Title
Housing First renewal agreement with the City of Wichita.
Body
Recommended Action: Approve the agreement and authorize the Chairman to sign.
Background: In 2006, Sedgwick County and the City of Wichita joined together to form the Task Force to End Chronic Homelessness (TECH). The challenge of the Task Force was to address chronic homelessness, and to do this they formed a plan with several components. One of these was to create and implement the Housing First program in Wichita. Housing First is a nationally recognized best practice that provides permanent housing with supportive services for those individuals meeting the "chronically homeless" definition. This approach of setting clients up with permanent housing first and then stabilizing other disabling conditions is intended to help clients successfully maintain their independent living status.
This is a renewal agreement. There were no changes made to the contract this year.
Alternatives: In our community, a need for 64 housing units was identified. The City of Wichita has agreed to continue to fund 32 units, and this agreement will renew Sedgwick County's commitment to fund the other 32. Without this program, current clients would lose their housing and the connected supportive services, and our area's stock in safe, affordable housing would drop by 64 units when it is already struggling to meet the need.
Financial Considerations:
Cost: $191,368.00
Term: 01/01/15-12/31/15
Funding Source: 30002-202
Budget Authority Adjustment: No additional budget authority is being requested, sufficient authority is included in the 2015 budget.
Legal Considerations: The authority for this action is K.S.A. 19-101 and a simple majority vote is required.
Policy Considerations: All Sedgwick County policies have been followed in the development of this renewal agreement.