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Community Development Agency <br />https://www.santa-ana.org/community-development <br />Item # 8 <br />City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br /> Staff Report <br />August 15, 2023 <br />TOPIC: CalOptima Health Street Medicine Program <br />AGENDA TITLE <br />Authorize staff to provide a Letter of Interest to CalOptima Health to have the City of <br />Santa Ana be considered as a future expansion City for its Street Medicine Program. <br />RECOMMENDED ACTION <br />Authorize staff to provide a Letter of Interest to CalOptima Health to launch a Street <br />Medicine Program in the City of Santa Ana that will provide health and social care <br />developed specifically to address the complex needs and circumstances of unhoused, <br />unsheltered individuals in the City of Santa Ana. <br />DISCUSSION <br />On April 1, 2023, CalOptima, in partnership with the City of Garden Grove <br />and Healthcare in Action, launched Orange County’s first Street Medicine Program to <br />deliver comprehensive health and social care to individuals experiencing homelessness, <br />addressing the unique needs and circumstances of unsheltered individuals. The <br />successful approach of the CalOptima Health Street Medicine Program builds <br />necessary rapport and engages people experiencing homelessness “where they are” <br />and on their “own terms,” thereby reducing and/or eliminating barriers to care access <br />and follow-through services. In its first four months of operations, CalOptima Health’s <br />Street Medicine Program has served over 100 unhoused individuals, connecting 95% of <br />its enrollees to both a medical home and housing navigation services. <br />CalOptima Health is interested in launching a second Street Medicine Program in <br />another city in Orange County, replicating its existing program that uses walking teams <br />and medical vans to canvas and reach unhoused members living in parks, under <br />freeways, or other unsheltered spaces. Services include primary care, behavioral <br />health, and case management, inclusive of substance use referral services. The Street <br />Medicine Program would provide medical and social care to people who have not <br />sought or do not want to seek care in traditional settings. <br />The Street Medicine Program will complement and enhance Santa Ana’s outreach and <br />engagement services for people experiencing homelessness by not only providing <br />necessary medical and social services staff in the field to address the complex medical <br />and social needs of unhoused, unsheltered individuals in Santa Ana, but also to <br />  <br />  <br />City Council 8 – 1 8/15/2023