Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors (Sitting as the Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of the County of San Mateo)
From: Ken Cole, Executive Director, Housing Authority
Subject: Agreements for the Provider-Based Assistance Program
RECOMMENDATION:
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Acting as the Governing Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of the County of San Mateo, adopt a resolution authorizing the Executive Director of the Housing Authority or the Director’s Designee to execute agreements for the Provider-Based Assistance program for the term of July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2023, with Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA) for an amount not to exceed $2,355,663; with HIP Housing for an amount not to exceed $1,301,982; and with Service League for an amount not to exceed $713,800.
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BACKGROUND:
On April 13, 2010, the Governing Board of Commissioners approved the Housing Authority of the County of San Mateo (“HACSM”) Moving To Work (“MTW”) Annual Plan which contained an initiative to design and implement a rental assistance program serving income-qualified members of populations in our community who either are not served or are underserved by HACSM’s current programs due to unique qualifying circumstances.
The result of this initiative was the development of the Provider-Based Assistance (“PBA”) program which allowed HACSM to provide time-limited rental assistance, in conjunction with supportive services, to households served by local providers. The goals of the PBA program are to assist eligible households to increase their housing stability, increase their skills and/or income, and obtain greater self-sufficiency. Each provider designed and implemented its own program using HACSM funds for the housing component.
DISCUSSION:
HACSM issued its first Request for Proposals (“RFP”) for the PBA program in May 2011; As a result of the first RFP, HACSM entered into agreements with three providers - CORA, HIP Housing, and Service League. A second RFP was issued in September 2016 and a fourth provider, Brilliant Corners, was selected. The term of the agreement with Brilliant Corners will expire June 30, 2020.
A third RFP was issued in March 2018 to solicit proposals from potential providers; HACSM received proposals from the three original providers.
The PBA program will enable CORA to house up to 15 households per year affected by domestic violence, improving their ability to stabilize their lives after leaving an abusive relationship. Clients in the PBA program will have access to CORA’s existing services such as legal assistance, individual and family therapy, peer counseling, support groups, parenting education, and Life Skills workshops.
HIP Housing will also serve survivors of domestic violence and persons exiting the foster care system. These populations often have multiple or serious barriers to housing stability such as poor rental histories, criminal histories, and/or histories of rental instability. HIP Housing owns four shared homes with a total of 22 bedrooms, resulting in 11 households being served at any given time.
Service League focuses its services on persons exiting criminal justice facilities or high utilizers of the criminal justice system. Service League owns five transitional homes in Redwood City and will serve up to 35 households per year.
HACSM has seen success in working with each of these providers because of the overall flexibility of the PBA program; each of the models presents its own successes and challenges. For example, HIP Housing and Service League can better control the subsidy costs since they own houses and operate shared housing facilities; however, due to the population served, these providers see a higher turnover rate in its houses. CORA has established ongoing relationships with landlords in the community but it takes more time to find affordable units in an inflated market.
The term of the agreements with these three providers expired June 30, 2018, and HACSM is proposing to execute new agreements with each provider for a term of five years, July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2023.
County Counsel has reviewed and approved the resolution as to form.
Approval of this Resolution contributes to the Shared Vision 2025 outcome of a Livable Community by enabling HACSM to provide housing subsidy to low income households while increasing housing choice through program flexibilities.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no net County cost associated with this action. All funds required to operate the program are provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and are part of HACSM’s Section 8 voucher funding and reserves.