AGENDA REPORT
TO: To The Honorable City Council FROM: Jestin D. Johnson City Administrator
SUBJECT: MOU with Alameda County for HHAP-
6 Funds
DATE: June 26, 2025
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt a Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Negotiate And Enter Into An Amended Memorandum Of Understanding With The County Of Alameda To Clarify The Roles And Responsibilities For The Application And Use Of State Of California Homeless Housing, Assistance, And Prevention (HHAP) Round 6 Funding
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Oakland is requesting City Council authorization to amend its existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the County of Alameda in support of its application for Round 6 of the State of California’s Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) funding. HHAP funds are essential to sustaining the City’s emergency homelessness interventions and meeting state-mandated goals for reducing homelessness through regional collaboration.
Since HHAP Round 5, the State has required joint planning between cities and counties to increase accountability and effectiveness. Oakland and Alameda County formalized this collaboration through an MOU executed on February 1, 2024, and subsequently amended. The proposed resolution authorizes the City Administrator to further amend this MOU t o clarify roles and responsibilities specific to HHAP Round 6 and any future state or regional h omelessness funding efforts. All agreements and amendments will be subject to legal review by the City Attorney’s Office.
The State of California’s HHAP progra m provides critical , flexible funding to support local jurisdictions in addressing homelessness. The City of Oakland is eligible to apply for HHAP Round 6 funds. Past HHAP allocations, totaling $107,567,119.92 across all five rounds, have supported essential programs such as interim shelter, transitional housing, outreach, rapid rehousing, and service coordination.
REASON FOR URGENCY
The State of California has set an application deadline of August 29, 2025, for jurisdictions to apply for HHAP Round 6 funding. In order for the City of Oakland to meet this deadline and remain
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: MOU with Alameda County for HHAP-6 Funds
Date: June 26, 2025 Page 2
City Council
July 15, 2025
eligible to receive p otentially millions of dollars in flexib le homelessness funding, City Council authorization of the MOU is required prior to submission. Due to the timing of upcoming Council recess periods and the time required for administrative processing, this item must be heard on an expedited basis to avoid missing the state deadline and risking forfeiture of these critical funds.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The City Council adopted Resolution No. 89777 C.M.S. , authorizing a Memorandum of Understanding to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the City and County in the application for and use of HHAP Round 5 funds. Effective as of February 1, 2024, the City and County executed a Memorandum of Understanding for the application and use of HHAP Round 5 funds, which was then amended by a First Amendment; and the City Administrator now desires to am end the existing Memorandum of Understanding to clarify the roles and responsibilities under HHAP Round 6.
Homelessness has been, and continues to be, a crisis throughout California, with Oakland home to 58% of the homeless in Alameda County. As of the most recent 2024 Point-In-Time (PIT) count numbers, the number of homeless individuals in Oakland increased nine percent over 2022 to 5,485. Of those counted, 3,659 (67%) are living without shelter.
In response to these challenges, the City of Oakland has actively participated in the State of California’s HHAP program. Since 2020, Oakland has received funding through HHAP Rounds 1 through 5, which has been instrumental in supporting various initiatives, including:
• Navigation Centers and Emergency Shelter : Establishing and operating community cabins, safe parking programs, and congregate emergency shelters to provide immediate shelter options.
• Permanent Housing Initiatives: Facili tating rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing projects to transition individuals into stable living conditions.
• Supportive Services: Enhancing outreach, case management, and behavioral health services to address the complex needs of the homeless population.
However, the persistent and evolving nature of homelessness in Oakland necessitates continued and enhanced support. The upcoming HHAP Round 6 funding presents an opportunity to build upon previous successes and address ongoing gaps in the city's homelessness response system.
Previous HHAP allocations approved by the City Council include:
HHAP Round 1 $19,697,548.19
HHAP Round 2 $9,311,568.00
HHAP Round 3 $24,066,822.52
HHAP Round 4 $26,044,615.38
HHAP Round 5 $28,446,565.83
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: MOU with Alameda County for HHAP-6 Funds
Date: June 26, 2025 Page 3
City Council
July 15, 2025
Service providers contracted to offer homeless services funded by HHAP are made up of a diverse group of organizations offering necessary and tailored supports to Oakland’s homeless population. Service providers who received HHAP funding in Rounds 1-5 include*:
• Family Bridges Inc.
• Housing Consortium of The East Bay
• Operation Dignity Inc.
• Roots Community Health Center
• Society Of St. Vincent De Paul
• Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods
• Urban Alchemy
• Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS)
• Covenant House California
• Game Changer Sf LLC
• Lifelong Medical Care
• Project WeHOPE
• Youth Spirit Artworks
• Additional service providers have been contracted to pay for system support services such as utility providers, sanitation companies, and consulting firms.
*This list does not include projected awardees of HHAP 6 allocations.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Accepting HHAP 6 funding will support Oakland’s ongoing efforts to reduce homelessness through housing-focused strategies. Not applying would forgo significant flexible resources that are central to meeting local and regional homelessness reduction goals. Given current funding gaps and the scale of need, HHAP 6 is a necessary resource to sustain progress.
This proposed resolution will advance the Citywide Housing, Economic, and Cultural Security priority by expanding access to clean, safe , dignified shelter beds accessible to the homeless community in Oakland. Participants in th ese programs will continue to benefit from t program s where case management, housing navigation, and other support services are available.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no impact to the Oakland General Purpose Fund. All activities under this authorization will be fully funded by HHAP 6 resources, pending award. This item authorizes acceptance and appropriation but does not require any City match. The City and its designated departments will be required to spend down the allotted award within a designated timeframe that will be defined upon award, usually within five years.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: MOU with Alameda County for HHAP-6 Funds
Date: June 26, 2025 Page 4
City Council
July 15, 2025
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
The City’s homelessness strategy and funding priorities have been info rmed by ongoing collaboration with Alameda County, service providers, and community stakeholders. HHAP - funded projects have been publicly discussed through prior Council actions, community forums, and interagency planning sessions.
COORDINATION
This rep ort was developed in coordination with the Human Services Department, Housing & Community Development, and the City Administrator’s Office.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION, AND FOLLOW-UP
The City of Oakland ’s homelessness response system has achieved meas urable outcomes in housing placement, income gains, and benefits access, demonstrating the impact of sustained investments through previous HHAP rounds.
Since 2019, HHAP Rounds 1-5 have supported:
• 4,170 homeless individuals received services
• 89.3% of participants who had SNAP (CalFresh) at entry retained it at exit • 40.8% of adult stayers increased income between program entry and annual assessment • 72.7% of adult leavers exited with at least one source of health insurance • In RRH/PSH projects, 74% of participants were housed within 30 days
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: HHAP funds support a wide network of contracted service providers, creating and sustaining hundreds of jobs in the nonprofit and social services sectors. Funding allows for living- wage employment opportunities for frontline shelter staff, case managers, outreach workers, and peer support specialists —many of whom live in Oakland . These investments stimulate local economic activity and build capacity among community -based organizations serving Oakland’s most vulnerable populations.
Environmental: The homelessness crisis impacts the health of the City’s local environment.
Encampments and associated debris and waste can foul the City’s local water and soil.
Race & Equity: In Oakland, the drivers of homelessness fall most squarely on the backs of the African Am erican community, who, due to long -standing structurally racist practices such as redlining and employment discrimination, are most vulnerable to losing their homes. According to the 2024 Point In Time count for Oakland, 53 percent of the population experi encing homelessness in Oakland identifies as Black or African American; however, this demographic is only 22 percent of the general population. Ending homelessness in Oakland must be defined by what works for African Americans first and foremost: reducing racial disparities. As identified in Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: MOU with Alameda County for HHAP-6 Funds
Date: June 26, 2025 Page 5
City Council
July 15, 2025
the 2021 Guide to Including Equity in the Design of Homeless Systems, the drivers of homelessness include:
• Structural racism
• Insufficient cont rols on the rental housing market that create vulnerability and housing instability for tenants
• Insufficient housing units that are affordable to households with the lowest incomes, including particularly those whose incomes are below 20 percent of Area Median Income (AMI)
• Systemic barriers that often prevent residents who are returning home from incarceration from living with family members and/or accessing both public and private rental housing and employment opportunities
• Inadequate p ay and benefits f or many of the jobs that are available in the community, and insufficient access to quality employment opportunities that pay wages that meet the cost of housing
The City of Oakland’s Department of Race and Equity developed a Racial Equity Impact Analysis (REIA). The REIA framework is a data-driven, structured problem-solving approach that explores the systemic benefits and burdens on communities most impacted by racial disparities when designing and vetting potential solutions to ending and preventing homelessness. This requires:
• Focusing intentionally on race, including raising awareness of historical factors that advantage some and disadvantage others based on race.
• Using disparity data to center further investigation of root causes o f disparities in the present time.
• Engaging people who have been impacted by disparities to challenge assumptions about their experience.
• Using quantitative and qualitative information to shape pro-equity programs and inventory recommendations to reduce racial disparities in outcomes. • Implementing system -wide pro -equity programs and approaches to reduce racial disparities in outcomes.
• Ongoing evaluation and accountability through the development of equity performance measures to track progress.
The REIA framework guides the City’s approach to addressing homelessness and ensuring that resources are allocated effectively and equitably, and targeted strategies are employed to end and prevent homelessness.
HHAP-funded interventions are designed and implemented through an equit y lens, addressing the structural and racial disparities that contribute to homelessness. In Oakland, where Black residents comprise less than 25% of the population but more than 60% of the homeless population, targeted investments have supported culturally responsive services, equity-centered outreach strategies, and programs tailored to historically excluded communities. HHAP performance metrics have included equity benchmarks, and funding decisions have been informed by data on racial disproportionality and community input from BIPOC-led organizations.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: MOU with Alameda County for HHAP-6 Funds
Date: June 26, 2025 Page 6
City Council
July 15, 2025
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt a Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Negotiate And Enter Into An Amended Memorandum Of Understanding With The County Of Alameda To Clarify The Roles And Responsibilities For The Application And Use Of State Of California Homeless Housing, Assistance, And Prevention (HHAP) Round 6 Funding
For question s regarding this report, please contact CHRISSIE LOVE, ACTING PROGRAM PLANNER, 510.238.7492.
Respectfully submitted,
JESTIN D. JOHNSON
City Administrator
Reviewed by:
Chrissie Love, Acting Program Planner
Prepared by:
Alisa Thorsen, Program Analyst II
Community Homelessness Services
Attachments (1)
A: Second Amendment to MOU Between City of Oakland and Alameda County Jestin Johnson (Jul 1, 2025 11:17 PDT)