DATE: APRIL 26, 2022
DEPARTMENT: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
FROM: MEGAN HUNTER, DIRECTOR
BY: ROD POWELL, PLANNING MANAGER
TITLE: CALIFORNIA INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS FAMILY HOMELESSNESS CHALLENGE GRANT RECOMMENDED MOTION:
A motion to approve a Resolution approving the submission of a grant application for the Family Homelessness Challenge Grant, Round 1 to the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) in the amount of $5.5 million dollars and authorizing the City Manager or designee to execute all required Agreements and other necessary documents to allow acceptance of an award and the implementation of the proposed project.
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council approve a Resolution approving the submission of a grant application for the Family Homelessness Challenge Grant, Round 1 to the Cal ICH in the amount $5.5 million dollars and authorizing the City Manager or designee to execute all required Agreements and other necessary documents to allow acceptance of an award and the implementation of the proposed project.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Cal ICH has released a Request for Applications (RFA) for Family Homelessness Challenge Grant totaling $15 million to fund innovative applications that accelerate efforts by local jurisdictions and continuums of care to address and end family homelessness by making families’ experiences of homelessness rare, brief, and one-time. Unfortunately, Monterey County has a significant population of unsheltered homeless families. According to the 2019 Point in Time Count (PIT), nearly 600 family members were homeless in Monterey County, 51% of those were unhoused. This need is further demonstrated by the ongoing waiting list of homeless families for the SHARE Center. As a result, the Community Development Department reached out to potential partners to apply for this grant and identified Bay Area Community Services as a primary partner. City staff is requesting authorization to apply for a $5.5 million grant to expeditiously increase available units through a scattered site housing approach, build a coordinated case management system for families, and grow community resources and service provider capacity in addressing family homelessness.
BACKGROUND:
Family homelessness is a serious ongoing problem in the City of Salinas and throughout Monterey County. Aside from the most recent 2019 Homeless Point in Time Count that identified 1,182 persons as unhoused in the City of Salinas, data collected by local school districts in 2019 also found more than 40 percent of elementary school-aged children in Salinas may be homeless. In mid-2021, the City and County of Monterey celebrated the opening of a new transitional shelter, the SHARE Center, to provide 100 additional shelter beds and robust housing navigation and placement services. From its inception, the SHARE Center has diligently worked to serve and place families in permanent housing. Despite this work, the City’s stock of affordable housing remains extremely limited, and a waiting list of over 200 individuals and families persists.
In 2017, the State created the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) to oversee the coordinated implementation of Housing First policies, best practice guidelines, and regulations to reduce the prevalence and duration of homelessness in California. In early 2022, the State reorganized HCFC to become what is now known as the California Interagency Council on Homelessness under the expressed mission to develop policies, identify resources, benefits, and services to prevent and work toward ending homelessness in California. In addition to interagency coordination and policy development, Cal ICH is mandated to coordinate funding while also promoting systems integration to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the homeless response system and the state and local level.
DISCUSSION:
In recent months, the State of California has taken significant steps forward in addressing homelessness across the state. Additional competitive funding opportunities continue to come forward through Cal ICH with an expressed purpose and intent to functionally end homelessness within five years. This Cal ICH Family Homelessness Challenge Grant represents another initial opportunity to obtain much needed financial support to provide comprehensive services to support permanent housing placements for families with minor children The Council’s mission is to develop policies and to identify and coordinate resources, benefits, and services to prevent and work towards ending homelessness in California. In alignment with this mission and under Chapter 8 of Part 1 of Division 31 of the California Health and Safety Code, the Family Homelessness Challenge Grant was established for the purpose of providing one-time grants and technical assistance to local jurisdictions and continuums of care to address and end family homelessness. FHC grants awarded through the RFA will support Cal ICH mandates by funding local demonstration projects that incorporate Housing First approaches to provide services to address the immediate crisis of families experiencing homelessness.
In support of its founding premise, Cal ICH is interested in better understanding how communities informed their actions to increase collaboration between Cal ICH, local jurisdictions, and Continuums of Care to assist local jurisdictions to support individuals access to safe and stable housing using Housing First approaches; and encourage data-informed, coordinated approaches to address unhoused families by establishing effective, scalable, and replicable demonstration projects. Under this grant opportunity, Cal ICH is seeking to fund innovative applications that accelerate efforts by local jurisdictions and continuums of care to address and end family homelessness by making families’ experiences of homelessness rare, brief, and one-time. For the purposes of this grant solicitation, innovative proposals are those which seek to complement, augment, or strengthen a community’s efforts to address and end family homelessness. To this end, funds awarded must be used to support only family households with dependent minors that are experiencing or are at imminent risk of experiencing homelessness. Total funding available for award through the competitive FHC-1 RFA is $15 million, with an additional $15 million in future FHC-2 funding coming available to initial awardees who demonstrate successful implementation, outcomes, and expenditures.
To formulate a competitive proposal, CDD - Housing & Community Development Division staff have identified Bay Area Community Services as a primary grant partner and are currently engaging with several other collaborative agencies and community partners to formulate a comprehensive service strategy focused on increasing the City’s available affordable housing stock. The following is the RFA’s timeline.
Round of Funding
Event
Date
FHC-1
RFA Release Date
3/1/22
FHC-1
Application Submission Deadline
4/30/22
FHC-1
Application Scoring and Ranking
May/June 2022
FHC-1
Notice of Intent to Award
6/29/22
FHC-1
Deadline to Spend 50% of Award
6/30/24
FHC-1 & 2
Deadline to Spend All Funds
6/30/26
DEPARMENT COORDINATION:
The Cal ICH FHC grant will be administered by the City’s CDD – Housing & Community Development Division. Sub-recipient agreements will be executed with each collaborative partner. CDD will coordinate with the City’s Finance and Legal Departments to ensure regulatory compliance and the efficient, full disbursement of funds.
CEQA CONSIDERATION:
The City of Salinas has determined that the proposed action – “approving the submission of a grant application for the Family Homelessness Challenge Grant, Round 1 to the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) in the amount of $5.5 million dollars and authorizing the City Manager or designee to execute all required Agreements and other necessary documents to allow acceptance of an award” is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, Section 15378.
STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE:
The proposed Cal ICH FHC Grant application is intended to assist unhoused City resident families move towards immediate and permanent housing options and provide supports to prevent any potential return to homelessness. Acceptance of a funding award and implementation of the proposed program addresses each of the Goals and Strategies identified in the Council’s 2022-23 Strategic Plan related to Housing/Affordable Housing.
FISCAL AND SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT:
Funding received through Cal ICH FHC Program will be leveraged with additional funds from each of the grant’s collaborative partners and existing City program services to support four full years of grant administration, outreach, housing navigation and placement, and post placement wraparound services. Round 1 awardees who remain in compliance with FHC-1 requirements and who demonstrate reasonable, sufficient progress towards their prioritized objectives are eligible to access additional FHC-2 funding to continue to expand the originally awarded program model or to offer new or additional services and supports to complement and support the FHC-1 program model.
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution
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