we're good all right so call the meeting to order first item on the agenda is the  consent agenda items one through eleven   or excuse me approval of the minutes um  first item on the agenda is the approval   of the minutes from September 20th is  there any discussion on the minutes if not then I'll make a motion to accept  the minutes as presented is there a second   second which has been seconded all in favor  of said motion please respond by saying aye   aye all opposed same sign the eyes have it  the eyes do have it Madam Clerk attention does every member had a chance to review  the agenda and if so is there any discussion   mayor I'd like to pull item six and seven  six and seven will be pulled from the consent   agenda and discussed immediately following  the consent agenda any further discussion see none if there's no further discussion I'll  make a motion to accept the consent agenda items   one through eleven with the exception of six  and seven is there a second second most has   been seconded all in favor of said motion please  respond by saying aye aye all oppose same sign   the eyes have it the eyes do have it we are  now on item six chair recognizes councilmember   Johnson thanks mayor due to a personal conflict  I need to abstain from this vote please let the   record show the councilmember Johnson is  abstaining from I vote on item number six   I make a motion to accept stats recommended  action for item number six second is there   a second motion has been made in the second all  in favor of said motion please respond by saying   aye aye aye all opposed same sign the eyes have  it the eyes do you have it with the exception of   cast member Johnson now turning to item number  seven of the extent agenda the chair recognizes   councilmember Johnson thanks mayor due to a  personal conflict I need to abstain from this item   please at direct show that councilmember Johnson  is abstaining from item number seven any further   discussion if there's no further discussion I'll  make a motion to accept status recommended action   with item number seven on the extent agenda is  there a second second most has been seconded   by vice mayor Tuttle all in favor of said motion  please respond by saying aye aye all opposed same   sign the eyes have it the odds do have it with  the exception of councilmember Johnson Madam Clark foreign good morning morning mayor and city council  Josh Lauber finance department the board of   bids for September 26 2022 are as  follows for engineering we have the   Gilbert Street drainage for me's Construction  Incorporated in the amount of 239 833 dollars   for purchasing we have the interior and exterior  modification of two residential sites deferred   on November 14 2022 we have 19 000 gbwr cab  and Chassis with utility bed for Don Hatton   Chevrolet Incorporated for an aggregate  bid total of 230 59 excuse me 259 000 even we have the service and maintenance of groundwater  extraction remediation Wells for Lane Christensen   company for 23 915 dollars we have the roof  replacement at Evergreen Resource Center   deferred October 3rd 2022 we have 33 000 GVWR cap  and Chassis with Thermo pothole patcher for Omaha   Truck Center base bit of 404 500 dollars this is  how to become a vendor with the city of Wichita   these are our current open request  proposals out on the street   and I recommend they prove the bid Wars  is recommended any questions for staff see none any discussion on the item   if there's no discussion then I'll make a motion  to accept staff's recommended action to receive   and file the report approve the contracts and  authorize necessary signatures is their second   second motion has been seconded by Vice murtal all  in favor of said motion please respond by saying   aye aye all opposed same sign the eyes  have it the eyes do have it Madam Clerk good morning morning Mary council members Gary  Jansen Public Works engineering the petitions   for public improvements for your consideration  this morning represent 100 improvement district   the signatures on each Stu and the petitions are  valid for Kansas statute Don Enduro Edition West   Kellogg Drive and West Street in District 4  includes petition for water improvements in   July of 2021 the city council approved petitions  for water sewer and pegging Paving improvements to   serve Monarch Landing fifth edition and District  Two the developers submitted revised petitions   with revised Improvement districts due to  lot splits the budgets remain the same for   the water sewer and Paving improvements with  that staff recommended city council approve   the new and revised petitions and budgets adopt  the new and amending resolutions and authorize   the necessary signatures I'd be happy to stand  for any questions is there questions for staff   if there's no questions Is  there further discussion   see none since there's no further discussion  I'll make the motion to accept status recommended   action to approve the new and revised petitions  and budgets adopt the new and amending resolutions   and authorize the necessary signatures is there  a second second motion seconded by vice mayor   Tuttle all in favor of said motion please  respond by saying aye aye aye all opposed   same sign the eyes have it the eyes do have  it Madam Clerk council member acquaintance and   comments start off with board appointments are  there any board appointments at this time vice   mayor Tuttle thank you I would like to appoint  Sean seamster to the Wichita Employee Retirement   System and I will send the information to the  clerk thank you further appointments for boards   councilmember Frye thank you I'd like to appoint  Stacy Myers to the affordable housing review board further if there's no further Court appointments at this   time I'll make a motion to accept  the appointments is there a second Tuttle all in favor of sub motion please  respond by saying aye aye aye opposed same   sign the eyes have it the eyes do have  it back on announcements and comments there's no further announcements or comments  then I'll make a motion to adjourn the meeting   so we can go into our Workshop is there a second  second Moshe has been seconded all in favor please   respond by saying aye aye aye all opposed same  sign you guys have it the eyes do have it we are   adjourned as the manager of the floor is yours  thank you Mr Mayor we have uh three significant   items for your consideration and discussion today  the first one has to do with recommendations   coming to you regarding redistricting for the  the uh for 2022 effective 283 and then also   talking about a brand new program that we're  bringing forward to help those who have lost   their licenses or had suspended life driver's  licenses and then the third program is regarding   homelessness assistance and federal dollars  that are available to us for a unique project   so with that I'm going to turn it over to Scott  wadle to talk about the redistricting process good morning Scott Weedle from the planning  department thank you for the opportunity to   present on this item I'll just note quickly  that there's a staff team that's been working   on this as well and some of those members are  here Naomi from Communications Mike and Dan   from it Stephen from GIS and Sharon from the  Law Department including many others who have   helped out in addition from the commission  of electors we have the chairperson Marcy   Gregory with us today too so just want to point  them out real quick before I get started here   so the recommended action of course this is a  workshop so it's it's uh not for you to take   any specific action but provide comments feedback  and Direction on this and you'll see more about   that process as we go through through this so in  terms of the overview for this presentation I'll   go through the background process public input  recommendations and next steps and for those of   you who are in attendance at the dab meetings this  will be very similar to what you saw at the dabs   so in terms of background Charter ordinance 173  which we've got a copy at the table of of course   spells out that every 10 years after the census  will look at the population of the districts   and that the council would appoint a commission  Commission of electors and that their task would   be to look at the boundaries of the different  council districts and create boundaries that would   result in no more than five percent population  deviation among those districts and that on or   prior to the end of the year December 31st and the  council would take action to establish those new   council districts in terms of population this  one what we have currently this is based on   the 2020 census which is the most recent 10-year  census is that District Two is slightly above the   five percent and District three is slightly below  the five percent threshold that we're looking for things to keep in mind as we talk about this  process the number of things here but first   is that election precincts which is what you're  going to see on the maps those are the smaller   geographies that you see throughout those would  be used number two that we're looking to maintain   reasonably compact areas for the district so  not spread all over the place to maintain as   much Integrity for broadly cohesive areas of  interest and this did come up in some of the   discussions with the commission of electors  avoid using registered voters bipartisan or   party or partisan information so I definitely  don't want to do that and then the resulting   districts again within the five percent and then  thinking about the future where's the growth   going to likely to occur in the next 10 years  we've got some information to help cover that   so here's a map of the election precincts  with the current council districts   in addition we also looked at the commission  looked at neighborhood associations and HOAs HOAs   aren't on this map but we did use maps with that  information and then growth areas so this is based   on the comprehensive plan you can see the areas in  Gray showing new employment new residential areas   in terms of the process so the first step  was again the appointment of the commission   of electors and these volunteers served in  this capacity they had eight meetings where   they went over Concepts and there were I  believe more than 20 Concepts that were   developed throughout the process so there were  quite a few documents to review and that they   considered also then they made refinements  and adjustments to those and ultimately the   recommendations that are coming to you today  and throughout the process public input was   accepted and considered and we'll talk a  little bit more about how that occurred   so here's the listing of the eight meetings and  just some general topics that they covered at   those meetings so you can see it was quite  a robust schedule for these volunteers   in terms of the process we established a website  on that website was a dashboard that members of   the public members of the commission could  go and zoom in for more specific information   it is active right now if you go to wichita.gov  redistricting and you can see the dashboard and   zoom in on the different areas in terms of public  input that was important to the process there were   opportunities for members of the public to come  to the commission meetings and provide their   comments in person they could also do that through  email through letters there was an open house that   was held at the Wichita Art Museum there were  approximately 50 folks who attended this and   there's a summary write-up on the website this  provided folks an opportunity to provide comments   on the maps as you can see in the corner here of  this graphic where they put sticky notes up around   the maps we also used Forum the online system  for Gathering input and discussion on the city   of Wichita with the city of Wichita webpage also  social media with Facebook Twitter and next door   and also at the dab meetings that provided another  opportunity now these folks were here mostly for a   zoning meeting but I wanted to emphasize that  they did have an opportunity to weigh in on   redistricting at the different district meetings  so in terms of the commission recommendations   there were two maps that they're recommending  to you we're calling them A and B and so I'll   go through a little bit about what the differences  are between these Maps so this is map a one thing   that I would point out on these Maps is that the  top number is the precinct number it's in blue   I know you can't read it on the screen but on the  maps in front of you it should be the same colors   and then the red number is the population of that  Precinct so that's what those represent the dark   bold lines are the current city council District  boundaries so we'll we'll show a little bit about   how that plays into it uh there is an analysis  as provided I didn't put these on the screen for   you to read through all of it but just know that  that's one of the handouts that you've got there's   actually a couple of them one for a and one for B  and they're also posted online so here's map B and   again I won't spend a lot of time on this but I'll  go through the differences and similarities here   so both A and B are recommending changing Precinct  538 from District 5 into District Four and that   has a population of 901 individuals  hey Scott yes sir not to cut you off   um could you go back and pause for maybe five  seconds on those those types of slides just for   the people watching at home on YouTube I will  be able to see this but they won't so they can   yes sir see where those are going so what I'll do  is just describe what's on here so you'll see the   analysis sheet and again you can find these online  and and download them and print them if you like   if folks like but it lists the election District  changes the neighborhood association District   changes in terms of which districts they would  come from and go to and then also the same is   true for the homeowners associations and then this  is a continuation of the homeowners associations   so that was for map a this is for map B so  election districts you can see that there are   three that would change neighborhood associations  three in this under this scenario that would   change and then you can see the list of homeowners  associations so there's a number of those so uh We've covered this one so it would be a  change from District 5 into District Four and   again this is represented on both A and B include  this one a and v also have the similarity that the   recommending changing shifting precincts 213  and 212 from District 2 into district one and   I should mention that during the deliberations  that the commission of electors had there was   quite a bit of discussion about this area  of town kind of in the Southeast kind of air   portion of the city because the precincts don't  match up with neighborhood associations and so   trying to keep neighborhood associations  whole was a big challenge that they faced   uh also they have the similarity both A and B  recommending Precinct 101 to go from District 1   into District 3. Scott can I ask you a question  real quick yes sir um so you you were trying to   get you know we're trying to keep neighborhood  associations together we're trying to keep HOAs   together as well yes sir that's correct it I and I  think for the most part they were able to do that   um but it was something they spent  quite a bit of time deliberating about now this one is one that I need to point out  because in some of the presentations to the   dab we didn't quite get this right and you can  see part of it is because of the colors so we   have a peach and we have pink I have included  a sheet that better defines this at the table   for you this is also this is printed directly  from the dashboard that's available to members   of the public online and what it is is that  up at The Interchange of 135 and k96 there is   a sliver which is Precinct 626 and in scenario a  it would change from district 6 into District One   in scenario B it would remain as it  is currently today in District Six   so it would affect 36 people according  to the census information and that is a   difference between a and b and I'll talk about  how that lines up with the dab recommendations   especially District Six because they  had quite a bit of discussion about it Scott that's a very barrier there being  the interstate right yes sir it doesn't   separates those two precincts is the  interstate it I know that it's in the   area I'm not exactly sure which side  it ends up on in terms of east or west   and I will defer to the folks Mike  do you have any insights on that so the interstate is located on the east  side of this Precinct is that correct   oh the precinct is on the  east side of the interstate is that helpful yeah I mean this call out  sheet helps oh yes it really demonstrates it   better more better the next change that I I'd like to show is  in scenario a Precinct 216 would go from   District 2 into district one and this  is a difference again between scenario   a and scenario B so in scenario  B it would remain in District 2. so that is an overview of the similarities and  some of the diff and the differences between   the scenarios this was considered  by the district advisory boards   and they came back with three of them voting  for map a and three of them voting for map B   esiders of course the one thing that I would  point out is that District Six there was quite   a bit of discussion about Precinct 626  which is that sliver by The Interchange   and their recommendation was for map B and to  keep that in District Six which fortunately   turns out that's how it is in the map anyway so  it doesn't change what their recommendation was so in terms of next steps again the schedule on  this that is spelled and part of this is spelled   out in the charter ordinance is that the deadline  is really for you all to take action the goal is   the end of the year so December 31st so at this  point it's your opportunity to discuss it and make   any changes as you wish so again we're seeking  comments feedback in any direction that you have   so with that I'll Stand By  and answer any questions Scott I just wanted to make a comment um in  District 2 the original motion was to accept   map a and then during the and it was seconded  and then during the discussion phase two of my   district Advisory board members live in Precinct  216. and so they then asked for a substitute   motion because they would like to stay in District  Two but everyone agreed on the district advisory   and so that's how we ended up with map B  but during the discussion portion everybody   I would say came to agreement that both Maps were  good and that they would be satisfied with either   map with no changes so just wanted to let you  know and and I did have discussion with my dad   that you know if I I try not to I try and align  with my dad and be supportive of their decision   but if map a is the map that came to us at the  bench that I would go against their wishes if   you will but they all understood the rationale  so I just wanted to make that point that there   wasn't really a big disagreement or one was  liked better than the other it was just the   Nuance that two of the district Advisory board  members would be moved to a different District   thank you Mr Mayor we're looking for some guidance  first of all is there any information you need   from us before you're ready to discuss this and um  if not then when would you like this scheduled we   could bring it to you on October 11th if that  worked into you if that was acceptable but we   really leave it up to you on timing I'd like a  little more time to discuss I mean I think that   this is the first time that the council has  received not just these Maps but also the result   of the um uh dab boards as well and I think that  since we aren't in anytime type of time crunch   allowing more discussion to happen particularly  folks now can go back and look at the discussion   within um the dad meetings as was pointed out by  vice mayor Tuttle that you know some some of that   discussion might shine more light on why A or  B especially considering how how I guess split   dabs are with this I think giving a little extra  time for the public to weigh in would be smart I would just make the comment that at our dad was  pretty similar except for the precinct 626 just   because it was such a small amount of people like  was it really worth maybe causing any confusion to   change representation or there was  just significant discussion we'll   say about such a small amount  of people switching districts so some of the feedback I've gotten is about  split and HOAs in the different districts as   well as split in different neighborhoods so I'd  like to take a little better look at that as well so maybe November yeah we don't have to come up with a date  at this moment either I think that if   if it turns out it takes a few weeks  and then we got all the data or all   the information back then fine if it takes  a little longer it takes a little longer I just want to make one final comment if that's  okay um I'd really want to give a robust thank   you to staff for all your work on this I  know this was something that was added and   your Department's already extremely busy with all  the growth and development we're seeing in their   community so thank you to staff for and I know  I asked a million questions and I attended the   meetings and everything was well organized and  and I just I'm really appreciative and grateful   and and pleasantly surprised how flawlessly it  seems the process went and then also to think the   commission of electors I know that they sacrificed  their time away from their friends and family and   things move quickly and we all learned a lot  so just thank you to everyone involved in the   process so we could get to this point and have  two really good maps to be able to select from yeah I was going to say I don't need any  additional information I watched all the meetings   I'll go back and watch more of the dad meetings  so we'll have those conversations but come on all right Scott thank you thank you thank you  mayor thank you all right uh mayor if it's all   right with you we're ready to move on to the  Wichita Area restoration program floor is yours good morning Mr Mayor members of the council  it's my privilege to present to you the Wichita   Area restoration program or warp uh in  doing so missing side I thought I had in doing so uh I'm going to kind of walk you  through the inspiration for warp the process   for creating uh the the program uh present  to you local data which helped inform uh the   process and then show you what the program will  actually do the lines of effort of the program   so the inspiration for warp came seems like  a long time ago the city manager came came   to us and said hey you know there's this terrific  program in Durham that's making a real difference   uh for people uh in in their court system and  that uh he wanted us to look at it and see what   would really work for Wichita Kansas you know  Durham North Carolina is a very different place   with very different structures and so we took  a look at that looked at their goals and their   goal was to remove barriers from employment and  housing through expunging charges convictions for   criminal records and restoring suspended licenses  using the the current state laws Aesthetics of   shareholder collaboration and grant funding and  so we looked at that we looked at their structures   and one of the key things that they utilized was  a steering committee that was multi-disciplinary   multi-jurisdictional to look at the problem and  really understand the problems from different   directions as they all participated in the process  and understood it from a different vantage point   and so that's what we ended up doing is building  a steering committee to present the information   gathered and create an idea of so how how should  we approach what should we approach and how should   we approach it so the steering committee that that  was created uh includes all of all of these local   luminaries uh and they they offered tremendous  perspective on what we should do and one of   the things that developed out of out of these  meetings is that one of the critical differences   between Durham and Wichita is that we have  municipal courts in their and they're fragmented   we've got County court systems we've got municipal  court systems and so while Durham was able to   create Mass effects so they could uh uh get people  their licenses back on mass by by getting rid of   um the suspensions and operating under their  their own laws we can't do that in Wichita   Kansas every action is individualized  you know so the mass effects are really   limited so the committee uh looked at it and  said hey you know well well Durham looked at   expungements and driver's licenses because of  our limited effects because we don't have those   Mass Effect tools we need to really focus in on  the problem of driver's license suspensions and   make sure that we've got a solution to that  because because of that critical difference   uh the committee uh was chosen because of  their expertise Authority for Change and the   ability to Champion change and uh they they were  presented with the idea that the program that we   create needed to operate under existing law uh  be data driven and focus on the best practices   within the region and so the local data that they  were presented to help steer you know to create   their the the recommendations really showed the  problem of driver's license suspense suspensions   here in the greater Wichita Area you can see  that at the point when we presented the data   there were 227 suspended drivers in Kansas but  what's really notable is there was a study by   New Jersey that went through all of the states  and identified the levels of suspensions in   each state in the Union well that 200 hundred  and twenty seven thousand number represents   a doubling of the number from when New Jersey  studied in 2007. so the problem's only growing   25 of the state total is in Sedgwick County and 70  percent of those are for failing to meet Financial   Obligations this last statistic is really notable  because it shows that you know for each person you   can see people on the bottom forty three thousand  in in the Wichita Municipal Court have suspensions   for each person there's about two cases for  which they're suspended which means that   they've got to handle the fees and suspension  uh issues for each of those cases and note   that that's just within Municipal Court that  doesn't speak to what's going on in County   court or other municipalities because we have a  very fragmented system at this this lower level another really important thing to note is you  know the age of suspension within the municipal   court so you can see more than half of the  suspensions uh within Municipal Court this   looks at the age of the oldest suspension which  means this person whoever we're looking at has   been suspended for the total amount of time  and if they've got multiple suspensions this   is the oldest one and uh 54 percent have  been suspended for greater than 10 years   um which is a little shocking uh but you know  if if it's difficult to understand uh if it's   difficult to get the suspensions lifted then  you know you you get into um a repeating Loop   and you continue to get more suspensions and  it becomes uh persistent and more difficult um this is and once again this is all Municipal Court  data uh this is the suspension balance by person   and so you can see that big orange block which  is roughly we'll say 60 65 percent of the circle   uh is between 500 dollars and a thousand dollars  now they may owe more in other courts but that's   what it would take to get rid of the balance  of that's that's on their suspended cases in   in the city of Wichita municipal court and so the  the problem appears to be you know achievable you   know you've got you know people who clearly have a  need 10 years of suspended life and then a number   uh dollar amounts that that are not astronomical  although there are as you can see the green is   is above five thousand dollars so there's a  sliver that has much higher uh total balance   so this is the data that uh the the committee  looked at and what they uh determined uh based   on what we perceived to be the funding amount that  would be available is to create a flexible program   that would initially primarily look at driver's  license suspensions and I say flexible in that   one of the charges of the program is to grow the  program to grow the funding and to expand itself   through Community Support or through grant funding  and so I think one of the beautiful parts of this   program is that it is cross-jurisdictional  cross-departmental cross-disciplinary and   so the goal is to to have a lot of of uh hands  in the kitchen a lot of people working on the   same problem from different perspectives and  a lot of people understanding that this is a   problem that needs to be worked on so these  are the lines of effort for the program so   looking back to to Deer uh the Durham expunction  restoration program they provided Direct Services   but they also acted as a hub to connect people  to clinics to connect pro bono attorneys and   um so it was not just the provision of services so  that's what this also does so while it the lines   of effort our provision of services to individuals  in the Wichita Area who have suspended driver's   licenses it's also to expand the pro uh the  service provision capacity through coordination   and integration of pro bono activities so reaching  out to the pro bono attorneys and allowing them to   help people be successful to file motions and to  leverage uh attorneys in our area that care deeply   about this and we we had uh two practitioners on  our committee that actually three practitioners   Andy Adams Robert Moody and Christy Campbell  who've done a lot of these pro bono activities   uh coordination and integration integration  and expansion of existing driver's license   clinics Maryland harp was another person  on our committee and they have put on two   uh driver's license clinics within the  last 12-ish months in those clinics they   served roughly 300 people but one of the really  remarkable things in being able to participate   and watch what went on in those clinics is  folks didn't know how to get their license   back they had no idea and if you go to the you  know the the State website it's still really   difficult to understand what it's telling  you it doesn't tell you how to do it and so   um that's that's one of the real hopes of this  program is that it will provide people road   maps where they can know how to get that license  back and assist them with following the roadmap   the fourth one is expanding the program  funding base through grant writing and   fundraising and maintaining records production of  statistics and Reporting looking a little deeper   um so one of the awesome things that we saw  through the clinics is that kls at Kansas legal   services had developed really good relationships  with kdor and socador produced things that   you simply don't see on the website for these  individuals and to be able to continue to leverage   those relationships to get that information in  people's hands so that they can be successful   this road map I think is going to not only  help individuals but it will also help the   courts uh be able to extend compliance periods  and understand whether or not these people that   are coming before them are actually working  towards the end goal that they believe they   are you know so you can go but if we've got a  standardized road map you know a judge could   ask someone all right so where are you on your  roadmap to getting this license back and that can   be a trigger for a more time or more assistance  so that we don't continue this cycle of repeating   uh getting suspended getting suspended getting  suspended it never never achieving legal driving   so I think that this road map is one of the the  critical pieces uh to that and and I I as soon as   I wrap up I I've got uh Aaron Breitenbach and  Mark um Mark with the DA's office I apologize Mark Bennett I apologize and they've been so gracious to come and and not  only did they give their time through the three   committee meetings but they're also going to speak  just a little bit about uh their impression of of   what's uh what this will do uh in in the  county court because this really is a   multi-jured jurisdictional program if we got rid  of every suspension in the city of Wichita today   very few people would be able to drive legally  on that day you know because if you've got   suspensions in one place likely you've got them  in another Nathan can I ask a quick question   regarding this road map that you're going to  develop I'm always interested in when you're   developing a tool or a resource for individuals  that they be involved in the process so I was   just curious is the you know someone from this  cohort of people who have suspended licenses is   it going to be field tested with them or will  it be reviewed with them to make sure that it's   what they need instead of you know the people  who are developing and aren't the ones who are   actually going to be the end user so I'm just  curious how you're going to make sure that it's   actually giving people who need this information  what they need so the roadmap really will be what   you have to do in different jurisdictions to get  that license back and so um The Hope is that it's   standardized so that courts can expect to see the  same thing that it's meaningful and understandable   so that the individuals can read and understand it  but staff members will also I expect go over that   with them ensuring that they understand so it's  not just here's this roadmap go go forth do great   things that's exactly it's more hand Hands-On  than that because it's a complicated process I   mean I'm trying to just understand it now and  I'm not even immersed in it you know so thank   you it is very you know very complicated and I  think that's one of the as I said before you know   decomplexifying if if I can make up a word uh is  is a critical component of of this program so uh   number three you know the council provided us some  tools to help people who are suspended get rid of   fees fines and costs and so the the program would  also help with the filing of of those documents   with both courts and um well most of this can  be done through paralegal support there will   be a provision of of a an attorney to oversee  and uh do uh the legal work that's necessary   uh line of effort too is the expansion of  service provision capacity through coordination   and integration of pro bono activities and so  there's already great relationships in the pro   bono Community through kls and the staff would  identify cases appropriate for that need those   Services push them out coordinate to ensure  that cases reach disposition and critical   critical peace for including attorneys in this  is providing malpractice insurance for those   pro bono attorneys so that they can provide their  services without fear of endangering their license uh line of effort three coordinating integrating  and expanding existing driver's license clinics   in the Wichita Area as you heard you know kls  has already done two clinics can last 12 months   serving over 300 people those produced a great  number of fee fine cost forgiveness motions   that went through both court systems and saw  substantial really to substantial effect a lot   of people got fines and fees withdrawn which which  can help people get those suspensions lifted um it   uh links warp with these existing efforts provides  application scheduling information support to   existing clinics and it's a bi-directional  integration of pro bono attorneys with warp   and existing clinics so um the the clinics really  uh it's a point in time but warp will hopefully   allow us to extend that point in time to a to a  programmatic effort where if someone has an issue   that they need help with there's a place and  people to assist them at all times and if they   need attorneys linking those pro bono attorneys  even out of the clinics and also pushing them   into the clinics if that's the appropriate  time and place to handle a specific issue uh warp is is designed to grow you know so  the the fourth line of effort is identifying   it is expanding it through Grant and writing and  funding fundraising uh so the the program needs   to identify grants and identify other Financial  Resources uh to grow the program also to identify   and solicit funding from local entities really  get buy-in from our great community and and I   think that really makes more powerful if we have  that and the third is uh I think a really special   one as well is to identify and perform services  in additional areas of need based on funding   so as War grows the hope is that it grows into  areas like expungements and provides additional   Services as the capacity and as the program grows  so the hope is not that we just stop with driver's   license suspensions the hope is that the program  uh grows into something bigger to help people   succeed in many other facets of of their court  experience they think let me ask another question   an area obviously near and dear to my higher  disagreement writing and fundraising and and just   curious it would seem to me I don't know but my  first impression would be this would be a really   specialized and potentially challenging place to  find grants to fund this program right so I'm just   thinking you know the goals that you have now  are you going to be able to meet them with this   program until funds can come in um I I believe  so um and I'll in about two slides sorry it's   not a problem just interested no absolutely um so  and the last line of effort is is is maintenance   of records and identifying what success looks  like producing statistics reporting outcomes   so the initial office structure will be generated  through a source com contract with Kansas legal   services as we went through those lines of effort  it became readily apparent that they were the only   ones that could provide those services in the  way that we needed them and had especially uh   the the ability to ensure practitioners who are  acting in a pro bono capacity uh so the structure   will begin with a Work Director practitioner a  person who's been identified uh Andy if you'd   stand up uh who has grant writing experience  is also a paralegal and has run programs   and uh so likely she would be the one to to  kick us off with kls chaos will be the the uh   one doing the hiring but uh you know so the idea  is to have a director who also is a practitioner   who can also has those abilities to write the  grants and solicit funds from the community   there will also be a paralegal working with her  to perform Services uh generated from the court   uh kls will provide uh attorney uh supervision  allowing those paralegals and practitioners to   work on legal issues legally and they also will  provide administrative support the anticipated   funding from the city is a hundred and fifty  thousand dollars and that money is already in my   budget it comes from savings that was made when  we moved away from our previous debt collector   I believe our debt collector was charging 19  and we moved to one that's roughly 13 which is   uh not only good for for building a program but  is also really good for the people who are being   collected from the city can charge up to 30  percent by law and we are well below that but   that's where uh the funding would come from and  uh Mark and Eric if you'd be well Mark Bennett if you would be willing to come on up I'd love  for you to kind of speak to uh this from from   the county perspective and once again I I truly  appreciate all the steering committee members   they gave so much of their time and so much  expertise and insight so all right thank you   so the the place that starts for the DA's office  is we do oh somewhere in the order of about 20   000 traffic cases in the course of year in  this in the district court and people often   come in with license issues whether it's  something they did in the county are they   their license is suspended because of city court  issues or and I think this is impactful here and   why the number has gone up so much the state  legislature has expanded greatly the number of   things that can get a person's license revoked not paying child support not paying  taxes things like that so there's all these   other collateral things that don't have anything  to do with the court system but that is a   punishment that is now available to the Department  of Revenue and so we have people who are who don't   have licenses they'll come into court and want to  interact with their lawyers and you know how do I   what do I do that sort of thing and while we try  very much to steer them in the right direction we   cannot give legal advice it's unethical there's no  question I represent my people represent the state   I can't represent the individual also in the in  the Russia business in the course of the day it's   something that sometimes takes a few minutes and  it's it creates difficulties there and so while   our people do and I've seen it happen where they  try and you know look here's the motion you just   fill this out and ask the judge and then they'll  get on the dock and the judge can reduce your   you know people are going I don't  know what that means and so um   the the notion here that we can we came to  was that you know utilizing an existing Law   Firm that's what Kansas legal services is there  are lawful they have lawyers they have uh the   infrastructure they're using them to come in and  place somebody in both your court here in the city   and ours in the county would be a great benefit so  when that person comes and goes I don't understand   or we look on and go dude you're this close you  could really get this done and the judge doesn't   have to give you the the entire fine the judge has  the ability to the judge has more discretion now   under State Statute they've also given judges more  discretion you just need to you know what go talk   to that nice person right there they'll help you  that is something as simple as that could have a   tremendous effect for people and so that's really  what this is about I don't have authority to speak   on the county in this regard but I have been told  by the county manager that they're willing to put   in uh you know Pony up on this as well I think  the numbers are higher far greater over here   I believe the current number of suspensions in  the Cedric counties about 56 000 you guys are at   43 000 of those individuals so we have a much  smaller percentage but I think so I think the   the number was about fifty thousand dollars and  and Tom stolz has told me yeah absolutely we'll   we're in well we're good for that so you know  I don't know that they voted on it but I don't   think fifty thousand dollars is is out of the is  anything there's going to be a fight over plus   they recognize the return on investment if we can  get you know those what 13 000 people roughly then   of the total from Cedric County back in good  standing that's the whole point of the traffic   system in the first place is getting you know slow  down uh pay your fines and move on not to put some   people in this Perpetual system where the campaign  defines and then are driving on a suspended as   someone who was hit one time by someone on a  suspended license who had no insurance none of   us want that uh what a what a colossal pain that  is for the other lawful drivers so I just think   this is a a let's use existing people who know  what they're doing into the questioning uh council   person Tuttle said you know how do we know this is  going to work this isn't a Ministry to the people   who know what they're doing to the to the lawyers  to the paralegals we know it'll work because   because the system already works when someone  can can utilize it the question is just getting   that hand off to the person so we're not creating  a new lane or a new way of doing things it's just   plugging people in and giving them access to  the people who can show them how to do it so   I'll turn this over to Aaron he's got more  of the details on the traffic system yeah   and perhaps my time is better to spend if anyone's  questions uh I glad to be glad to answer those but   you know to your to your point uh councilman  Tuttle I I agree it's a niche but if anyone   is looking to invest in how to decrease people  coming into the criminal justice system this   is a great investment in the private sector  as well as the public um because because I   see it you know people that start in traffic  they lose their job because they can't get to   work which then causes them to spiral into  other decisions um this is a great way for   the community to make an investment in deep  in decreasing people involved in the criminal   justice system because we all know once they get  in outcomes you know diminish for everyone um but   yeah as far as the program uh as Mark said are  our attorneys can show people you know go there   but beyond that there's just not much else we can  do and clearly people who have issues with uh you   know processing and following you know directions  and knowing where to go or having a phone to call   or whatever and having been able to go online  to get forms and print you know some of these   basic things that most of us take for granted are  barriers and so having people basically kind of a   navigator so to speak to help people through  that process we think will greatly improve   outcomes and hopefully get more people licensed  and insured on our roadways so thank you thank you once again I I want to to give a a huge thanks to  to Aaron and Mark and all of the uh participants   in the steering committee you know they these  These are really important people doing important   things and they dedicated their time to help help  create uh this idea uh and hopefully we we get to   move forward for it and make a real impact uh on  on our community on a really important problem   so with that uh I stand for  any questions you may have and and I just want to say thank you I'm really  interested in this and I ask a lot of questions   about things that I'm really interested  and excited about and I want to see this   be successful so just one initial thought that  I had Bob is I understand the grad writing part   perfectly you know that seems like something  as far as the city fundraising and receiving   donations is to support this program that  seems unconventional to me but maybe it's   not no I just want to make sure that I mean it's  like a new 501c3 going to be started or how will   that happen well it already is because it's  being the contract is with kls they have the   program they are a 501c3 and so perfect I didn't  catch that part thank you thank you thank you um I had a couple real quick um what are  the qualifications to have the fees waived   so uh having fees waived uh you have to  demonstrate a manifest hardship and so   what is that it's a good question it's not defined  by Statute it's not defined uh anywhere so it   really is a a Judicial uh determination uh as to  what a manifest hardship is I can tell you that   looking through the statistics on what um what  our court has done uh it's roughly 95 of people   who file get some manner of relief when they file  for fee fine and cost forgiveness it's very rare   that they get complete relief because you know the  judge is looking and saying hey you know I think   this this part may be a manifest hardship and this  part isn't I think you can succeed at doing this   and not that some do get full uh full forgiveness  usually those uh are people with disabilities   uh and and certain hardships that can be easily  articulated but it's it's a Judicial determination   okay um do we also include volunteer hours  volunteer opportunities yeah absolutely so   in Municipal Court all for all cases all the time  you can take care of your the fine portion of a   case through uh through community service okay  um have we had input from people who have gone   through this process to help give recommendations  about the barriers they experienced during the   process so I think that's something that's going  to be developed through the program looking at   the statistics and identifying those things that  end up being barriers we've certainly gathered   a lot of information through the clinics  and seeing you know roughly 300 data points   um you know where people are and why you know  what's holding up their licenses so I think that   that information is going to be gathered in Mass  through the program and the program will develop   itself and alter itself as people help to identify  what it is that's hanging them up in getting legal   driving back okay and uh last question and I  think you alluded to it earlier a little bit but   um so we're going to have somebody who they can  go to right out of the Court out of the courtroom   after they're done with um their case and just  go look go here and understand the process to   how to get your license reinstated yeah the hope  is to have someone uh on site uh if they aren't   on site to have a phone number where someone  can rapidly be contacted and start an initial   process it is a process because a lot of the  information is going to be half going to have   to be gathered from cador to make sure that we  understand the full scope of their situation   because most of the time it's not simple it's  not something that you can go to their website   and say well you know if I just clear this up  oh well it turns out there's an administrative   fee from the state it's you know depending on  if they've been revoked if they've got multiple   suspensions if they had a DUI if they uh drove  without insurance and we're in an accident and   minors are we're in the car but now you might have  a suspension that lasts several you know a decade   and a half because you have to wait until those  miners reach the age of majority before uh their   claim disappear so it's incredibly complicated and  that's exactly why um such a program is needed so   um there needs to be an initial intake there  needs to be a process of data Gathering and to   then create that that as we called it a road  map so that people can really understand what   they have to do in this incredibly complicated  Arena yeah one more quick question yeah from that   um do you guys plan on making any recommendations  in the future about possible changes to the law   or you just are you trying to steer away from  that so I think I think that we should always be   making those recommendations the idea of this  particular program was to say hey there's a   problem and it may be a legislative problem but  we live in in the world we live in and so how   can we combat this problem right now with the  tools that exist presently in our state I think   that there are a lot of people and I think  it was expressed by the steering committee   that they would love to advocate for change in  the laws the laws are problematic but point in   time right now how do we help the people who need  help without you know just hoping that we can get   changes that haven't been made over decades so  um I don't know if that answers your question   exactly it's kind of a qualified maybe yes but  this program isn't designed to change the laws   the program is designed to work within existing  laws and if the laws change I think it would work   within the laws as they changed to continue to  provide assistance to people to be successful   okay I think you guys are in a unique and a  good position to be able to really suss out   maybe some of the shortcomings and current laws so  if that's possible in the future you know just my   my particular opinion that would be something  pretty good to look at I agree completely and   I think that the data that that will be generated  through through working with all these folks will   will really help to identify the shortcomings  yeah and I appreciate everything you and the   rest of the the board I've done putting work  in this this is a good thing for our community   so so the uh I'll be quick I'm sorry councilmember  Johnson was leaning towards this microphone   um I guess to recap there is no definition  that is legal definition of financial hardship   management yes sir so for consistency should is  it set up or should we either Define it or just   have it as a check box if you check that you are  going through a hardship then that's that there   is no explanation I just because you mentioned  that some people are well 95 of folks I believe   uh get some type of relief if they claim  a hardship I'm not sure if everyone knows   what a hardship is or if they qualify and thus  should we open it up so we're not judging one   person's hardship over another or should  we I guess Define it what would be best   practices moving forward I mean I think that  that sounds much more like a legal question   um I I whether or not you should Define it I  think is is really not for for me to be able   to determine I know that the legislature which  created uh Senate Bill 127 of I think last year   um used that language and so that  language is mirrored in our city organs   um so it was designed to to be discretionary  where a judge could say you know at taking   into account many many factors which would be  very hard to create a definition for including   you know beyond Financial they're also family  factors and uh situational factors and and come   to a determination on their own and so that's  that's really how it's applied is is looking   extremely broadly at not just the individual but  the individual circumstances and their family   situation perhaps having appropriate legal  counsel will actually allow folks to better   understand what that terminology is so they can  describe their situation better so absolutely   leaving it open will be is the way to go but  yeah so so one of the things you just said is   incredibly important because on every one of our  emotions there is a a narrative portion where you   describe your manifest hardship and you know  that's that's not something that's incredibly   easy for Lay people to just suddenly articulate  well what's your manifest Argent well I don't   know what my manifest hardship is but here's my  situation uh and so I think that's another area   where we've seen um especially through the  clinics the the documents that came from the   clinics where people were assisted in articulating  their manifest hardship were much more successful   than those people who just were given up form  and said all right have at it describe it   so I think that you what we will see is is uh  better articulated situations and circumstances   describing manifest hardship in in the documents  that get followed with the court thank you   so I had a few questions um on that state law and  looking at line of effort one is a part of that   road map um taking advantage of the the new legal  change that allowed people who have suspended   licenses to get a restricted license during this  whole process yeah absolutely you know and that's   that's something that uh you know whenever uh  folks going back to the clinic whenever anyone   was identified with that uh potential um that  document was filed because you know as soon as   you file that you can get someone a little bit of  relief uh to give them time and space to work on   those things that are suspending them especially  if it's just Financial suspensions now if you've   got a suspension for that's administrative like  DUI or for not having Insurance you don't qualify   and so we found there was there were a lot of  situations where people didn't qualify for the   hardship but wherever we identified there was the  potential to get that hardship license um and I   say we it was Marilyn Harps uh program and and  the pro bono attorneys who did the work so they filed that paperwork and I would anticipate  exactly the same through this program okay   um and one I'm really excited about this I've  been excited since those first conversations with   Durham but one challenge that I've seen is a lot  of the folks who really need to know this never   hear about it no matter what our best efforts are  so what what are our efforts to let folks know are   we going to do like what WPD did with the youth  members on the gang file where they sent certified   letters to everyone they had identified are we  going to do that and let them know hey here's this   program we know your license is suspended here's  step one come in yeah starting down that path   uh simply answer your question is I I don't know  that PCI you know so and as the program develops   I think that we can both leverage core data but  also leverage some of our own media resources to   get the word out um that that this program exists  and that there is is Hope kls was able to generate   a lot of of interest and support just by you know  posting you know putting posters up and putting   on websites and so I think once it's known I think  that the knowledge of the program will spread very   rapidly through our community especially when  people know that it's it's not a trap right you   know it's not a trick to to roll you up and put  you in jail it's something to actually help you so   um how we advertise it how how that happens I  think that will also have to be a collaborative   effort and we'll get together and create ideas and  and and look at what the best modes are to to get   this to the people who need it but okay well one  suggestion I have to add to that table getting   the word out is usd259 because you know you got  your kids in school whether you're driving there   legally or not so if they have something to bring  back whether it's a flyer or not and give to their   parents I mean that's just another contact to get  the word up um and then lastly you answered part   of this I won't ask the whole question but since  this program can expand I know we have a social   justice Workshop coming up um I really like the  collaborative effort I see now what we've seen   before with either Amnesty Day or expungement  workshops there's just so many people in that   need being so high so is this that same program  that can transform and deal with that as well I would have you know it really as  as needs are identified and as the   the program grows assuming that  it grows especially funding-wise   um I mean I think it really can address any  number of issues you know it you know well   I mentioned expungement it's not expressly  mentioned in these lines of effort and so if um if if uh certain different areas of need are  identified I think the you know depending on the   resourcing this program could expand into those  areas okay well I want to say I support that we   did a child support amnesty deal of Atwater 2019  maybe they raised almost thirty thousand dollars   for the state they got warrants removed for  for folks and I think all of those folks are   put on payment plans so that was a benefit and  especially if their license can get suspended   now that's one thing if it's rolled up into this  that would be great and I can't remember who did   the expungement Workshop over at the courthouse  and I know there was a private donor and I want to   say they may have put 75 000 in but that line was  over a thousand people and they ran out of money   before the line could even get all the way in the  building so if we can identify those sources of   funding in I know we're starting right now but if  we can get all of that going that would be awesome   and we have the people involved too who got that  funding and so the hope is and the anticipation is   once a program exists that those type of funding  sources will step forward um you know it's it's   hard to fundraise for something that isn't really  up right um so you know this this 150 roughly 150   000 I think is is I think of it as seed money  it's it's to grow something bigger it's the   it's initiating the program and then once it's  initiated I think there's the potential uh to   make it something much much bigger than what we  started with perfect well I think we're starting   in the right place with the suspended driver's  licenses and seeing how many people are impacted   by that I appreciate all the work that you and the  committee did and looking forward to seeing this   grow and keep moving and I'm happy to help get  the word out too because this is sorely needed thank you thank you mayor um the last item is also a very  significant item and it has to do with one-time   funding that we have received from the federal  government through the American Rescue plan and   we're going to make a presentation Sally Stang  we'll start the presentation regarding work that's   been done in assessing need and then coming up  with possible options for the use of those funds   can we minimize that so that  it's just in the taskbar   see the dash in the middle  there onto the right hand side please don't yeah there we go it's gonna say  please don't hit the hang up button yeah we do   have a consultant online too who's going to be  participating today so good morning it's been   a pretty heavy day let's add homelessness to it  right the item that we have for you today is the   home investment partnership funding under the  American Rescue plan act so we're in the middle   of the planning process and so we are providing  an update and seeking feedback as we work to put   together that final plan so the home investment  partnership program was created in 1990 it is   the one program that is not an acronym although  HUD and CIS on making all the lettuce capital   I think they're just trying to keep us on our  toes it was created in 1990 to provide decent   and affordable housing to lower income families  expand capacity for non-profits strengthen the   ability of state and local governments to provide  housing and leverage private sector resources for   the development of affordable housing so  in addition to our our annual allocation   of Home funds which for 2022 is about one and  a half million dollars we have been allocated   just over 5.5 million dollars under the American  Rescue plan act um that that and 15 percent of   that amount so just over 826 000 can be used  for planning and administration activities   we normally use home funds for infill housing  production Rehabilitation for homeowners can   be used for a repair program we aren't using it  for that currently we use cdbg funds we use it   for down payment assistance rental preservation  but if you notice those are all really about   affordable housing units everything it can do is  about units it's either the development of or the   funding of subsidies to make units affordable so  but home ARP really they added a little twist to   it under the American Rescue plan act with a focus  on providing services and shelters to individuals   experiencing homelessness or other vulnerable  populations such as those experience fleeing   domestic violence or human trafficking and it can  be used for only four activities production and   preservation of affordable housing tenant-based  rent assistance homeless prevention and housing   counseling services or the development of  non-congregate shelter for the homeless   in order for the city to receive the funds from  HUD we must engage in a consultation and public   participation process and develop a home ARP  allocation plan we really looked at this as our   opportunity to do a deep dive into the homeless  systems here in Wichita the plan must describe   how the city is going to distribute the home  art funds including the way in which the funding   will be used to address qualify issues around  qualifying populations upon completion of the   plan it must be submitted to HUD as a substantial  Amendment to the city's 2021 annual action plan   so through a competitive process earlier this year  development strategies Inc was procured to provide   consulting services for the preparation of the  plan and they have subcontracted with a home base   and Community connections Consulting Services as  well so their initial scope was to be completed in   three phases the consultation with local providers  and experts an analysis of our needs and gaps in   around homelessness in Wichita and to report those  findings and gather feedback to develop the plan   and so I'm going to turn it over here to  Andy feaster from development strategies good morning mayor council members I'm Andy  feaster principal with development strategies   and it's uh good to see you all again as Sally  mentioned I'm here to talk about our work so far   on the home our allocation plan  and our intent is really to   con let you all know what we've heard so far from  consultations with the different providers through   a survey to Providers and kind of where we're  we're leaning to in terms of recommendations   um I have with me online um Alyssa Weber and  Julie Silas with Homebase they're going to talk   to about some best practices that should  help address some of the priority needs   and gaps Alyssa could you say hello just  so we can make sure the audio is working okay we're good troubleshoot audio while I   um proceed here but I'm going to talk a little  bit about what we've been looking at we've really   been evaluating the homelessness ecosystem as  a whole to to look at those needs and gaps and   kind of really working toward those implications  for Wichita so Sally covered a little bit about   what Hallmark is and what we've been working  on is the consultations we're really kind of   completing the needs and gaps analysis today  following this work session we're going to take   your feedback and make any refinements that we  need to and kind of work toward completing the   draft allocation plan that will go to public  comment we'll have some public meetings to get   broader public feedback and insight and  then it goes toward the approval process okay okay Alyssa could you try again  and make sure you're unmuted sorry okay we'll we'll proceed the best we can um can you go to the bar yeah you know  maybe hit exit so it minimizes that down in the right hand corner can you click  on the volume and make sure our volume's up team still up she's on me up there foreign others on teams could hear Alyssa Alyssa could  you try one more time to unmute and say hello Julie does not sound as though we're going through  how about now thank you good morning welcome   are we good can you hear us now yes thank you  oh great okay all right we are set good morning so yes please all right I'm not gonna touch anything else um so that's really where we are in the process  so as Sally mentioned the purpose of Homer is to   reduce homelessness and increase housing stability  so it is to serve homeless individuals and   families but also those at risk of homelessness  and experiencing other vulnerable situations   we see this really as a one-time opportunity to  fill gaps in the ecosystem and so this diagram   here is really to reflect what is the the  full picture of the homelessness ecosystem   and you know the arrows go from unstably housed  to those who enter the homelessness system   um and really the supportive services  along the bottom that are addressed   all along the way it was interesting  to hear the last presentation because   that's part of the puzzle that can help  you know homeless individuals just um having you know their licenses addressed  and those situations can help but really   you know we looked at you know there's  prevention there's diversion there's housing   whether it's permanent housing um and  these different elements temporary   housing being shelter and transitional  housing and ultimately working toward   um and people leaving the homelessness system  to being stably stably housed permanently and so one of the other things we looked  at is the data and I know you all been   looking at the data and there's efforts to  improve our understanding as a community   of the challenge this is a an overview of  the data average days homeless is 71 days   and a couple other key key items here but what we  really looked at were some of the discrepancies   that that make this work more challenging we know  that there's about 180 names on the by name list   those who are are identified to be put in housing  yet there's 200 vouchers available 30 about 30   vouchers available for veterans one of the key  challenges we heard there is there's not enough   units for individuals for people to go into and  Sally told me this morning that there's about 130   vouchers approved but for people who are still  homeless because they can't find units to go into   the 2020 point in time count was about 619  individuals a big increase from the from 10 years   prior at hmis shows about 1660 individuals served  through the homelessness system so the point in   time count is just a snapshot on that individual  day the providers who are participating in hmis we have 200 vouchers available that 130 you  said were approved but they don't have uh   I guess a landlord or a property that will  accept folks with those vouchers is that a   correct assessment that 130 actually have gone  through the process a case manager has actually   recommended it voucher in hand they just can't  find a unit that is correct and reaching out   to I guess those folks and others what what has  been the barrier for them to find an apartment what I've heard is that you know with the  current market there's fewer landlords   accepting vouchers particularly those with  um you know more challenged histories rental   histories because they can rent them at a higher  rate easily to anybody today and then there are   there of other challenges you've heard of use  disease can you have continued to work on it   oftentimes it's criminal backgrounds we have a  lot of landlords that you know that's gonna do   could be a barrier for them to get into so we try  to work with landlords who may have be willing   to work with harder to serve populations but  that number is definitely decreasing and the   challenge in finding units is not just among the  homeless vouchers our Voucher Program overall is   seeing decreases in the success rate the number of  people who are able to lease up in our community   so we are in desperate need of of more affordable  housing units willing to participate in Assistance   programs do you think some of the rates that  they're paying are a little bit below average   um the rates that they pay for the vouchers not  below average I mean we are seeing tremendous rent   increases coming out of the pandemic sometimes  rents going up from 600 a month to 900 a month   that's a 50 increase those increases are  definitely starting to price people out   yep which is another which is  another concern so it's the market what are particular barriers that you're seeing  with um people with families homeless with   families because we were at a St Anthony's  homeless shelter not too long ago and they   talked about it used to be a six-week wait  to get families out of the shelter and into   housing and now it's about a six month wait  so is there anything um you guys are seeing   in particular with families as to some of the  additional barriers or is there a way that we can   focus on them first I assume just  because a number of people that we have   in the family that that limits the the units that  are available even more one element is the lack of   like quality affordable like three or four bedroom  five bedroom units so family appropriate units   um and then also accepting vouchers if they  are um part of that system but it there have   not been a lot of those units that are you  know dedicated affordable housing added to   the market so it's a similar similar challenge  um as we just discussed but not a little bit   because of unit size and so forth more of  an issue for for families in particular   thank you we had a discussion on this just  this week talking about um we're seeing more   and more families being denied because they  were evicted at post moratorium being lifted   so the shelters are seeing larger families come  in there's just not the resources that they had   before and those evictions on their record  are preventing them from leasing another unit and on the shelter side there haven't been really  units added for families for that temporary kind   of assistance for a number of years so they're  they're generally at at capacity and also like you   said I've struggled to find those placement units  outside of kind of the shelter system thank you well the other thing we we looked at is there's  about 1800 beds and or units specifically for   those and homelessness or exiting homelessness  these are just the acronyms for emergency   shelter transitional housing and and others it  is an increase a slight increase from 2010 but   as you've heard and and we heard talking  to Providers one-on-one is pretty much   everybody's at capacity stays or longer than  ever limited units for people to move into   and there's really very few low barrier options  which we're going to talk a little bit more about   and the best practices component and then another  challenge particularly came to light when we were   talking with United Way on the data is that there  is an unknown number of of people struggling   that aren't represented in any of these  counts because they aren't part of the hmis   system so it's kind of like there is improved  collaboration but in terms of getting a good   full picture of the scale of the challenge  we just can't with the data we have today   and so we use this diagram again to  really identify what are some of the gaps   while all of these services are available and  there are some you know agencies doing prevention   and diversion and there are housing options and a  number of of great and helpful Supportive Services   there's not like a um overarching culture of  prevention and diversion which seeks to keep   people out of the homeless system or or in the  system and and for as short a term as possible   there is a lack of permanent Supportive Housing  which we we just kind of clearly discussed you all   have heard and it's borne out in our discussions  and the data there are no low barrier emergency   shelter options for women which is a particular  challenge in our community and then there's a   need for more supportive services be it case  management housing Navigators just to help both um   individuals and families working through getting  a lease utilities all the housing housing aspects   following up weekly but also being a liaison  to work with the landlord so landlords have   somebody to call in or can be more comfortable  working with those with those individuals   um there's a need from our Outreach mental  health treatment substance abuse treatment and   um kind of coordination of all  of these things moving forward and so kind of our question and and working  with the city and the the provider Community   is is thinking through what's the best use  of the funds what would be most impactful   and what would align best practices with  the strengths that are that are already in   our community and really what is the goal  what's most strategic being one-time funds   um for instance we know there's a need for more  case management peer support housing Navigators   but if we fund that with homearp the funds are  going to end in 2030 or sooner so how will we   pick up the funds and continue that good work when  the funds funds are gone so is it better to invest   in capital in a facility or units that that's  really some of the considerations we're working on   eligibility uh Sally talked about this I'm going  to highlight a couple more things preservation   of affordable housing it's construction of new  units acquisition and Rehabilitation of existing   or using it to rehabilitate facilities that are  already under operation for tenant based rental   assistance this isn't just rental assistance  it can help with security deposits and Utility   payments um one caveat is this cannot be  used in conjection with home buyer programs   Supportive Services has a very very lengthy list  of what home art funds can be used for so if you   think of pretty much any Supportive Services  for for those experiencing homelessness or   at risk other than home ownership counseling it  pretty much applies and finally on non-congregate   shelters again acquisition or new construction  or Rehabilitation this will not fund operations   of the facilities can fund the Supportive  Services but a non-congregate shelter her HUD   must have private bathrooms it can be like  a hotel room you can have shared kitchens   um but those are those so it can't quite be a dorm  where there's shared bathrooms that needs to have   private bathroom facilities and as Sally talked  about these are the four qualifying populations sheltered and unsheltered homeless at risk of  homelessness or those facing you know eviction   or housing insecurity fleeing or attempting to  flee domestic violence sexual assault or human   trafficking and other populations where Supportive  Services would prevent homelessness this does also   include people with disabilities where there's  also an extreme affordable housing shortage in our   community so getting to the needs and gaps this  was really informed a lot by our conversations we   we've talked to one-on-one in person and virtually  these 20 organizations we've reached out to others   and we're able unable to connect but the intent  of one-on-one conversations was to have candid   um thoughtful and honest assessments of the  strengths and weaknesses of our ecosystem   and these are these are the items that  Rose to the top in terms of needs and   gaps non-congregate shelter for single women case  managers including housing Navigators and Outreach   homeless prevention and diversion programs   landlord education and engagement so we  can get more landlords accepting vouchers   um more safe affordable housing units and funds  for paying utilities and back rent to help people   kind of say stay in stable housing there is  this kind of patched element 2 where home   are qualifies for part of it or this action  that homework can fund part of it so quality   of housing units affordable housing units it can  be Rehabilitation or new construction when we're   talking about the mental health challenge which we  know is a big challenge in our community Hallmark   will not fund facilities but can fund Supportive  Services that address mental health challenges and we also I want to highlight a few items from  the provider survey we sent this out for about a   week or two to Providers we talked to and others  on our our list just to understand again and   be able to document where the priorities are so  the qualified populations in the city that have   the largest gap in Services what Rose to the top  was people dealing with mental health disorders   followed by addiction and substance abuse just  being sheltered in unsheltered homelessness   and those being at risk of  homelessness single women um   priority needs in terms of kind of the  services or elements that are missing   Supportive Services Rose to the top followed by  affordable rental housing and non-profit operating   funding which of small portion of Hallmark  can go to about 250 000 I think of this grant   um non-congregate shelter rental assistance  and capacity building for non-profits if   we could go back to the last slide real  quick single women is do we know if that   is domestic violence related people playing  situations like that or what are some of the   other circumstances that lead to single women  becoming homeless that way you can identify um it's really in all of the above answer  there are no low barrier facilities for   women experiencing any element of  housing instability or homelessness   what's a big challenge that we heard in the  ecosystem is because there's no safe place or   very limited safe places there could be in the um  the motels or couple up where there's more trauma   in that and added to already a traumatic  situation but the elements that lead to   homelessness we didn't kind of research  that as much but I I would say it's things that other anybody else struggles with  be it uh just you know a job loss a difficult   family situation um and and all those other things  but but that's really I think in all the above   answer okay thank you we also asked um what kind of  Supportive Services are needed   um as the priorities so what Rose to  the top is case management um which   which addresses a lot of the you know mental  health substance abuse stabilization finding ID   um challenges but also housing navigation  Etc homelessness prevention Services was   second followed by housing counseling life skills  training and job rate and Readiness so really a   lot of themes started to emerge as we work through  this and so the next step in the process was to   work with home base and think about in light  of what we heard from the providers and are   seeing in the data and other conversations  we had around homelessness and at risk of   homelessness what are some best practices what  are other communities doing that are moving the   needle that are reducing stays in shelter have a  higher success rate of permanent housing placement   Etc and Alyssa's going to talk through three of  these program elements that we think are important   to consider in Wichita with with the Hallmark  funding and other efforts that are underway checking yes great okay thank you Andy as Andy mentioned  my name is Alyssa Weber I'm from an organization   called home base we are a technical assistance  providers for HUD and we work with communities   around the country um to help them improve their  homeless systems of care and so as Andy mentioned   I'm going to go through a few best practices  that we've seen work in other communities and   are considered best practices across the country  to help identify or to address some of the gaps   that Andy identified in your community so the  first one that I wanted to talk about is low   barrier housing focused shelter so this model  of shelter is designed to provide the necessary   emergency housing for people experiencing  homelessness but in a way that really focuses   on long-term Solutions so assisting a household  in attaining and retaining permanent housing   um so there's really two elements here so when  we think about this low barrier what we mean by   that is that the shelters are designed to serve  people in a housing first model so we're really   working to screen people in rather than screen  them out and this often means that shelters are   welcoming people regardless of whether they're  entering with pets or Partners or possessions   the rules and restrictions that are in place are  really focused on safety so things like no weapons   or something like that and they do allow kind  of free movement so people can come and go as   they wish shelters are typically open 24 hours a  day and the physical spaces and Facilities allow   for Community congregation outdoor areas for pets  storage for possessions and places where Partners   can cohabitate and often another piece of this if  a rule is violated assistance is not necessarily   terminated rather concerns are addressed through  things like case management and the other aspect   is the housing Focus piece so in addition to being  low barrier these shelters include services that   are client-centered and tailored to support  the household's ability to obtain and maintain   housing and this really is focused on voluntary  case management and other services such as job   training or benefits enrollment things like that  and staff are trained in cultural competency and   tend to have smaller caseloads that they're  able to spend more time with clients to help   them meet their housing goals and one thing we've  seen really emerge as a best practice um kind of   spurred by the covid-19 pandemic is non-congregate  shelter and so this allows sleeping areas that   are separate for individual households usually in  separate rooms such as converted motels or things   like that Andy spoke a little bit to this earlier  but that's the model that we see is um usually in   something like a motel where there is a bathroom  as Andy mentioned so and these really um this this   model of non-congregate shelter really can help  improve residential stability people feel safer   and can help improve engagement with staff  and things like case management next slide thank you um so we just are highlighting a  few examples and just to step back a second   we have created kind of a longer kind  of best practices right up on each of   these that include additional examples and  more information about successes and data   that we are happy to distribute as well  if you have not already received those   um but here are just a few examples that  highlights some of the success that these programs   provide so the first year is the Salvation Army  Center for Hope in Charlotte North Carolina and   this program is actually one that converted from a  more traditional model after seeing the successes   that low barrier housing Focus shelter has for  people experiencing homelessness and so they   converted to this low barrier housing Focus model  and ends up removing their entry requirements such   as sobriety and minimum income and leveraged other  resources like rapid rehousing to really focus on   connecting people to permanent housing and what  they found when they made this conversion to this   model is that permanent housing placements out of  the shelter increased by more than 100 percent and   84 percent of families placed in permanent  housing did not fall back into homelessness   and their shelter stays changed from an average  of six months to an average of at least 39 days so   um that shows kind of the strength of moving from  one model to another in terms of stability and   connecting people to permanent housing the  second model out of Fresno California is a   newer model that was designed as a non-congregate  shelter also using low barrier and housing focused   design in it in its facility which means that  they don't have requirements regarding income   uh sobriety or compliance with mental  health treatments they are providing   shelter regardless of sexual orientation  marital status or gender identification   and the staff are on site 24 hours a day to  provide services do things like intakes and   work on diversion and help respond to crises and  they're all trained in mental health first aid   and what we've seen here and this is a newer  program the average rate of safe exits is 70   meaning that people are exiting the shelter  two places other than the streets or jail so the next kind of best practice we see  and this kind of speaks to some of the   conversation that happened earlier around  landlords and the difficulty finding units   for people without yours is landlord engagement  strategies so what we're talking about here is   really a community level strategy that's focused  on building and maintaining collaboration between   housing providers and local landlords so we  really like to think of this as a partnership   where everyone benefits the landlords are  receiving incentives and support and in   exchange the people experiencing homelessness and  housing providers are receiving available units   there's a few things that we like to highlight  when we talk about these again we really want   to emphasize the system level planning these  are not to be planned at the agency level or   they're just not as effective when you think at  the agency level you really want to think about   the system Community level including Partners from  other sectors um and one of the things we always   build into these are kind of a menu of options of  either monetary or non-financial incentives and   so you can there's a lot of different examples  monetary options include things like leasing   or move-in bonuses risk or damage mitigation or  reimbursement funds things we call barrier busting   funds so these are things that pay for some of  the issues around median housing quality standards   or other standards that the vouchers may have  attached to them paying for application fees just   generally kind of the burdens that may come with  leasing to someone that's using rental assistance   um some also build in vacancy funds um sometimes  it can take a little bit of time to lease up with   somebody that is using rental assistance  so paying for that Gap where the unit may   be vacant for a month or so so those are kind  of some examples of monetary options we also   really like to think about the non-financial  options and this is where you know Hallmark   can also help support some of these things like  client case management and wraparound services   providing a landlord liaison providing  landlord-tenant mediation services providing   education opportunities for both landlords and  tenants one thing we like to do or think about is   what is creating what we call client portfolios or  something that kind of lends like a human side you   know detailing a family story or a household  story to kind of add that more human touch   present those to landlords so there's a variety  of things that can be um incorporate it into these   plans so you want to think about how to use these  various different options together to create an   overall strategy and then again um really being  intentional about landlord Outreach and landlord   retention so once you have actually engaged the  landlord how to keep them as part of your program   next slide thanks um so here are  some examples of successful landlord   engagement strategies this threshold in  Maricopa County Arizona is a newer one   um that is incorporating a lot of what I just  talked about they have a centralized landlord   engagement over 20 cities so really thinking at  the systems level they have leasing bonuses for   new landlords uh dedicated landlord support  team with a 24-hour a day hotline web-based   Housing search platform where landlords can list  available units risk mitigation funds for up to   three times monthly rents if there's any damages  and vacancy funds for up to one month of rent   and then another example and just you know some  of the successes they've seen they've I think   they've only been in operation for about a year  they've already worked with over 151 property   owners in house um 325 households in this program  in a year so that really shows that building some   of these things in is attracting landlords  and helping to connect people to housing   um the second example here from the Bay Area run  by Abode they work in six Bay Area Counties and   they include signing bonuses for new  landlords and additional bonuses for   continued participation assistance  and screening tenants for units   on-call staff to respond to your landlord concerns  including after hours higher security deposits   vacancy funds to cover losses between tenants and  provide free housing quality standard inspections   and since they've been in operation they've housed  I think this is since 2013 so about nine years   they've housed over 6 000 people through this  program and have worked with over 2 000 landlords   so they've seen a lot of success also in  connecting people to housing through their program   next slide so the final best practice that  we wanted to talk about is really kind of two   homelessness diversion and prevention so we often  talk about these together because they leverage   a lot of the same strategies to assist people so  things like rental assistance utility assistance   strength based case management connecting people  to other resources like legal services and things   like that to prevent people from losing housing  or divert people who are already have already   lost their housing from shelters so diversion  is the how we think about really trying to   keep people out of shelter those people that have  already typically recently lost their housing the   goal here is to quickly resolve their immediate  housing crisis by helping them find alternative   housing Arrangements so they can avoid entering a  shelter and then prevention is for people who are   not yet experiencing homelessness homelessness  or unhoused and again using those interventions   I mentioned parental assistance utility assistance  case management to help them either stay in their   current housing or find alternative State safe  housing before they experience homelessness   next time so some best practices when um thinking about  these two uh different kind of interventions so   diversion um really what we want to do with idea  with diversion is identify households when they   first access the homeless response system and that  it would usually be through your coordinated entry   process that you have set up in your community  or if somebody a household presents at a shelter   um and how we do that is use a lot as utilizing  diversion screening tools or other questions   um to really help assess whether somebody is  appropriate for diversion if the interventions   we have will meet their needs um if diversion  is not possible for any reason um making sure   that there is a housing focused shelter that  they can be referred to as an alternative   when we think about prevention um we want to  make sure that this is integrated into the   homeless response system even though people are  not technically experiencing homelessness yet they   are kind of on the verge potentially of doing  that so we want to make sure that the homeless   responses to other partner systems are all  connected um and working on prevention together   um really thinking about tailoring the level of  assistance to meet the household needs some people   may need additional services like case management  and uh you know eviction prevention Services   things like that While others may just need a  small rental assistance or utility assistance   um to help them maintain their housing and then as  I mentioned always trying to incorporate eviction   prevention components when possible and the  results that we find with these one of the   big things is helping to minimize the trauma  that people can experience when they've become   homeless I mean it's you know something that can  affect them for the rest of their lives having   that experience and so by preventing people from  becoming homelessness from becoming homeless or   connecting them as quickly as possible in fact  uh housing buff instead of entering shelter that   can really help minimize that trauma it also  significantly reduce the cost of the community   and kind of this burden on the homeless response  system and shelters that you know may not have   vacancies don't have room these can kind of help  keep people out of that system before they get   they either go into shelter or need some of  the other interventions that can be costly and with that I can either take  questions or hand it back over to Andy thank you Alyssa and I asked Alyssa to dive deep  into those because it's not really the practice in   in Wichita and moving forward it would be great  to see some of those best practice integrated   and I want to talk about that a little bit  in terms of the implications for Wichita   so how do these align with the needs and gaps  identified through the consultation process I'm   not going to read all of these but I wanted  to create an example of how like low barrier   housing Focus shelter would address some of those  key challenges like needed shelter beds reducing   shelter stay time and then what it would require  on the far right and how home art might fit in so   for low barrier housing Focus shelter it requires  operations funding which again that doesn't come   from home art but organizations will need to show  they have the capacity to operate such a facility   case managers Outreach addressing mental health  and substance abuse so a lot of the boxes a lot   of the key issues that were raised diversion as  an for an example focuses on quickly connecting   people who lose housing with resources um that  requires a different kind of coordination new   screening tools the right case managers and you  know housing Navigators so this is where it starts   to come together in terms of connecting the dots  and then we were working with the city team on   how does this really come together um how does how  can how can this five and a half million dollars   be best used if the providers have the capacity  and desire to move forward with this kind of model   there's still an immediate need for housing units  and I think it's even just our conversation this   morning it's it's even stronger than we thought a  couple months ago but is a navigation center with   housing units the best use and what this could  look like under the provisions of homerp is   Hallmark can fund the development of some Capital  reserves and supportive services for housing units   um non-congregate shelter could be a wing or  or you know a secured Wing or what have you   of a facility it can fund the facilities and  the Supportive Services the caveat here is an   organization that applies for these really  have to show that they can operate it for   two or three years at least that they have the  capacity to do so these units can be converted   to permanent housing so if there's not a need  you know hopefully the need is reduced over   time they can be converted to housing units  and it really you can allow for safe spaces   for women while meeting the broader need  because you can design it appropriately   and then navigation Center a home art  funding can fund the Supportive Services   that would be part of this navigation Center you  can visit and a portion of the facilities at least   as part of a Housing Development or a shelter  development can fund the space it would require   multiple agencies providing staff and working  together in kind of a new way and it really is   an opportunity to align for better coordination  for data entry data collection prevention and   diversion and so it could be one facility it could  be a navigation Center and non-congregated shelter   located two blocks away from affordable housing  units there's a lot of different flexibility here   but this is kind of a model we're exploring like  say how could we address a lot of these needs   knowing that the Hallmark funds won't solve the  problems it's an important opportunity it's an   injection of capital but it will not fill all the  gaps it should support a cohesive strategy which   the community is working on not just through home  ARP but you know project hope is testing a new   approach to outreach to peer support it's targeted  downtown and and so forth but it's testing   out some different case management and service  provision needs we've talked a lot about homework   but the homeless task force that is beginning  soon is really about alignment and coordination   about long-term strategic planning so it will  address other needs that home art won't address   identify roles and priority funding so Hallmark  May for instance provide affordable housing   units and then you know that there's the community  knows there's a need for improving case management   housing navigation Etc and the providers in an  ecosystem can really say to the funders like   this is what we really need to focus on long  term we've got a facility we think we can we   can operate it well for a long time we need more  case management that's where we need to focus   our fundraising so that's really kind of the the  thinking of of homework within the greater context   and um quickly before I stop um I wanted we had a  provider session on the 19th where we went through   this presentation and got had discussion there was  General support for the this conceptual idea um   the the benefit of a central navigation facility  would really help mitigate some of the challenges   people are facing navigating services that  are kind of spread out different organizations   um there's a need to address Transportation um and  engaging those who have lived that experience to   make sure like those who have you know moved from  homelessness to stability you know would this have   helped if it was in place you know for for you um  that we had discussion around the location should   it be downtown near all the services should it be  you know housing be spread out and then providers   wanted some more information on operating costs  is really getting at that Is it feasible for   the provider Community to you know either one  organization or a combination of a few to do   something like this and really also wanted to  understand the roles and responsibilities moving   forward so it was good conversation General  support I think we want to know how this model   sounds to you all what questions you have would  you like to see more focus in a specific area   things like that happy to address so what  in this model is new and transformational   because at some of my takeaway there's a lot of  information here some of the takeaway I'm getting   besides the fact that we need more units is that  a lot of this feels like it's super charging the   current system which I think I'd be okay with  if if we weren't if one of the slides didn't   show that we have actually increased folks who are  experiencing homelessness over the last 10 years   so I guess what part of this is new and not just  I think supercharging the current system that we   know for a tenure look back hasn't actually put a  dent in the numbers of folks who are experiencing   homelessness as far as getting them where they  need to be um my thought and then I'll let Sally   at hers um is that there's not a singular goal  that the ecosystem is working towards such as   reducing homelessness I think organizations  are but there's kind of it's triage   um secondly there because the numbers haven't  improved there's a churn people are going through   the homeless system getting housed maybe  and then falling back into homelessness or   some situation like that so the the approach  isn't working what this facility allows   or forces is better coordination to make  sure people are getting Services up front   um at you know the reason we brought in  the best practices was like how are how   are communities and organizations using  different models like reducing stays in   shelters versus it going up substantially  which it has here so it's like to create   something in the relatively short term by  2030 that fills this huge gap and starts to   work toward this idea of prevention and diversion  and um really aligning the service as well which   there's just from my perspective and what  I've seen there's that's not the model here   I don't think that really fully answered  but Sally do you have anything to add so you know how is it different I mean one of the  biggest takeaways is looking at shelter and not   operating our shelter system like the 1990s we're  going to shuffle people over here for daytime   shelter we're gonna Shuffle people over here for  nighttime shelter and are they really getting tied   to the services that they need when they spend  the majority of their time being shuffled from   one place to the other or sleeping right and so  having a more comprehensive approach to trying to   address individuals needs or barriers to get  them into permanent housing rather than just   focusing on the operation of the shelter right  we're open from this hour to this hour take all   of your things go do what you can during the day  don't come back till you know seven o'clock at   night isn't really a comprehensive way to really  be addressing people's needs and what we'll hear   from a lot of the overnight shelters is well  we are we push them out to encourage them to   apply for jobs who applies for a job carrying all  their possessions walking in and out of businesses   anymore people apply for jobs working with one  at a computer building their resume dealing   with different issues it really is a different  approach to how shelter can be done we can't do   it alone we can't as a city we can't with five  and a half million dollars it really needs a   system overhaul the the end goal needs to be not  just how many people are we serving should not   be the key number we're looking at the key number  is how many people have we gotten into permanent   housing what's that next step right not just  turning people from this shelter I can be in for   30 days and now I'm going to this shelter I can  go and you know for for who knows what length of   period but in the end who's really addressing that  family's needs we don't have a shelter that'll   take couples we don't have them that generally  takes pets you know we have different needs than   we did in the 1990s individually and we need  to be you know encouraging our partners in the   community to change their existing models to to  to reflect the changing need in the community   mayor this is transformational much like 316  was except it takes it to another step and it   goes to what Sally's talked about over the last  several months or actually last year and that   is the 21st century approach which is much  more holistic and has much better chance for   success and I think when you talk about rental  units shelter and most importantly the support   services in the same facility that's a new model  and as Sally said doesn't reflect the models that   have been used over the last 20 30 40 years well  that's why I'm asking are we are you asking about   because 316 was a was a purchase of an asset  that we're able to utilize and this started the   conversation started off about how we have 130  people of vouchers in hand who can't even get   housing even though we're gonna we have vouchers  in hand that's guaranteed money uh and then we   talk about Services um and of course case managers  will our case manager is just going to put more   vouchers in more hands and then those vouchers are  can't be used and then we're not really making a   dent but we are actually continuing A system that  that is shown to even in the best case scenario   you filled out the paperwork you qualify you got  the voucher in handy you're still homeless like   so what I guess that that's that's what I want to  want to talk about my understanding uh and I love   the 316 project is buying utilizing some of these  older assets and turning them into places where   people can can get get back in their feet is are  we looking towards providing more services that   are currently out are we looking towards possibly  person purchasing an asset that will allow us to   replicate the success we had with 316. I think  you're looking at that as short term and long   term right in the long term you know we I would  love to have us come out with an asset with this   because that's a long-term result that's going to  affect countless lives you know we talk about the   316 yeah it's 54 units those units are going  to turn and people are going to be moving you   know on to other opportunities and we'll have  more people going in you know case management   is necessary so we really have to it is going to  be a a combination of both the the one piece I we   haven't mentioned on this two another opportunity  we may have is at the state housing conference a   couple weeks ago uh humankind and I actually did  a joint session on the development of the 316.   and the Kansas Housing Resource Corporation their  manager over their home our program tackled me out   of meeting and said we want to be part of this  if you're going to do something like this again   and the state has an allocation of 22 million  now granted they're not going to put it all in   Wichita but if we can get a piece of that to help  supplement I think that would be fabulous and I   would love to know what the next steps for that  would be because if we could leverage our five   plus million with the states to replicate 316  type program we have an asset that's actually   has shown success then that would be  transformational I mean I believe we're   the only city in Kansas that actually has the  316 model that we use I know other cities have   used it that is a best practice but in Kansas I  think we're leading away with that and thus if   if the state is interested in being a part of that  success and helping us fund that then I if who do   I got a call like what do we have to do to I guess  see if that's an option so you know this model   here that you know that's my dream if we could  do it that would be fabulous right because we do   need it we need a navigation space we need to know  where does someone go where does someone you know   where can a hot team take someone they can spend  hours trying to figure out where to take someone   if we have a single point where they could go they  could be screened is it a diversion situation is   it a prevention situation do they need referral  into shelter are they a candidate for a Vash   voucher that sort of thing there is no One-Stop  shop there is no one place for people to go right   non-congregate shelter is a great thing that came  out of code of it one of the great things about   non-congregate shelters you don't have to worry  about is it a man shelter is it a women's how   do people identify do you think you know because  they have individual spaces and the safety around   those spaces you can have a mixed population  it's being served in non-congregate shelter   so this it obviously is a dream I think the for  me the easiest portion is the affordable housing   piece because it has a mechanism to fund itself  operationally that's why 316 works is be there   they can collect enough in rents because they  have no Debt Service to be able to pay for 24-Hour   security and 24-hour services for those families  in addition to you know Building Maintenance   and management without any Debt Service so it  funds itself over time there's not a mechanism   for necessarily for that for the non-congregate  shelter or the navigation Center so if we're going   to be able to put those Services out there those  funds for operations have to come from somewhere   and it's not you know rent like in the affordable  housing units we're also at a unique point in the   state and that the state passed some housing  bills including the state housing tax credit   so this could absolutely be done as part of a  low-income housing tax credit project to build   the affordable housing units layering both federal  and state tax credits to fund that leaving more of   that five and a half million available for the  other type of services but not the operations so 5.5 million of Arbor funds tax credits  federal state plus the possibility that the   state could come on top with either matching  or helping fill up any gaps how do I get you   this how many units do you want like what  what can we actually do to get this plan   done you need a building what do we need  I mean it could be built from the ground   up truly you need a partner because I mean as  the city we don't operate shelters and we're   getting out of the managing property business  right we really need our partners to come to   the table we would need a developer partner  we would need a non-profit for any type of   navigation Center management and or shelter  operations getting our partners to think and   do things different than they've always done it  is a huge challenge but it's what a tremendous   opportunity so once you take advantage of this  right so if it's all right with if the council   endorses this concept if that's what I if I  get head nods today what we'd like to do then   is put together an implementation plan right  what what the next steps would look like but   we wanted to first I mean because you've got some  flexibility with the arpa dollars as outlined by   Andy in his presentation we want to make sure  that this is the direction you want us to go and the home art plan is going to require that  we prioritize and create a preference list of   what it is we want to make available we could  easily say here's the dream this is number one   priority if we get this great but what if we  don't what's the next step what would be the   other thing is it just the housing use units  is it just the non-congregate shelter before   we think about Plan B and C is plan a is this  what you want this is this would be my dream yeah   yes can we get a number on it can we get some but  if we want to put this in play Let's go with plan   A before we start looking at Plan B and C rather  that's layering funds rather that is uh I guess   going out figuring out what what the inventory is  working with developers or whoever else that uh   might have connections uh uh with with City staff  to to have conversations about this um let's start   with the best option and see if we can work that  uh and I love everything you're doing Sally I want   to give you whatever you need to be successful  and frankly let's not bid against ourselves you   know plan a is going to be the one that will  actually put in Denton in this issue let's go   with that and then if if once we we explore it it  doesn't work then we'll go to plan B but we might   even learn something in this process where Plan B  looks a little more like plan A B so uh that that   would be my my two cents on this okay I have two  questions sorry um the first one is and I'm sorry   if you addressed that one this one I stepped out  how do we get the vouchers to be usable like how   do we increase either the amount that they're  worth or they're doing us no good if we have all   of these and we're passing them out but we're  not able to use them so all this big plan a or   whatever is working like how can we work on that  piece sure I mean it's something that like I said   not just in the homelessness Arena we're working  it on the regular voucher side too it's trying to   build relationships improve relationships with  existing landlords we're looking at this from   the bigger side too so you know conversations are  being had with a potential buyer of the Commodore   and so you know we're having conversations and  going okay we might be able to provide some home   funding but let's let's get some set aside of  units that maybe for some for homelessness maybe   some regular vouchers so we we need to be having  those big level conversations too you know I was   at the National Housing conference last week  and almost everybody I talked to said they're   in the same boat they're having large companies  coming in swooping up apartment complexes and   just saying no rent assistance we don't want to  deal with Section 8. and so and we're hearing it   Coast to Coast big big cities small towns which  is kind of interesting because that's guaranteed   money it is and so it's interesting that some  people would just walk away from I guess from   not using them so we're you know we're also  looking at um project basing vouchers which   is a long-term rental assistance with contract so  that that would be coming to the housing board to   to discuss having conversations with landlords  to do long-term rent assistance contracts and a   project-based level which would set up you know  set aside that does allow us to pay some things   like um vacancy loss between residents and things  you got to give what what's the benefit in it the   flip side that's a little bit challenging for  us too when we talk about landlords incentives   if you remember in 2020 we actually launched  a landlord incentive program and we put aside   a hundred thousand dollars for risk mitigation  fund vacancy loss and we had zero clients which   was just crazy to me because we had always heard  that landlords you know don't want to participate   because they're afraid of huge damages and I'm  like well we didn't have any any Clans although   it wasn't used there weren't just many landlords  who really even wanted to sign the documents to   participate in that program so we've been having  more conversations with our non-profit providers   and even our housing staff to say building that  land that relationship with landlords is the is   really the key and I always say if you can find  a larger apartment complex you can get them to   commit to 10 units you commit to being there once  a week on site you or a member of your team right   to be there once a week if the landlord's having  an issue you know that's the biggest Gap we see   is that a landlord will have a problem and when  do they have a problem Saturday night right and   the caseworker from from the nonprofit referring  agency isn't working our staff isn't working and   the landlord gets frustrated so this idea of  a hotline or landlord liaison to try and build   that so that landlords will come back I've seen  this in my career with with landlords opting out   for a period guess what when their vacancies start  creeping up all of a sudden they do start coming   back but that takes it's like an 18-month period  where we see landlords dropping off and then   all of a sudden it hits their bottom line because  their units aren't necessarily all filled and then   they start coming back but we don't have 18 months  to wait for that cycle right I would just say my   only other question is how do we in I mean we all  know that Wichita has a lot of growth right now   and we're still building and we're building lots  of luxury apartments and things like that how can   we encourage people to build affordable or I mean  how do we there seems to be so much Focus but and   I know there's not going to be a lot of money  to be made you know on the affordable side or   whatever but how can we encourage people to build  affordable or like even have that conversation   because so you know we're looking at this more  holistically with just recently in the last couple   months started meeting regularly with economic  development we had a great conversation yesterday   about the rural housing incentive District which  just sounds like not Wichita but they did put in   a provision for properties multi-story properties  that are in qualified census tracts that are over   25 years old that have a primarily residential use  it's like a tiff or uh for for residential housing   but you have to actually apply to the Department  of Commerce to show the housing need in our   discussion yesterday was maybe we need to get out  ahead of this let's do the study that we need so   that we can say our primarily commercial area has  a housing need we there are buildings that meet   the criteria and then we can try and sell that in  essence to developers who are coming in but only   you know if they're going to do some affordable  affordable units in there I mean we are trying   to to strategize for the long term the problem is  homelessness it's a now but it's also a long term   and so we have to really look at you know what  strategies we can put in place both long term and   short-term well plus you have the affordable  housing fund yes we do so should we I guess   would it be appropriate to do a request for  information to get ideas from developers and   non-profits on how a plan like this uh could be  executed what the numbers would be what part of   town based on you know the the RFI that makes  sense I think that a lot of what we have been   discussing over the last year is been at the idea  level could we take that next level of what the   practicality what where something like this could  go and who would be willing to come to the table   perhaps an RFI might bring people out who would  be qualified but might not be in this discussion   currently so I I just want to float that out  there and perhaps the manager can tell me if   yeah you've done more rfis than I have so what I  like to do is huddle with the team you've got some   great resources here that have gotten us to this  point and asked them to talk about what the next   step would be and how we get a plan developed  and how we then go after the assist not just   the financial assistance we need but how can we  attract other parties for the construction project   I do have concerns that our partners aren't  necessarily going to want to play in in what we're   devising here I mean we did put out an RFP for  winter shelter adding some components that we're   looking which is better data 24-hour operation  we only got one response and I don't believe   they understood the requirements of the RFP um  so I'm not seeing a whole lot of of movement   in in necessarily changing the way they do their  operations because you know we threw 200 000 out   the door and didn't get people coming back and and  the funny part about that was I said one of them   came back to me and said how can you expect us  to do this I said there's nothing in the RFP that   said the number of people we want you know we want  to test out this model of how do you you know if   you're providing 24-hour service to both men women  Etc and unfortunately we'll we'll be going back   out again and having some further discussions  because we know there's a tremendous need   for shelter this winter and we're hearing  Rumblings that if a union rescue mission   may be changing their Model come January 1 and  not be doing shelter at all if that happens how   is the system going to respond to that so what  are the plans to overcome that right because I   we're sitting on millions of dollars  and the council is ready to act and   and frankly we can't I guess be held up by  organizations that aren't willing to work   with us how do we move forward without  I guess the approval of an organization   that's not willing to collect data yeah let  us let us put our heads together yeah okay all we need to do is a green light to move forward  and we'll and I I think I got the green lights yes   yes we definitely want to move forward but I  thought this conversation was dead get jumped   a little deeper so I look forward to the next  conversation but oh no temperatures dropping   already so you know we're on the clock especially  if Union Rescue is going to change their model   yeah I I don't want to mix too many issues  in here we do want to work on the winter or   the emergency winter shelter issue so  we're going to regroup on that as well   thank you okay well thank you thank you thank  you thank you we're in closing I just want to   thank the staff we we brought two programs to  you that I think really will make a difference   in people's lives and especially those that  are some are more disadvantaged residents and   so I I'm really proud of the effort that  staff has put in to get us to this point that um that's all we have all right well  if that's it is there any discussion   or announcements for the good of the body  this Saturday make sure you get some chili that's right all right if not I  uh we're adjourned thank you all