City Council
March 1, 2022
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: Shola Olatoye,
City Administrator Director, Housing and
Community Development
SUBJECT: Amendment For The State Assistance
Program Round Two Fund Award
DATE: January 12, 2022
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends The City Council Adopt A Resolution Amending Resolution 88800 C.M.S., Which, Among Other Things, Accepted And Appropriated Round 2 State Rental Assistance (“SRA2”) Program Funds Awarded By The California Department Of Housing And Community Development (“CHCD”), To Clarify The City Of Oakland’s Intent To Be Bound By The Terms Of The SRA2 Grant Agreement As Requested By The CHCD Legal Affairs Division.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Oakland City Council passed Resolution 88800 C.M.S., passed on September 1, 2021 (Attachment A) authorizing the City of Oakland (City) to accept funds in the amount of $12,077,713.52 from the State of California’s Department of Housing & Community Development under Round Two of the State’s Rental Assistance (SRA2) fund award to expand the City’s efforts to deliver rental assistance, housing stability services and legal services to those impacted by the COVID-19 health pandemic, ensuring the City of Oakland as a single stope for residents seeking emergency rental assistance.
Further Resolution 88800 C.M.S. authorizes allocations as summarized in Table 1, with $422,719.97 (3.5% of the SRA2 grant) retained to cover City Administration costs and
Feb 16, 2022
City Council
March 1, 2022
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Amendment For The State Assistance Program Round Two Fund Award Report Date: January 12, 2022
the City Administrator to reallocate funding between and amend grant agreements with grantees as listed in Table 1:
Table 1
COMMUNITY PARTNER (GRANTEE) GRANT AMOUNT
Bay Area Community Services (BACS) $5,000,000.00
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Oakland $2,600,000.00 Collective Legal Services - Eviction Defense Center $2,600,000.00 Safe Passages $454,993.55
East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) $400,000.00 Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS) $400,000.00 East Oakland Community Development Corporation
(EOCDC)
$200,000.00
Total $11,654,993.55
An Agreement was executed between the California Department of Housing & Community Development (CHCD) and the City of Oakland as of January 13, 2022, conditioned upon amending Oakland City Council Resolution No. 88800 C.M.S. to add to the legislation the City’s acceptance and intent to be bound by the terms of the SRA2 Agreement as governed by the following laws, collectively referred to as the “Program Requirements”:
A. California Assembly Bill No. 832 (AB 832), as enacted on June 28, 2021, and as such may be subsequently amended;
B. The CHCD State Rental Assistance Program Guidelines – Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Rounds 1 and 2 Implementation, dated September 27, 2021 (“The Guidelines”), as such Guidelines may be subsequently amended.
C. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) A and related federal guidance, and as such laws may be subsequently amended; and
D. All other applicable law.
Adoption of the proposed resolution will record the additional language requested by CHCD to amend Oakland City Council Resolution 88800 C.M.S. The recorded amendment does not modify the City’s expectations and/or assumptions around the management, administration, reporting and/or monitoring of the SRA2 grant award to the City.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
As reported in the September 1, 2021 Council Report accompanying Oakland City Council Resolution 88800 C.M.S., The City received an award of $12,874,764 under Round One of the U.S. Treasury Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP I) in January 2021.
Oakland City Council Resolution 88520 awarded $9,750,000 (75%) of the ERAP I funding to four non-profit agencies to administer the ERAP I program. Oakland City Council Resolution 88738 C.M.S. authorized the $2,931,463 (remaining 25%) to the four ERAP partners with additional Round One Coronavirus Community Development Block Grant funds (CDBG-CV1) allocated to the four legacy ERAP partners and five additional partners for housing stability, housing related legal services and outreach.
In May 2021, $196 million Round II U.S. Treasury Funds were awarded to the City, approved by
City Council
March 1, 2022
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Amendment For The State Assistance Program Round Two Fund Award Report Date: January 12, 2022
City Council on July 26, 2021, with 40% of the ERAP II grant released to the City. As of
January 12, 2022 97% of ERAP 1 funds are expended and approximately 40% of ERAP II funds are expended with over 2,000 ERAP applications currently in the queue as of January 13, 2022 that could potentially fully utilize the balance of ERAP II and SRA2 funds.
Utilization of SRA2 will help to serve 700 – 1,000 Oakland residents at or below 80 percent AMI, targeting residents at or below 30 percent AMI in the most impacted zip codes, including 94601, 94602, 94603, 94605, 94606, and 94621.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Since the fall of 2020, the City has run and expanded its emergency rental assistance programs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This program supports Citywide priorities of housing and economic security. These programs have been successfully administered by the City via Keep Oakland Housed (KOH), a collaboration of four non-profit partners: Bay Area Community Services (BACS) and Catholic Charities East Bay. The City added Safe Passages, BOSS, East Bay Local Development Corporation (EBALDC), East Oakland Community Development Corporation and the Eviction Defense Center to add additional capacity and cultural competency.
Grants have been awarded and contracts entered with each agency individually and the scope of work references their participation in the KOH collaborative.
The KOH ERAP collaborative of agencies has performed extremely well, under tremendous time and public pressure to quickly implement a large program subject to new and evolving Federal requirements. The City, along with the State and the entire country, has never seen the scale of this type of program, no less during a global health pandemic. Oakland’s program has been pointed to as an example around the country for its targeting of extremely low-income residents and centering its work in racial equity.
Oakland continues to serve those most at risk of becoming homeless through the ERAP program, prioritizing those previously experiencing homelessness, Oaklanders with 80% AMI or lower with target of Oaklanders with 30% AMI or lower, and Oakland zip codes with the highest rerates of COVID-19 infections.
Program Challenges:
With all current available ERAP resources (ERAP1, II and SRA2), the City’s program is currently oversubscribed. As of January 13, 2022, there are approximately 5,000 applications in the cue for assessment and processing of payment. ERAP program demand of Oakland exceeds current level of resources.
As a result, as of January 7, 2022, a waitlist was developed to allow for the processing of applications in the cue. Tenants and landlords may still submit an application but will be placed on a waitlist. As additional resources are made available, waitlisted applicants will be contacted based on priority need.
The basis for staff’s recommendation to modify Oakland Resolution 88800 is:
1. The modified language does not change the requirements of the SRA2 grant awarded to the City.
2. Adding language to Resolution 88800 will satisfy CHCD’s condition on the recently executed SRA2 Agreement between CHCD and the City of Oakland.
City Council
March 1, 2022
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Amendment For The State Assistance Program Round Two Fund Award Report Date: January 12, 2022
FISCAL IMPACT
Pursuant to Resolution 88800 C.M.S. the City accepted and appropriated $12,077,713.52 in SRA2 funds, budgeted as one-time stimulus funding.
SRA2 funds are programmed in Fund: 2071; Organization: 89919; Account: Various, Project: 1006120; Program: CV19.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
Public outreach related to the City’s Emergency Rental Assistance Programs, including SRA2 has involved a broad engagement with the community, Oakland faith-based organizations, State Emergency Rental Assistance staff, current ERAP Partners, consultants, and stakeholders.
Program design and objectives have been discussed among the groups listed above and with Oakland City councilmembers.
COORDINATION
This report and resolution have been reviewed by the Office of the City Attorney and by the Budget Bureau.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: The ERAP will be used to protect Oakland’s low-income renters in their housing and avoid displacement therefore creating economic stability.
Environmental: There are no direct environmental impacts associated with the City Council action requested in this agenda report.
Race and Equity: Demographic data indicates that the COVID-19 health pandemic disproportionately impacts Oakland’s lower-income residents and in particular the African American and Latinx communities. The associated dual crises of homelessness and housing instability also disproportionately impact these same communities. Through targeting and prioritizing how funds are deployed, the City can address racial equity impacts. HCD will also collect and analyze disaggregated data on a regular basis to evaluate the program and make adjustments to the program in the case that racial equity goals and objectives are not being met.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff recommends that the City Council Adopt A Resolution Amending Resolution No. 88800 C.M.S., Which, Among Other Things, Accepted And Appropriated Round 2 State Rental
City Council
March 1, 2022
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Amendment For The State Assistance Program Round Two Fund Award Report Date: January 12, 2022
Assistance (“SRA2”) Program Funds Awarded By The California Department Of Housing And Community Development (“CHCD”), To Clarify The City Of Oakland’s Intent To Be Bound By The Terms Of The SRA2 Grant Agreement As Requested By The CHCD Legal Affairs Division.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Gregory D. Garrett, CDE Manager, at [email protected].
Respectfully submitted,
SHOLA OLATOYE
Director, Department of Housing & Community
Development
Reviewed by:
Gregory D. Garrett, Manager
Community Development &
Engagement
Attachments (1):
A: Resolution 88800 C.M.S.