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On Monday, the Pittsburg City Council is being asked to approve a 3-year agreement with Contra Costa health Services for homeless outreach.

The move comes as the latest Contra Costa County Point in Time Count showed the City of Pittsburg saw an increase in homelessness between 2023 to 2024. It jumped from 58 to 110.

According to the three-year contract, the total cost is $880,848 for a Coordinated Outreach Referral and Engagement (CORE) program services to assist individuals living in a state of homelessness within the boundaries of Pittsburg.

The Agreement will be funded by $874,738 in PHLA funds and Housing Successor Agency (HSA) funds will be used to pay for the difference between the total cost of the Agreement and the PLHA grant funds, which is anticipated to be $6,110. HSA funds will also be used as an advance in the event that HCD is delayed in remitting the grant funds to the City.

Through the State’s Project Home Key program, the County acquired Motel 6 and turned it into a permanent shelter named Delta Landing in 2022. Conversion of Motel 6 into a shelter has financially impacted the City because Motel 6 was no longer able to generate and pay transient occupancy tax to the City. To help ease some of the impacts, the County funded a CORE Team dedicated to Pittsburg (Pittsburg CORE Team) for fiscal years 2021/22 and 2022/23. The County’s funding of the Pittsburg CORE Team expired on June 30, 2023.

The CORE program works to engage and stabilize homeless persons and families through consistent outreach and to refer the unhoused to resources such as shelters, daytime drop-in care centers, emergency food, job training, healthcare, mental health counseling, transportation, substance abuse treatment, and other services. CORE teams serve as an entry point into the County’s coordinated entry system for the unhoused and work to locate, engage, stabilize, and house chronically homeless individuals and families.

Pursuant to the Initial Agreement, the Pittsburg CORE Team consists of 2 staff members who will each work 40 hours per week, Monday-Friday, 8 am-4 pm. The work schedule may be revised based on the City’s needs. The Pittsburg CORE Team will provide the following services:

• Identify and initiate contacts with homeless individuals living on the streets, assess their housing and service needs, and facilitate connections to shelter, benefits, behavioral health and primary healthcare services.
• Respond to calls for outreach and engagement from the City staff.
• Conduct a standardized intake and needs assessment assuring all homeless individuals contacted are entered into the Homeless Management Information System used by the Contractor.
• Conduct VI-SPDAT (Vulnerability Index-Service Prioritization Assistance Tool), a housing assessment tool assuring that homeless individuals who are provided services hereunder are entered into the Coordinated Entry system for prioritizing their needs for longer term housing.
• Partner with assigned City officer(s) during CORE Team’s work shifts throughout the week as needed and as determined by the City.
• Connect homeless individuals, also designated as “homeless clients,” via phone or in person with other points in the homeless service continuum including, but not limited to, interim housing, substance abuse treatment, mental health counseling, benefits, etc.
• Perform special assignments that include, but not limited to, homeless counts and presentations.
• Conduct patrols of strategic areas within the city limits on foot and via vehicle.
• Observe and report threats to the health and/or safety of homeless individuals (or threats by homeless individuals to the health or safety of others) encountered in the field and determine the need to request for uniformed police, fire or other emergency personnel.
• Maintain direct communications with the City’s Police Department to report illegal activity.
• CORE Team supervisors and outreach workers will participate in monthly meetings with the City’s Police Management, as well as with public and private partners as deemed appropriate by the City.
• Contractor will provide a monthly report to the City which will describe the services rendered during the previous 30 days, as well as the names of the persons rendering the service

According to the staff report, the homeless crisis is not particular to any city. Because most cities do not have the resources to tackle homeless issues on their own, many cities partner with counties and service providers as an efficient and cost effective way of addressing homelessness.

The City is no different. For example, the City uses some of its Community Development Block Grant funds to fund organizations who provide meals and conduct food distribution and administer healthcare services to the unhoused. Various housing funds have been used to assist projects that constructed residential units for those who were previously homeless or at the verge of homelessness. The City also provides in-kind services to assist the shower program offered to the unhoused. The City is dedicated to working with its partners in providing resources and assisting in the homeless efforts.

If You Go:

Pittsburg City Council Meeting
June 17, 2024  at 7:00 pm
65 Civic Avenue, Pittsburg

Staff Report, click here
Agreement, click here

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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) —Colorado dropped the final game of the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-2. Pittsburgh did not mess around. Four Pirates pitchers said, “Not today, Colorado,” holding the Rockies to just two runs. This is the same Rockies team that scored 16 runs the night before – only the second time they have done that since 2018.

The Pirates were already on a roll with three home runs and 10 extra-base hits on Saturday night. They kept the momentum going, racking up nine hits on Sunday. The real magic happened in the sixth inning. With two outs and the pressure on, Dakota Hudson and reliever Victor Vodnik couldn’t catch a break. Jared Triolo delivered a clutch two-run single, and Jason Delay cleared the bases with a three-run double – his first hit of the season.

The Rockies have not had a series win in the past five series. They look to change that as they welcome the 44-29 Los Angeles Dodgers into town. The first pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. with Cal Quantrill on the mound for the Rockies and James Paxton on the bump for Los Angeles. The Dodgers will be without Mookie Betts, who is out with a fractured hand after getting hit by a pitch in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals.

The Grand Junction Jackalopes picked up a win in the final game over the Boise Hawks, 12-9, splitting the series. Julian Boyd and Andres Rios led the way for the ‘Lopes. Boyd went 2-for-5 with four RBIs, and Rios had a day at the park, going 4-for-4 with three RBIs. Brandon Ross came in to relieve and picked up the win for the ‘Lopes, going 3 2/3 innings while striking out four. The Jackalopes return home and get ready for the Ogden Raptors in a six-game series. The first game is Tuesday with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cam Heyward still have not agreed on a new contract. The team’s minicamp is completed, leaving just a brief break between now and the start of training camp. After that, the regular season will be here in a snap, leaving contract talks to wait until the season concludes.

If a contract extension is completed, it will be during this break before training camp and the preseason begins. Heyward recently made bold claims about playing elsewhere, which could apply pressure on the Steelers to finalize his new extension. The biggest question remaining in these negotiations is what will the contract look like if they reach an agreement.

Let’s start with the NFL’s current market for defensive linemen. According to Over the Cap, Heyward’s average salary of just over $16 million ranks 19th among interior defensive linemen. The position received a huge boost when the recently retired Aaron Donald negotiated his contract extension, earning himself an average salary north of $30 million.

That reset of the market led to a group of younger defensive linemen getting paid. Players such as Justin Madubuike, Derrick Brown, Dexter Lawrence, and Jeffrey Simmons all received contracts totaling more than $90 million after Donald signed his extension. They also were guaranteed at least 50% of their total contract. Heyward wants to be paid like a top-10 defensive lineman in the NFL, putting him on par with or exceeding these contracts.

The biggest hold-up for the Steelers is Heyward’s age. He’s 35 years old, and while he wants to play longer, there is no guarantee what level he can bring to finish his career. The best linemen in the league are between the ages of 25-31, with many players out of the league by the time they are Cam’s age.

There’s no doubt that the Steelers have a freak of nature in Cam Heyward, but should they pay him like he will be elite for the duration of his next contract? His performance at this point of his career is an anomaly, and the Steelers could believe that anomaly is coming to an end.

If the two sides get a deal done, it will be a compromise. Heyward can’t expect to make as much money as he’d like, and the Steelers must do something they never do: sign an aging veteran to a market-rate contract.

Some examples that could key us in on a potential contract are recent deals for defensive linemen age 30 or older. An example from last summer is former Steelers nose tackle Javon Hargrave. At age 30, he signed a four-year, $84 million deal with San Francisco. Similarly, DeForest Buckner recently signed a two-year, $46 million contract with the Indianapolis Colts. Nearly all of the money is guaranteed as well.

With all of this in mind, what will a new deal look like between Heyward and the Steelers? The length of the contract feels easier to predict. Heyward stated that he wants to play a few more years, so why not settle on a two or three-year contract? The team can structure it so there are options worked in and can leave themselves wiggle room should Heyward drastically decline.

As for the salary, that’s the real kicker. If the Steelers are willing to up his average salary to somewhere between $20 and $25 million, depending on the length of the contract, a deal will get done quickly. A new contract in the neighborhood of two-year, $40-48 million, or three-year, $60-70 million should put this negotiation to rest for Heyward and the Steelers.

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