TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Minh C. Tran, County Executive Officer
REPORT BY: Jennifer Palmer, Director of Housing & Homeless Services
SUBJECT: Amendment No. 9 to Agreement with The Center of Common Concerns, Inc.
RECOMMENDATION
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County Executive Officer requests the following actions regarding the Homeless Action Plan, in compliance with the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Round 3 (HHAP-3) grant:
1. Approval of and authorization for the Chair to sign Amendment No. 9 to Agreement No. 170374B with The Center for Common Concerns Inc. increasing the maximum contract amount by $64,769 for a new maximum amount of $248,769, to develop a Homeless Action Plan; and
2. Approval of a Budget Transfer increasing appropriations in Housing & Homeless Services (2030-2030000) by $64,769, offset by additional revenue (4/5 vote required).
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In July 2019 the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) made available three rounds of grant funding for the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) program. HHAP Round 1 is a $650 million grant that provides local jurisdictions with funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges. HHAP Round 2 is a $300 million grant that provides support to local jurisdictions to continue to build on regional collaboration developed through previous rounds of HCFC funding and to develop a unified regional response to homelessness. HHAP Round 3 (HHAP-3) is a $1 billion grant that provides local jurisdictions, including federally recognized tribal governments, with flexible funding to continue efforts to end and prevent homelessness in their communities.
HHAP-3 funding is provided pursuant to Health & Safety Code 50220.7(a) includes an initial disbursement of 20% of allocated funds for specific activities and uses in support of a final application for the balance of funds no later than June 30, 2022. A requirement of the final application is for all jurisdictions to update their existing Homeless Response Plans and develop and submitted and updated Homeless Action Plan.
Napa County Housing & Homeless Services contracts with The Center for Common Concerns, Inc. (Homebase), a team of lawyers and public policy experts for homeless services consultation and technical assistance, including grant writing, since 2000. Their work for Housing & Homeless Services includes preparation and administration of the Continuum of Care (CoC) annual HUD NOFA, support for the CoC, and making system change and policy development recommendation.
Approval of today's action will modify Homebase’s scope of work to include the development of a Homeless Action Plan, in compliance with the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Round 3 (HHAP-3) grant funding. There is a $64,769 increase to the annual contract maximum because of the amendments to the Scope of Work.
FISCAL & STRATEGIC PLAN IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
Yes |
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Is it currently budgeted? |
Yes |
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Where is it budgeted? |
Housing & Homeless Services |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
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Discretionary Justification: |
Approval of the requested action is discretionary in that there is no mandate to contract with The Center for Common Concerns for development of the Homeless Action Plan. |
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Is the general fund affected? |
No |
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Future fiscal impact: |
There is no future fiscal impact; this is a onetime service fully-funded with current grant funds. |
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Consequences if not approved: |
If the amendment is not approved, Napa County will be unable to create a Homeless Action Plan and will be out of compliance with HHAP-3 funding requirements. |
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County Strategic Plan pillar addressed: |
Healthy, Safe, and Welcoming Place to Live, Work, and Visit |
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Additional Information |
This amendment will be fully funded with HHAP-3 grant funds. |
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 is not applicable.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
HHAP-3 Background:
The Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) is a department of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency that was established in 2017 to oversee the implementation of “Housing First” policies, guidelines, and regulations. “Housing First” is an approach to quickly connect individuals and families experiencing homelessness to permanent housing without preconditions and barriers to entry, in order to reduce the prevalence and duration of homelessness in California. HCFC has made available three rounds of grant funding for the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) program. HHAP Round 1 is a $650 million grant that provides local jurisdictions with funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges. HHAP Round 2 is a $300 million grant that provides support to local jurisdictions to continue to build on regional collaboration developed through previous rounds of HCFC funding and to develop a unified regional response to homelessness. HHAP Round 3 (HHAP-3) is a $1 billion grant that provides local jurisdictions, including federally recognized tribal governments, with flexible funding to continue efforts to end and prevent homelessness in their communities.
Napa County applied for and received $851,410 in HHAP-1 funding, which was allocated to the Shelter Capital Improvement Project and Rapid Re-Housing Assistance, and $410,645 in HHAP-2 funding, which is allocated to rental assistance, incentives, case management, tenancy care support and other costs to support transition of clients to permanent housing. HHAP-3 funding is provided pursuant to Health & Safety Code 50220.7(a) includes an initial disbursement of 20% of allocated funds for specific activities and uses in support of a final application for the balance of funds no later than June 30, 2022. A requirement of the final application is for all jurisdictions to update their existing Homeless Response Plans and develop and submitted and updated Homeless Action Plan. Upon receipt of the Standard Agreement to Apply, HCFC disbursed an initial 20% of the allocated funds for jurisdictions to use to update their existing Homeless Response Plans, and base applications for the remaining 80% allocation on identified gaps and needs as outlined in the updated plan. A further application is due no later than June 30, 2022, to qualify for the balance of the funds.
Homebase Background:
Napa County contracts with The Center for Common Concerns, Inc. (HomeBase), a team of lawyers and public policy experts for homeless services consultation and technical assistance, including grant writing, since 2000. In September 2015, the County issued a formal request for proposals Request for Proposals (RFP) for these consulting services and the Center for Common Concerns was the firm selected to do that work. Their current scope of work includes:
1. Administration of the Continuum of Care (CoC) Annual HUD NOFA. The CoC Program competition is an annual opportunity for Napa CoC to evaluate its progress and identify strategic actions to achieve systems change goals. Through past successful competitions, Napa CoC has expanded its permanent housing. Napa County is the designated Administrative Entity for the CoC. Home Base provides technical assistance to County staff with the annual CoC Program competition response preparation and submission process.
2. Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program Local Process. HomeBase provides technical assistance to County staff who support the CoC in responding to the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Balance of State funding opportunity through the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) NOFA.
3. Monitoring CoC Funded Agencies. HomeBase provides a series of one-on-one, on-site programmatic and
fiscal monitoring visits to all CoC funded agencies in Napa County and, when applicable, provides an analysis of sub-recipients and contracted programs.
4. System of Care Support. HomeBase provides technical assistance and support to County staff in creating a more effective homeless system of care. In 2021-2022 contract year, this work includes: analyzing system performance and community data to monitor strategic plan implementation progress and identify areas for improvement, engaging with CoC Program recipients, sub recipients, CoC members and other key stakeholders to implement best practices toward ensuring the homelessness is a rare, brief and non-recurring event for individuals in Napa County; on-call technical assistance for questions regarding HUD documentation requirements such as Annual Performance Reports (APRs) and System Program Monitoring (SPM), and evaluating and proposing changes to CoC and sub recipient policies and procedures as needed.
5. Coordinated Entry Evaluation. HomeBase conducts qualitative and quantitative evaluations of the CoC Coordinated Entry Systems (CSE) in compliance with HUD Notice CPD 17-01. The evaluation process includes Facilitation of CES Workgoup, survey of providers and recently housed households, auditing and evaluating HMIS and CES data and providing analysis of its implications for the system of care, and supporting the Workgroup with preparation of a report for the CoC with actions steps and implementation plan.
Napa County Housing & Homeless Services requests to modify HomeBase’s scope of work to include a 6th task that includes the following:
1. Research and review of key documents and data related to the current homeless system; identify existing gaps and priorities.
2. Identify and coordinate with relevant system stakeholders, collect feedback on proposed strategies and goals by hosting community groups identified by the steering committee.
3. Development of the Homeless Action Plan, gathered through the research and review, and stakeholder meetings and feedback, in compliance with HHAP-3 funding requirements, completed in time for HHAP-3 application submission.
Approval of today’s action will modify Hombase’s contract to perform work required under the initial disbursement of funds to submit the full and final application for the balance of HHAP-3 funds by June 30,2022.