Fremont City Council Meeting: 05/02/23 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Human Services Department Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Agreements and Contracts
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 4888) DOC ID: 4888
Updated: 4/28/2023 8:10 AM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 1
AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A MEMORANDUM OF
UNDERSTANDING FOR FEDERAL EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANT FUNDING – Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Federal Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) Memorandum of Understanding for the Human Services Department's Family Resource Center to provide Housing Stability Services in Fiscal Year 2022/23 and 2023/24 and Making Findings of CEQA Exemption Contact Persons:
Name: Robert Lopez Suzanne Shenfil
Title: CDBG Administrator Director
Div/Dept: Human Services Department
Phone: 510-574-2043 510-574-2051
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: The City of Fremont has been selected to receive on-going Federal Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide funding for programs and services assisting homeless individuals and families, as well as those in danger of falling into homelessness.
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to execute an ESG Program Memorandum of Understanding for the Human Services Department’s Fremont Family Resource Center to provide housing stability services for Fiscal Year 2022/23 and 2023/24 for a total not exceed $280,573.
BACKGROUND: As a HUD entitlement jurisdiction, the City receives Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program funds each year from HUD for housing and community development activities. The funding is allocated to the City based on several factors including population, poverty, and housing statistics. Due to these factors in the recent 2020 Census, HUD has awarded new federal entitlement program funds, the ESG program, to the City.
The primary objectives of the ESG program are to address the needs of homeless people in emergency or transitional shelters and to assist people to quickly regain stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness. ESG funds must be used for activities which primarily benefit individuals and families that meets HUD’s “homeless” and “at-risk of homelessness” definitions in accordance with 24 CFR 576. The ESG program has five eligible program components that the City may select from:
1. Street Outreach: Engage homeless individuals and families living on the street;
2. Emergency Shelter: Improve the number and quality of emergency shelters for homeless individuals and families, help operate these shelters, and provide essential services to shelter residents;
3. Rapid Re-housing Assistance: Rapidly re-house homeless individuals and families;
4. Homelessness Prevention: Prevent families and individuals from becoming homeless; and
5. Homeless Management Information System: Support the operation of the local Council Staff Report (ID # 4888) Meeting of May 2, 2023 Updated: 4/28/2023 8:10 AM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 2 information technology system used to collect client-level data County-wide.
On October 4, 2022, Council authorized the City Manager to execute an agreement with HUD for the new ESG funds. The Council, at staff’s recommendation, directed staff to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) process for Rapid Re-housing rental assistance subsidies and deposits to help house homeless individuals and families. Once the RFP process was completed, City staff planned to return to City Council to seek approval of the ESG funding recommendation.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: Because of the limited ESG grant amount of funding, staff recommended the City issue an RFP solely for Rapid Re-housing rental assistance subsidies and deposits. Housing for Rapid Re-housing allows for short and/or medium-term rental assistance as necessary to help individuals or families living in an emergency shelter or other places, as defined by HUD “as not meant for human habitation”, move as quickly as possible into permanent housing and achieve stability in that housing. However, prior to issuing the RFP for Rapid Re-housing, staff conversed with homeless service agencies regarding the use of ESG funding for this purpose. Agencies expressed multiple concerns and no interest, at this time, in responding to a proposed City RFP. The amount of funding the City had available was relatively small, the paperwork required in the use of ESG funding was significant. The greatest difficulty, however, was that the use of ESG funding for Rapid Rehousing had to meet HUD Fair Market Rent guidelines which are significantly less than the actual cost of rental units.
Fair Market Rent. When using ESG funds for Rapid Re-housing, HUD requires that any rental assistance being provided to eligible program participants is allowable only when the rent, including utilities (gross rent), for the housing unit:
1. Does not exceed the Fair Market Rent (FMR) established by HUD for each geographic area, as provided under 24 CFR 888 and 24 CFR 982.503; and
2. Complies with HUD’s standard of rent reasonableness, as established under 24 CFR 982.507.
HUD issues fair market rent limits annually for all jurisdictions and these limits are often significantly below actual market rent. For example, HUD established fair market rent limit for a 1-bedroom apartment in FY 2022-23 is $1,854 a month, while the average market value for a 1-bedroom apartment in Fremont is $2,329 a month. In staff’s experience with existing HUD funded housing programs, including partnerships with local Rapid Rehousing providers, meeting the FMR requirements under HUD programs in a high cost-of-living area, like Fremont, has proven to be extremely difficult. While the need to find funding for rapid rehousing remains high, staff concluded using ESG funding for this function would not be the most efficient or practical use of the City’s allocation and finding and organization to partner with was going to be difficult, if not impossible.
Staff now proposes to use ESG funding for Housing Stability Services provided through the Human Services Department’s Family Resource Center division. With the Alameda County Eviction Moratorium ending on April 29, 2023, jurisdictions redirecting efforts to ensure residents have access to housing stability resources. The Human Services Department is proposing to utilize ESG funding and remaining Keep Fremont Housed program funding to provide housing stability services that include information and assistance, mediation, case management, and housing relocation assistance. The goal of the housing stability program Council Staff Report (ID # 4888) Meeting of May 2, 2023 Updated: 4/28/2023 8:10 AM by Alberto Quintanilla Page 3 is to prevent displacement by assisting residents with eviction prevention information and services or relocation to a more affordable housing situation.
FISCAL IMPACT: There is no impact to the general fund. Metropolitan city and urban county recipients must match grant funds with an equal amount of contributions, which may include cash, donated buildings or materials, and volunteer services. Staff has identified sufficient match to meet these requirements.
Staff proposes that a Memorandum of Understanding be executed with the Fremont Family Resource Center that would span FY 2022-23 and FY 2023-24 and total $280,573. For internal City-based projects, HUD requires an MOU rather than a traditional contract agreement. $80,000 would be provided for back rent and deposit assistance and $200,573 would fund an existing Case Manager that would work directly with Fremont residents to ensure that the best possible housing outcome can be secured. In addition, 7.5% of the FY 22-23 and FY 23-24 ESG allocations will be used for administrative activities.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: All ESG-funded projects are subject to evaluation for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Consistent with NEPA regulations, funding will not be distributed to a project until appropriate NEPA review and clearance is completed for that project.
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to, without limitation, CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(2), (4) and/or (5), and or 15061(b)(3) as an administrative, maintenance or funding activities that will have no possibility to impact the environment. As a separate and independent basis, each of the projects recommended are exempt pursuant to, without limitation, CEQA Guidelines Section 15301, as the repair, maintenance or minor alteration of existing facilities involving negligible or no expansion of use and/or as replacement or reconstruction of existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site and have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the replaced structure pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15302. Each of the foregoing provides a separate and independent basis for CEQA exemption.
ATTACHMENTS: None.
RECOMMENDATION: Authorize the City Manager to execute a Federal Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) Memorandum of Understanding for the Human Services Department’s Fremont Family Resource Center to provide housing stability services for Fiscal Year 2022/23 and 2023/24 for a total not to exceed $280,573 and making findings of CEQA exemption.