The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 appropriated $5 billion to assist individuals or households who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, and other vulnerable populations, by providing rental housing, rental assistance, supportive services, and non-congregate shelter, to reduce homelessness and increase housing stability. The funds were allocated by formula to jurisdictions that qualified for funding through the HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME Program) from HUD. This special one-time round of funding is called the “HOME-ARP” program.
In September 2021, HUD awarded the Contra Costa County HOME Consortium (which consists of Contra Costa County and the Cities of Antioch, Concord, Pittsburg, and Walnut Creek) $12,090,215 in HOME-ARP funds. The County, as lead agency of the Contra Costa County HOME Consortium, must prepare a HOME-ARP Allocation Plan that is approved by HUD to receive the funds.
The recommended actions are to approve the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan (Attachment A), which identifies the eligible uses and funding for the eligible categories of HOME-ARP funds as an amendment to the FY 2021/22 Action Plan which adds the additional HOME-ARP funds and eligible uses to the FY 2021/22 Action Plan that the Board approved on May 11, 2021.
Eligible activities that may be funded with HOME-ARP include:
- Preservation and Production of Affordable Rental Housing
- Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA)
- Housing Related Supportive Services, Homeless Prevention Services, and Housing Counseling
- Purchase and Development of Non-Congregate Shelters (NCS)
- Capacity Building and Operating Assistance to Non-Profit Organizations
- Program Administration and Planning
Funds must primarily benefit individuals and households in the following Qualifying Populations:
- Experiencing homelessness (as defined in 24 CFR 91.5 "Homeless" (1), (2), or (3))
- At risk of homelessness (as defined in 24 CFR 91.5 "At risk of homelessness")
- Fleeing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking (as defined in 24 CFR 5.2003)
- Other populations with high risk of housing instability (including highly cost-burdened low-income households, households who have moved two or more times in the last 60 days, and households living in a motel/hotel)
Use of HOME-ARP Funding
Contra Costa County proposes to use HOME-ARP funding to acquire, develop, rehabilitate, or preserve affordable rental housing and/or permanent supportive rental housing units to serve Qualifying Populations and for the administration of the program:
| Development of affordable rental housing |
$10,276,683 |
| Administration and planning |
$1,813,532 |
| Total HOME-ARP Allocation |
$12,090,215 |
The approval of the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan is the necessary first step for the County to receive the HOME-ARP funds from HUD. The specific allocations of the HOME-ARP funds to individual projects will take place through the County's Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) annual Request For Proposal process for federal funds. The application for eligible applicants to apply for the HOME-ARP funds will become available on October 20, 2022 and due on December 19, 2022. DCD staff will then evaluate the project applications received and provide recommendations to the County's Affordable Housing Finance Committee in March/April 2023, with final project recommendations coming to the Board of Supervisors in May 2023.
Community Outreach and Stakeholder Input
Because of HOME-ARP’s focus on homeless populations, HUD required an additional stakeholder input process before approval of the HOME-ARP allocation plan by the Board. County DCD staff presented at a stakeholder meeting hosted by the County Continuum of Care. Over 2,000 individuals from service providers, affordable housing developers, and local government staff were invited to attend the meeting hosted virtually on February 14, 2022. At the meeting, feedback on the unmet and priority needs in the County were solicited. Full notes from the meeting are included in the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan as Appendix A. Feedback from the Stakeholder meeting identified the development of affordable rental housing as the top priority for HOME-ARP funding (over 60% of respondents).
DCD staff then followed up by publishing a general online survey from April 4, 2022 – June 1, 2022. The online survey requested information from stakeholders, affordable housing developers, and community members about homelessness needs in the County and HOME-ARP eligible activities and projects planned. The survey was posted online in English and Spanish at http://www.contracostaca.gov/HOME-ARP, posted on County department social media platforms, and sent via email to an interested parties list of over 600 individuals representing various nonprofit/community based organizations and public agencies. DCD received 165 responses in English and one response in Spanish in total and these are included in the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan as Appendix B. Summary survey responses identified the development of affordable rental housing as the top priority for HOME-ARP funding (over 85% of respondents).
A delay in approving the draft HOME-ARP Allocation Plan may jeopardize the County in receiving the HOME-ARP funds from HUD.