is a system modeling approach to maximize the impact

[159:01] of our investments toward our city and Regional goals critically we do Envision this as a regional document clutch will help us with role Clarity to help determine the most effective Investments for Boulder and our partners including the County their expertise will be invaluable as we head into the next8 years and for Council Members tonight this is the beginning of the conversation with you you will have upcoming time with clutch to share your uh thoughts more specifically additionally clutch will be hosting time with key organizational partners and individuals with lived experience to better inform the strategy update tonight it will be helpful to hear your expectations and suggestions heading into the bulk of the work so with that I am happy to introduce Mandy who will share more about their approach and what we can expect in the coming months thank you Mark and uh thank you for for having me join the meeting today

[160:02] it's wonderful to meet all of you and I look forward to um some some inperson time when we're there in um just a couple of weeks so uh I'm going to be brief tonight in giving you an overview of our overall engagement the timeline and some of the the techniques that we're going to use um to give you a sense of what you can expect and and certainly I'm prepared to answer your questions um about what this process will look like what we can expect um in terms of a product or deliverable um and and any other suggestions you have um about how to strengthen um the engagement within the community on this issue next slide please so to give you an rview of the overall plan um we've prepared this slide and I think basically the engagement breaks into four pieces so we started in in January and uh with some

[161:01] preliminary review of all of the documents including this HSBC evaluation um and we've started uh Gathering the data that we need in order to uh perform a system modeling and some Gap projections so all of this document review will lead us into the second phase of of this activity which will take place between February and April where we will work to uh engage a variety of stakeholders we do this in very intentional ways we host design work sessions and and what we're really focused on is looking forward not necessarily backwards we're going to use modeling and uh system modeling and and some um Predictive Analytics that are going to help us understand what it will take to get to the system that we all desire which is what will position all of you to make really strategic decisions about um what are the most

[162:00] kind of high impact Investments and equally what are the Partnerships that are going to be required across the region in order to both fund and Implement these activities so we certainly um will engage with providers individuals with lived experience of homelessness but also a wide array of stakeholders because the balance of this isn't just about responding to homelessness but it's equally and I think we've heard it throughout the presentation tonight about you know an effective um management of shared public spaces and and finding the balance in our response um and so so that will really be embedded within the system modeling exercises as well by April um we plan to um have a strategy update to uh internally um this is going to be kind of a preliminary Vision guiding principles goals and strategies um and it will really serve as the framework for the overall strategy update we'll

[163:00] Enga you know we'll be back engaging with staff um more opportunities to engage with Council and other stakeholders um and what we'll work to do is is really finalize that updated strategy or and really the framework of that strategy by by May the reason that's important is that we equally want to test these strategies um through the the feasibility of some implementation planning and so between May and July um we will be engaging uh again a variety of stakeholders but at various levels relative to the you know the the practicality of implementation so this is really digging deeper into um how are practices how how are things actually being practiced in the field today as opposed to potentially the policies that we have in place um and certainly against the goals or the vision of where we want to get to and so we'll work that process um in order to to in essence

[164:01] test those strategies we'll do some refinement of that will equally prepare an implementation plan that accompanies this new strategic framework um and then uh will will actually help begin preparing for that implementation you know those first priority activities and equally be providing um more detail around an evaluation framework that should be implemented you know both a continuous improvement process but also digging deeper into the structural needs that you'll have related to governance and active management um and implementation support that's going to be required um to to perform that continuous evaluation but equally to have confidence in the data and the metrics um that are being reported back back on the overall um success of the implementation of these initiatives and um of the particular goals uh within the plan next slide

[165:00] please so rooted in this approach um is is really a sense of systems um so so clutch really organizes around this notion that um we are the the That Homeless response is not just about a collection of components but really about how we put those components together to produce a particular pattern of behavior and a set of results and so in order to understand how each component needs to function the scale of each of of each of those components how those those components need to interact we have to look more holistically we have to examine all of the parts and how those parts interface and influence one another so we're going to be focused on those inter connections which is also um you know at the policymaking level all the way down um to deep in the field you know how the Outreach workers are actually engaging and whether that engagement kind of is consistent enough in order to produce the result we're looking for so it

[166:00] includes resource alignment we're really looking for high impact Solutions um we're looking for for solutions that produce long-term impact and and all of this approach is really about um working to avoid distractions so you know you as policy makers you can appreciate it's very complicated to try to meet the expectations of both you know effective management of shared public spaces and you know an a an empathetic response to individuals who are in real crisis and and so the the work of this systems based approach is to find that balance to avoid um any unintended consequences and to really avoid lwi impact Investments um that that you know might look shiny and good but actually aren't producing the results that anyone is looking for next slide please um I referenced this earlier um we use some Advanced system modeling techniques that help us reveal these

[167:01] high impact strategies in essence what we're doing is looking um at a flow analysis you know what's the inflow what's the demand for homeless response services and what is the capacity to produce those services and are those two things in balance and then what we'll able we're able to do with this Advanced system modeling is look is is perform some Predictive Analytics to consider scenarios um of you know how might different Investments impact our ability to uh bring these the the inflow and the outflow into balance so it's going to be looking at how do we reduce inflow and equally how do we um increase that capacity to produce the exits and obviously this is then married with um deeper analysis that deeper analysis about how all of these parts have to interconnect and perform together um in in order to produce the results that are being modeled for so you can see we'll it's

[168:00] just another dimension to this analysis next slide please and finally you I just want to reiterate that our focus in all of this is really about meeting the moment the the goal here is to build the will and momentum to achieve the collective impact um and that it really is going to start with a shared Vision um and and so we need to to you know engage all of those Partners um to do that but but equally we also see the importance of the city leading in this space um BEC because of the history um but also because of some of the outsized responsibility that that cities and you know um downtowns in particular really tend to carry on this issue um and so with with that shared vision in mind it allows everyone to come together in a line holding all of the the respective values um including the value of urgency

[169:01] transparency empathy and adaptability I think each of these things can come together um and and the goal of the final strategy document is to reflect those values um and and the a balanced approach that um serves the needs of the entire Community those who are experiencing homelessness in are unhoused now and and in the future but also others in the community who are equally trying to um enjoy those shared public spaces um participate in community with others um and so the the shared Vision really aims to to find that sweet spot in in all of this so with that that is an overview of of the way we approach this work and of the potential timeline here so um by July we will complete this process but um all all along the way we'll be able to provide U updates um on how all of these activities are are synthesizing um and

[170:01] and how the work is building um toward the this final shared vision and and a more comprehensive plan including opportunities for um you know re-evaluation of Investments if necessary so with that I'll um open it back to any question okay why don't we do um the we'll do questions first we're clarifying questions first and then we can do feedback so um let me pull up the list here I think I think Tina was first does that seem right Tina okay questions to Tina from Tina okay um yes thank you for that uh presentation and for um already spending time getting to know our community I appreciate it and look forward to meeting you at the I think you're having an open house on Monday um and or sometime like that um the one question I have might really be for

[171:00] staff is how is the how are some of the deliverables of this report aligned with our budget process in case we want to make some modifications for that yeah that's a really good question uh Tina I uh it will be uh fairly lined up I think we'll have good insights uh from clutch um in that June July window um we want to make sure we're uh building in time with Council to kind of confirm the direction in the strategy but if we do have that uh if we hit our Target in that June July window that will be before we finish the development of the city manager recommended budget which would come to you in September so it's a little bit late for us in the budget process but it it is workable to plan ahead for the 2020 six budget okay thanks is that fortino okay

[172:00] Mark um forgive me if this information has been provided to us previously I just don't uh recall where it might be um Can can you give us a little background about clutch and where what jurisdictions you've worked in and and what kind of results you you have achieved previously and again if if all of that has been provided to us um just let me know and I'll I'll with throw the question well well I'm I'm happy to to provide a little bit of insight in my background and and where we've worked I also encourage you to to visit our website clutchc Consulting group.com and and it's a provides a pretty thorough assessment of that um you know I uh am based in Houston and um previous was special adviser to the mayor for homeless initiatives um in Houston was the architect of Houston's large system transformation the 60% reduction in homelessness there and so so this was um

[173:02] between you know 20 12 and 2016 and so since then have um been out Consulting in communities across the country so with other Mayors with um other Governors and and working to support those communities in um transforming their systems holistically as we did in Houston or you know in more targeted ways in particular cases so um we've been working in Dallas for uh the last four years we've seen you know dramatic reductions there 2 24% reduction in unsheltered homelessness in three years um they're at their lowest rate of homelessness in The Last 5 Years um we are in New Orleans uh and we are uh working and coming very close close here to eliminating unsheltered homelessness um in this community and working to sustain that uh We've equally helped Cleveland execute on a direct to housing encampment decommissioning model that's

[174:00] allowed them to um they they're closing in on the elimination of unsheltered homelessness as well we've worked in in in communities like Los Angeles obviously that is a a much larger Beast to tame um you know but helped them begin to implement some strategies and believe it or not they last year had a very small reduction in homelessness and and a a couple percentage points reduction and unsheltered homelessness which you know reversed a a a a trajectory that had had been going up for several years so we're really proud of them as well um and and all of the work that that they are doing that's just a few of few examples um you know we are currently in Denver um helping them stand up their housing Central command structure so that they can effectively rehouse everyone out of those the non- congregate shelters um so that they can continue to uh reduce homelessness we're running similar Predictive Analytics for them because they're interested in getting to an end

[175:00] to Street homelessness as well so um this is this is really our background um we're a small But Mighty team uh and we are excited to to be supporting um the city of Boulder but but the the whole sub region um that really does seem to be working together um and you know you know I appreciate the tensions um having worked in government I I you know have navigated many of those and and I think these types of processes are a wonderful opportunity to really kind of air all all of those concerns and and make some real decisions about um what we want to accomplish together and how to do it well that that is a very substantial background thank you for providing me the the information um can we go back to the slide that was I guess page 33 in in the presentation um I it was the process it was the four-part process of um how we're going to proceed um it was unclear to me um no it's that's 37

[176:05] 36 one more there we go um are the specific policy recommendations going to be coming from clutch or they going to be coming from our staff uh what's what's the um what's the operating procedure there let let me try to answer first from my perspective of the scope of work and then I think Mark probably um Can round that out you know so I think clutch is responsible for um leading on this process clutch is responsible for syn you know performing the analytics um synthesizing all of the the conversations and data points and and work sessions and providing that framework we obviously are going to be um working internally with staff um to

[177:02] refine that framework and would be would lean on Mark and the city manager's office to guide how we bring those updates um back to counsil you know for continued refinement in that process okay thank you those are all my questions and those are very very good good answers appreciate it thanks Mark okay n Nicole fell off and she's back on I don't know if she was was she next Aon or were you next do you know I think it might have been Nicole um I either way Nicole you want to go sure um yeah I just have a quick question because my other question is sort of a question comment so I'll save that one for comments um and thanks so much for the presentation uh what I'm wondering about is you know as we're doing this work this spring and summer um we're kind of building a strategy on shifting sand with the sort of daily changes that we are seeing and so my

[178:01] question is around how how is the process um going to deal with that because it is um it's they're they're interrelated right so um just curious what the what the plan is for how to how to address that I can jump in with kind of my national hat on uh because this is not a a locally unique circumstance right this is everywhere I mean I I think there the cold hard truth in all of this is that the federal government provides you know the bulk of the kind of um the they provide the base for our homeless response system and um it would be nearly impossible in most communities to replace those resources at a local level if those resources um were to to be removed so in some ways um if the most extreme actions resolve it is catastrophic and

[179:02] you're absolutely right I think the way we are proceeding In This Moment In in most places across the country is um we're going to continue to to plan as if those resources are intact what we will what we will be cautious on is any sense that those resources will grow historically you could count on the growth of those resources year over year um and and what's what's possible is that those resources will become a bit more stagnant and and so we'll build that into the model itself um but I I I you know we will on a Case by case basis you know make other adjustments but there is there just isn't a great contingency option here um uh you know unless there's you know real interest in you know putting a lot of tax you know making a lot more taxpayer resource available um at a local level and um that just doesn't

[180:02] feel like a realistic um immediate solution to bake into a strategy so um I don't know that that's a great answer but it's an honest one and maybe I'll add to and and certainly Kurt may want to add to this but I'll say that that's a reality even before the current reality that we find ourselves in right like there has always been a lack of funding uh in this particular area uh and so we will be thoughtful about that as we move forward the group that that continues to look at what impacts we may have in our funding we'll continue to look at that we are hopeful that uh conversations about funding that directly impacts individuals will continue to remain but in every that we do we will be looking at it um but we start I would say at the outset with a deficit built in because this area of work has never been fully funded as we know because we would not be in the situation we are in nationally uh had

[181:03] attention and resources has been devoted to this kind of thing and so my little commentary to the world but we will be thoughtful and um thinking about that as we move forward thank you and I very much appreciate the honesty thank you thank you Nicole okay Aon and then Taisha so Manny thanks so much for joining us um this evening and I really appreciated your presentation uh I was ready to jump up for a standing ovation honestly after I heard it like that sounds um so much like what we need here for our next steps with our homeless strategy so very excited to have you on board um I'll have a comment or two but my my one question is gets to the the budget question again so people asked how this will kind of integrate with our budget and and those sorts of things obviously there are things that that we would like to do and things that you might recommend um that we would do that are beyond our you know Financial wherewithal and so if you can just talk

[182:00] a little bit about how you'll balance that question of like here are some bigger moves that would be fantastic if you could afford them here are things that I'm pretty sure you can afford so definitely do those you know what's that kind of balance in terms of the fiscal feasibility and I'll add to fiscal feasibility like um implement tability from a Workforce standpoint because that's I would say after finances I'd say Workforce might be our biggest constraint so your thoughts on on how you blend those kind of constraints together I love this question so appreciate it um yeah I think this is why we we never want to present a a strategic framework without some of that complimentary implementation planning that's associated with it because you know it's rare that we can get there all at once overnight and so that implementation planning has to really consider um what are the kind of phased implementation activities and how do like what's the right order and and what

[183:01] should be the priority for our investments in order to move us toward our our larger strategic Vision but also meet our more immediate objectives along the way and that's usually the balance um that we're that we're trying to strike and and I'll just be really practical and and give you an example um you know when we started this work in Houston you know now over you know almost 15 years ago the the streets were very different believe it or not we had 4800 people sleeping on the Streets On Any Given night in Houston but it you didn't know it in the same way that you might know that there's a thousand right now and so it afforded us you know a different set of priorities it it it it was a different Runway we phased our implement ation differently whereas now right that um concern about the way public spaces are are being utilized and the the difficulty of managing those

[184:00] shared public spaces it just demands a different set of priorities and so we would you know uh Community by Community we're going to contemplate you know all of those conditions with the community and and make some recommendations about how to implement which which which equally takes into consideration what's the bite the reasonable bite that that you all can take um on this issue given the resources that that could be available so it's it's built in into that we want to give you the big picture those numbers can be really scary so we equally want to chunk it and say but we think you can you know if we're going to climb Everest like let's focus on just getting getting to base camp first right and and and then to the next in the next thanks for that and it's good to hear that you're thinking about approaches that are tailored to the reality of um of homelessness as as it exists and impacts our community today so glad to hear that thanks so much

[185:01] that's all I got okay continuing with questions got Taisha then Matt then Lauren thank you so much um so um I appreciate the timeline that has been presented I do have some concerns around not having quantitative data on all of the programs that we operate um in advance for robust conversations around our budget so I'm just curious although I appreciate a robust community outreach I still feel like there's a need to fill in the environmental scan or landscape of of of just the performance data of where we've been um you know I'm I so yes I'm wondering um if there can be a phased approach where some data uh components can be re released instead of waiting till the very end um considering that we're going to need to make some very robust um decisions around our budget and not having quantitative data I we

[186:00] have so much qualitative data I'm more interested in the quantitative data the performance data um and the financial data of the 25 programs that we're currently operating and so my question is um is there opportunity to do a phase approach um that's one question another question that I have is around um an issue that we haven't talked about today and that is those individuals that are using a mult multiple programs and so I was also curious in if whether in this work we are considering some kind of mechanism that will allow for a unique identifier um that will allow us to um actually track individuals um because again one of my other concerns are the significantly different demographics of solo um unhoused versus family unhoused um and so I would love to um get some more information around um that but

[187:02] again understand because I've asked for this information last year and was told that um currently the they're they're not tracking that um but I'm just curious if there would be an opportunity to track that um so those are are the two prominent questions that I have at the moment thank you yeah happy to start with that Taisha so if we're able to provide uh some data and I appreciate that that may be limited in the types of the type of information you're looking for with our existing programs we're happy to provide that and and some of the information um was provided in this packet is closing out looking at uh 2024 um information uh I I will say that and I hate to put Mandy on the spot but I one of the things that both PPA and Mandy has talked with us about is the limitations in our data and some of the um difficulty and really being able to

[188:00] do some of that deep analysis that you're uh getting at and so I'm wondering Mandy if you might be able to speak a little bit to kind of how you're thinking about data and some of the conversations maybe some insights into some of those conversations that I know you've had already in in our region but uh might be helpful in um letting Council in on some of some of those conversations yeah I I mean I I want to appreciate your your frustration um here and you know one of the things that that the HSBC evaluation does kind of clearly point out is that when you have you know the so the the primary um data system that Homeless response systems typically use is the homeless management information system you you your um region is a bit unique because your Continuum of Care that operates that hmis system is is very large and and so

[189:00] I think um there is oftentimes a desire to have more loc local control over that data and so by developing um a a local data system um you end up with parts of the data in two different systems that that don't speak to each other um so we this you are not the only place where where this happens um and so luckily there are ways that we can work through that from from our process we're first going to be looking at the system and how people move through that system and so there is there are some great um data tools that are available that will allow us to do that and that is all all of the performance data about how the individual moves through that system and whether that was successful or not is baked into that which is really great what it's not going to tell us in that first analysis is did this program

[190:00] create the most impact or did this program create the most impact right so we're we're gonna back our way into that over time um but we're going to start with that big picture zoom and and I think I we feel confident that that the data that's available to us is going to let that happen what's nice about your local data system is I think it's going to let us get deep do that deeper dive and it might be that we don't get it all done in this round but it becomes part of the Strategic framework so it becomes part of how you do business going forward um that you know without knowing and I'm so new into this process in your community without I don't want to to get over my skis here but but my instincts tell me that's probably um where we'll land and all this um and I think we can bring you that data as we uncover it right and and and we can because this is all about building toward that that strategic understanding and and we we

[191:00] can do that transparently together okay um I just wanted to also honor that I did meet with Elizabeth and Kurt when I first came on a year and a half ago and had them walk through and and was informed about these issues around data quality however there I was also told that they were diff there was different data points available for the different programs and they report annually on that so I'm actually asking for a compilation of EX of acent data that is already available um I'm not asking for anything that doesn't currently exist but I am continuously asking for data in a format that we can actually make a decision with um so I'm grateful to hear that um that some of the qualita quantitative excuse me data will be available um you know um at an iterative p uh place and if anything I would be eager um to get more um shared accountability around when we can anticipate that because if we don't get

[192:00] this data before we have to make budget decisions then unfortunately I'm very very concerned about us making decisions off of the information that we currently have thank you okay I sounds like that's it fortia so questions on to Matt thanks Ryan uh I got a couple questions uh first uh Mandy thank you for being here um and also I just want to recognize um you know I have tremendous amount of Hope based on the work that I see that you've done and and accomplished across the country um and so I just I'm looking forward to it and I appreciate what you said about how how we're getting into the the pieces um from from a systems process and that that's a new way of thinking for us and so I'm really uh looking forward to that um U one of my two questions centers around you stakeholder engagement as you saw sort of previously that was something that we were a little frustrated with before is it's hard to get a clear picture if we don't have the voices um we don't have those

[193:01] perspectives at the table and I know that this is starting holistically as a city one but we can't have a city strategy without it being either linked or knowing very clearly the gaps with the County's plan and it seems like right now we have two different plans I know I know some will say it's one plan but we're really going in two different directions right now and so I think how I guess my question to you is how given the scope of what you're working with will you help us identify really the separation and where we're connected to and not connected to the county roles and responsibilities because that's where we seem to have the tension is we keep thinking the others responsible for something or when we share it then it gets done in mediocrity so so I'm um or duplicating so I'm just curious how do you in your experience work to sort through that uh yeah great question I I mean so first you know we've worked with the

[194:00] city manager's office to invite and include the county and and all of the kind of regional stakeholders in our engagement sessions so while the city is leading on this issue the the point is to say we we want everyone included um and and that way it becomes a shared product um so so that's one dimension of it it doesn't necessarily mean it's widely adopted right that that that's a kind of a second step in all of this but this is where the implementation planning that next layer I I think really does um first it helps socialize the framework and really test it to see if if right it can be adopted across the region but the other thing it does is it allows all of us to contemplate in a very honest and practical way what's the first step we can all take together or what are the steps we can take together and so it it aligns us on a set of right now commitments or the potential for right now commitments um

[195:01] and I think that it's through those types of act it's getting that kind of clarity and and then answering the next question which is and then what's the structure that we need that to really support all of us in in honoring these commitments and moving for forward and I think you have lots of those pieces I don't think this is a you know a a needing to wipe the Slate clean and start over I think I I do want to just value I think um on the surface the the recommendations are are right in that you have all of the the elements our job here is to say you've built this there's good things in there now how do we take it to that next level how do we get it you know to the next iteration because we have a bigger Vision than than you know and a new goal post that we want to to reach together so um so that's my my experience and and as far as from a a

[196:00] legitimate techniques perspective you know we're going to use a variety we're just going to use good old engagement here um both in kind of you know co-design but but then we you know we hope that that there is interest in more targeted meetings so that we can uncover you know what is available and what isn't obviously there's lots of public documents that that will allow us to dig into all of those pieces we're going to know and and I hope I've demonstrated to you that I am you know I'm candid be because we need to be here um where there's conflict right or or where there's there's challenge we're going to talk about it we're going to point it out um a and ultimately it's going to be up to policy makers um as to whether or not we can really remedy some of those challenges the I think the job of Staff the job of the community is to really work to Define what we want where we want to get to it's always the role of policy makers you you have to make some of those hard decisions about about you

[197:02] know how feasible it is or how possible it is to to move the pieces in place to get it done I appreciate that and I'll sort of lead to my you sort of sort of you sort of led to where my next question is going I'll just say that um I think you're going to fit right in in this community even though say you're new to learning it because you used an analogy that uh you worried about getting over your skis um so so I think you're going to fit right in uh here in Boulder um my second question is sort of like how do we set up the assumptions for where that ult you know some of those ultimate goals go right because there's sort of what we do here in the city and we can sort of evaluate make assumptions based on what we have direct control over and then there's kind of like how do we interface with HSBC in the county and then there's really the ultimate goal which is and maybe this is just you know phase seven of this beginning process but for me I'm just wondering are we eventually heading towards how we can shape a conversation so that the logical conclusion of this effort is that every community in our

[198:01] region has a sweet of these Solutions in their community that are meeting local and Regional needs and a shared uh uh solution to a shared problem and I think that's that's maybe where the tension currently is but I'm wondering is this going to lead us in that direction um in in a manner yeah you know I think that you know part of what you're reflecting is you this is your going going to be a strategy that reflects the will of your region right and the Norms of your region and so um our job is to bring some of that kind of the the analytical pieces to the table that help you make make decisions about whether those Norms are serving your interests um or or whether those Norms or whether there they're alternatives to those Norms that you want to consider um a but at the end of the day I I just want to be really cognizant like we're not going to

[199:01] propose a strategy that is isn't that can't be implemented be because what value is that so so we're gonna we're going to work with all of you to take into consideration so if the answer is we don't want to function as one shared system we want we want I'm just I'm being extreme here but we want each municipality to have its own separate system and everyone to be serviced in that then we'll run the analysis and and help you really understand you know what that would look like and and also what's realistic if it that doesn't happen right and be because that's the other side of this those are those unintended consequences that we want to balance in this process so um and you know at the end of the day it always comes back to leadership on on these issues um and making making those those hard decisions um and I'm a big believer um in setting a good vision and and working toward it

[200:03] um so I I hope that answered it it does and I'm I'm I'm just I'm I'm very impressed with how you're navigating the questions and also you're you're how you're attacking uh what's what's in front of you in community so so thank you Mandy I appreciate it okay that looks like that's it for questions I give another moment okay that's Lauren no I just want to go first on responses oh okay okay let's go to feedback uh looks like uh actually I think Aon I think aon's hand is up first and then Lauren Lauren if you want to go first go go for it um well any so uh Megan Mandy um sorry I was thinking about Meg from before U Manny thanks so much for for being here and I am uh truly excited to have you and your team on board um so

[201:01] just to say a few things that we pretty much already know but just to get them on the record like we all heard in the first SE SE segment how many different ways were're working on the problem of of homelessness in our community and how many successes how many different fronts that we've had and all the people that have been helped and all the people that have been housed right and so we have a lot to be proud of but it is still nowhere close to adequate to the need right and this is the challenge that we're struggling with and I think we heard some of that frustration uh come out from some council members earlier in the meeting about okay that's great that we're doing well at a lot of things but what do we do next that's different enough to really make progress on this problem because we need more we need different we need more we're not sure exactly what the next um more and better is um but that is what we need and so Mandy I'm very excited to have you on board because the things you're talking about give me hope that we can figure

[202:00] out what those next steps are to really make the the a big difference in terms of making um significant progress from where we are now because they're too many people out suffering on our streets and there are too many kind of ancillary impacts from people not having homes so not saying anything we don't all know but this problem is so huge and so complex we got to be doing something different and so very excited to be working with you on figuring out what that different is um and looking forward to the conversations to come so I'm more optimistic as of right now than I've been and I don't know how long after hearing what you're talking about thank you okay Lauren and then Nicole thank you and thank you all for sticking with us to this late hour it's much appreciated um I really appreciated you the examples you gave us for the successes you've seen um and I'm really excited for the

[203:00] kind of analysis that you're talking about not just not because I think we're going down the wrong paths currently but for the potential it has to help us move forward and dealing with this complicated issue um with more confidence um I'm really excited to hear um more about your ideas around how we can get people into housing more efficiently and how we can balance Community needs in our public spaces um you've already touched on this a bit but I'm really excited for the or I one of the things I'd like to see is suggestions and cost related to several different goals so you know kind of at the highest level sorry is also wanting to participate um how much it would cost us um and what kind of sort of broadly it would take to eliminate how homelessness in our community not

[204:00] because I think we're necessarily in a financial place to do that right now but I think it's good to kind of have the full spectrum on the table so that we understand you know where we're at in that total continu um and then kind of the next level down of like what would it take to make a noticeable improvement in our systems um that would be evident to our community um and then given our financial uncertainty you know if we can't make increases um what are we doing to make our systems more efficient and in the event of a chis crisis and we need to cut funding what are the crucial things that um are sort of most important to maintain um and then finally one of the things you talked about that I'm interested in the data on is sort of the

[205:02] magnet effect and how the magnet effect might be different at these different levels and what kind of it currently is now for our community um thank you okay Nicole and then Tina thank you so much um and just really I'm I'm so looking forward to uh to these discussions um so just to some of um tesa's questions around data and information um there's a piece of information that I'm hoping will kind of come out of this process to help us as policy makers um so our finance team sent us a spread sheet last fall that laid out all of our HHS programs budget allocations number of people served so we could kind of get that holistic sense um and then the memo tonight had some information on uh which programs are achieving the outcomes that we targeted in our 2025 budgeting process and just a side note to to City staff um I absolutely love the visuals that you Ed

[206:01] to represent where we were uh meeting or not meeting our intended uh budget outcomes for the year so thank you for that that was really helpful but as a policy maker I think what what what would really help me is to see kind of landscape of of different types of homelessness uh the people who are in those particular types of homelessness so maybe it's um Family single adult sheltered single adult unsheltered and then kind of see where the where are we currently allocating resources among those different um buckets of people because I I I think there's conversations in there in you know uh for instance we talk about our high utilizer program um investing in the people who are uh leading to the most costs is really helpful and it it tends to require more to get there so I I think this is just some of the information I'm hoping to have at that

[207:01] more um kind of holistic level of where are things right now where are we spending our money right now um and and what what may have the biggest um payoffs or or what is kind of the lowest hanging fruit where if we invest just a little bit more into this Bucket over here like family homelessness um we can have some really major long-term outcomes by um breaking that pipeline between child homelessness and and adult homelessness for example so um anyway so just that's kind of I'm hoping for something that kind of pulls things together because that at least for me as a policy maker is really what I'm needing thank you thank you Nicole Tina and then Tera yeah um thank you for the overview and I'm really looking forward to the work that clut will be doing here in the city and certainly rely on this outside knowledge and a fresh set of eyes um so I hope um I don't want you to be constrained in any way and I Echo those thoughts about the budget um scenarios

[208:02] would be great so that we could have different visions and different outcomes based on what our investment levels might be in the issue um just a couple things that I'm curious about but am completely flexible at this time because I want this to be an open thoughtful process um is just um thinking about just our overall system capacity and how what are the levs we can pull to increase capacity if we're able to um the other piece is um helping to create metrics and outcomes that are visual uh that can be shared by our community so that we have a shared understanding of where we're headed and and you touched on that but I really like the language that you use with that um and then finally just getting a better idea of our nonprofit landscape uh we are a relatively small County of 330,000 people and we have a lot of people involved in this so it's difficult to sometimes track and and understand

[209:01] everything so if there any kind of visual map of all these different service providers that are interacting um that would be great and then the the other thing I want to say because we're on the topic of house housing in general is I'm continually impressed by the work of Kurt finnbar's team and when you think about the real estate market in Boulder and how difficult it is and how many people are coming into the community and I sort of referenced this in my hotline about population changes I think the work as team has done to create space and housing in a city of our size is actually phenomenal and I want to lift that up at this time um and appreciate that so I Echo that we really have a lot of extraordinarily positive things to build on and we're not looking at this as building from a deficit but from a yes and um so I'm excited for this work thank you there me um so I'm excited also and first I

[210:00] want to thank all of my colleagues that went before me in all these comments because I did ow each one they were awesome um so I'm going to add to that and I'm going to say it looks like I can't imagine that we're not going to have to cut somewhere because arpa is going to end soon and you know we have our new you know Administration and so and the other thing is is governments don't tend to love to end any program so it's just the nature of government not necessarily just our government um so with that I'm hoping for really you know honest analysis like I'm emotionally attached to our housing retention programs because I feel like of all the things that we can do in our limited toolbox keeping somebody housed is much better than the Alternatives actually we don't even have Alternatives and I guess they go back to being unhoused and that's just not you know

[211:00] helpful and good doesn't help them but I'm also open to the fact that I'm not sure what gets what has the most impact for people and I'm not sure which maybe is a little bit too wasteful for the amount of money that we have so I guess real honesty and you know don't break my heart take away this or that program but I'm going to say that I I wish that you know speak into our lives so to speak and tell us what are what's are what are the way forward what is the way forward especially because I assume we will have to cut funding uh which none of us want to do but might just have to be and so that's my uh dream request right there thanks for all you do thanks Sarah Matt appreciate that Ryan um you know it's funny uh Tera just mentions you know we have a we don't seem to cut programs I've always joked that pilot programs are euphemism for in perpetuity

[212:02] um I know I know Nua loves that but um nonetheless she throws her eyebrows up um but you know I mean in all honesty I think there's um something that I I'm interested in is is the really hard conversations because that tells me we're heading in the right direction and I think as we saw a little bit earlier we weren't being drawn into the hardest of conversations and I think that there's a craving for that um I think it's it's overdone so um and the other thing I'm curious about is I noticed that you know the city has its hands in every pot in every kind of program to serve our unhoused community and is that the right way to do it and and so I think that there's some really U interesting questions that I look forward for us to uncovering um and even if it takes a little longer I think we need to get this right I know you say July and I I appreciate the ambition but if it takes us longer to do it then I then I'm certainly okay with

[213:01] us taking longer so I I don't want our budget process or something to artificially uh accelerate or bring conclusion to the work I think the work's done when the work's done um and I just want you just know that like be permissive to have that opportunity to take the time that you need and don't be held to some arbitrary deadline that that we think we're setting for you if if you need more time please take it any more uh than you Matt any more comments okay I will uh I will offer one um just a brief thought on what I think will make the update plan successful um there's a few things this is a kind of a log frame or a strategy sort of framework um so first goals or outcomes that explain clearly what are the things that if we achieve will mean we're successful and I

[214:03] would as a Part B to that I would love to see um candidate goals or outcomes that we didn't select um just so that's all kind of um you know visible and a ilar space so that's the first thing second thing is a change model or a some uh expression of what we believe to be true about how we will achieve those those goals or outcomes so that we all um I guess whether you know we it it's our belief or not we all at least ultimately will be able to express what does the city believe it needs to do in order to achieve those goals um the third uh a linkage to funding and some some way to show how we intend to allocate resources against that that change model and you know maybe with some consideration of funding that doesn't exist that we wish would exist

[215:00] but just just to create a um a linkage and then finally what data we will need to have going forward um to to measure performance and iterate and I would encourage us to be brave about specifying data that we don't have and thinking maybe in the future what would we wish we had set up to to collect data for that we you know now do have in the future um so that's a little bit General but um as a from a policy standpoint I think that is the kind of thing we need and I think the next councils and so on will will benefit from so that's what I have um and I don't see any more hands and if I've done my um my math and my reading right I think that takes us to the end so but let me just check with uh Kurt Mark Nua anything else um from your ends I defer to Kurt and Mark because they have done this admirably in

[216:00] particular Kurt and we just a thank you to um our County Partners our consultant Partners Mandy for sticking with us so late but Kurt your team has done an amazing job trying to synthesize this information so thank you but Kurt pass it to you yeah uh thank you and thank you Council for your um comprehensive feedback tonight and um uh Matt your introduction to tough conversations we look forward to those as well um we're excited to work with the uh the clutch team and um excited about their experience that they can bring to our environment we um we just completed a um a 2024 uh report um that has a lot of data and information on the outcomes of this past year and the evolution of the programs that occurred over this last year I will

[217:00] send that out on hotline and I think my request council is to receive your your feedback on what what you would like to see differently what's missing what uh what that is helpful and um what what that is missing I think that will be really help us in uh setting the stage in in moving forward so um with uh with much appreciation um we will send that out to you thank you thank you Kurt Mark any last words no just appreciate staff's work tonight our all of our partners and Council for the for the feedback okay well then with no other items on tonight's agenda I will close 33 p.m. Boulder time all right great work Ryan thank you thanks work Ryan thanks Ryan bye everyone good job

[218:14] Ryan e for