To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Community Development Commission and Department of Health Services-Behavioral Health Division
Staff Name and Phone Number: Jenny Abramson, 565-7548 & Bill Carter, 565-5157
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): All
Title:
Title
No Place Like Home Plan and Acceptance of Noncompetitive Allocation
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Accept the No Place Like Home Plan, a required submission for acceptance of the No Place Like Home Non-Competitive Allocation.
B) Adopt a resolution authorizing the Interim Executive Director of the Commission, or his designee, to enter into, execute, and deliver any and all documents required or deemed necessary or appropriate to be awarded the No Place Like Home (NPLH) Noncompetitive Allocation award, and all amendments thereto (collectively, the “NPLH Noncompetitive Allocation Award Documents”).
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Executive Summary:
On July 1, 2016, Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation enacting the No Place Like Home (NPLH) Program to dedicate $2 billion in bond proceeds for the development of permanent supportive housing for persons who are in need of mental health services and are experiencing homelessness, chronic homelessness, or are at-risk of chronic homelessness. NPLH funds have been made available through a Noncompetitive Allocation and a Competitive Allocation process.
On August 15, 2018, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (State HCD) announced the availability of $190 million state-wide in noncompetitive funding for development of housing for the No Place Like Home eligible population. This announcement was amended with revised allocation amounts on October 30, 2018. Acceptance of the Noncompetitive Allocation requires submission of a County “No Place Like Home” Plan that specifies the goals, strategies and activities both in process or to be initiated to reduce homelessness and make it non-recurring. Approval of this item includes accept of the attached No Place Like Home Plan, which addresses all of the requirements described in the No Place Like Home Guidelines, Section 201(b)(3)(A), and was developed through an inclusive collaborative process of community input during May-July, 2019, as more fully described below.
Noncompetitive allocations are awarded to counties to fund eligible activities in developing permanent supportive housing for homeless, severely mentally ill persons. Funds from the Noncompetitive Allocation will be administered to achieve the maximum impact, in developments of five or more units in which the Commission will act as a project sponsor and State HCD will act as the project lender. Funds will be receivable upon approval by State HCD of housing development project applications, which are due to the State by February 15, 2021. While no match is technically required for No Place Like Home Program funds, additional local funding is critical to leveraging the funds needed for any affordable housing development.
Acceptance of No Place Like Home Funds, including the Noncompetitive Funds that are the subject of this item, includes a commitment that the County will make mental health supportive services available to a project’s NPLH tenants for at least 20 years, and will coordinate the provision of or referral to other services in accordance with the County’s relevant supportive services plan, in accordance with Welfare and Institutions Code section 5849.9 (a).
Adoption of the attached Resolution will reiterate this requirement and will provide the required authority to the Commission, in partnership with the Department of Health Services-Behavioral Health Division, to open a funding competition for the use of No Place Like Home Noncompetitive Funds, to submit an application for awarded funds to State HCD, and to accept No Place Like Home Noncompetitive Funds in the amount of up to $3,935,834 upon award. The grant awards are assured as long as qualifying project applications are received timely by the State deadline of February 15, 2021.
Discussion:
Through the first round of No Place Like Home Competitive Funding, more than $22 million has been awarded to two projects in Sonoma County. With this investment, Burbank Housing and DanCo Communities were approved for funding that will provide a combined 114 permanent supportive housing units for No Place Like Home eligible tenants. Additional rounds of competitive funding are planned, but as yet not scheduled.
In order to meet the requirements for acceptance of the No Place Like Home Noncompetitive Funds, the Commission and the Department of Health Services-Behavioral Health Division (DHS-BHD) engaged a wide range of stakeholders to provide input into the attached No Place Like Home Plan (attachment 1). Throughout May and June 2019, DHS-BHD and Commission staff convened input sessions including representatives from:
• The Department of Health Services’ Behavioral Health and Public Health Divisions, including consumers of mental health services and Whole Person Care Pilot team members;
• County Probation and criminal justice providers;
• Human Services Department ;
• Community Development Commission (Ending Homelessness, Neighborhood Investments, and Rental Assistance divisions);
• A wide range of nonprofit housing and homeless services providers;
• The Health Care for the Homeless Collaborative and other health care providers; and
• NAMI Sonoma County and family caregivers.
In addition, the Home Sonoma County Technical Advisory Committee gave extensive input both in a May 2019 public meeting and through follow-up email contributions. The Noncompetitive No Place Like Home allocation is designated for the County of Sonoma, and thus is under the Board’s authority. While the Plan and application do not require action by the Home Sonoma County Leadership Council, it was important to garner the expert knowledge of that body’s Technical Advisory Committee.
The Commission and Department of Health Services-Behavioral Health Division project a need for 457 units of permanent supportive housing for the No Place Like Home eligible population. This estimate was built upon 2018 Homeless Count data (via a mature implementation of nationally-endorsed methodology for conducting the count), Homeless Management Information System utilization data from FY 2017-18, and Coordinated Entry System data from the same period on the vulnerability of persons who are experiencing homelessness and seeking housing. An appendix to the Plan describes how this estimate was calculated.
The Commission and DHS-BHD requested stakeholder input on the special barriers experienced by homeless persons living with mental illness in accessing housing, and how plans for housing for this population should address those barriers. An appendix listing all stakeholders consulted is included at the end of the Plan.
As noted in the Plan’s Executive Summary, the challenges are many and daunting:
• California’s housing crisis, which was exacerbated in Sonoma County by the 2017 fire disaster;
• Insufficient local government revenue to fully fund safety net and justice services;
• Consumer experiences of a fragmented and duplicative service delivery system
• Inadequate public transportation;
• A Coordinated Entry System in early stages of implementation that is not yet fully functional; and
• Misalignment of a new State definition, “at risk of chronic homelessness,” with federal definitions and funding eligibility.
Despite these barriers, current efforts offer reasons for encouragement:
• County Departments have engaged in robust efforts to prevent criminalization of homelessness, and continues to work collaboratively to address gaps identified through the Probation Department’s Sequential Intercept Mapping project.
• Nonprofit providers operate approximately 2,500 homeless-dedicated beds, of which 1,070 are permanent supportive housing. Of the estimated remaining need for 1,306 permanent supportive housing units, 360 units are in the housing pipeline, and 114 of these are already dedicated to the No Place Like Home eligible population through the recently approved NPLH competitive funding awards to Burbank Housing and DanCo Communities.
• The ACCESS Sonoma Initiative has eliminated barriers between protected data systems to better serve the county’s most vulnerable residents.
Based on community input and the enumeration of barriers described above, the No Place Like Home Plan identifies key goals and strategies, such as:
• Continually increasing coordination and connection between distinct efforts across the county, including the Home Sonoma County regional response to homelessness and expansion of ACCESS Sonoma.
• Building out the housing pipeline, investing No Place Like Home Noncompetitive dollars in projects that yield the highest number of units for the investment while addressing key supportive services needs, including graduated unit sizes to accommodate developing participant needs; shared common spaces to support social activities and counter isolation; co-location of health services; and structuring investments to include reserves that can fund ongoing case management and peer service navigation.
• Engaging underserved communities in learning about ending homelessness and developing core infrastructure as needed to achieve geographic equity.
• Systematically expanding effective access to rental assistance programs for persons experiencing homelessness.
• Collaboratively addressing the service gaps identified through Sequential Interface Mapping, as through the current multi-agency Mentally Ill Offender Task Force.
• Continuing to expand the ACCESS Sonoma Initiative to criminal justice and health provider partners.
• Equip the system of care to become more client-centered through specialized training.
• Maximize the use of peer navigators to address staff turnover and budget constraints and build cultural competency into all program.
Acceptance of the No Place Like Home Plan and adoption of the Resolution authorizing the Commission to accept and administer No Place Like Home Noncompetitive Funds (attachment 3) will further the goals identified in the Plan and contribute to development of the estimated 343 permanent supportive housing units still needed to assist Sonoma County’s No Place Like Home eligible persons to become stably housed.
Noncompetitive No Place Like Home funds allocated to Sonoma County will be included in upcoming affordable housing funding competitions. The investment of non-competitive funds will be made in a way that ensures the highest number of units for the investment, while addressing key supportive services needs of NPLH eligible persons as described above. A local competition will be conducted in FY 2019-20 to select projects in which to invest the Noncompetitive No Place Like Home funds, so that projects may be submitted to the State Department of Housing and Community Development before its February 15, 2021 deadline.
Prior Board Actions:
12/11/2018, Item 58 - Authorized Commission to execute all documents necessary to evidence the loan of NPLH competitive funds in Sonoma County.
9/19/2017, Item 2 - Authorized Commission to apply for and accept NPLH Technical Assistance Grant funds.
Fiscal Summary
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None at this time. The No Place Like Home Noncompetitive Allocation is contingent on State approval of submitted projects by February 15, 2021.
Attachments:
1. No Place Like Home Plan
2. No Place Like Home Noncompetitive Allocation Acceptance Documents
3. Resolution authorizing Commission to accept the Sonoma County Noncompetitive Allocation Award under the No Place Like Home Program
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None