Human Services Advisory Council

MINUTES Human Services Advisory Council City of Falls Church PURPOSE OF MEETING: To advise the City Council on human services delivery to Falls Church residents. DATE OF MEETING: July 18, 2024 PLACE OF MEETING: In Person (Dogwood Room) w/ Virtual Option MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY Brian Bowden at 6:32 p.m. THOSE PRESENT: HSAC Members: Student Representatives: Brian Bowden Jeff Person CSB Representative: Marsha Hertzberg Nicole Newman Commission on Aging Representatives: Debra Z Roth (Virtual) Staff: Dana Jones Leslyn Barrow Ripal Patel (virtual) City Council Representative: Caroline Lian Debra Z Roth – She participated virtually from home in Falls Church City. Reason – She was caring for her partner who is recovering from surgery. Mentioned by Brian Bowden and seconded by Jeff Person and all in favor. APPROVAL TO ADOPT THE AGENDA: The agenda for this meeting was adopted. Moved by Jeff Person seconded by Nicole Newman. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes from the June 20, 2024 meeting were approved. Motioned by Jeff Person and seconded by Marsha Hertzberg and all members agreed. Public Comment – Brian Bowden asked if we have any public comment. No comments were received. NEW BUSINESS: • Overview of Services for Seniors – Leslyn Barrow, Human Services Specialist II – She talked about affordable Assisted Living in the City of Falls Church – She said we do have affordable assisted living for seniors and persons with disabilities at Sunrise and Kensington. One is reduced fees for room and board and the other one is subsidy. Kensington’s subsidy for this year is $107,000. Unfortunately, because the cost for assisted living is very high and therefore we can only have one person at a time. At Sunrise, just room and board and extra care are not included. We have 12 moderate-income beds and 6 low-income beds. We have 10 available for moderate-income and 4 available for low-income. Marsha Hertzberg – Who determines the income levels? Leslyn Barrow said we use HUD AMIs and based on that 50% and below is considered low and it goes up to 80%. Caroline Lian – Can a resident stay as long as they want to? Leslyn Barrow said that is correct and as long as they can afford it. Caroline Lian – What is the turnover rate for a low-income rate? Leslyn Barrow – For example, only one resident left for this year. Nicole Newman – How do you plan on advertising what is available and getting the word out? Leslyn Barrow said she let seniors know when they call. We are also planning on advertising in the Falls Church New Press. We also have this information available on our website. Nicole Newman asked if HHS is trying to get information to the community center with the senior service. Leslyn Barrow said yes. Leslyn Barrow – Provided an overview of the Dental clinic program. Northern Virginia Dental Clinic is the City’s partner. Each month we get four slots to go to the dental clinic. It is based on the federal poverty guideline. This program is for adults only. The children are referred to the neighborhood health or Fairfax County programs. Leslyn Barrow - Emergency Financial Assistance – We help with rent, utilities, food, dental care, and clothing. We used to support with furniture, but this has become a problem. We were using the Falls Church Community Services Council program, but they are no longer doing that. Fairfax County has a program, but they have said the City is too far for them to come help. Nicole Newman – Asked Leslyn if she is okay to reach out to a local thrift shop or if she wants HSAC to do this. She then asked HSAC if they wanted to reach out to the local thrift shop. Caroline Lian said she would introduce HSAC to someone who can help in this matter. Leslyn Barrow – Transportation Program - Mentioned Farewheels transportation, which is a taxi coupon-based program for seniors and persons with disabilities. Through Fairfax County, there is a transportation program where people can enroll based on their income and age. There is also a Metro access program. It is door-to-door transportation for anyone who cannot go to a bus stop due to a disability. Jeff Person raised a concern about Metro Access service being late most of the time. Leslyn Barrow – Contract with Fairfax County for services for seniors – Said residents have to call Fairfax County themselves or with family members. Sometimes she helps clients do this based on circumstances. She also mentioned about Rent-relief and real estate tax relief programs. Marsha Hertzberg – Asked if the city residents want to use these services with Fairfax County do they have to wait, is there a waitlist? Leslyn Barrow said no there is no  waitlist. Caroline Lian – Made a comment on getting a report that shows how many City residents are using Fairfax County services. Marsha Hertzberg – Do residents have to go through the City to access available services from Fairfax County? Leslyn Barrow – No they don’t have to, but residents often call our office and we refer them to different services available through Fairfax County. Marsha Hertzberg – Do people know about services available through Fairfax County when they call your office about different services? Leslyn Barrow – Yes, they do know. Nicole Newman – We have the new senior living coming to the City, are we anticipating any units? Dana Jones – We have some subsidy at West End Development that will help, but Quinn doesn’t have any subsidy. The group discussed the possibility of sending a letter of recommendation to the Housing Commission asking them to consider requesting a subsidy for the Quinn project. Leslyn Barrow – City residents are eligible to use Fastran to go to the senior center in Fairfax County. CSB – Seniors are also welcome to use CSB services with Fairfax County. Brian Bowden – Are all these Fairfax County services for older adults income-based, or is it possible some are not? Leslyn Barrow said most services are income-based but it is possible some are not. Marsha Hertzberg – Where do we get data from CSB in terms of City residents who couldn’t be served because there was a waiting list? Ripal Patel said no we have not received that specific data from CSB. He also said he would try to request this data to be added to the report. Jeff Person – I would love for the City to advocate for legislation to request data on CSB that breaks down and shows more details. Leslyn Barrow – Advocacy is also provided through our office for Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, etc. We also provide translation services for those who are not English proficient. Nicole Newman – Do you have enough staff for the department to handle the increase in inquiries from the city residents? Leslyn Barrow said a lot of people are given information and a lot of people can navigate the information and there are family members who help them. There are not a lot of people that we have to manage in the office just by ourselves. Dana Jones added that HHS is looking into hiring more people in 2026, but in the meantime, we have interns helping the department. She also mentioned HHS used the Fairfax County employment program to have a temp admin person to help the department. Leslyn Barrow – We also have a contract with Fairfax County for the use of homeless shelters. • Update - Proposed Initiatives to Support City Council Workplan – Dana Jones – Provided an update on Proposed Initiatives to support City Council Workplan. She said Jennifer Carol provided an update during the council meeting. She mentioned five key City council priorities: environmental sustainability, transportation, economic development, housing, and good governance. She mentioned about ADA transition plan update. This plan will identify a list of physical obstacles in building, parking, parks, and pedestrian infrastructure as well as a detailed plan to make those facilities accessible. Also added, the council is trying to preserve what we have in housing without any net loss. She added that 99 new ADU units will become available in the next three months. Marsha Hertzberg – What are those properties where we will receive new ADU units? Dana Jones – West Falls, Broad and Washington, and Founders Row II. Broad and Washington will offer 40% AMI units. Broad and Washington will have 33 ADUs which includes studios and two bedrooms, West Falls Project will have 32 units which includes studios, one bedroom, and two bedrooms, and Founders Row will have 34 units which includes one bedroom and two bedrooms. Nicole Newman – Are these units ADA-accessible? Dana Jones said they will have some units that are ADA-accessible. Dana Jones said Broad and Washington will have nine studios and the current maximum rent is $913 for the studios at 40% AMI, the studios at 80% AMI are $1825 and the studios at 60% are $1825. Those will serve people with incomes between $74,000 and $86,000. West Falls Project has seven studios at 60% AMI. They have 16 one-bedrooms and nine two-bedrooms. At Founders Row II we have units at 60% and 80%, but we don’t know the unit type yet. Virginia Village’s plan in the future is to have a redevelopment work group to talk about once we acquire more properties over in Virginia Village. The next one is developing an affordable living policy and the plan is to have that adopted in time for next fiscal year. Lastly,  developing a zoning code amendment for consideration that will allow for accessory dwelling units. She also mentioned we are going to refresh and update our website. Nicole Newman – The Fields running out of tax credit, what is our plan to preserve that? Dana Jones – We have started working on a road map to preserve the Fields. • Regional Commission Updates – Dana Jones, Staff – We have hired someone for the Advisory Social Services Board. The Continuum of Care Board we have someone now. Commission on Aging, we need someone for this commission. Disability Services Board, Dana Jones wasn’t sure about this board. CSB we have someone on that. The Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Commission, just appointed someone last week. We still need the Health System Agency, Long Term Coordinating Council, Northern Virginia Community College Board, Northern Virginia Work Force Investment Board, and Skills Force Group. Debra Z Roth asked if Dana Jones could send her the list of board and commission that we need people for. Dana Jones said she would send her a link. Old BUSINESS: • Affordable Living Policy – Update – Jeff Person, Vice Chair – Provided update on Affordable living policy. He said they talked about zoning and changes. Also talked about how the City needs to look into gaps in Medicaid services for people with disabilities. • Senator Salim Meeting - Next Steps – Brian Bowden, Chair – No meeting in August. September 19, 6:30 PM our regular business meeting, and then we will immediately join the Housing Commission at 7:00 PM for the Senator Salim meeting. • Other – No meeting in August Summer Schedule – Brian Bowden, Staff Jeff Person made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Debra Z Roth Seconded that and all members voted yes to adjourn the meeting at 8:19 PM. The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This document will be made available in an alternate format upon request. Call 703-248- 5005 (TTY 711).