DATE: August 5, 2025
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Paul Nerland, County Administrative Officer
Sanja Bugay, Director, Department of Social Services
SUBJECT: Regionally Coordinated Homelessness Action Plan and MOU for Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Round 6 Grant Program
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Conduct public hearing to receive testimony on the Regionally Coordinated Homelessness Action Plan for the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care (FMCoC) service area;
2. Approve the Regionally Coordinated Homelessness Action Plan, including the use of Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Round 6 Grant (HHAP-6) funding allocated to the County of Fresno and the FMCoC;
3. Authorize the Department of Social Services to submit a joint application on behalf of the County of Fresno and the FMCoC for the HHAP-6 Grant funding administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development; and
4. Authorize the Board Chairman to execute the HHAP-6 Regional Memorandum of Understanding, on behalf of the County of Fresno and the FMCoC.
REPORT
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. Approval of the recommended actions are required to submit a joint Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Program Round 6 (HHAP-6) application on behalf of the County and the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care (FMCoC) to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The Department of Social Services (Department) will serve as the Administrative Entity for the combined funding allocation. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Should your Board elect not to approve the recommended actions, the County would forfeit approximately $9.5 million (combined allocation) in HHAP-6 funding available to assist people experiencing homelessness in the community.
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 $9,548,430 in HHAP-6 funding allocated to the County of Fresno and the FMCoC. The maximum of 7% ($668,390) from the total allocation will be retained by the Department for administrative costs. A required 10% ($954,843) of the total allocation must be set aside for youth homeless services. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the Department’s Org 5610 FY 2025-26 Recommended Budget and will be included in the subsequent budget requests.
DISCUSSION:
HHAP-6 is a $1 billion grant program authorized by Section 13 of Assembly Bill 166 (Chapter 48, Statutes of 2024; Health & Safety Code Section 50239), signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on July 2, 2024. The program is designed to prevent and expeditiously reduce unsheltered homelessness through homelessness prevention activities and sustain existing interim and permanent housing solutions. The non-competitive funding is available to continuums of care, counties, tribal governments, and cities with a population over 300,000. Recipients from overlapping jurisdictions (i.e., CoCs, large cities, and/or counties) are required to collaborate in addressing regional homelessness needs as summarized in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
On November 29, 2022, the Board conducted a public hearing to solicit community input and approved the proposed local homelessness action plan for use of HHAP Round 4 funds allocated to the County and the FMCoC. The action plan and landscape analysis developed for HHAP Round 4 was updated and incorporated in the HHAP Round 5 action plan.
On March 19, 2024, the Board conducted a public hearing to solicit community input and approved the proposed local homelessness action plan for use of HHAP Round 5 funds allocated to the County and the FMCoC. The action plan developed for HHAP Round 5 has been updated and incorporated as appropriate in the HHAP-6 action plan and application.
Although the FMCoC’s HHAP-6 allocation will be redirected to the County to be administered by the Department, services provided with HHAP-6 funds must be carried out in alignment with the joint action plan developed in coordination with the regional recipients. In addition to collaborating on the regionally coordinated homelessness action plan, eligible applicants must apply as part of a region; therefore, the County will be included as part of a single application in conjunction with the FMCoC, the City of Fresno, and the County of Madera.
The HHAP-6 homelessness action plan must be presented for public comment at regular meetings of the jurisdiction’s governing bodies. Comments from the public and recommendations from your Board on the regionally coordinated homelessness action plan will be incorporated as timelines permit and will be utilized in the planning process for other upcoming funding. As a requirement of receiving HHAP-6 funds, applicants were required to collaborate and engage in a public stakeholder process to develop a coordinated action plan, which includes feedback from the community. Meetings were held in Fresno, Madera, Selma, Mendota, and virtually, at which representation from each jurisdiction was present to answer questions. Participants voted on which program activities would be most beneficial to their communities in addressing homelessness. The data collected was taken into consideration when developing the funding plan for HHAP-6 grant funds.
A planning group consisting of the City of Fresno, FMCoC, and Counties of Madera and Fresno completed an updated assessment of the local homelessness response system which informed the proposed regionally coordinated homelessness action plan (Attachment A). The plan supports a continuum of services consistent with the homelessness priorities supported by the Board in March 2022, the planning process for previous rounds of HHAP funding, and requirements outlined in the HHAP-6 grant program. The proposed action plan will support the following services:
• Emergency Shelter - Low-barrier interim shelter and wraparound services
• Rapid Rehousing - Rental subsidies and case management
• Rural Homeless Outreach - Street outreach services in unincorporated Fresno County
• Homelessness Prevention & Diversion - Services to quickly connect households seeking shelter services with permanent housing
• Homeless Management Information System - Homelessness data system support
• Services tailored to homeless youth ages 18 - 24 - Emergency shelter and rapid rehousing services
The HHAP-6 MOU is a required element of the application and must be signed by each participating applicant committing to participate in and comply with the regionally coordinated homelessness action plan. The regionally coordinated homelessness action plan outlines the following: each jurisdiction’s roles and responsibilities in addressing homelessness; policies for responding to homeless encampments; key actions to improve regional system performance measures and ensure racial and gender equity; sustainability of interim and permanent housing portfolios; and utilization of funding programs to end homelessness. The MOU was signed by the County of Madera on July 8, 2025; the City of Fresno on July 17, 2025, and was approved by the FMCoC on July 10, 2025. The full HHAP-6 application must be submitted by August 29, 2025. Upon receipt of the completed application, HCD will issue the HHAP-6 Standard Agreement, which will be brought to your Board for approval. Agreements or amendments for services supported by the HHAP-6 grant will be brought before your Board for approval at a future date, as appropriate.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #8, March 19, 2024
BAI #9, November 29, 2022
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachment A - HHAP-6 Homelessness Action Plan
Attachment B - HHAP-6 Regional MOU
CAO ANALYST:
Dylan McCully