Housing and Homelessness Committee Memorandum
TO: HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS DATE: MAY 23, 2022
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
FROM: OFFICE OF HOMELESS SOLUTIONS WARD: ALL
SUBJECT: FIVE-YEAR PLAN TO REDUCE HOMELESSNESS
ISSUE:
Conceptually approve the draft Five-Year Plan to Reduce Homelessness, including the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP-3) and HOME Investment Partnerships-ARP draft regional outcome goals for City Council’s consideration.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the Housing and Homelessness Committee conceptually approve the draft Five-Year Plan to Reduce Homelessness including the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention-3 and HOME Investment Partnerships Program-ARP regional outcome goals and funding priorities for City Council’s consideration.
BACKGROUND:
The City of Riverside’s Office of Homeless Solutions in collaboration with the Housing and Homelessness Committee are working towards a Five-Year Plan to Reduce Homelessness (5 Year Plan) in the City. The City is building from the Envision Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan, the Housing & Homelessness Committee’s FY 2021/22 goals, and the City’s Housing First Policy. The plan will center around pillars that work to prevent homelessness, increase housing production and affordability, increase shelter beds and services, build a regional infrastructure with other jurisdictions and organizations, expand public awareness about homelessness and housing, and identify funding opportunities. The plan will encompass: 1) Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP-3) funding requirements, goals, strategies, and application, 2) HOME Investment Partnership-ARP planning requirements, and 3) goals to be carried out during the 5-Year Plan.
HHAP-3: The State of California’s Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) has made available a third round of Homeless Housing, Assistance & Prevention Program funding (HHAP-3). The third round of HHAP funding is a 1-billion-dollar block grant authorized by AB 140 which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on July 19, 2021. HHAP Round 3 is designed to build on regional coordination developed through previous rounds of funding, including the Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP), HHAP rounds 1 and 2, and COVID-19 funding. HHAP-3 should be used to continue to build regional coordination and a unified regional response to reduce and end homelessness informed by a best-practices framework focused on moving individuals and families experiencing homelessness into permanent housing and supporting efforts to help those households maintain their permanent housing. The state expects applicants to:
Strategically pair these funds with other local, state, and federal funds to reduce and end homelessness.
Demonstrate a commitment to address racial disproportionately in homeless populations and achieve equitable provision of services and outcomes for Black, Native and Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islanders, and other People of Color who are disproportionately impacted by homelessness.
Establish a mechanism for people with lived experience of homelessness to have meaningful and purposeful opportunities to inform and shape all levels of planning and implementation.
Fund projects that provide housing and services that are Housing First compliant and delivered in a low-barrier, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive manner.
The City of Riverside is eligible to apply for $8,433,288.22 in HHAP-3 funds. A maximum of 7% may be used to support administrative activities. At least 10% of HHAP-3 funds must be allocated to serve youth experiencing homelessness. HHAP-3 funds must be fully expended by June 30, 2026.
HOME-ARP: The City of Riverside has been allocated $4,335,583 of HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program - American Recovery Plan Act (HOME-ARP) funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). To receive the HOME-ARP allocation, the City must develop a HOME-ARP Allocation Plan that will become part of the City’s FY 2021 HUD Annual Action Plan by substantial amendment.
HOME-ARP funds can be used for four eligible activities:
Production or preservation of affordable housing
Tenant-Based Rental Assistance
Supportive Services, including services defined at 24 CFR 578.53(e), Homeless Prevention Services, and Housing Counseling Purchase and Development of Non-Congregate Shelter. These structures can remain in use as non-congregate shelter or can be converted to: 1) emergency shelter under the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program; 2) permanent housing under the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program; or 3) affordable housing under the HOME Program.
HOME-ARP funds must be used to primarily benefit individuals or families from the following qualifying populations:
Homeless, as defined in section 103(a) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302(a)); At-risk of homelessness, as defined in section 401(1) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360(1)); Fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, as defined by the US Department of Housing & Urban Development Secretary; In other populations where providing supportive services or assistance under section 212(a) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 12742(a)) would prevent the family’s homelessness or would serve those with the greatest risk of housing instability; Veterans and families that include a veteran family member that meet one of the preceding criteria.
To ensure broad input into the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan from stakeholders and the public, the City is conducting the following: engaging in consultation with stakeholders and the public, including in-person and virtual consultation sessions, the homeless task force, a 15-day public comment period, and a public hearing.
DISCUSSION:
In order to ensure the Five-Year Plan to Reduce Homelessness (Five-Year Plan) reflects the needs of Riverside’s residents, the City held three hybrid community meetings (simultaneously in-person and on Zoom) to inform the community about the Five-Year Plan, obtain feedback on the proposed pillars and the activities within the pillars and prioritize activities for HHAP3 and HOME Investment Partnerships Program-ARP funding. These community meetings featured both Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation. The City also hosted three Homeless Task Force meetings via Zoom and invited leaders and front-line staff who work with the homeless population and extremely low to low income residents to provide input on how to craft a feasible and useful 5-Year Plan.
The three major themes of the community meetings and the task force meetings were: (1) the need to prioritize vulnerable groups experiencing homelessness; (2) supporting creative housing and low barrier shelter options; and (3) getting all hands-on deck to help with the homelessness crisis.
The task force members and community were asked to prioritize the seven pillars. The following is the outcome of the prioritization activity. *Totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
To receive the HHAP-3 grant funds, the City must submit a local homelessness action plan and HHAP-3 application by June 30, 2022. The HHAP-3 application, a component of the Five-Year Plan, requires regional collaboration with the County and Continuum of Care (CoC) to complete the eight tables included in the application. Applicants are required to submit a landscape analysis of the needs and demographics of people experiencing homelessness within the City and throughout the region. The landscape analysis includes a breakdown of who is being served by which programs and all funding sources leveraged to support the homeless and housing response system.
Development of regional outcome goals based on baseline data submitted by Continuums of Care through the State’s Homeless Data Integration System (HDIS) are required. Communities who achieve their regional goals will be eligible for bonus funding. In addition to the establishment of regional outcome goals, applicants are required to develop strategies that will be leveraged to facilitate the achievement of outcome goals. In alignment with the developed outcome goals and strategies, applicants will submit a budget of planned expenditure of HHAP-3 funds.
On April 7, 2022, the State released the following outcome goals that grantees must identify within their Local Homelessness Action Plan to specify the amount of change that is expected to occur on each of the six performance measures related to preventing and reducing homelessness as well as how those goals apply to disproportionately impacted populations. The City met with the County and Continuum of Care to draft the outcome goals for community input. The goal is to develop outcome goals that are ambitious but achievable and will further progress in the 5-Year Plan.
Outcome Goal #1a: Reducing the number of persons experiencing homelessness.
Baseline Data:
Annual estimate of number of people accessing services who are experiencing homelessness Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Decrease/Increase in # of People
Decrease/Increase as % Change from Baseline
8385
10,481
25% increase
Outcome Goal #1b: Reducing the number of persons experiencing homelessness on a daily basis Baseline Data:
Daily Estimate of # of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Reduction in # of People
Reduction as % Change from Baseline
2155
1939
10%
Outcome Goal #2: Reducing the number of persons who become homeless for the first time.
Baseline Data:
Annual Estimate of # of people who become homeless for the first time Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Reduction in # of People
Reduction as % Change from Baseline
4714
4,478
5%
Outcome Goal #3: Increasing the number of people exiting homelessness into permanent housing.
Baseline Data:
Annual Estimate of # of people exiting homelessness into permanent housing Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Increase in # of People
Increase as % Change from Baseline
2358
2830
20%
Outcome Goal #4: Reducing the length of time persons remain homeless.
Baseline Data:
Average length of time (in # of days) persons enrolled in street outreach, emergency shelter, transitional housing, safe haven projects and time prior to move-in for persons enrolled in rapid rehousing and permanent housing programs" Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Decrease in Average # of Days
Decrease as % Change from Baseline
109
108
-1%
Outcome Goal #5: Reducing the number of persons who return to homelessness after exiting homelessness to permanent housing.
Baseline Data:
% of people who return to homelessness after having exited homelessness to permanent housing Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Decrease in % of People who return to Homelessness
Decrease as % Change from Baseline
8%
5%
-3%
Outcome Goal #6: Increasing successful placements from street outreach.
Baseline Data:
Annual # of people served in street outreach projects who exit to emergency shelter, safe haven, transitional housing, or permanent housing destinations.
Outcome Goals July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2024
Increase in # of People Successfully Placed from Street Outreach Increase as % of Baseline
353
10%
To help carry out the outcome goals, staff has prepared the Action Steps shown in Attachment 1, Section VI. Staff is recommending that the following activities be considered for HHAP-3 and HOME-ARP funding:
Development of affordable housing
Emergency shelter development and operations
Rental Assistance
Homeless Prevention
Outreach Services
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This item contributes to Strategic Priority 2 – Community Well-Being and Goal No. 2.2, collaborate with partner agencies to improve household resiliency and reduce the incidence and duration of homelessness.
The item aligns with each of the five Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – The City conducted community meetings and reestablished the Homeless Task Force to assist with drafting the Five-Year Plan.
Equity – Riverside residents will have equal access to the programs that will be supported through the Five-Year Plan.
Fiscal Responsibility –The City will ensure that the HHAP 3 and HOME-ARP grant funds will be used in accordance with the state and federal program regulations including funding evidence-based programs serving people experiencing homelessness among eligible populations.
Innovation – The Five-Year Plan provides the City with the ability to support innovative programs that address gaps in our homeless system of care.
Sustainability & Resiliency – The HHAP 3 and HOME-ARP grant funds will provide funding to meet the gaps in our homeless system of care and adapt to the needs of our homeless population and service providers.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this staff report.
Prepared by: Michelle Davis, Housing Authority Manager
Certified as to
Availability of funds: Edward Enriquez, Interim Assistant City Manager/Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer
Approved by: Lea Deesing, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Phaedra A. Norton, City Attorney
Attachments:
Five-Year Plan to Reduce Homelessness
Presentation
Five-Year Plan to Reduce Homelessness ● Page 3