Kern County M Street Navigation Center

Overview

In May 2020, Kern County opened M Street Navigation Center, located at 2900 M Street near downtown Bakersfield. The 150-bed facility is owned by the County of Kern and operated by Community Action Partnership of Kern and designed to be a 24-hour facility providing shelter beds, meals, laundry services, medical assessment, sole personal care, mental health, pet care, housing placement assistance, and employment assistance to unsheltered individuals who face significant barriers to supportive housing care.

Context:

Kern County experienced a 95% increase in its homeless population since 2017, outgrowing its existing service’s infrastructure and needing to add shelter space in an expedient amount of time. There are 1,580 individuals experiencing homelessness in Kern County and a new facility was needed to house, serve and heal the growing population. Kern County required a facility to effectively shelter and transition their homeless population into long term supportive and affordable housing.

Mission: Provide an alternative to encampments to help move people off the streets, through bridge housing facilities, and into long-term housing.

Gallery

Site

Owner: Kern County (Kern County Parks and Recreation)

Previous Use: Storage site for Kern County Parks and Recreation

Use Arrangement: County owns the land and has a case managment agreement with CAPK to operate the site.

Site Selection Criteria Considerations: Unknown.

Funding

Upfront Development*	$3 million	Fully funded by The Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) program – see notes below.
Cost Per Bed*	$20k	150 beds in total
Operating Costs*	$2.16 million/year	Fully funded by The Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) program – see notes below.(budget source)
Cost Per Bed*	$13k/year	$37/bed/night

*approximations

Development

Lead Deal Coordinator		Kern County
Community Engagement		Kern County
Construction Management		RPM
Shelter Vendor / Manufacturer		Sprung Structure
On-Site Assembly		RPM

Operations

Lead Operators:

Operator	Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) – Since 1965, Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) has provided an integrated network of services as the official anti-poverty agency in Kern County. One of more than 1,000 Community Action Agencies nationwide, CAPK is one of the largest 501(c)(3) organizations in Kern County, but its service footprint extends throughout central California, including Kings, Tulare, Fresno, Merced, Madera, Mariposa, San Bernardino and San Joaquin Counties. CAPK administers fifteen programs aimed at meeting children, families and individuals at their point of need. (source: annual report).www.capk.org/
Agreement	3-year case management agreement with Kern County.
Staffing	17 day-shift workers Shelter Manager Program Supervisor Logistic Coordinators Case Managers Security Janitorial Back-end Admin
Services Provided	CAPK provides wraparound services, which include intensive case management, linkages to medical and mental health support, groups and classes for self- awareness. In addition, we focus on housing navigation and employment assistance such as resume building, interview preparation. These services are designed to help people move into – and stay – in permanent housing.Security, meal service, and janitorial services are subcontracted by CAPK.
Cost	~$37/bed/night operating costs
Operating Expenses	On-Site Personnel Maintenance Client Services, meals