Title
Staff Report for the City Council of the City of San Leandro to Hold a Public Hearing On The FY 2017-2018 CAPER; Adopt A Resolution To Approve The FY 2017-2018 CAPER; And Authorize The City Manager To Execute All Related Documents And Submit The CAPER To The U.S. Department Of Housing And Urban Development (HUD).
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the City Council 1) hold a public hearing on the FY 2017-2018 CAPER; 2) adopt a resolution to approve the FY 2017-2018 CAPER; and 3) authorize the City Manager to execute all related documents and submit the CAPER to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The CAPER has been available for public comment since August 31, 2018. Upon adoption by the City Council, the CAPER will be combined with the Alameda County HOME Consortium’s reports (for the County and each Consortium member city) and submitted to HUD.
BACKGROUND
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires each jurisdiction that receives Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME funds to prepare a Five-Year Consolidated Plan, an annual Action Plan, and an annual Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER). The CAPER reports on all activities that took place during the fiscal year to assess the City’s overall progress in accomplishing the annual Action Plan and the Five-Year Consolidated Plan objectives. The FY 2017-2018 CAPER reports upon the activities and projects described in the FY 2017-2018 Action Plan, the third year of the City’s FY 2015-2019 HUD Consolidated Plan. It accounts for the period of July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018.
ANALYSIS
Similar to the last two fiscal years, this year’s CAPER document was prepared using HUD’s required online format and includes an assessment of the progress towards achieving the five-year goals and objectives, an evaluation of annual performance, and a financial summary. Various HUD reports are included that provide information on the number of people served with each project, and by categories such as race and income. Below is a summary of some of the City’s notable activities and outcomes described in the FY 2017-2018 CAPER that highlights the City’s accomplishments in the third completed year of its FY 2015-2019 HUD Consolidated Plan.
Objective: Provide Decent Housing
Priority/Action: Affordable Housing Needs/Preserve existing affordable rental and ownership housing for households at or below 80% Area Median Income.
Housing Rehabilitation Program: In FY 2017-2018, the City contracted with Rebuilding Together Oakland/East Bay, the new service provider for San Leandro’s housing rehabilitation program. The Housing Rehabilitation Program’s goals are to make homes safe and livable for low-income homeowners, preserve existing affordable ownership housing for low and moderate income households, and allow seniors to age in place by providing grants to repair or rehabilitate houses and/or house systems, if so desired. Rebuilding Together Oakland / East Bay was approved by the City Council in spring 2017 to provide this service.
During the new contract’s ramp up, one housing rehabilitation grant was allocated for a low-income senior citizen in need of a new roof due to extreme deterioration. City Housing staff has been working with RT Oakland / East Bay to ensure that the existing pipeline of grant applications are processed and work completed in FY 2018-19.
Objective: Provide a Suitable Living Environment
Priority/Action: Affordable Housing Needs/Reduce housing discrimination.
Eden Council for Hope and Opportunity Housing (ECHO Housing): In FY 2017-2018, the City contracted with ECHO Housing, a regional non-profit fair housing agency, to provide fair housing services in an effort to reduce housing discrimination. ECHO Housing received 1 fair housing inquiry and 29 fair housing complaints involving 54 clients. ECHO Housing provided information, counseling, and/or investigation into fair housing inquiries or allegations of housing discrimination. ECHO Housing also provided education on fair housing laws, rights, and responsibilities through workshops, trainings, and presentations. The City allocates CDBG general administration funds, not public services funds, to ECHO Housing's fair housing services.
Priority/Action: Community Development Needs -- Public Services/Provide Grants to non-profit social service providers serving San Leandro residents.
Davis Street Family Resource Center: Davis Street’s Family Support Services Program provides “Basic Needs” services, including emergency food and clothing and other family support services such as medical/dental services, employment counseling, and housing assistance to low-income and working poor individuals and families. For FY 2017-2018, Davis Street served 5,037 total unduplicated persons, of which 4,039 (or 80%) were San Leandro residents. Davis Street provided 1,712 households with over 22,700 meals.
Priority/Action: Community Development Needs-Public Services/Provide Grants to non-profit social services (cont.)
Child Abuse Listening, Interviewing, and Coordination Center (CALICO): CALICO's San Leandro Child Abuse Intervention Project provides family support services to improve mental health outcomes for San Leandro toddlers, children, adolescents, and adults living with developmental disabilities who have suffered physical or sexual abuse or neglect, and for the caregivers of those victims. During FY 2017-2018, CALICO served 39 households (all of which were San Leandro households) comprised of 81 people. Additionally, a CALICO Family Resource Specialist provided on-site crisis intervention, information and referrals to 34 unduplicated caregivers (88% of all households served) of children who were victims of abuse or witnessed violence or other similar traumatic experience.
SOS/Meals on Wheels: SOS/Meals on Wheels Program serves seniors (persons 60 years of age or older) unable to buy or prepare food for themselves. This meal delivery service provides warm, nutritious, and balanced meals that are one-third of a senior’s recommended daily dietary allowance. A secondary outcome of the service comes from food delivery staff reporting perceived illness or safety issues, which is a critical safety net for homebound seniors. In FY 2017-2018, a total of 165 homebound seniors in 141 households were served by this program.
Objective: Affordable Housing
HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) Program
The City of San Leandro participates in the Alameda County HOME Consortium, which is made up of Alameda County cities (including the unincorporated areas), excluding Berkeley and Oakland. The City of San Leandro receives HOME funds via a formula allocation through the Alameda County HOME Consortium. A portion of those funds are used for administrative overhead that covers staff costs. The rest of the funds are intended for housing projects. Since the City’s annual allocation is not typically large enough to be used for a HOME eligible housing program, Alameda County HOME Consortium cities pool their funds so that they can be used on a competitive and/or rotating basis among member cities.
In FY 2017-2018, the City of San Leandro, through the HOME Consortium, was allocated $162,875 of which $9,593 was allocated to cover administrative overhead. The remaining $153,282 was used to pay down construction pool funding to City of San Leandro affordable housing developments. As was noted in last year’s CAPER, HOME Consortium funds were allocated to three San Leandro affordable housing projects constructed in the last 6 years: $650,000 for Marea Alta, $100,000 for the acquisition and rehabilitation of a single family residential property that will be used for supportive housing for physically and/or developmentally disabled adults, and $256,761 for La Vereda (aka San Leandro Senior Housing or Marea Alta Phase 2). The most recently constructed of these developments is La Vereda, which is 85 new affordable senior rental housing units for very low-income seniors. La Vereda began the competitive application process in spring 2018. Construction completion and lease-up should occur in late 2018.
The City also appropriated local General Funds to the following programs in FY 2017-2018. These programs address the City’s affordable housing, homelessness, and community development needs, as identified in the City's current HUD-approved FYs 2015-2019 Five-Year Consolidated Plan.
$11,000 to Davis Street Family Resource Center to provide affordable housing services, including affordable rental housing referrals/placement, to lower income households.
$45,000 to ECHO Housing to provide tenant and landlord counseling, which includes mediation/conciliation services in addition to assisting City staff to administer the Rent Review Program.
$35,000 to Bay Area Affordable Homeownership Alliance (BAAHA) to administer and monitor the City's First-Time Homebuyer Program.
$25,000 to Building Futures with Women and Children to provide emergency food and housing to homeless women and children in addition to social support services.
Current Agency Policies
Current City Council Policy is defined by the FYs 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan, which included the FY 2017-2018 Annual Action Plan, adopted by Resolution No. 2017-083 on June 19, 2017. This FY 2017-2018 CAPER covers the third year of the FY 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan cycle.
Previous Actions
The Action Plan containing the programs and activities carried out during FY 2017-2018 was approved by the City Council on June 19, 2017.
Applicable General Plan Policies
The Housing Element of the General Plan addresses increasing the supply of affordable ownership and rental housing in San Leandro in Goal 53 - Affordable Housing Development of the Housing Element of the General Plan. Additionally, Goals 47 to 51 of the General Plan address the provision of community services and facilities in coordination with non-profit and other social services providers. Such services range from library and childcare services to youth and senior services.
Summary of Public Outreach Efforts
A notice of the public hearing was published in The Daily Review on August 24, 2018. The CAPER was available at City Hall, the Main Library, and on the City's website for public comment from August 31 through September 14, 2018. Letters were sent on August 24, 2018, to the City’s “CDBG’s Mailing List” which includes CDBG service providers, homeowner associations, and community-based organizations.
Fiscal Impacts
None
ATTACHMENT
Attachment to Resolution
Draft FY 2017-2018 CAPER
PREPARED BY: Maryann Sargent, Senior Housing Specialist, Community Development Department