Sponsor: Housing Stability
Title
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Single Source Agreement with Model Cities for Emergency Shelter Beds
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Recommendation
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1. Approve the single source agreement with Model Cities of St. Paul, Inc., 839 University Avenue West, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55104 for $601,800.
2. Authorize the Chair and Chief Clerk to execute the agreement.
3. Authorize the County Manager to execute amendments to the agreement in accordance with the county’s procurement policies and procedures, provided the amounts are within the limits of available funding.
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Background and Rationale
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Safe Space is an emergency shelter operated by Model Cities and located in the Ramsey County Government Center East Building at 160 Kellogg Boulevard East, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55101. The current client service agreement with Model Cities started October 22, 2019. Prior to Model Cities contract start, Catholic Charities was the shelter operator. Once Catholic Charities notified the county that they were no longer able to continue to operate, the county approached several potential vendors, all of which had existing housing-based client service agreements. Given the urgency of the need for a new service provider, the county and Model Cities entered into the current agreement. Model Cities developed a plan and identified what they felt they needed from Ramsey County and Catholic Charities. Despite a lack of experience providing shelter services from the start of the contract, Model Cities’ commitment to learning, growing, and partnering has made a place for itself in the homeless services continuum. The organization is now integral to the communities’ emergency shelter response network-facilitating a tiered referral process in the late afternoon, early evening and middle of the night. Safe Space now receives approximately 100 daily referrals from: Metro Transit, Catholic Charities’ Higher Ground, outreach workers, Saint Paul Police Department, Freedom House, local hospitals, and Ramsey, Hennepin, and Dakota counties. Due to the critical nature of the work of sheltering people experiencing homelessness while also preventing COVID spread and the fact that it was previously difficult to source vendor partners with ability and staffing to do the work, Model Cities is the current qualified vendor positioned to accept 100 daily emergency shelter referrals which in turn equated to nearly 2,000 individuals being served. Disruption of service could negatively impact the unsheltered referral system. In 2022, Housing Stability intends to issue a competitive bid for these services.
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County Goals (Check those advanced by Action)
☒ Well-being ☐ Prosperity ☐ Opportunity ☐ Accountability
Racial Equity Impact
In 2020, Safe Space shelter served 1,934 people (duplicated count). Of the individuals served, 45% of the emergency shelter users identify as African American; 37% as white; 8% identified with “multiple races;” 5% as Asian; and 5% as Native American. 78% of users identified as male and an increasing number of individuals identify as non-conforming- making the Model Cities/ Safe Space one of very few options to have a safe space dedicated for gender non-conforming individuals. Most of the individuals were in the age range of 25-54 with a notable increase in the number of youth (counted 140 youth stays) and elderly, or 62 and older (counted 111 elderly stays).
Community Participation Level and Impact
Involvement of regional partners will continue, particularly in the redevelopment of the outreach and referral process.1,934 people were served at Safe Space shelter in 2020; 11% were veterans and 64% had barriers around mental and chemical health. A survey of community referrals and outreach partners will take place with a goal of identifying what’s working well and where are the post- COVID gaps related to this community-based emergency shelter solution.
☒ Inform ☒ Consult ☐ Involve ☐ Collaborate ☐ Empower
Fiscal Impact
Housing Stability 2022-23 budget will be utilized to cover a one-year contract beginning January 12, 2022 for a total obligation of $601,800.
County Manager Comments
No additional comments.
Last Previous Action
On October 22, 2019, the Ramsey County Board approved a Single Source Agreement with Model Cities for Safe Space Emergency Shelter Services (Resolution B2019-241).
Attachments
1. Single Source Request Form
2. Client Services Agreement