VisionThe Marin Mobile Care program will dramatically
improve access to basic hygiene services for people experiencing homelessness in Marin while
simultaneously connecting people with the County’s broader system of care.
Background • Started as a Community Working Group in December of
2016
• Cities, County, Downtown Streets Team, faith-based community, service providers, and community volunteers
• Efforts in San Rafael and Novato that were looking to provide mobile showers
• “Marin Mobile Care” is the name of the program managed by the Downtown Streets Team
WHY?
Our Broken Status Quo• There is simply not enough capacity – less than 20% of
Marin’s 700+ unsheltered homeless people have regular access to showers
• There is only one dedicated shower location at present (at the Ritter Center in Downtown San Rafael)
– Over 70% of Marin’s homeless population is outside of San Rafael, making Ritter an extremely difficult option
• Basic services are treated as a destination versus a process on the way back to housing and employment
Impacts on the Community• Dedicated shower services assists in preventing:
– worse overall hygiene, which adversely affects community perceptions, employment prospects, housing prospects, and health.
– “Bird bathing” in undesired locations (e.g. libraries, public buildings, yards, businesses, creeks/waterways)
– Potential spread of infectious diseases, such as Hepatitis A
Showers:
The Solution
Overcoming Barriers • Versus traditional, costly infrastructure, mobile showers are
affordable and easily scalable
• Mobile services can go to where people actually are, versus making people waste limited time and financial resources traveling to services
• By providing access for a limited period of time, community impacts like loitering are dramatically reduced
• Mobile services can reach people currently off the grid and get them plugged into the new “Coordinated Entry” system to house chronically homeless people
Coordinated Entry
Up to 70% Self-resolve
Brain Injury
Divorce
Foster Care
Job Loss
Health Issues
Mental Health
Substance Abuse
Rent Increase
Costs
Temporary Episodic Chronic
Complaints
Temporary Episodic Chronic
Vulnerability
Temporary Episodic Chronic
80% of our challenges are from 20% of the homeless
community
Even a PhD gets lost
There is a relatively straightforward way
to solve this … Coordinated Entry
19
Countywide Homeless Population
After VI-SPDAT Assessments
10
11
8
3
10
6
14
5
164
4
7
12
6
9
Filter Everyone 10+
10
11
10
14
16
12
Create a By-Name List (BNL)
10
11
10
14
16
12
Vulnerability Assessment Scores & BNL
Bob - 16
Sue - 14
Sarah - 11
Jen - 8
Tim - 3
Thomas - 7
Jennifer - 6
Scores 10 & above go on the BNL for Permanent
Supportive Housing
Referred to different types of interventions like
Rapid Re-Housing or Diversion services
Create By-Name List
10
11
10
14
16
12
Create By-Name List
10
11
10
14
16
12
Prioritize Housing Placements
10
11
10
14
16
12
Prioritize Housing Placements
10
11
10
14
16
12
Prioritize Housing Placements
10
11
10
14
16
12
Prioritize Housing Placements
10
11
10
14
16
12
Adjust By-Name-List as Needed
10
11
10
14
16
12
Adjust By-Name-List as Needed
11
15
10
14
16
12
Continue to Prioritize Placements
11
15
10
14
16
12
Actual Dashboard from Riverside Co.
35
Downtown Streets Team(DST)
Who is DST?• Downtown Streets Team is ending homelessness through the dignity of work.
• We are an employment readiness platform.
• People volunteer to beautify their community.
– We refer to our volunteers as Team Members
• Case Management:
– Overcome barriers
– Housing
• Employment Specialist:
– Resume building
– Mock interviews
– Job readiness
• Stipends, which eliminates the feeling of survival mode & helps reduce panhandling
DST Impacts To-Date• Started in 2005 in Palo Alto’s Business Improvement District
• 9 offices across the Bay
– Palo Alto, San Jose, Sunnyvale, San Francisco, Hayward, San Rafael, Novato,Santa Cruz and Sacramento
• Organization-wide:
– 1,400+ success in housing and employment
• Jobs are held for longer than 90 days
• Novato specific, since January 2017:
– 7 successfully employed
– 10 successfully housed
– Connected with over 50 people during outreach
– Collected an average 35,000 gallons of debris since January
Operations • Downtown Streets Team will operate the mobile showers.
• Because we are a platform for employment; we are treating this program as a Social Enterprise.
• This means we are staffing positions by hiring former Team Members at living wages.
• Each unit will have 2 employees at all times; additional support will be provided by Team Members-in-training and community volunteers.
Site Locations & Hours
Novato:• Marin Community Clinics:
• Days: Tuesdays & Thursdays• Hours: 5:30am – 9:00am
• HUD Parcel:• Days: Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays• Hours: 5:30am – 9:00am
San Rafael:• Health & Wellness Center:
• Days: Tuesdays & Thursdays• Hours: 5:30am – 9:00am
• Ritter Center:• Days: Every day• Hours: 8:00am – 2:00pm
• 120 N. Redwood Drive:• Days & Times: TBD• Goal: 1 shower shift to start
• Health & Wellness Center:• 4 additional days as Ritter Center
phases out
Phase 1: Phase 2:
TBD
Staff & Community Volunteers• Operation Manager:
– Case Management
– Transport, operate and maintain trucks
– Check in clients & manage waitlist
– Manage client behavior
– Supervise staff and volunteers
• Assistant Manager:
– Support Operations Manager
– Stock supplies
– Clean shower stalls
– Assist with client behavior management
• Community Volunteers:
– Greeting clients
– Distributing towels and necessary shower supplies
– Shower time management
– Parking management
Guest Experience • The showers can be operated for two, 3-hour sessions every
day – 6 days per week
• Guests will have 20 minutes for their shower (that includesundressing, showering, grooming, and redressing)
• Guests will be required to make appointments for showers(new guests can be accommodated as needed)
• Basic rules of conduct will be enforced, especially aroundloitering
• Absolutely NOT allowed on site:
– Smoking
– Drinking
– Drug use
– Stealing
– Fighting/Arguing
– Inappropriate behavior (i.e. sexual)
– Loitering
• If rules are broken, there are write-ups:
– 3 write-ups mean that person gets a 2-Day time out, after which they canreturn
• Partnership with the Police Department
• Neighbors can contact Karen Strolia (415) 991-5267 for any concerns or questions
Standard DST Expectations &Shower Expectations
Visual Setup• Canopy (for rain)
• Heat Lamp (for cold)
• Fans (for hot)
• Coning
• Wire covers
• Trash cans
• Used towel bins
• Parking
• Traffic control
• No loitering – will be managed through the scheduling system.While people are waiting for their shower time, they will waitinside the Downtown Streets Team office.
Details on HUD site
• Days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
• Hours: 5:30am – 9:00am
– 5:30am – 6:00am: Set-up
– 6:00am – 8:30am: Showers, serving an est. 22 people
– 8:30am – 9:00am: Shut-down & Depart
• Available showers: 66/week (some duplicates)
How do people find out?• How do people find out about the mobile showers?
– Downtown Streets Team
• Staff outreach
• Peer-to-peer
– Police Department
– Care Team outreach
– Other service providers in the community
– Churches/REST Program
• How do people get there?
– Walk
– Drive
– Public transportation
2018 Roll Out • “Phase Zero” – Showers arrive late November, finalize lease, complete
hiring and final infrastructure purchases, soft launch in December 2017 for training purposes
• Phase 1 – Launch pilot sites in San Rafael and Novato (Jan 2018)– 2 Locations in each community; regular check-in with Cities and a 90-
day report at the end of the pilot period. At that time, site(s) will be reconsidered for Phase 2.
• Phase 2 – Expand pilot sites, scale capacity, begin to phase out service at Ritter Center (Mar 2018)
• Phase 3 – Fully end service at Ritter Center; continue expansion to full capacity (June 2018)
• Phase 4 and Beyond – Assess impact, explore feasibility of complementary services (e.g. mobile medical assessments)