To: County of Sonoma Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Department of Health Services
Staff Name and Phone Number: Tina Rivera, 707-565-4774
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Approval to Apply for a Project Homekey-3 Program: Redwood Inn Transitional Age Youth Project
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Adopt a resolution authorizing joint application to and participation in the Project Homekey-3 Program (Redwood Inn Transitional Age Youth Project)
end
Executive Summary:
The State of California’s Project Homekey effort has helped create over 5,900 units of new housing quickly in California at 94 sites, primarily to provide either interim or permanent housing for persons who were formerly homeless. The Sonoma County region has at least eight Project Homekey grants, including in Santa Rosa (Caritas Center, The Commons, and Hotel Azura), Sebastopol (Elderberry Commons), the Russian River area (George’s Hideaway), Rohnert Park (Labath Landing), Petaluma (the Studios at Montero), and Healdsburg (the L&M Village).
The County of Sonoma Department of Health Services (hereinafter, “DHS” or “the Department”) has either been the sole applicant or a co-applicant on seven efforts, with direction given by the Board of Supervisors in October 2021 to apply for Round #2 projects.
One effort, a Project Homekey Round #2 application referred to as the Redwood Inn Transitional Age Youth (TAY) project, came close to funding in 2022 but moving quickly to identify a significant local match was challenging. As the State has announced Round #3, and the Department has a lower price point and lower local match obligation, the Department and co-applicant TLC Child and Family Services would like to submit again for Homekey Round #3.
The County would acquire and remodel a 26-unit operating motel in unincorporated Santa Rosa (1670 Santa Rosa Avenue), along with its adjacent (on the same parcel) 33-unit recreational vehicle (RV) and manufactured home lot (however, DHS would likely use up to 25 of the 33 spaces). The motel would be used solely for Interim and Permanent Supportive Housing for TAY, with full supportive services. The RV lot may be used for interim or permanent supportive housing, with full supportive services.
This agenda item includes the required authorizing resolution associated with applying for the funds. If awarded, the resolution obligates the County to enter into a Standard Agreement associated with the fund award, including an obligation to provide a local match and to maintain the property for its intended use for a specific duration.
Discussion:
On March 29, 2023, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) announced the availability of approximately $736 million in Project Homekey Round #3 funding statewide. Homekey-3 is intended to “sustain and rapidly expand housing for persons experiencing homelessness or At Risk of Homelessness, and who are, thereby, disproportionately impacted by and at increased risk for medical diseases or conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other communicable diseases.”
Homekey-3 is an opportunity for state, regional, and local public entities to develop a broad range of housing types, including but not limited to hotels, motels, hostels, single-family homes and multifamily apartments, adult residential facilities, and manufactured housing, and to convert commercial properties and other existing buildings to Permanent or Interim Housing for persons experiencing homelessness.
Of the $736 million in Homekey-3 funds:
• $435 million comes from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) and offered for site acquisition and master leasing; and
• $301 million comes from the State’s General Fund, and is intended to be used either for site acquisition or operating subsidies for Homekey sites.
Similar to Round #2 funding, the allocations made statewide include geographic allocations, allocations for homeless youth, and other categories. Funding is as follows:
A local Sonoma County Transition-Aged Youth (TAY) is eligible for funding outside of the geographic allocation. Similarly, if any category is oversubscribed with projects, a particularly high-scoring project may receive funding from the State’s discretionary reserve.
Amounts per Door. The HCD Notice of Funding Availability (“NOFA”) also describes amounts per door that may be awarded. Units for homeless youth are proposed to be funded at $175,000 per door, and units for Chronically Homeless are funded at $200,000 per door. Applicants can receive more than these amounts per door if the funds are matched with other non-Homekey funds - the amount is up to $100,000 more per door if matched with $100,000 (i.e., a 1:1 Match up to $100K per door).
Operational Support. Another key part of Homekey-3 is the opportunity to secure matching funds for operational purposes. Operational support is offered via a one-time Capitalized Operational Subsidy Reserve or “COSR,” which would occur at these levels: $1,400/month/unit ($46.67/day/unit) for housing for persons meeting the definition of chronic homelessness or homeless youth.
Per the NOFA, awardees will be subject to the following deadlines:
1. Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and/or construction must be completed 12 months from the date of award letter;
2. Capital expenditure must be completed within eight (8) months, or up to 15 months from the date of award if requesting an expenditure deadline extension;
3. Full occupancy must be achieved by 15 months from date of award letter; and
4. All operating funds must be fully disbursed by the Department by June 30, 2025, and fully expended by the Grantee by no later than June 30, 2026.
Sonoma County Efforts. Board members will recall that the region’s local and non-profit leaders were successful in applying for and receiving funding from both Homekey-1 and Homekey-2 as follows:
• Homekey-1:
o Hotel Azura ($8.8 million) - A County of Sonoma Project in Santa Rosa with 44 units, now known as Mickey Zane Place and serving as Non-Congregate Shelter for medically-vulnerable clients.
o Sebastopol Inn ($6.2 million) - A County of Sonoma Project in Sebastopol with 28 units, now known as Elderberry Commons and soon to serve as permanent supportive housing for persons formerly homeless.
• Homekey-2:
o Labath Landing - A Rohnert Park - HomeFirst interim housing project with 60 units. This opened in October 2022.
o L&M Village - A Healdsburg - Reach for Home interim housing project of 22 units. This opened in November 2022.
o George’s Hideaway - A County, Burbank, and West County Community Services permanent supportive housing project of 22 units in Monte Rio that is slated to open in fiscal year (FY) 2023-2024.
o Studios at Montero - A Burbank, COTS, and City of Petaluma permanent supportive housing project of 60 units that opened in May 2023.
o The Commons (formerly the Gold Coin) - a St Vincent de Paul, City of Santa Rosa effort to add 50 permanent supportive housing (PSH) units. This site is not yet open.
o Caritas Center - a Catholic Charities, City of Santa Rosa effort to add 40 new units of Interim Housing within the large Caritas Village location along A Street in Santa Rosa. The Center opened in Fall 2022.
For Homekey-3, DHS has again worked with a local TAY service provider (TLC Child and Family Services) to propose a project at the Redwood Inn at 1670 Santa Rosa Avenue (in unincorporated Santa Rosa). The location includes 26 motel units and about 25 of the 33 RV spaces). The Homekey-3 application would be largely similar to the one that we applied for in 2022, except that:
• The acquisition price of the motel is likely to be lower, making the local match requirement slightly lower; and
• The TLC side of the project (16 Interim housing units and 10 PSH units) will be the same, but the County’s side of the project (up to 25 interim housing units) will indeed be interim units instead of PSH (at least as envisioned now). We at DHS envision these interim units as being placements for individuals associated with various new programming efforts such as Behavioral Health Bridge Housing.
DHS does not envision any County discretionary funds will be needed to support this project’s start or its operations. The Department is currently applying for funds for the Behavioral Health Bridge Housing, other upcoming opportunities include Project based housing vouchers, and future Homeless Housing Assistance Programs (HHAP).
Consistency with the Continuum of Care’s 2023-2027 Homelessness Strategic Plan. This project would add 51 more units of interim housing or permanent supportive housing, which are specific goals within the Plan.
This agenda item authorizes the submittal of an application to Homekey-3 for up to $15,000,000 for the Redwood Inn TAY project, in partnership with TLC Child and Family Services.
Strategic Plan:
This DHS item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan by adding up to 51 units to the region’s supply of interim and permanent supportive housing. It is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Healthy and Safe Communities
Goal: Goal 4: Reduce the County’s overall homeless population by 10% each year by enhancing services through improved coordination and collaboration.
Objective: Objective 2: Identify and leverage grant funding sources for permanent supportive and affordable housing development.
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
On 10/26/2021, the Board A) Adopted a resolution approving the Supportive Services Funding Framework and Early Capital Match for Project Homekey’s Round 2 (and if applicable Round 3); B) Adopted a resolution authorizing staff to apply for a George’s Hideaway project (located at 18084 Highway 116 west of Guerneville) under Project Homekey-2; C) Approved the use of Measure O funding up to $500,000 to establish a Project Homekey Cohort under the County’s ACCESS Program to provide high-level behavioral health and other services to clients served in Project Homekey facilities; and D) Directed staff to study further and determine an operational partner for a Project Homekey-2 Redwood Inn project (located at 1670 Santa Rosa Avenue in unincorporated Santa Rosa) that may include an element for Transition Aged Youth (TAY). This may include a 5-year master leasing opportunity.
On 08/31/2021, the Board A) Adopted a resolution delegating authority to the Interim Executive Director of the Sonoma County Community Development Commission (Commission), Dave Kiff, to enter into and execute all agreements and amendments between the Sonoma County Community Development Commission and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for the Infill Infrastructure Grant Program; and B) Adopted a resolution delegating authority to the Interim Executive Director of the Sonoma County Community Development Commission, Dave Kiff, to enter into and execute all agreements and amendments between the Sonoma County Community Development Commission and the California Department of Housing and Community Development for the Project Homekey Program.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 22-23 Adopted |
FY 23-24 Projected |
FY 24-25 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
|
|
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Not applicable at this time. Should the project receive a Homekey-3 award, DHS envisions about $13,000,000 from State sources (note that the authorizing resolution requests a ceiling of $15,000,000), matched with up to $1,530,000 in local match. The Department is currently applying for funds for the Behavioral Health Bridge Housing, other upcoming opportunities include Project based housing vouchers, and future Homeless Housing Assistance Programs (HHAP), a combination of these funds would be used for the local match requirement.
|
Staffing Impacts: |
|
|
|
|
Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Resolution
Attachment 2 - Location of Redwood Inn and Site Diagram
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None