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; Michael Gause 707-565-4099; Dave Kiff, 707-565-4090
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Awards of Funds for Housing Focused Homelessness Interventions
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Review and finalize recommendations for fiscal year 2023-2024 Measure O funds for housing focused homelessness interventions.
end
Executive Summary:
The Sonoma County Department of Health Services (“DHS” or “the Department”) presents recommendations for FY 2023-2024 Measure O funds dedicated to housing focused homelessness interventions. Recommendations by staff were reviewed and endorsed at the April 26, 2023 Continuum of Care Board meeting before final review and approval by the Board of Supervisors. $3 million is available for awards to support housing interventions across Sonoma County.
Discussion:
A Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) for $3 million in funding for Measure O was released by the DHS Homelessness Services Division on February 1, 2023 with responses due by Friday, March 17, 2023. Eligible applicants included community-based organizations (CBOs), County departments, cities, cities in partnership with CBOs, or cities in partnership with the County. Funded projects will operate for one (1) year beginning on July 1, 2023 with additional funding expected in future years.
Priority projects, all of which must be housing focused, include existing projects that are well into developmental stages or new projects. Priorities include:
• Shared housing or Master Lease Programs
• Non-Congregate Shelter programs
• 24/7 Safe Parking Programs
• Permanent Supportive Housing Programs
• Other concepts not stated but which are housing focused interventions that lead individuals experiencing homelessness to securing permanent housing
A total of 12 applications were received and all applications met threshold eligibility for funding. Funding requests totaled $8,164,398 (see full list below) for the $3 million in available funding.
Staff from the Homelessness Services Division and Health Policy, Planning and Equity units within the Department of Health Services reviewed applications and scored each application based on the review metrics outlined in the Measure O NOFA. These metrics included:
• Overall Proposal and Program Quality (30 points)
• Type of Proposal/Program and if existing or in development stage (10 points)
• Program’s Operation Plan, including an achievable budget and hosing focus (30 points)
• Adherence to the NOFA (10 points)
• Geographical Need (20 points)
The full list of projects received and scores is below:
|
Agency |
Project |
Area |
Request |
Score |
|
COTS |
PSH Expansion |
Countywide/ Petaluma |
$901,138 |
90 |
|
SAVS |
Horizon Shine Safe Parking |
Sebastopol |
$723,441 |
81.25 |
|
City of Sonoma |
By Names List Manager for Outreach |
Sonoma Valley |
$134,000 |
81 |
|
City of Rohnert Park |
Safe Sleeping Interim Site |
Rohnert Park |
$384,000 |
80.5 |
|
Reach for Home |
Wallace Housing Interim and PSH Support |
Cloverdale |
$288,284 |
79.75 |
|
City of Petaluma |
Outreach and Navigation Mental Health Support |
Petaluma |
$960,000 |
78 |
|
PEP Housing |
Linda Tunis Supportive Services for PSH |
Santa Rosa/ Petaluma |
$202,760 |
77 |
|
SHARE Sonoma County |
Community Shared Housing Program |
Countywide |
$1,629,675 |
76.5 |
|
West County Community Services |
Tiny Home Capital Replacement |
Sebastopol |
$700,000 |
73 |
|
Homeless Action Sonoma |
Staffing and Services for Interim Shelter |
City of Sonoma |
$700,000 |
72.5 |
|
Catholic Charities |
Mental Health and Navigation and Services |
Countywide |
$519,000 |
71 |
|
City of Santa Rosa |
Sam Jones Hall Capital Improvements for Increased Privacy |
Countywide/ Santa Rosa |
$955,100 |
60 |
In reviewing projects, DHS management noted that applicants proposed a mix of single-year or multi-year projects. More projects could be funded on an initial basis by adhering to one year project funding while, in contrast, another approach would be to fully fund the top scoring projects regardless of whether projects were for one year or multiple years.
Staff Recommendations - Prioritize One Year Contracts
The Department recommends prioritizing funding for one year to ensure consistency across the system. The one exception is funding the City of Sonoma’s request for a single staff position for By Names List and Outreach work for two years to ensure continuity and allow for time for hiring. This is accomplished by slightly reducing SHARE Sonoma County’s request as it has funds available from other sources. Assuming additional Measure O dollars are available in FY 24-25, projects could be renewed for a second year and projects serving only one year would sunset.
|
Agency |
Project |
Area |
Request |
Score |
|
COTS |
PSH Expansion |
Countywide/Petaluma |
$303,379 |
90 |
|
SAVS |
Horizon Shine Safe Parking |
Sebastopol |
$723,441 |
81.25 |
|
City of Sonoma |
By Names List Manager for Outreach |
Sonoma Valley |
$134,000 |
81 |
|
City of Rohnert Park |
Safe Sleeping Interim Site |
Rohnert Park |
$384,000 |
80.5 |
|
Reach for Home |
Wallace Housing Interim and PSH Support |
Cloverdale |
$96,094 |
79.75 |
|
City of Petaluma |
Outreach and Navigation Mental Health Support |
Petaluma |
$320,000 |
78 |
|
PEP Housing |
Linda Tunis Supportive Services for PSH |
Santa Rosa |
$202,760 |
77 |
|
SHARE Sonoma County |
Community Shared Housing Program |
Countywide |
$476,091 |
76.5 |
|
West County Community Services |
Tiny Home Capital Replacement |
Sebastopol |
$360,235 |
73 |
These recommendations were presented to the Continuum of Care Board at its April 26, 2023 meeting and non-conflicted Continuum of Care Board members unanimously endorsed the recommendations for Measure O funding.
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and 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 5: Continue to collaborate with local partners, including Continuum of Care, to advance planning and policies to address homelessness.
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
N/A
Fiscal Summary
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Expenditures |
FY 22-23 Adopted |
FY 23-24 Projected |
FY 24-25 Projected |
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Budgeted Expenses |
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
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Total Expenditures |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
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State/Federal |
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Fees/Other |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Funding will be from the Measure O Homeless Care and Coordination fund balance. The fund is estimated to have a balance of $5.9 million as of June 30, 2024 prior to the above requested action. The Department will add $3,000,000 in appropriations to the FY 2023-24 Budget via first quarter Consolidated Budget Adjustments.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Recommendations for Housing Focused Homelessness Interventions
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None