Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness Response topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bellflower approves three‑year, $380,000 contract with Kingdom Causes for homeless outreach
Summary
The council authorized a three‑year agreement (June 1, 2026–May 31, 2029) with Kingdom Causes Bellflower for coordinated outreach, case management, a local homeless task force, and community mobilization, not to exceed $380,000 and with a related FY26/27 budget amendment.
The Bellflower City Council voted May 11 to authorize the city manager to execute a three‑year agreement with Kingdom Causes Bellflower to provide coordinated outreach, case management and community mobilization services aimed at addressing local homelessness.
Staff described the proposal as three integrated components: (1) outreach and case management — two dedicated staff whose combined work equals 40 hours per week to conduct street outreach and intake coordination with the city’s New Hope Shelter; (2) a Bellflower‑specific monthly homeless task force convening local partners (city staff, sheriff, Mercy House, county stakeholders) to streamline services; and (3) community mobilization to coordinate churches, nonprofits and volunteers and reduce duplication of efforts.
Brian (city staff presenter) and Kingdom Causes representatives explained the program would improve referrals into existing shelter and treatment resources and better align local partners. LA County / Mercy House staff (identified in testimony) said they have existing outreach capacity and trauma‑informed care approaches and could scale services on contract execution.
The contract presented to council was a three‑year agreement (06/01/2026–05/31/2029) with a not‑to‑exceed cost of $380,000 and a proposed budget amendment for fiscal year 2026–27 to fund the first‑year services. Councilmembers asked about staffing, training, lead time for coordinated outreach, and how the Kingdom Causes teams would coordinate with the city’s BEAST enforcement team; staff said Kingdom Causes would do initial engagement and referrals and the BEAST team would follow up when enforcement or cleanup meets policy thresholds.
Councilmember Mayor Pro Tem Sanchez moved to authorize execution of agreement file number 572.3 in a form approved by the city attorney and to approve the budget amendment; the motion passed on a roll call with all members present voting aye.
The contract is intended to supplement shelter operations and law‑enforcement outreach with relationship‑based engagement and case management in hopes of reducing encampments and connecting people to housing and services. Staff said Kingdom Causes and county partners are prepared to begin work quickly after the contract is executed, and the city will report on program implementation as required by the agreement.
