TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Brian Ambrose, Community Services Director
PREPARED BY: Crystal Arora, Management Analyst - Parks & Recreation
SUBJECT:
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Budget Adjustment Request to Increase Homeless Services Budget for Contract Services
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RECOMMENDATION
recommendation
Amend the Fiscal Year 2025/26 Operating Budget to establish an appropriation of $562,873.92 using General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance for the Homeless Services contracts.
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PRIOR ACTION/VOTE
On November 19, 2024, the City Council waived bidding requirements and approved an agreement between the City and Project T.O.U.C.H. for Emergency Shelter Services and allocated American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds through Fiscal Year 2024/25 (Vote: 5-0).
On February 18, 2025, the City Council approved an agreement between the City and City Net for Homeless Street Outreach and Case Management Services (Vote: 5-0).
CITY COUNCIL GOAL
Coordinate and deliver responsive, effective community services.
DISCUSSION
Since 2017, the City has expanded the services it provides to address homelessness, including outreach and sheltering initiatives. Historically, services to address homelessness are County mandated and not a service that municipalities were expected to provide.
For the City of Murrieta, what began as a small team consisting of a single Community Services Department (CSD) staff member, their counterpart from a neighboring city, and a few Murrieta Police Department (PD) officers has grown into a dedicated Homeless Services team under CSD, a specialized Community Policing Team for street outreach, a Community Behavioral Health Assessment Team (CBAT), and a partnership with contracted teams (City Net and Project T.O.U.C.H.) providing services across four (4) Southwestern Riverside County cities. In the past, grants have provided a significant portion of the funding for these specialized services.
Back in 2019, CSD received its first donation f...
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