CAPER 1
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
CR-05 - Goals and Outcomes
Progress the jurisdiction has made in carrying out its strategic plan and its action plan. 91.520(a) This could be an overview that includes major initiatives and highlights that were proposed and executed throughout the program year.
In Program Year 2024 (PY24), the City of Union City received a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) entitlement (EN) grant of $493,771 and receipted $108 of program income (PI). During PY24, the City was successful in drawing down enough of this funding to meet the timeliness test. This PY24 represents the fifth and final year of the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan. During the year, Union City used CDBG funds for various activities that helped benefit low-moderate income people throughout the City. Some of those activities include funding social service programs.
Spectrum Community Services received funding for their Senior Nutrition Program, while Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments received funding to run their Crisis Response program to help survivors of domestic violence with crisis intervention services and referrals to safe domestic abuse shelters to avoid homeless. The City used CDBG funding to support Eden Council for Hope and Opportunity (ECHO) Housing’s fair housing and tenant/landlord counseling programs, as well as the Community Child Care Council (4Cs) of Alameda County to provide microenterprise assistance to in-home childcare providers. The combination of CDBG funding and money leveraged from the City’s General Fund allowed 11 social service providers to receive funding for PY24. The City also allocated CDBG funding to the Alameda County Healthy Homes Department to implement a Minor Home Repair Grant Program. The program provides repair and rehabilitation grants to low income homeowners. 17 minor home repair projects were completed with CDBG funding in PY24. PY21 CDBG funds also supported 2 small businesses in PY24.
Union City is a member of the Alameda County HOME Consortium (“Consortium”). The Consortium consists of the cities of Alameda, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Leandro, Union City, and the Urban County. As a part of the Consortium, the City receives a HOME allocation each year. For PY24, the City received an allocation of $117,839 in HOME funds. The City allocated $78,801 to the Bay Area Community Services (BACS) reclamation project as a scattered site model for providing housing that would be for the purchase of a single family home in order to rehabilitate it into supportive housing for individuals experiencing homelessness. The allocation was part of a multi jurisdictional application between BACS, the city of Hayward, and Union City to submit a scattered site model application for the State Homekey program to help expand housing for the homeless. Our application received a Homekey award from the round 3 NOFA in the amount of $9,677,000. The ability to leverage the City’s HOME funding was a key part of submitting a successful application. The City also allocated $32,187 in Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) funds to the City of Fremont. The funds are being utilized to provide rental assistance to low income residents of the City.
CAPER 2
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
In PY24, the City allocated $197,536 as part of a 2nd phase of the public facilities project as Charles F. Kennedy Park. The project scope included design and construction/rehabilitation services to make improvements throughout the park and adjoining parking lot including renovation of grounds, pathways, playgrounds, and resolution of non-ADA compliance issues in play and picnic areas. The project has faced some unanticipated delays but Public Works staff selected an architect and general contractor for the different stages of the project and has begun some of the rehabilitation work. The City also allocated $125,000 to the Fred Castro Park Rehabilitation project for rehabilitation of the park and purchase of play equipment. Public Works staff selected a general contractor and is in the process of finishing the project by Fall 2025.
Comparison of the proposed versus actual outcomes for each outcome measure submitted with the consolidated plan and explain, if applicable, why progress was not made toward meeting goals and objectives. 91.520(g) Goal Category Source /
Amount
Indicator Unit of
Measure
Expected
– Con
Plan
Actual –
Con Plan
Percent
Complete
Expected –
Program Year
Actual –
Program
Year
Percent
Complete
Fund Economic
Development
Non-Housing
Community
Development
CDBG: $ Jobs
created/retained Jobs 40 3 7.50% 0 3 125%
Fund Economic
Development
Non-Housing
Community
Development
CDBG: $ Businesses
assisted
Businesses
Assisted
0 10 33% 8 11 125%
CAPER 3
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
Improve Public
Facilities
Non-Housing
Community
Development
CDBG: $
Public Facility or
Infrastructure
Activities other
than
Low/Moderate
Income Housing
Benefit
Projects
Completed /
Persons
Assisted
2 Projects
Completed
0 Projects
completed
0%*
1290
Persons
Assisted
0 0%*
* Projects
are still
underway
and “Persons
Assisted” will
be reported
in this column
once
completed.
Increase
Availability of
Supportive
Housing
Affordable
Housing
CDBG: $
/ HOME
Consorti
um: $
Tenant-based
rental assistance
/ Rapid
Rehousing
Households
Assisted
100 3 3% 6 3 50%
Promote
Production,
Rehabilitation,
and
Preservation
Affordable
Housing
CDBG: $
Homeowner
Housing
Rehabilitated
Household
Housing Unit
50 18 36% 20 18 90 %
CAPER 4
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
Reduce
Homelessness
Homeless
CDBG: $
$10,000
Homelessness
Prevention
Persons
Assisted
100 0 0%* 10 0
0%*
*The City was
not able to
disperse
these funds
during PY 24
because
there was a
lack of service
providers
who the City
could
disperse the
funds to.
CAREavan
program has
been able to
assist 98
homeless
clients for
PY24 through
other funding
sources.
Reduce
Housing
Discrimination
Affordable
Housing
CDBG: $
Public service
activities for
Low/Moderate
Income Housing
Benefit
Households
Assisted
100 129 129% 125 129
103.2 %
CAPER 5
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
Support Public
Service
Programs
Non-Housing
Community
Development
CDBG: $
Public service
activities other
than
Low/Moderate
Income Housing
Benefit
Persons
Assisted
1750 2019 115.37% 815 2019 247.73%
Table 1 - Accomplishments – Program Year & Strategic Plan to Date Assess how the jurisdiction’s use of funds, particularly CDBG, addresses the priorities and specific objectives identified in the plan, giving special attention to the highest priority activities identified.
The PY24 activities addressed the priority goals set forth in the City's 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan. The Consolidated Plan focused on the following goals:
1. Promote Production, Rehabilitation, and Preservation of Affordable Housing • The Minor Home Repair Grant program provided repair and rehabilitation grants to 18 low-income homeowners.
2. Reduce Housing Discrimination
• ECHO Fair Housing assisted 129 Union City residents by providing fair housing services for tenants and landlords including mediation and counseling services, fair housing tests, and education/outreach.
3. Reduce Homelessness
• The City did not allocate any CDBG funds in PY 24 for homelessness due to a lack of service providers submitting an application for the City’s CDBG NOFA Public Service grant process of PY23/PY24. The City relied on its CAREavan program to directly help residents experiencing homelessness and provide them with safe overnight parking through its program. 98 Union City residents were served by providing safe overnight parking, access to case management and other County health services, and housing search services to homeless adults and children. 7 participants were able to be transitioned to temporary housing. 2 participants were able to be transitioned to CAPER 6
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
permanent housing. The City’s Homeless Outreach Team also supported unsheltered homeless residents by providing in person outreach at encampments and other locations throughout the City. During those visits, they offered access to homeless services, emergency shelter services, emergency supplies, and additional case management services to ensure residents were also able to be connected to the larger Alameda County homeless network of services.
4. Increase Availability of Supportive Housing
• The City received a State HCD Homekey award during the program year in the amount of $9,677,000 that will go towards the scattered site model approved by State HCD for the purchase of a single family home to provide supportive housing for individuals experiencing homelessness. The City was able to finalize all agreements with State HCD and is currently in the process of leasing up the units to house at least 4 homeless residents in the home. Due to a State HCD requirement to expend Homekey awards first prior to any utilization of local funds, the City looks to expend PY 24 funds by November 2025 that will cover any remaining rehabilitation or acquisition costs and any operating subsidies needed to support the project.
5. Improve Public Facilities
• The City funded 2 public facility improvement projects in PY24 including the project at Charles F. Kennedy park. CDBG funds were utilized for the design and first phase of rehabilitation services of park improvements. Those services included design work, preliminary engineering and evaluation work, and construction document creation for the update to the parking lot, as well as tree maintenance, irrigation system repair, wood fiber for the play area. The Fred Castro Park improvement project was also funded to help update, rehabilitate and improve the park. The majority of funding was utilized to purchase new play equipment to be installed at the park with installation and rehabilitation work to be completed by Fall 2025.
6. Support Public Service Programs
• The Union City Family Center assisted 1,657 residents by providing services such as providing emergency food, health insurance enrollment, on-site social services, referrals, information, etc... through family liaisons at every school site in the New Haven Unified School District.
• Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments (SAVE) assisted 59 residents with crisis intervention services who were dealing with violence CAPER 7
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
and domestic abuse.
• City of Fremont-Senior Support program provided Older Adult Supportive services for 27 seniors in PY24. Spectrum Community Services provided free meals and services to 147 seniors in PY24. • CAREavan program provided safe overnight parking for 98 homeless families and individuals living in their cars.
7. Fund Economic Development
• 4Cs of Alameda County provided support to 8 residents operating family childcare businesses. • 2 small businesses were supported through PY21 CDBG funded Road to Recovery program.
CAPER 8
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
CR-10 - Racial and Ethnic composition of families assisted Describe the families assisted (including the racial and ethnic status of families assisted).
91.520(a)
CDBG
White 602
Black or African American 173
Asian 750
American Indian or American Native 243
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 41
Total 1,807
Hispanic 381
Not Hispanic 1,426
Table 2 – Table of assistance to racial and ethnic populations by source of funds Narrative
In PY24, the City was able to serve 1,807 persons through the CDBG program who were a very diverse population of residents with the help of its service providers and looks to continue to do that in the upcoming program year. The total 1,807 served in PY24 includes economic development efforts, fair housing efforts, and public services. The above table does not show Other/Multi-Racial Beneficiaries, which totaled 238 persons, 15 of which were Hispanic. The total overall beneficiaries served including all racial and ethnic population sources from table 2 and Other/Multi Racial Beneficiaries is 2,045. The City was also able to leverage its General Fund monies to serve an additional 24,747 City residents.
CAPER 9
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
CR-15 - Resources and Investments 91.520(a)
Identify the resources made available
Source of Funds Source Resources Made
Available
Amount Expended
During Program Year
CDBG public - federal 585,290 528,272
General Fund public - local 251,000 248,606.80
Other
public – federal
(HOME) 117,839 0
Table 3 - Resources Made Available
Narrative
In PY24, the City received a CDBG entitlement grant of $493,771. Combining the entitlement amount with $108 in program income received in PY24, the City had a total of $493,879 available to spend. For PY24, the City has currently drawn $528,272 in CDBG funding.
During PY20 the City received a CARES Act CDBG-CV allocation of $779,418. Some of the funds were programmed to support small businesses who were struggling due to the COVID pandemic. Grants were provided to assist with operating expenses, payroll support, and /or outdoor dining improvements.
Additional funding was allocated to a Rental Assistance Program for residents with the remaining funds utilized for support of the City’s CAREavan Program. In PY 24, two additional Small Business Assistance grant applications were finalized for a total of $50,000. There are still approximately $219,000 in CARES Act funds remaining for the Small Business Assistance Program, which staff has been struggling to distribute due to incomplete applications, non-responsiveness applicants, and staffing changes with the third-party consultant hired to manage the program. The remaining funds need to be spent by the end of 2026. Staff is strategizing on how best to get the funds expended by the deadline.
The City has been successful in expending enough of their funds to meet the annual timeliness test over the past few years. In PY24, the City was successful again in meeting HUD’s timeliness test.
In PY24, the City had $117,839 available in HOME funds for the BACS Project Reclamation project. Due to the delay in receiving the standard agreement from State HCD for the Homekey program and the need to expend the State grant funds prior to any local funding support, the City was not able to expend any funds in PY 24. The funds will rollover and the City hopes to expend PY 24 funds by November 2025 that will cover any remaining rehabilitation or acquisition costs and any operating subsidies needed. In PY 24, HOME funds were used to support three Union City residents through Fremont’s Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program. Prior year unexpended HOME funds were used to support the Program in PY 24, which is why Table 3 doesn’t show any funds expended.
CAPER 10
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
The City also leveraged $251,000 in General Fund dollars to support ten (10) public service programs.
Identify the geographic distribution and location of investments Target Area Planned
Percentage of
Allocation
Actual
Percentage of
Allocation
Narrative Description
City-wide 100 100
All CDBG funded programs are
implemented on a City wide basis.
Table 4 – Identify the geographic distribution and location of investments Narrative
The City of Union City allocated all of its allocation towards city-wide activities.
CAPER 11
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
Leveraging
Explain how federal funds leveraged additional resources (private, state and local funds), including a description of how matching requirements were satisfied, as well as how any publicly owned land or property located within the jurisdiction that were used to address the needs identified in the plan.
The City leveraged over $368,000 in other federal and local funds to support public services and rental assistance support. This includes $251,000 of money from the Union City General fund and $117,839 of HOME funding.
In addition to leveraging HOME and General Fund dollars, the City allowed several public service providers to operate programs out of City-owned facilities. More specifically, the City owns the Decoto and Alvarado Resource centers where Centro de Servicios operates their programs. Spectrum Community services also provided services out of the City’s Ruggieri Senior Center.
CAPER 12
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
CR-20 - Affordable Housing 91.520(b)
Evaluation of the jurisdiction's progress in providing affordable housing, including the number and types of families served, the number of extremely low-income, low-income, moderate-income, and middle-income persons served.
One-Year Goal Actual
Number of Homeless households to be
provided affordable housing units 0 0
Number of Non-Homeless households to be
provided affordable housing units 25 0
Number of Special-Needs households to be
provided affordable housing units 0 0
Total 25 0
Table 5 – Number of Households
One-Year Goal Actual
Number of households supported through
Rental Assistance 5 3
Number of households supported through
The Production of New Units 0 0
Number of households supported through
Rehab of Existing Units 25 18
Number of households supported through
Acquisition of Existing Units 0 0
Total 30 21
Table 6 – Number of Households Supported
Discuss the difference between goals and outcomes and problems encountered in meeting these goals.
The City contracted with the Alameda County Healthy Homes Department to administer the Minor Home Repair Grant Program in PY24. The program provides repair and rehabilitation grants to low income homeowners to ensure that they are able to maintain and stay in their home. The City funded this program with CDBG funds. This year the program had a goal to complete 25 minor home repair projects and completed 18 projects. There were a number of projects that were held in the queue due to needing additional paperwork from the homeowners to finalize their applications.
CAPER 13
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
The City also used multiple funding sources to administer rental assistance programs. The City was able to provide rental assistance through the Tenant Based Rental Assistance program for 3 Union City Resident. The City’s CAREvan program was also able provide assistance to 2 homeless residents who were able to find permanent shelter without an emergency shelter voucher through a different funding source. The City allocated its HOME funding in PY24 to the BACS reclamation project to help leverage its Homekey application and received an award for its application. The City was able to execute its standard agreement with State HCD and is in the process of leasing up to 4 residents with housing in the scattered site project.
The City's inclusionary housing policies have been at the core of the City's affordable housing development programs. The elimination of redevelopment agencies in California created a major funding shortfall for affordable housing production, as over $1 billion statewide was lost annually for affordable housing. However, both the City and Alameda County are taking efforts to create/develop new affordable housing funding sources. In November 2016, Alameda County voters passed Measure A1, which provides $580 million for affordable rental and ownership housing. The City has received an allocation of $8.7 million in Measure A1 funding. The City selected Midpen Housing to develop a cityowned site into 81 affordable units and the project was approved in 2019. The City is contributing the land, $6.8 million in City funds, and its $8.7 million allocation of Measure A1 funds to the project. The project was delayed due to the competitiveness of State grant and Tax Credit funding opportunities. The project received a Tax Credit award in 2025 and it is estimated this project will begin site work in late 2025/early 2026.
Discuss how these outcomes will impact future annual action plans.
The City will continue to adjust the proposed goals and outcomes in future action plans to reflect changes in funding availability.
Include the number of extremely low-income, low-income, and moderate-income persons served by each activity where information on income by family size is required to determine the eligibility of the activity.
Number of Households Served CDBG Actual HOME Actual
Extremely Low-income 13 0
Low-income 4 3
Moderate-income 1 0
Total 18 3
Table 7 – Number of Households Served
Narrative Information
The City will continue to use CDBG funding to serve primarily low-moderate income persons and households. The 3 households assisted with HOME funding were qualified as low-income.
CAPER 14
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
CR-25 - Homeless and Other Special Needs 91.220(d, e); 91.320(d, e); 91.520(c) Evaluate the jurisdiction’s progress in meeting its specific objectives for reducing and ending homelessness through:
Reaching out to homeless persons (especially unsheltered persons) and assessing their individual needs
HOME Consortium jurisdictions continued their outreach to unsheltered persons in PY 24 while dealing with the remnants of the COVID pandemic. Funding from the State’s Project Roomkey program has made more than 1,000 hotel rooms available for homeless and at-risk households in response to COVID19.
The Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program provides funding to engage and support individuals and families experiencing homelessness. In 2020 Alameda County established a coordinated, countywide COVID-19 emergency response, working with all jurisdictions in the county, to prioritize those unhoused individuals as most at risk for COVID-19 into Project Roomkey hotel sites (temporary, non-congregate shelter) and to prioritize their exits to permanent supportive housing. Alameda County’s Coordinated Entry System supports households experiencing homelessness to access needed housing resources and supports to end their homelessness. There are 12 housing resource centers across the County that provide Housing Problem Solving services and assessment. In FY 23, over 24,000 people were served by Alameda County’s Homelessness Response System. Based on data trends from the last 2 years it is expected that in FY24, a comparable amount of residents were served. https://homelessness.acgov.org/data_homeless_response.page?#Clients_Served Union City
In January 2024, Alameda County conducted a point in time homeless count which covered every census tract in Alameda County. The 2024 Count utilized volunteers and homeless guides to help identify those who were unsheltered. In the weeks following the 2024 Count, an in-depth survey was administered to a sample of unsheltered and sheltered homeless individuals, in order to profile their experience and characteristics. The 2024 Count recorded 9,450 people experiencing homelessness the morning of January 25, 2024, of which 6,343 or 67% are unsheltered. This represents an 11% decrease in the number of homeless people countywide compared to the 2022 Count. More specifically, the 2024 Count found that there were 191 unsheltered homeless individuals and zero sheltered individuals in Union City, which represents a 61% decrease in the number of homeless people compared to the 2022 Count.
The 2024 Count helps give the City and County a better understanding of the demographics and needs of those experiencing homelessness, so that resources can be allocated more effectively. The full report can be found at Alameda Point-in-Time Count Result | https://everyonehome.org/main/continuum-ofcare/point-in-time-count-2024/.
The Coordinated Entry System (CES) was launched countywide in November 2017. CES provides a CAPER 15
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standardized, countywide system to connect people experiencing homelessness to the resources available in a community. The purpose of CES is to ensure that all people who are homeless or who are experiencing a housing crisis that is likely to lead to homelessness are quickly identified, assessed and connected to housing (emergency shelters, transitional housing, rapid rehousing, and permanent supportive housing) and other assistance based on their needs and the availability of resources. CES includes a call center operated through 211, housing resource centers that are disbursed throughout the County, and a standardized intake/assessment screening tool.
EveryOne Home is a community-based organization that serves as Alameda County’s Continuum of Care (CoC). EveryOne Home coordinates local efforts to address homelessness. Everyone Home and he HOME Consortium jurisdictions continued their outreach to the homeless in a number of significant ways over the last year.
There are a number of mobile health services for the homeless that have the ability to travel to the persons who need their assistance. The Abode HOPE Program provides mobile medical and social services for homeless individuals. The program operates a mobile health van in South and East Alameda County. The program also has street outreach and support specialists. The Tri-City Health Center launched a mobile health program in June 2019 that provides free health services for homeless and those at risk of homelessness called the HealthCare Express. The Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless (ACHCH) in collaboration with the Alameda Health System (AHS) provides a mobile clinic and provides urgent care, care coordination, linkage and referrals to community resources. Staff includes a medical provider, medical assistant, social worker, registration clerk, and van driver that work to provide friendly and accessible care to those who need it most.
Addressing the emergency shelter and transitional housing needs of homeless persons As mentioned, the majority of the County’s homeless population continues to be unsheltered (67% as of the 2024 Point In Time Count (PIT)). Only 3,107 or 33% of the County’s homeless population is sheltered.
This represents a 19% increase in people experiencing sheltered homelessness. Currently, the County’s homeless system is under resourced to meet the increasing homeless population. The strategy for meeting this growing need is to utilize the Coordinated Entry System to try and resolve a person’s homelessness more quickly, especially in transitional housing, so that each bed is used to support multiple people throughout the year. The final draft of the PIT report was made available in August 2024, with changes in methods of targeted enumeration and sampling to estimate the number of people unsheltered throughout the County, and showing a 1% decrease from 55% in 2022 to 54% in 2024 for the unsheltered population residing in their vehicles. The use of vehicles is still the most prevalent form of unsheltered living for the homeless population in the County.
As a response to a growing number of homeless and displaced families in Union City, the City launched the CAREavan Safe Parking Program in June 2016 in collaboration with Union City Family Center and local community and faith-based organizations. The CAREavan Program provides families and individuals that are living in their vehicle’s a safe place to park overnight. All participating sites provide safe parking, CAPER 16
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
a facility attendant, and restrooms. Additionally, some sites provide showers and toiletries, food, clothing, meal service, free Wi-Fi, and laundry. The City allocates approximately $80,000 in General Fund dollars to cover the cost of facility attendants for the program. On average, there are 35 to 40 households utilizing the program on any given night. In PY24, the CAREavan program was able to assist 98 active clients through the program.
To help bolster the CAREavan Program, the City has allocated more funding to the program. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City received an allocation of CARES Act funding. Approximately $120,473 of this funding has been allocated to the CAREavan Program. The City has previously allocated $60,000 of its 2020-2021 CDBG entitlement funding to the program in its 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan.
The City has been approved for other funding sources through Alameda County including a Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Grant and funds from the Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) Program to help fund the CAREavan program along with General Funds from the City.
Helping low-income individuals and families avoid becoming homeless, especially extremely low-income individuals and families and those who are: likely to become homeless after being discharged from publicly funded institutions and systems of care (such as health care facilities, mental health facilities, foster care and other youth facilities, and corrections programs and institutions); and, receiving assistance from public or private agencies that address housing, health, social services, employment, education, or youth needs The Continuum of Care (CoC) is working with several publicly funded institutions of care to ensure that persons are not discharged into homelessness. The Realignment Housing Program(RHP) has housing specialists who work with people in the County jail on their housing needs prior to their release date and is funded by Alameda County Probation Department to rapidly rehouse those who are or could become homeless. The CoC also participated actively in the Youth Transitions Planning partnership funded by Health and Human services (HHS) to ensure that no transitional age youth aging out of foster care exits to homelessness. The partnership works to coordinate the foster care and McKinney funded housing resources to ensure youth do not fall out of housing. In addition, Alameda County is a Youth Homeless Demonstration Program grant recipient.
Alameda County is a “Housing First” CoC and is working with several publicly funded institutions of care to ensure that persons are not discharged into homelessness. all funded programs prioritize finding clients permanent housing as quickly as possible without any clinical pre-conditions. The Alameda County HOME Consortium has expanded resources for families experiencing homelessness. While families make up a smaller share of our populations served in the last Point-In-Time Count, during 2023 the Alameda County Homelessness Response System served 18,373 households without children and 5,150 households with children. Based on equal amounts of investment across 2023 and 2024, the 2024 data should follow the 2023 data closely.
In 2017, the City also adopted an eviction and harassment protection ordinance and a rent review ordinance to help provide protections to tenants who are facing unfair or unjust rent increases or CAPER 17
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
evictions. Additionally, the City of Union City has used General Fund and CDBG funding to support a wide range of public service nonprofits that provide safety net services to help prevent low-income individuals and families avoid homelessness. The Centro de Servicios provides legal services, food distribution, immigration counseling, and referral services. ECHO Housing provides tenant/landlord counseling and mediation which helps residents avoid evictions, extend termination notices, and negotiate reduced rent increases. Spectrum Community Services provides meals and health/mental health services to low and extremely low-income seniors. Union City Family Center operates a family resource center that provides emergency food, clothing, health insurance enrollment, on-site social services, referrals, information, etc. The City also looks to utilize additional pots of funding to further support our emergency shelter networks to help them engage and serve homeless residents of Union City.
Helping homeless persons (especially chronically homeless individuals and families, families with children, veterans and their families, and unaccompanied youth) make the transition to permanent housing and independent living, including shortening the period of time that individuals and families experience homelessness, facilitating access for homeless individuals and families to affordable housing units, and preventing individuals and families who were recently homeless from becoming homeless again
The CoC continues to refine its Housing Crisis Response System in Alameda County that prevents homelessness whenever possible, provides dignified homeless safety net services, and maintains people in permanent homes with ongoing subsidies and services. Coordinated Entry is the front door and central organizing feature of the Housing Crisis Response System. Coordinated Entry provides a standard and transparent way for the Housing Crisis Response System to effectively identify people in Alameda County who are experiencing a housing crisis and assess their needs, then prioritize and match them to the most supportive services and housing programs for which they are eligible. To do this, Alameda County Office of Homeless Care and Coordination (OHCC) manages a Countywide Housing Queue, which is maintained in Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and governed by all applicable privacy and security policies. Housing problem solving services and flexible funding resources are provided at 12 housing resource centers and by 14 street health outreach teams.
The HOME Consortium has also expanded resources for families experiencing homelessness and this can be seen as the number of homeless families has decreased despite the overall increase in sheltered homelessness in Alameda County.
The City received a grant from Alameda County to pay for a part time housing navigator from Abode Services to help the City’s CAREavan clients transition to permanent housing. The housing navigator provides case management services and help clients get connected to other resources. The City also received a $200,000 grant from the State Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) to further support the CAREavan program’s operating expenses and provide additional services such as a mobile hygiene unit at sites with showers and washer/dryers as well as an emergency aid fund.
CAPER 18
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City received an allocation of CARES Act funding.
Approximately $120,473 of this funding has been allocated to the CAREavan Program. The City also previously allocated $60,000 of its 2020-2021 CDBG entitlement funding to the program in its 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan. The City has been approved for additional funding sources to help with homeless services through Alameda County including a Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Grant in the amount of $122,203 and funds from the Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) Program in the amount of $253,935 to help fund the CAREavan program along with General Funds from the City. The City is currently working with the Office of Homeless Care and Coordination of Alameda County for an additional round of HHAP funding to continue to support the City’s CAREavan program and expand the resources that it is able to provide to homeless individuals. The City is looking at ways to provide additional support through other local funding sources to find long-term solutions to fight homelessness.
There is also collaboration with Operation Vets Home to end veteran homelessness.
CAPER 19
OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)
CR-30 - Public Housing 91.220(h); 91.320(j)
Actions taken to address the needs of public housing
The City consults with the Housing Authority of the County of Alameda (HACA) to inform the Consolidated Plan and Strategic Plan. The Housing Authority of the County of Alameda (HACA) is a public agency that provides various housing programs throughout Alameda County. HACA also provides housing and administers the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program and the Section 8 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) Voucher Program. Over 7,000 families and 3,500 housing owners participate in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) administered by HACA.
HACA also currently administers over 300 VASH Vouchers. The City currently has 797 vouchers being used by Union City residents. The City will continue to coordinate with HACA as the regional housing authority and public housing provider whenever possible.
Actions taken to encourage public housing residents to become more involved in management and participate in homeownership
HACA promotes sufficiency and asset development of resident families and individuals by encouraging participants in the HCV program to sign up for the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program. The FSS Program is a partnership between low-income families on the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This five-year program helps families who are receiving rental assistance move to economic independence. These programs continued in PY24.
Actions taken to provide assistance to troubled PHAs
The Housing Authority of the County of Alameda is not currently troubled, nor has it been in recent years.
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CR-35 - Other Actions 91.220(j)-(k); 91.320(i)-(j)
Actions taken to remove or ameliorate the negative effects of public policies that serve as barriers to affordable housing such as land use controls, tax policies affecting land, zoning ordinances, building codes, fees and charges, growth limitations, and policies affecting the return on residential investment. 91.220 (j); 91.320 (i) The City took the following actions to remove or ameliorate the negative effects of public policies that serve as barriers to affordable housing:
• The City continued to implement the City's Affordable Housing Ordinance which requires developers to provide 15% of total units as below market rate (BMR) or provide an in-lieu fee. This ordinance applies to all residential developments. The City also continued to support its existing BMR units. • The City continued to implement the Affordable Housing Ordinance in order to maximize the City’s ability to provide affordable housing.
• The City continued to implement its Housing Element, which includes goals, policies and implementation programs that support the development of affordable housing. • The City continued to support the rehabilitation of existing housing stock by providing funding to the Minor Home Repair Grant Program.
• The City continued to investigate potential sources of funding for affordable housing. • The City continued to reduce government and public infrastructure constraints to affordable housing development through administrative support and intergovernmental cooperation.
Actions taken to address obstacles to meeting underserved needs. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) The main obstacle the City faces in meeting underserved needs is a lack of funding for public services. In order to better leverage and utilize existing funding, the City completed an updated Public Services Needs Assessment Study in FY 22-23. The goals of the Study were to 1) form a foundation from which the City can make effective and beneficial decisions regarding the funding, provisions, and operations of local public service providers and 2) provide a priority needs map that can guide the City in future decisions about where to obligate public services funding and efforts. By strategically allocating resources, the City’s goals are to not just improve services for those in need but help raise the quality of life for the whole community through a commitment to fiscal responsibility and transparency. The components of the Study include a community survey, stakeholder meetings/interviews, and demographic analysis in order to determine what types of services are needed. The Study was finalized in March 2023 and was used to inform the Public Services Grant allocation process, which occurred in June 2025. The full Study can be found at the following link https://www.unioncity.org/DocumentCenter/View/10486/2023-Needs-Assessment-City-of-Union-City--- FINAL-6523.
The City also integrated findings from its partnership with Alameda County and other jurisdictions on the Regional Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing. The Analysis of Impediments repot helped outline CAPER 21
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actions to be taken to increase available funding, increase fair housing choice, and increase the production of affordable housing and preserve existing affordable housing. Some priorities that were developed from the report were 1) the expansion of housing opportunities for people with special needs, 2) increase fair housing enforcement and education, and 3) focus on housing challenges of displacement in high-cost areas.
Actions taken to reduce lead-based paint hazards. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) Although the City of Union City does not have a lead-based paint reduction program at this time, all federally required protocol in the identification and amelioration of lead-based paint hazards are followed as part of its Minor Home Repair Grant program. See Alameda County LEAD Program update for actions to reduce lead-based paint hazards.
Actions taken to reduce the number of poverty-level families. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) The City seeks to support programs and policies that are designed to effectively reduce poverty and promote self-sufficiency. Support was given to those public services that specifically address the systemic roots of poverty within the community, such as unemployment, addiction, and illiteracy.
Through CDBG and other available funding, the City will continue to support those programs that:
• Provide job training
• Provide new, well-paying jobs
• Break the cycle of drug and alcohol dependency
• Provide needed childcare for low income families
• Provide needed skills to increase the independence of emotionally or physically disabled individuals For example, this year the City provided funding to 4C’s of Alameda County which provides microenterprise assistance to low income residents seeking to start and operate in-home childcare businesses. This provides business opportunities and job training for low income individuals while also increasing the number of childcare providers in the City. Also, through leveraging the City’s General Fund, different service providers for the City provide job training opportunities, resume building, and other training opportunities for low income individuals and families.
Actions taken to develop institutional structure. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) The City's departments work openly and efficiently together to further the City's goals. The City also works with social service agencies, for profit and non-profit developers, other cities, the County of Alameda, the State of California, and the Federal Government to ensure the effective delivery of services to the community. The City also participates in the Alameda County HOME Consortium and EveryOne Home, and partners with the Alameda County Office of Homeless Care and Coordination.
Actions taken to enhance coordination between public and private housing and social service CAPER 22
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agencies. 91.220(k); 91.320(j)
The City took following actions to enhance coordination between public and private housing and social service agencies:
• Worked with and continues to work with housing developers to develop extremely- low, very low and low income housing units throughout the City
• Continued to participate in the HOME Consortium’s Technical Advisory Committee • Encouraged collaboration and cooperation among local service providers • Continued to participate in EveryOne Home
• Continued to fund nonprofit agencies serving low income residents • Continued to build and improve relationships with local service providers • Worked with Alameda County’s Healthy Homes Department to provide housing repairs and rehabilitation throughout the community
• Continued to collaborate with the school district and faith-based organizations to operate the CAREavan program
• Continued encouraged collaboration with the Housing Authority of Alameda County (HACA) to look at the development of a parcel owned by HACA in Union City to try and develop affordable housing
Identify actions taken to overcome the effects of any impediments identified in the jurisdictions analysis of impediments to fair housing choice. 91.520(a) In PY24, the Alameda County HOME Consortium completed an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI). The City used the final year of the 2019-2024 CONPLAN and took the following actions to meet and address the policies identified in the AI from PY24.
Policy 1: Promote fair housing enforcement and outreach.
Actions: The City will continue to contract with fair housing service providers, increase resident access to fair housing services, and continue to fund housing placement services.
Policy 2: Maintain, improve, and implement local policy that supports affordable housing and fair housing.
Actions: Promote new fair housing laws, periodically review their existing inclusionary housing in-lieu fees and/or housing impact fees and jobs-housing linkage fee programs if applicable, aim to implement the programs described in the Housing Element, continue to incorporate these regional AI goals, continue to prepare a Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) that evaluates the progress towards these Regional AI goals, and work together to continue to commission marketbased surveys of current market-rate rents in the Oakland-Fremont HUD FMR Area.
Policy 3: Promote and implement new fair housing laws that protect recipients of rental subsidies from discrimination by landlords.
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Actions: Educate tenants and landlords on new fair housing laws.
Policy 4: Preserve and rehabilitate existing affordable housing stock.
Actions: Participating jurisdictions will provide rehabilitation assistance loans for lower-income units.
Policy 5: Increase the number of affordable housing units.
Actions: Prioritize the production of affordable housing units and continue all existing programs to support development of local affordable housing units.
Policy 6: Increase homeownership among low- and moderate-income households.
Actions: Create a shared list of lenders countywide that can help buyers access below-market-rate loans and locally sponsored down payment and mortgage assistance programs and allocate funds for homeownership programs that support low- and moderate-income households.
Policy 7: Participating jurisdictions will continue to support or will explore new programs that provide financial support for job training programs to lower-income individuals.
Actions: Continue to support or will explore new programs that provide financial support for job training programs and continue to provide financial support for homeless services.
Policy 8: Maintain and expand awareness of affordable housing opportunities and services through marketing efforts.
Actions: Continue to assist in advertising the availability of subsided rental units, explore the creation of a countywide affordable housing database, continue promoting 211’s affordable housing database with current information, and increase marketing efforts of affordable housing units to people that typically face barriers and discrimination in fair housing choice.
Policy 9: Participating jurisdictions will pursue local, state, and federal funding sources as they become available.
Actions: Continue to pursue local, state, and federal funding sources as they become available.
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CR-40 - Monitoring 91.220 and 91.230
Describe the standards and procedures used to monitor activities carried out in furtherance of the plan and used to ensure long-term compliance with requirements of the programs involved, including minority business outreach and the comprehensive planning requirements
The City of Union City monitors its programs to ensure that projects are in compliance with federal regulations and the objectives of the community. The City spells out monitoring requirements in its agreements with nonprofits subgrantees, housing owners, and agreements with other public agencies.
By incorporating performance requirements and reporting procedures, including outlines of specific objectives, timelines and budgets, the City is able to evaluate performance. Procedures for monitoring include:
• Monitoring subgrantee performance reports and request for reimbursements on a quarterly basis
• Regular onsite monitoring
• Annual review of audits for continuing subgrantees
• Onsite monitoring of construction progress and labor monitoring (when applicable) and project oversight by City’s Public Works Department, as needed
• Ongoing monitoring of affordable rental projects
• Monitoring of HOME–funded projects and developed monitoring matrix for CDBG and HOME • Ongoing monitoring of affordable ownership units citywide • Review of project expenses
• Housing Element Annual Reports
For PY24, the City conducted CDBG desk reviews of its public service grantees including reviewing quarterly reports submitted by the grantees. City Staff is working on developing a monitoring matrix for its CDBG program, similar to the HOME monitoring matrix, to ensure that its public service providers and their programs are in good standing. The City has also been developing a monitoring matrix for its HOME program in order to ensure that the City’s properties funded by HOME are in good standing. City staff completed a full on-site monitoring visit in PY23 for Wisteria Place, City staff will be scheduling an onsite monitoring visit for the upcoming program year in PY25.
Citizen Participation Plan 91.105(d); 91.115(d)
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Describe the efforts to provide citizens with reasonable notice and an opportunity to comment on performance reports.
A fifteen (15) day public review period for the draft of the 2024 CAPER was held from August 29, 2025 to September 13, 2025 and the CAPER was made available on the City's website and a copy of the draft was available for review at City Hall. If the City receives comments, they will be incorporated into the CAPER at the end of the public review period.
The City Council will hold a public hearing on the CAPER at their September 23, 2025 meeting and a public hearing notice was published in the Argus on August 29, 2025.
CR-45 - CDBG 91.520(c)
Specify the nature of, and reasons for, any changes in the jurisdiction’s program objectives and indications of how the jurisdiction would change its programs as a result of its experiences.
The City's goals and priorities specified in the 2019-2024 Consolidated Plan guide the City's Annual Action Plan activities. The City has developed internal processes and long-range plans to help maintain timeliness while meeting the other CDBG program objectives.
Does this Jurisdiction have any open Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) grants?
No
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CR-58 – Section 3
Identify the number of individuals assisted and the types of assistance provided Total Labor Hours CDBG HOME ESG HOPWA HTF
Total Number of Activities 0 0 0 0 0
Total Labor Hours 0
Total Section 3 Worker Hours 0
Total Targeted Section 3 Worker Hours 0
Table 8 – Total Labor Hours
Qualitative Efforts - Number of Activities by Program CDBG HOME ESG HOPWA HTF Outreach efforts to generate job applicants who are Public Housing Targeted Workers
Outreach efforts to generate job applicants who are Other Funding Targeted Workers.
Direct, on-the job training (including apprenticeships).
Indirect training such as arranging for, contracting for, or paying tuition for, off-site training.
Technical assistance to help Section 3 workers compete for jobs (e.g., resume assistance, coaching).
Outreach efforts to identify and secure bids from Section 3 business concerns.
Technical assistance to help Section 3 business concerns understand and bid on contracts.
Division of contracts into smaller jobs to facilitate participation by Section 3 business concerns.
Provided or connected residents with assistance in seeking employment including: drafting resumes,preparing for interviews, finding job opportunities, connecting residents to job placement services.
Held one or more job fairs.
Provided or connected residents with supportive services that can provide direct services or referrals.
Provided or connected residents with supportive services that provide one or more of the following: work readiness health screenings, interview clothing, uniforms, test fees, transportation.
Assisted residents with finding child care.
Assisted residents to apply for, or attend community college or a four year educational institution.
Assisted residents to apply for, or attend vocational/technical training.
Assisted residents to obtain financial literacy training and/or coaching.
Bonding assistance, guaranties, or other efforts to support viable bids from Section 3 business concerns.
Provided or connected residents with training on computer use or online technologies.
Promoting the use of a business registry designed to create opportunities for disadvantaged and small businesses.
Outreach, engagement, or referrals with the state one-stop system, as designed in Section 121(e)(2) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
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Other.
Table 9 – Qualitative Efforts - Number of Activities by Program Narrative
The City has selected a General Contractor for the project and will start work on the parking lot portion of the rehabilitation at the end of Fall 2025. The City will ensure that any new sub-contractors brought on for the Charles F. Kennedy Park Improvement project will adhere to Section 3 standards. The Fred Castro Park improvement project has experienced some delays in onboarding a General Contractor but one has been selected and plans for the design and rehabilitation have been finalized. Work on the project should begin at the end of the Fall 2025 and staff will ensure that the General Contractor and any sub-contractors abide by Section 3 standards.