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San Fernando reviews homelessness action plan, staff recommends contracts with two providers amid calls for clearer metrics
Summary
City staff reported progress on the Homelessness Action Plan and recommended one-year agreements with Home Again LA and North Valley Caring Services funded by ARPA, Measure H and a SAMHSA grant; council members pressed for clearer outcome data on how many people are moved into permanent housing.
San Fernando — City staff on Tuesday told the City Council the city’s Homelessness Action Plan is producing measurable results but asked for more time to produce detailed outcome data as the council weighs one-year contracts for local providers.
Housing coordinator Kenya Marquez reported the city’s 2022 homelessness action plan has guided new programs and partnerships and said the city’s point-in-time data and outreach work show an estimated 44 to 50 people experiencing homelessness in San Fernando, compared with an estimated 75,000 across Los Angeles County. Marquez said the city has integrated with the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and has been working with partners including North Valley Caring Services and Home Again LA.
“Since adopting and implementing the plan, the city has made significant progress in laying a strong foundation for a sustained response,” Marquez said, listing outreach, shelter placements and prevention assistance the city has funded.
Staff told the council the two recommended agreements would split available funds and focus Home Again LA on family-focused case management, eviction prevention, security deposit assistance and emergency motel vouchers, while North Valley Caring Services would provide daily street outreach and transportation to shelter. Staff said the combined contracts would be funded with American Rescue Plan Act dollars, LA County Measure H funds and a SAMHSA grant; staff and providers described a roughly $300,000 program budget footprint in council discussion.
Council member Victoria Garcia pushed staff and the providers for clearer outcome reporting. “We spent $300,000, and this is what happened from it,” she said, urging the city to present counts of people who were housed versus counts of contacts or referrals.
Representatives from Home Again LA and North Valley Caring Services said they can provide detailed case-level reports and that, while reporting formats vary, much of the information is available. A Home Again LA representative said the organization has assisted 29 households with prevention and rapid rehousing services since December 2023; North Valley said it had transitioned 25 individuals into interim or permanent housing during the contract period.
Staff agreed to return to the council with more disaggregated metrics, including a by-name roster with anonymized outcomes, and a clearer accounting of how many people moved from outreach to interim housing to permanent placement. The city manager said staff would prepare those data points before the council’s next meeting so councilors could review contract metrics before a vote.
Next steps: staff recommended the council approve one-year professional services agreements to continue the outreach and family stabilization work while pursuing longer-term funding strategies. Council discussion was scheduled to continue when the contracts are formally considered.
