Shelter crisis returns to table

Chico council to consider declaring another crisis after declining to extend in June

CHICO » The Chico City Council will once again consider declaring a shelter crisis after previously declining in June to extend the crisis first established in September 2018.

City Attorney Vincent Ewing will present the council with an agenda item to declare the crisis. The document prepared by Deputy City Attorney Mark Murray recommends the city vote to declare a crisis after an undisclosed survey showed a significant amount of people within the city unable to obtain shelter.

A shelter crisis was previously declared by city council Oct. 8, 2018 following Butte County’s declaration of a shelter crisis Sept. 25, 2018. The county recently redeclared the same crisis Aug. 10 which will be in place until June 30, 2024.

At the original time of Chico’s declaration, funding for counties and cities to address a shelter crisis was being provided by the Homeless Emergency Aid Program, which provides $500 million statewide to address homelessness or potential homelessness.

By declaring a shelter crisis, a portion of the $4.9 million from HEAP coming into Butte County had been expected to be available for the city.

In order to receive funding from HEAP, cities and counties must declare a shelter crisis before any of the money can be spent in that jurisdiction.

In the document regarding Tuesday’s item, Murray said the most recent Point in Time Census and Survey Report identified 571 unsheltered homeless people in the city. This is a 32 percent increase since the previous shelter crisis was declared. Murray notes there are approximately 180 shelter spaces within the city.

If a shelter crisis is adopted, it will establish four main guidelines as explained by the filing.

• Any vacant or underutilized facility or property currently owned, leased, operated, or maintained by the city, through money derived by taxation or assessment, may be designated a public facility for purposes of emergency sheltering during the declaration.

• The city may suspend the provision of any state law or regulation prescribing standards of housing, health, or safety to the extent that strict compliance would prevent, hinder or delay the provision of emergency shelters in or on city designated facilities.

• In place of the housing standards referenced above, to ensure minimal public health and safety, the city may enact health and safety standards effective only during the declaration.

• From time to time, the ciy may allow persons unable to obtain housing to occupy city designated facilities during the duration of the declaration.

At the June 15 council meeting when councilors were discussing extending the declared shelter crisis, City Manager Mark Orme said if the declaration was extended, staff time would be necessary to develop a new resolution to continue getting benefits from the declaration. He then reported since 2018, the city had not utilized the options the declaration gave for establishing an emergency shelter, but it allowed the Butte Countywide Homeless Continuum of Care to receive and distribute HEAP funding to Chico service providers.

Orme also reported then HEAP funding garnered from the declaration would terminate June 30, so declaring an extension to the shelter crisis would enable the city to shelter people experiencing homelessness more quickly in designated public facilities, by suspending some housing, health and safety standards. Without a vote taking place, June 30 passed without an extension.

“The city previously instituted a shelter crisis declaration to enhance local nonprofits ability to access funding and to enable the city to evaluate opportunities to partner with those agencies,” Orme wrote in a statement Monday. “Once the City Council saw that phase through, the council determined that the declaration was not necessary to keep in place.”

Orme said a return of the item to council agenda means staff recognizes a potential need to once again declare a crisis.

“During the rescission of the declaration, it was noted that should staff recognize a need to reinstitute the declaration to bring it back for future consideration. Thus, the city attorney is now returning to the City Council with an option to put a Shelter Crisis Declaration in place once again,” Orme said.

For a shelter crisis to be declared, a majority of councilors will have to vote for the motion to pass.

City Attorney Vincent Ewing declined to comment for this story.