Agenda

Return

C. 91

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Anna Roth, Health Services Director
Date:	November 6, 2018

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Declare a shelter crisis pursuant to Government Code 8698.2 and submit an application for HEAP funds

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 11/06/2018

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:	Lavonna Martin, 925-608-6101
cc:	Marcy Wilhelm Lavonna Martin

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: November 6, 2018
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

ADOPT Resolution No. 2018/557 declaring a shelter crisis, pursuant to Government Code 8698.2, in order to become eligible to receive emergency aid funds to expand and improve the homeless crisis response system for unsheltered individuals and families across the county and to submit an application for funding to the State of California Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency for the Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP).

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Homeless Emergency Aid Program will bring $7,196,770 in one-time funding for homeless services and emergency housing within the next year to Contra Costa County. There is no matching contribution requirement for activities funded with HEAP Program funds.

BACKGROUND:

On September 5, 2018 the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) announced the availability of $500 million in Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) grant funding. HEAP provides one-time funding to Continuums of Care (CoCs) and large cities (with populations over 330,000) to address the homelessness crisis.

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

In order to receive HEAP funding, applicants must: 1) Declare a shelter crisis pursuant to Chapter 7.8 (commencing with Section 8698) of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code; and 2) Provide evidence of a collaborative process. In order to receive funds in this first round of funding, applicants must apply by December 31, 2018. Contra Costa CoC will submit its application by early December 2018 to ensure consideration in Round 1.

HEAP funding is intended to support CoCs and large cities in addressing the state’s homelessness crisis. Contra Costa CoC is eligible to receive $7,196,770 based on its 2017 point-in-time count total homeless population and its 2017 share of the overall state’s homeless population. Five percent of HEAP funding ($359,838) is allocated by state statute to address youth experiencing or at-risk of experiencing homelessness. Five percent of funds will also be utilized for administrative costs. H3, as the CoC applicant, will receive Contra Costa’s allocation of HEAP funding and is working with jurisdictions to ensure that funding is distributed across the entire county and is allocated according to current need.

In order to expand homelessness services across the County, the Contra Costa CoC proposes allocating HEAP funding to implement interventions that build on the best-practices and current CoC efforts. The Contra Costa CoC determined to allocate funds based on region in order to match funding with need. Utilizing the most recent 2018 unsheltered point-in-time count numbers, regional allocations will be made accordingly:

West County: $1.36 million (21% of the County’s unsheltered population)
Central County: $2.2 million (34% of the County’s unsheltered population)
East County: $2.9 million (45% of the County’s unsheltered population)

A local collaborative application process to determine how HEAP funds will be utilized in the CoC was undertaken in October 2018 and involved a series of community meetings by region, along with a meeting focused specifically on how to allocate the youth funding. These meetings were designed to engage community members in how each region’s allocation should be spent and build consensus on which interventions are a top priority for addressing homelessness in the region.

Following the community meetings, the Ad Hoc Funding Committee of Contra Costa’s Council on Homelessness, which is the CoC’s governing board, met to review the proposed interventions for youth and each region. The committee will offer an official recommendation to the Council on Homelessness for their consideration and approval at their November 1, 2018 meeting. There is no indication that declaring a shelter crisis will trigger any other requirements from the State at this time.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

Contra Costa County will not receive the estimated $7.19 million allocation from the State of California to provide emergency housing and/or services to person who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT:

The State requires that a minimum of 5% of the HEAP funds are spent on housing and/or services for youth. For Contra Costa, a minimum of $359,838 will be set aside and invested in a youth-specific intervention.