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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN LAAC 2023/12/05 (2022-2024) Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions th 20 Session Hawai‘i County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai‘i December 5, 2023 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions ORDER: was called to order at 11:51 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Vice Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Member (came in later) Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member (came in later) Mr. Matt Kāneali‘i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member (came in later) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (came in later) STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Darrah Kauhane: Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing Project Vision) Paul Norman: Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing Neighborhood Place of Puna) Les Estrella: Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing Going Home Hawaiʻi) Andi Pawasarat-Losalio: Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing Bridge House, Inc.) LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 Regina Weller: Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing 808 Homeless Task Force) Brandee Menino: Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing HOPE Services Hawaii) Pueo Kai McGuire: Res. 358 (Comm. 592); and (representing Nā Mamo O Kāwā) Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. Natasha Ala: Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing Hawaii Island Community Health Center) Cecilia Sakata: Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing Hawaii Island Community Health Center) R. Lahela Kruse: Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing Big Island Substance Abuse Council (BISAC) Detox Facility) Roxanne Costa: Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing the Salvation Army Family Intervention Service) Mary Ramos: Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing the Salvation Army Family Intervention Service) Kristy Lungo: Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing Mental Health Kokua) CHR. INABA: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, order of business please. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. Page 2 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 Res. 358-23: AWARDS A PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION MAINTENANCE FUND STEWARDSHIP GRANT TO NA MAMO O KĀWĀ Approves a grant of $123,788 to Na Mamo O Kāwā, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, to continue providing land stewardship and cultural education for properties in Kāwā, Hīlea Nui, and Kaʻalaiki, (Tax Map Keys: 9-5-016:006, 025 and 9-5-017:005, 007), pursuant to Section 10-16(h) of the Hawaiʻi County Charter. Reference: Comm. 592 Intr. by: Ms. Galimba Motion to Approve: Ms. Galimba moved to recommend adoption of Res. 358-23. Seconded by Mr. Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. CHR. INABA: Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. So, just asking for my fellow Council Members’ approval of this resolution, and motion to forward. Kāwā is a wahipana in Kaū. ʻ It’s an amazing place. It is used by people from around the island for fishing, surfing, and cultural practices. Na Mamo O Kāwā has been doing an amazing job there in planting native species, removing invasives and generally protecting the coastal resources there, both natural and cultural, and just sort of really building engagement for the community and the kids around this space. So, you know, creating education about our amazing natural and cultural resources. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Galimba. Also, noting that we have Property Manager Hamana Ventura joining us from Kona Chambers. Mr. Ventura, do you have anything to add at this time? (Note: At this time, Property Manager Hamana Ventura came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. VENTURA: Thank you, Chair. I just want to take this opportunity to thank Kai (McGuire) and Na Mamo O Kāwā for all they do on behalf of the County. CHR. INABA: Mahalo. Opening it up to discussion here back in Hilo. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Galimba, for putting this forward. And I’m sitting here reflecting on Council Chair Maile David. This was one of the very first projects that took advantage of the maintenance fund. And at that time, we also had Senator Dru Kanuha, whose middle name is Mamo. And then myself, and my son’s name is Kaukaleimamo, and so we convinced it was Page 3 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 absolutely stacked in favor of this program. And here it is, five years later, and they’re still going strong and doing such incredible work to advance culture and allowing the children an opportunity to have an outdoor classroom. And so, continue to wholeheartedly support this resolution along with the good work of Na Mamo O Kāwā. Thank you. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I just wanted to take a moment to say aloha and mahalo nui to Pueo (Kai McGuire). We went to University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo together and studied political science. And so, I’m just deeply appreciative of your work in mobilizing community to continue to steward this space. This is what the PONC (Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation) funds and maintenance stewardship funds were set up exactly to do, was to empower community to take care of its ‘āina, and you are doing that so incredibly well. And, Council Member Galimba, you should be so incredibly proud of these community groups. And I’d love to talk story with you about what is it exactly that your community is able to do to build capacity and continue to just have longevity and sustainability with these programs. I’ve got a couple of PONC parcels in my district, and I think they’re almost there, but I think that there is some regional collaboration that needs to happen so that we have stewards for every single PONC parcel that the County is acquiring. So, happy to support this and love that there is continued stewardship for this parcel. Thank you, Chair. CHR. INABA: There being no further discussion, there’s a motion on the floor to forward Resolution 358-23 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All those in favor? Vote on Res. 358-23: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 358-23 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Inaba – 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Resolution 369, please. Page 4 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Resolution 369-23. PUBLIC ON RES. 369-23: The following individual registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Chris Patulski Res. 369 (Comm. 617), in support. (representing Habitat for Humanity Hawaiʻi Island) Res. 369-23: AUTHORIZES THE OFFICE OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TO AWARD FUNDS TO VARIOUS NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS FOR PROGRAMS ADDRESSING HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS Proposes 22 grant awards to 13 different nonprofit organizations for a total of $9,794,459.33 in funding that was derived from Tier Two property tax revenues. Reference: Comm. 617 Intr. by: Mr. Inaba (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend adoption of Res. 369-23. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. INABA: Good afternoon. Administrator (Susan) Kunz and Specialist (Sharon) Hirota, if you folks would both come to the front table. I would like to point out in our pinkies is Communication 617.1 that was provided by OHCD (Office of Housing and Community Development) to further provide background on the projects that are being awarding via this resolution. So, I’d like to turn it over to OHCD at this time to give us a summary of the process and what we’re working with at this time. (Note: At this time, Housing Administrator Susan Kunz and Division Manager Sharon Hirota came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. KUNZ: Thank you so much. Good afternoon, County Council and Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions. My name is Susan Kunz and I’m the Housing Administrator for the Office of Housing. You know, I really want to first thank all of the providers that are here today and that have continued to work with us. They have done amazing work. We are about six months into the first round of funding that we approved last year, and it has been incredible. And I really have to give thanks to my team. The work is hard, it’s very hard. And, you know, Sharon Hirota leading this team has been really amazing doing this work. Page 5 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 And I also want to introduce you to the rest of the staff who are here today, because they’re really the ones that are doing all of this hard work. Amy Kaʻawaloa and Keiko Mercado and Courtney Vincent. This is the team that’s been doing all of this work, and it’s amazing to watch them and work with them. So, how do we accelerate, right, the efforts to reduce unsheltered homelessness in Hawaiʻi County. The OHCD continues on this path with some of the same primary goals and priorities. Our efforts must be multipronged because of the complexity of the issues that are unsheltered folks face. We must create new housing units because it’s the only way to end homelessness, is to house them. And because housing development takes so long, we really have to continue to create safe spaces, which includes shelters and designated areas that are safe for folks to be while they’re receiving these services. And we must continue to provide resources and these services to help these members of our community stabilize so they can rebuild, and they can prosper. The specific goals and priorities for this funding round were outlined in the strategic roadmap for homelessness and housing that we developed several years ago with the help of our community members, and this continues to provide the basis of the work that we continue to do. OHCD conducted an RFP ( Request for Proposal) with two virtual informational sessions that provided the community with information about submitting proposals and updated information about the evaluation criteria and budgets. And through this process, we received 31 applications, and we’re funding 22 programs for a total of $9.7 million. I would like to turn this over to Sharon to provide you with additional information about those programs and the process. Thank you. MS. HIROTA: Aloha. I’m Sharon Hirota, Division Manager for the Community Engagement Division for the Office of Housing and Community Development. So, first of all, thank you very much. As Administrator Kunz said, we’re here today asking for your favorable support of Resolution 369-23, that we will continue to invest an additional $9.7 million in addressing the needs of our unsheltered and at-risk households on Hawaiʻi Island. As you heard this morning from our providers about the collective and collaborative work, we certainly, as the government, could not do this alone, but it takes all of us working together leaning upon each other and working alongside each other to find solutions. The work is hard, but each of them and their team members keep showing up, and I totally appreciate it. I also want to recognize, as Susan said, the team in my department, Amy, Keiko, and Courtney, who continue to inspire me to keep going. Even when sometimes we hit barriers, they turn around and we figure things out and we continue to move forward. So, I appreciate them wholeheartedly as we embark on this work. Page 6 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 The recommended programs, I believe you’ve received an additional communication that provides a summary of the work that is being proposed. The funding supports our emergency shelters sustaining and increasing the number of permanent housing with supports, supporting existing, and increasing the delivery of detox and individual and family strengthening services, and providing services for our young adults who need assistance in connecting to long-term housing opportunities. We also acknowledge that in some cases the supports needed by unsheltered community members are outside of our county’s jurisdictions, and we’re excited to fund the family reunification and case management program, allowing for the connection or reconnection of individuals to their ‘ohana. We’re also looking forward to the creation and implementation of a comprehensive collaborative and data driven system to address the needs of individuals that are connected to our judicial systems. And last, but certainly not least, the funding to support and build a capacity of our coordination center and coordinated engagement hui, which provides low barrier service to connect individuals to appropriate resources and services on Hawaiʻi Island. We are committed, as was indicated by some of our providers. My team and I have hosted thus far three quarterly community at practice bringing together our dedicated executive leaders and their team and program leaders as we work on building trust among providers as we develop and implement a collaborative social service system that provides compassionate, equitable, and responsive care to ensure all residents are successful and thriving. And finally, if I can leave this with you. In our last community at practice that was held last week, our team came up. We’re trying to visualize how we can connect and talk about the work that we’re doing as a group. And so, I want to share one part of it. And part of it is the work around using the metaphor of a luau plate. So, we’ve all been to luaus. And so, you stand in line with the luau plate, and you look down the line and you see choices. And while all of it has a role to play on this luau plate, each one is designed differently, and so coming together collectively. And our goal is to weave a story that nourishes our understanding and fuels the feast for a community where every ‘ohana has a place to call home. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Opening it up for questions and discussion at this time. Again, summaries of the different awards and the amounts are provided in Communication 617.1. And I’ll ask the body to keep focus not on a very broad scope of homeless services, but what is before us today in the resolution. Council Member Evans. Page 7 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 MS. EVANS: Thank you. Well, I’m glad there was a lot of applications, and some people didn’t make it in the cut. But I was curious how you evaluate and look at the island wide? And the reason I say that is I’m seeing there’s East Hawaiʻi, there’s West Hawaiʻi, and then it says island wide. And given my part of the island, which is the north end, I’m curious if we’re getting certain—if you look at making sure we have some distribution across the whole island because I have the needs out—challenging needs in a very rural, remote kind of remoteness. So, just curious how you evaluate looking at island wide. MS. HIROTA: So, the RFP didn’t call out by district in terms of services, but it did call out—so, those organizations that indicated they were going to provide those services island wide. So, they have on all parts of the island, whether it be north, south, east, or west. And then there are organizations whose base is in either east or west Hawaiʻi and is going to concentrate their services out there. Our team goal is to ensure the entire island, we look at demographics and datapoints of individuals that we’re aware of that are experiencing homelessness, or the calls coming into our center around individuals or households who are at risk. So, we have that data, and we can also deplore teams as needed. MS. EVANS: Okay. I’d like to work offline and learn more about your demographics and datapoints, and how it impacts my district. Thank you. MS. HIROTA: Sure. Yeah. MS. EVANS: Okay, I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder. MR. KĀNEALIʻI-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Just take a minute to mahalo all the different parties who are here today. I recognize some of you. I don’t recognize others, but I heard each of your impact on our community and it’s just heartening, I guess, to hear each one of you explain what your program does and why it’s important to you and what it does for our community. It provides me a lot of information because I can see beyond just names on the paper, what each program is doing by hearing it out of your mouth, and also what your intent is, and what you’re hoping to solve in the community. And that’s important because we have issues. We all have solutions but you’re offering a unique solution to what you see is a major part of the problem. And all of you together begin to create the backbone of how we address this in our community. So, just mahalo to all of you who are here today, and appreciate you putting applications in, and for the department selecting you and having a process to go by, and of course having the taxpayer money to provide back to the community. So, thank you to all. I yield. Page 8 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 CHR. INABA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair. First, I want to give credit to Council Member Aaron Chung, who in his wisdom, final term, coordinated this very elaborate presentation by community partners to really illustrate the homeless situation on our islands, and to drive home the fact that there’s a lot of buckets of money out there from the feds, from the state, but each has their own like parameters and restrictions. And there wasn’t a flexible pot that our community partners could access to design programs that really addressed Hawaiʻi Island issues, Hawaiʻi Island style. And so, I just appreciate him putting it forward. I had advanced a little amendment in here to include housing. Not everybody was on board but recognizing the fact that in addition to providing homeless services. I think Pueo had mentioned this earlier, sometimes that individual needs just one night off the streets because if not, it could’ve been that one situation where they got in trouble that ends them up in jail for a lifetime. So, just the flexibility in providing the transitional and emergency housing for folks that have fallen on hard times. So, I appreciate all the partners stepping up here. $9.79 million is huge, second round. We’re halfway through round one where we awarded $7.58 million. I was just doing some quick numbers around who got funding last time, new partners, additional programs, that are being funded the second time around, and there’s a five-year sunset for these programs. So, there’s kind of a lot of pressure, not really. A lot of pressure though, really, on community and county to perform because the Council then makes the decision, five years from when we adopted this, but within five years if we continue this program or not. When on the website, wasn’t able to find too much information on where we are right now in terms of how our partners are delivering. So, just wondering, like I know we all love the idea of having this dashboard that shows where the money is flowing, what communities our nonprofit partners are doing work in, and like essentially the return on investment. MS. HIROTA: Yes. So, most contracts started in May of this year. So, end of October marked the end of six months. We’ve been working in creating one dataset or one database in which we are collecting the data. So, we’re at the six months, we’re analyzing. We also get narrative reports, so we’ll start reporting out. The goal is to have a dashboard so that it’s transparent as to exactly like you said. We’re looking at some of the best practices out there in terms of not only within the state but also outside of the state that we’ve made connections with, to learn from them. They’re open to share with us. They have beautiful dashboards and allow people to see the flow in and out. So, yes, that is coming up. Page 9 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 We’re also open maybe in a different forum to present, you know, report status updates on each of the programs that were initially funded as we move forward. So, still in the process of analyzing the data and making sure we’re putting it up in a dashboard that is easy to read, easy to follow. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Sharon. And I know it takes a lot of work, logistics, math and coordination procurement to develop a lot of these systems, but I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth it to ensure that everybody knows where these tax dollar monies are flowing, and the positive impact in community. There was also a lot of time spent in presenting the homeless plan and to kind of justify how these funds would be awarded. Is it possible before Council reading for us to get a report on how each of these programs helps to meet the goals and objectives laid out in the plan? Because for me, that—well, maybe for others, we’d be able to identify any potential gaps in sort of meeting the different key performance indicators that were set out in that master strategic plan. Is that doable? Is that enough time? MS. HIROTA: It is doable. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. MS. HIROTA: So, we’ll just need to do a little bit more homework. But I can tell you that for the most part the majority, if not all, of the points between the first initial and the second is being addressed through one of the organizations, and then some organizations are doing multiple. So, yes, we can provide that to you. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: That would be great because it would be great to see which particular initiatives are kind of cross pollenating different goals and objectives in that plan. Thank you. I really appreciate it and I just want to mahalo nui for all of our partners who just do the hard work on the ground. I just can’t thank you enough. You see a lot; you do a lot. And so, I’m just grateful for this opportunity for the county to work in close collaboration with our community partners who are there twenty-four-seven for some of our most vulnerable in the community. So, thank you for your compassion and taking care of them. Chair, I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. And thank you so much for all the work you’ve done around this, especially Sharon, and of course all the community organizations here today, online, and participating. So, so important. I have one very specific question, and then a general comment, I guess, that follows up similar to what my colleague, Council Member Kierkiewicz, was talking about. Page 10 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 My specific question has to do with HOPE Services mentioned that they have a new permanent, I think, shelter was the term maybe used. I’m just wondering which of these programs or where is that? Is that the Hale Kaulike, is it that one? That’s my one little question. And I’ll just say my other thing before I let you answer, which is just when we’re looking at the strategic roadmap and kind of the progress over the five years, one of the things that I’m really interested in seeing is how we go from putting quite a few dollars into temporary shelters versus trying to move people into permanent housing. So, how that progresses over that time. So, just hope we will be addressing that as we go forward. Obviously, that’s not short periods of time to look at but overall, the whole kind of arc of the five years. So, thank you. And I’ll be done as soon as they answer. MS. HIROTA: I’ve got to check behind me, but is Brandee Menino still here? Would you like to answer the question? Sorry, I don’t want to speak on her behalf. (Note: At this time, HOPE Services Hawaiʻi Coordinator Brandee Menino came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. MENINO: Hi, Council Member. Permanent, supportive housing, Hale Kaulike is upstairs of 34 Rainbow Drive. It’s 18 spaces that were office spaces prior to us moving in. We were able to leverage other federal dollars to provide support services for that site, so we’re able to move people off the streets, out of shelters, and into housing. They have their own private room. There’s a shared kitchen and shared bathroom spaces. CHR. INABA: Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah. Thank you everybody for being here. Second round, it sounds like the process is getting smoothed out with applications and templates and participation and participants of the process having a better understanding of the application and how to do that. Thank you, also, to all of you who work in this field of service that can be highly triggering. It can be really overwhelming, and it can feel insurmountable, and you’re navigating—each circumstance is unique for each person. So, that is coming up with a fix-all, when every human and every reason for their circumstances is often times completely different than one another. I was just kind of ruminating on some of these things and a couple of things that pop up for me is—and it was 31 organizations applied, so 22 received? MS. HIROTA: Thirty-one applications, responses received. MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. Page 11 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 MS. HIROTA: And then we’re awarding 22 contracts to 16 different organizations. MS. VILLEGAS: Sixteen different organizations. There we go. Yes. And I would be remissed, and it’s unfortunate but in my district, we are suffering a lot of the extraneous issues that relate to the houseless concerns there, and my constituents are very dissatisfied with some of the lack of services regardless of millions of dollars. I see here, once again, the lion’s share, 35 percent of this funding is going to HOPE Services. And for my district and the people I work closely with hand in hand, side by side, next to, those that are experiencing homelessness in my district, they’re very dissatisfied with the services by this organization. And so, I would be remissed not to mention that. And I see the disparity and the lion’s share of funding in both this round and the last round going to one particular organization, and I find that unfortunate. I will be, of course, supporting this, but I unfortunately have to point that out again. I also, and I mentioned it in the last cycle, I love Habitat for Humanity, I love what they do, I love that program and protocol, however, I don’t necessarily see this funding, the intentionality being towards somebody owning their own home. My own children can’t afford their own home. Thankfully they’re not unhoused right now, but I personally—that is not the purpose of this, is to provide home ownership for somebody. So, I’ve seen a significant amount of funding being allocated there and I question the wisdom in that. So, I suppose one of my other questions, very specifically, is how I see a lot of things here say island wide. I just, you know, we have a Neighborhood Place of Kona and a Friendly Place of Kona, but I don’t know that they would make claims to do services island wide. I see Neighborhood Place of Puna for a very large amount of money, and so I just—and once again, I apologize, but my job is to sit here and to say the things that I get from my constituents and other care providers that question the equity and distribution and allocation of resources. And so, I’ll be the bad guy here doing that by questioning some of those things and holding feet to the fire because when I do the math, and if I remember correctly by our point and time counts from the last year, I believe it was somewhere around 770. Was that the number of unhoused people on the streets? It’s somewhere around there, right? 725? Okay, 725. So, when I take the $9 million or actually almost $10 million and I divided it, I divided it by 770, that’s $11,688 per unhoused person in the point and time count on the street, and that’s every six months. So, that’s $24,000 per person. So, I mean, there is so much money going into this and the numbers in my district are going up. And the challenges for our Parks and Recreation workers, for the people that just don’t want to take whatever assistance because it’s not what they want. I mean, we are navigating a crisis and we’re throwing so much money at it, and I just can’t help but be like, that’s so much money even per person and why Page 12 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 are our numbers going up? And I know you guys ask these same questions, but this is what people are going like, how, why? Yeah, so those are some of the things I think we need to really come up with an answer for because at that amount of money, you could, you know, with this amount of money we could’ve bought 20 homes and I don’t know. It’s a lot of money and it can get lost in a lot of bureaucracy and wages. Yeah, so there’s some frustration there. Thank you. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. And I think the information that Council Member Kierkiewicz requested in terms of how it aligns with the plan will be helpful, and any information that we can also get that shows where we are with the spending of Resolution 61, and what benchmarks have been achieved since that funding has gone out will be helpful for our Council hearing. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. And I just want to do some final comments and just say mahalo to everybody, both the providers and then the members of OHCD that have worked on getting these funds distributed. I know it’s a critical task. One of the things that I want to just make note of that I heard a lot of today and I see in the program descriptions is an even higher level of coordination between the different organizations involved. Council Member Kierkiewicz mentioned this is a five-year program, at least as far as funding. But to me, I’m already seeing that coordination function of the county is serving among the different organizations, the service providers as a benefit that’s going to continue on regardless of whether or not we continue to put funding towards this. And there was a really excellent article in The New York Times a couple of weeks ago. I just pulled it up here because I wanted to share. It was a story about the difference between Houston and Dallas and how things are going with the homeless population there. And what’s significant is Houston has, in the last ten years, decreased their homelessness population by 60 percent. And this is an opinion piece, of course, but arguably the first component that they identify is that the legislative body within Houston was very strong in making sure that the nonprofits that they supported were working together collaboratively. And so, I bring this up to my colleagues to, you know, put that onus, that responsibility on us to make sure that as we move forward our oversight around this is to some extent, focused on making sure that we have collaboration and not competition between all of our different organizations. And it looks like that here, and it looks like we’ve made the steps towards that. The other thing, and you talked a little bit about this, Administrator Kunz, is just the need to move people into housing. Like that is the other thing, just get them in the housing, keep them in the housing. And so, I see us taking step by step, you know, making progress. But I wanted to highlight that so as a body, as we review the material coming in, the reports coming in, I think one of the really Page 13 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 critical lenses is, are we seeing all these partners that we’re working with collaborating and working together to solve this problem. So, thank you for all the work, and thank you again for the providers teaming up and working together and realizing this is a kākou thing and everybody’s got a part to play. So, thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. I also just wanted to thank everyone that’s working in this space. It’s really important and hard work. I just wanted to ask a question which might be a little hard to answer even though it’s a simple question. So, we had that number of 700 or so folks that are experiencing homelessness, are there shelters or transitional housing or some kind of housing in existence for them now? And if not, what’s the gap that we have? I know there might be like different places and all of that kind of thing and how you want to talk about it is up to you. But I just wanted to kind of get a sense of what, you know, need versus availability. MS. HIROTA: So, in regard to the number, the point in time count, the point in time count is just one tool and that’s addressing homelessness. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ve counted everyone, nor does it take into consideration the inflow throughout the years. But it’s during that week, who we were able to make contact with and it gives us the gauge as to the number of individuals who have self-reported that they’ve slept in a place not meant for human habitation. So, we do it as federally required, our federal funder requires that it be done annually. But again, it is a gauge. I will tell you that if we counted, you know, a thousand individuals, maybe about 40 percent of them were in shelters, right, because whether there be what we call sheltered homelessness. So, they’re still in either transitional and or emergency shelter looking for permanent housing. And the remaining are unsheltered, on the streets, throughout the island. At any given time, my providers, you know, we get reports on a daily, and it will tell you that it’s all our sheltered beds are at 99 percent full each night and as soon as one becomes available there’s a list of someone else asking for help. Out of this collaborative work, I just want to share that we started an island wide engagement hui. An engagement hui in the terms of going out into the community and really trying to figure out, without duplicating services, getting all of the outreach teams to work together. So, we’re not showing up in the same places day after day, but then really creating this coordinated network, and then putting it into one database as to who did you run into? Give us some basic hustle composition, and ping that address so we know. So that has helped because what we’re seeing is, if there were, for example, 1,000 people experiencing homelessness at any point in time, and we can account for 400 because they’re in Page 14 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 the shelter, what happened to the 600? And that’s what we’re trying to figure out. Where are those 600? Are they still on the island? Are they now connected since the last count into one of our other programs? And so, what does that number look like on a daily basis. So, we just started. But I think I shared with Council Member Kagiwada in one of the meetings, we had 200 encounters. All but six said if you had housing today, I will go. So, that moves away from the belief that people really don’t want services. The remaining six, I think it was six or seven, said, “I’ll stay in communication with you. I’m not quite ready for housing.” But the other majority said, “If you provide me a shelter bed today, I will go.” So that’s the data that we’re collecting. That’s the stories that we’re starting to hear on the streets as we work collectively and collaboratively. So, we’re working through that data. But that sticks out in my head when somebody says the large percentage want housing if housing was available. MS. GALIMBA: Sure. So, I’m getting from that, that we have about 300 shelter beds. Is that right, just based on what you were just saying, trying the numbers there? I mean, it doesn’t need to be exact. I’m just kind of trying to get a sense of— MS. HIROTA: I don’t have the exact number, but they’re scattered all over the places. So, yeah, given those percentages, yeah. MS. GALIMBA: Okay. MS. HIROTA: I don’t think it’s that many, but yeah, because people move daily. MS. GALIMBA: Right. Okay. And just wondering, does that point and time, is that counting folks in their cars? MS. HIROTA: It counts everyone who we can connect with that indicated that they’ve slept in a place not meant for human habitation, including cars, beaches, parks. MS. GALIMBA: Okay. Thanks very much. I yield. Thanks. CHR. INABA: Thank you. Any further discussion at this time? Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah, just a quick comment. Now I was under the impression that there already was a database and that there is an existing program that’s utilized nationally and statewide and what not. So, we’re not reinventing the wheel here. Are we connecting or, you know, getting ourselves up to speed? Page 15 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 MS. HIROTA: We are. I think the last time we came forward we talked about connecting with the Homeless Management Information Services. That is a federally mandated software, which the state funders have adopted. When you look at the organizations that have come forward and responded to the RFP initially and this time around, three organizations are required to mandate that. The others are not. And it is very cumbersome to get the other ten to get up to speed to meet federal and state requirements, and our funding is a little bit more flexible. And so, when you have conversations with the administrator, they’re talking about HUD (Housing and Urban Development)-defined definition, HUD-defined this, and we’re like, that’s not who we are and what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to be creative and innovative. And so, we’ve created a system that reviews and responds to Kīlauea eruptions, in parts of COVID (Coronavirus Disease), we’re very familiar and so we were fortunate enough that we were able to create something very similar. But it will talk. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. That helps me have a better understanding of where those gaps are again and why, and how the program. And I wanted to point out how thrilled I am to see the detox facility and this focus and prioritization, and allocation of resources because it’s been one of the big gaps, is the wrap around services. We have a heavy focus on the housing first model, but if you don’t have the wrap around services, you end up with people with the same chronic illnesses. They may have a roof over their head but they’re not able to go to that next—so, thank you for that. That’s a whole other layer and level, and so, the allocation of funding for mental health and the substance stuff. I also just love everything that they do at BISAC (Big Island Substance Abuse Center), but I’m really excited for this detox facility and programs. So, I just wanted to add those final couple of things, and the puzzle is coming together and the parts and pieces. You know, there’s some light down there. So, thank you. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you. We’re going to wrap this up. Any final comments? Okay, I have a couple questions. The list that’s provided to us, what is the significance of the organization of these awards? It’s not alphabetical, it’s not by amount, so I’m just wondering. There’s 22 awards in this resolution, why is it presented in this way? MS. HIROTA: So, this year we accepted applications through a software system versus paper, made it very easy for people to respond and upload. We did it in the order that the system spit it out. So, there’s no rhyme or reason except we said, can you provide us a list, and this is what came out. So, sorry, it didn’t resort by amounts or districts. CHR. INABA: Okay. Perfect. Perhaps I can learn what system that is as we work to improve our own program. I do see one of the awards, number nine, is Page 16 LAAC-20 December 5, 2023 for the design and development of the Hawaiʻi Island Frequent Users System (HIFUSE). Is this specific to those exiting the prison system or is that something that covers other homeless providers and reporting done by these organizations? MS. HIROTA: So, specifically to the Going Home, number nine, about the HIFUSE, frequent users, it’s specifically for those that are justice involved who may be homeless at the time that they exit. But there’s a, and I see Les behind me, but there’s a technicality about definitions of individuals experiencing homelessness. And some individuals exiting out of judicial systems do not necessarily qualify, and so, we see the need to create a system. But we’re also, through the Pathways to Excellence also evaluating systems, and will be working hand in hand, not separately. CHR. INABA: Okay. Two more questions. So, for our current system that we use, is there any level of integration with the state/federal system? MS. HIROTA: So, there will be. So, right now we’re collecting data. Those organizations that are required to enter data into the—we just had this discussion last week, getting to more details. There’s an opportunity for them to download their data and import it into ours so we’ll have a comprehensive—so, instead of us going to them, their data will come to us. CHR. INABA: Okay. And then last question. In terms of programs where it specifies a minimum number of individuals, unduplicated individuals will be assisted, how do we check for that? MS. HIROTA: So, we do have a separate data management contract and there is a team behind the scene that is checking for duplications to make sure that when they say unduplicated, it is truly unduplicated. Individuals could be in the system once but receive multiple services for different organizations, so we’re able to track that. But we’re also able to track number of times they’ve received services. So, if they’re connected to an outreach or an engagement, or to hygiene or street medicine, we can see how many times they’re coming into the system. CHR. INABA: Perfect. Thank you so much. My office will receive the additional information prior to Council hearing and process that for all of us. There’s a motion on the floor to forward Resolution 369-23—before we take the vote. I apologize. I would like to say mahalo to all of our service providers and to the office for taking on this monumental task, and not just once, but twice in a year. So, I want to point that out. Again, mahalo to you all. Motion on the floor is to forward Resolution 369-23 to Council with a favorable recommendation. All those in favor, please say “aye.” Page 17 LAAC-20 December 5,2023 Vote on Res. 369-23: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 369-23 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: This brings us to the end of our agenda. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 1:16 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Kagiwada and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Inaba—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: The meeting is adjourned at 1:16 p.m. Approved: a r. oleka Goro Ina a, Chair (Date) Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions Committee HI/tk Page 18