DATE: June 21, 2022
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Sanja Bugay, Director, Department of Social Services
SUBJECT: Homelessness Action Plan for Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Round 3 Grant Program
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Conduct public hearing to receive testimony on the proposed Local Homelessness Action Plan for the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care service area;
2. Approve the Local Homelessness Action Plan, including the use of Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Grant funding allocation to the County of Fresno ($2,976,820) and the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care ($3,753,702); and,
3. Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program Authorized Signatories Form, as an approved signatory.
REPORT
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Approval of the recommended actions is necessary for the County to apply for the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program Round 3 (HHAP-3) grant funding on behalf of the County and Fresno Madera Continuum of Care (FMCoC), administered by the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH), and will permit staff to submit the required planning documentation to BCSH. It is necessary for the Chairman to be designated as an approved signatory on the HHAP Authorized Signatories Form to execute the HHAP-3 standard agreement and for BCSH to approve the HHAP-3 initial disbursement agreement. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There are no viable alternative actions. Recommended actions 1 and 2 are required by BCSH to submit the HHAP-3 application. Comments from the public and recommendations from your Board on the local homelessness action plan will be incorporated as timelines permit and will be utilized for the planning process for the HHAP Round 4 grant and other upcoming homelessness funding. Recommended action 3 is required to receive HHAP-3 funds provided through the HHAP-3 initial disbursement agreement approved by your Board on February 1, 2022.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. If the recommended actions are approved, the Department will apply for $6,730,522 in HHAP-3 funding allocated to the County ($2,976,820) and the FMCoC ($3,753,702) to provide homeless services throughout the County and in the FMCoC service area (Fresno and Madera counties). The maximum of 7% ($471,137) from the combined total allocation, will be retained by the County for the Department’s administrative costs. A minimum of 10% from the combined total allocation ($673,053) must be set aside for youth homeless services. An initial disbursement of 25% ($1,682,631) of the total combined grant will be issued following approval by BCSH of the HHAP-3 Initial Disbursement Agreement. The remaining 75% ($5,047,891) of the combined allocation will be disbursed upon approval of the final HHAP-3 application. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the Department’s Org 5610 FY 2021-22 Adopted Budget and will be included in subsequent budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
HHAP-3, authorized by Assembly Bill 140 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 111, Statutes of 2021), is a $1 billion block grant program designed to develop a unified regional response to homelessness and to provide support to local jurisdictions to continue to build on regional collaboration developed through previous rounds of BCSH funding. The funding is available to continuums of care, counties, tribal governments, and cities with populations over 300,000. HHAP-3 funding recipients from overlapping jurisdictions (i.e., CoC, large city, and/or county) are required to collaborate in addressing regional homelessness needs.
On October 5, 2021, the Board executed an Agreement to Apply with BCSH, affirming the County’s intent to submit a joint application for HHAP-3 grant funding allocated to the County and the FMCoC. By submitting a joint application, the County will receive an initial distribution of 25% ($1,682,631) of the combined HHAP-3 allocations ($6,730,522) and may use a combined application and reporting process for County and FMCoC HHAP-3 funds, thereby reducing the County’s administrative burden.
On February 1, 2022, your Board executed an Initial Disbursement Agreement with BCSH for $1,682,631 in HHAP-3 funds. The initial disbursement is prioritized for the development of a local homelessness action plan, capacity building for the homeless response system, and support for existing evidence-based homeless services programs.
The HHAP-3 application must be submitted with a local homelessness action plan including locally established outcome goals to be achieved by 2024. The plan and outcome goals must be presented for public comment at a regular meeting of the jurisdiction’s governing body. A planning group consisting of representatives from the City of Fresno, FMCoC, and Counties of Madera and Fresno completed an assessment of local homelessness resources and a gap analysis of the regional homelessness response system (Attachment A) which were used to develop the proposed local homelessness action plan (Attachment B). The gap assessment identified an ongoing need for interim shelter beds, street outreach services, rapid rehousing rental assistance, and homelessness prevention and diversion services. The plan supports a continuum of services and is consistent with both the planning process for previous rounds of HHAP funding undertaken in 2021 and the seven homelessness priorities supported by your Board in March 2022.
The proposed local homelessness action plan will support the following services for those experiencing or at-risk of homelessness across the region: street outreach to engage and provide services to unsheltered individuals and families, rapid rehousing services to provide medium-term rental assistance and housing case management, landlord engagement services to expand available housing inventory, Triage Centers to provide emergency shelter and intensive case management, Bridge Housing to provide interim housing for households awaiting placement in permanent housing, diversion services to quickly connect households seeking shelter services with permanent housing and avoid entering homelessness, and services tailored to homeless youth ages 18 - 24, including youth-targeted Bridge Housing and rapid rehousing for housing relocation and stabilization services. The plan includes a breakdown of how the County and FMCoC’s combined grant funding will be utilized. Although the Department will serve as the Administrative Entity for the FMCoC’s HHAP-3 funding, services provided with HHAP-3 funds must be implemented in alignment with the joint service plan developed in cooperation with the FMCoC and the other regional HHAP-3 recipients.
As part of the local homelessness action plan, HHAP-3 applicants are required to establish outcome goals for progress towards preventing and reducing homelessness over the three-year period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2024. These outcome goals are informed by the findings from the local landscape analysis developed through the regional partners’ joint planning process and the 2020 calendar year baseline system performance measures provided by the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH). The proposed outcome goals are not related to HHAP-3-funded activities alone, but rather are intended to represent jurisdictional, system-wide goals for preventing and ending homelessness through the implementation of the full range of federal, state, and local funding sources and through evidence-based strategies and activities. Additional related outcome goals for addressing disparities in underrepresented or disproportionately impacted homeless populations are outlined in the local homelessness action plan. Through an examination of local homelessness data, the regional partners have identified the following outcome goals to be met by June 30, 2024:
1. Reduce the total number of people experiencing homelessness by:
a. Increasing the number of people accessing services who are currently experiencing homelessness by 1,137 individuals (or a 30% increase from the 2020 baseline of 3,793)
b. Reducing the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness on a daily basis by 215 individuals (or an 8% decrease from the 2020 baseline of 2,681)
2. Reduce the number of people who become homeless for the first time by 208 individuals (or a 10% decrease from the 2020 baseline of 2,081)
3. Increase the number of people exiting homelessness into permanent housing by 178 individuals (or a 15% increase from the 2020 baseline of 1,185)
4. Reduce the average length of time people remain homeless by 8 days (or a 10% reduction from the 2020 baseline of 84 days)
5. Reduce the percentage of people who return to homelessness after exiting homelessness to permanent housing by 2% (or a 16% decrease from the 2020 baseline of 12%)
6. Increase successful placements from street outreach to interim shelter or permanent housing destinations by 5 individuals (or a 5% increase from the 2020 baseline of 99)
If all six outcome goals are met by June 30, 2024, based on Cal ICH’s evaluation of the corresponding system performance measures in the California Homeless Data Information System, the County and FMCoC will be eligible for an estimated $1.2 million in HHAP-3 bonus funding (or approximately 18% of the base grant allocation). The final amount of available bonus funding will be determined based on the region’s share of the total state homeless population.
The full HHAP-3 application must be submitted with the local homelessness action plan to BCSH by June 30, 2022. Agreements or amendments for services supported by the HHAP-3 grant will be brought before your Board for approval at a future date as appropriate.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #31, February 1, 2022
BAI #36, October 5, 2021
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachment A - HHAP-3 Homeless Services Landscape Analysis
Attachment B - HHAP-3 Homelessness Action Plan
On file with Clerk - Authorized Signatory Form
CAO ANALYST:
Sonia M. De La Rosa