TO: Napa County Housing Commission
FROM: Jennifer Palmer, Executive Director
REPORT BY: Emma Moyer, Staff Services Manager
SUBJECT: Update from the Female Farmworker Housing Subcommittee
RECOMMENDATION
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Update on the work done by the Female Farmworker Subcommittee.
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BACKGROUND
The Napa County Housing Authority (Authority) oversees three farmworker centers (Centers) that have historically provided room and board for male farmworkers. However, data from the 2024 Farmworker Housing Needs & Impacts Assessment, demonstrated that female farmworkers make up approximately 20 percent of the labor force. In late 2025, the Housing Commission established a subcommittee consisting of commissioners (Putnam, Myers, and Silacci) and Authority staff to explore options to house the growing female farmworker labor force at the Centers.
Each Center consists of three buildings, including (a) dormitory wings (either ground level or two story), (b) a multipurpose room with commercial kitchen and a common recreational area, and (c) two or three staff apartments. The Centers are subject to Ordinance 18.104.305, which requires the Centers to be occupied for no more than three hundred thirty (330) days in a calendar year, and may be occupied by no more than sixty (60) farmworkers at any one time. Currently the Centers only provide lodging for male farmworkers.
The purpose of today's report is an update from Commissioner Putnam, chair of the subcommittee, on the work being done by the committee to integrate women into the Centers. This work includes conducting a site visit by the Subcommittee members to better understand the site(s) layout; researching best practices from other agricultural region housing programs; and evaluate the needs of female farmworkers through surveys and interviews.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA ...
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