Title
Staff Report for the City of San Leandro City Council to Hold a Public Hearing on the FY 2018-2019 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER); Adopt a Resolution to Approve the FY 2018-2019 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 2018-2019 CAPER; 2) adopt a resolution to approve the FY 2018-2019 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 was available for public comment beginning on August 30, 2019. 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 2018-2019 CAPER reports upon the activities and projects described in the FY 2018-2019 Action Plan, the fourth year of the City’s FY 2015-2020 HUD Consolidated Plan. It accounts for the period of July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019.
ANALYSIS
Similar to the last three 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 by 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 2018-2019 CAPER that highlights the City’s accomplishments in the fourth completed year of its FY 2015-2020 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 2018-2019, the City contracted with Rebuilding Together (RT) Oakland | East Bay, 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. RT Oakland | East Bay was approved by the City Council in spring 2017 to provide this service.
There were thirty-one (31) housing rehabilitation grants allocated to low-income San Leandro households in FY 2018-2019. Of those households, there were 24 female-headed households and 12 households owned by disabled or specials needs persons. Repairs included toilets and plumbing fixtures replacements with higher efficiency products, installations of new water heaters, electrical repairs, repairs to porches for dry rot and/or upgrades to failing hand rails, bathroom subfloor replacements, new floorings, new roofs, gutters & downspouts, interior & exterior paint work, fence repairs, and replacing windows with dual-pane energy efficient windows. Housing Division staff is pleased with the progress in FY 2018-2019 over last year’s ramp-up of operations made by RT Oakland | East Bay.
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 2018-2019, 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 22 fair housing complaints involving 47 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 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 2018-2019, Davis Street provided support to 5,442 total unduplicated persons, of which 4,039 (or 79%) were San Leandro residents. Davis Street provided grocery bags to clients with the food equivalent of 45,648 meals.
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 2018-2019, CALICO served 26 households (all of which were San Leandro households) that comprised 51 people. Additionally, a CALICO Family Resource Specialist provided on-site crisis intervention, information and referrals to 21 unduplicated caregivers (81% of all households served) of children who were victims of abuse or witnessed violence or other similar traumatic experiences.
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 2018-2019, a total of 280 homebound seniors in 254 households were served by this program.
ADA Facilities Transition Plan Implementation: The City of San Leandro allocated CDBG grant funds to improve public facilities. Community Development staff works with the Engineering & Transportation (E&T) staff to carry out ADA Transition Plan projects. In FY 17-18 staff defined two phases of work. Phase 1 will install ADA curb ramps on sidewalks within the public right-of-way citywide as-needed. Phase 2 will continue to address high priority work in City buildings described in the City's ADA transition plan. In FY 18-19 E&T staff completed Phase 1 of the ADA curb ramp installations.
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 affordable housing projects. Since the annual allocations for the Consortium cities are not typically large enough to be used for a HOME eligible affordable housing development project, 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 2018-2019, the City of San Leandro, through the HOME Consortium, was allocated $244,691 of which $13,980 was allocated to cover administrative overhead. The remaining $230,711 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’s construction was completed and residents moved in during late Spring/early Summer 2019.
The City also appropriated local General Funds to the following programs in FY 2018-2019. These programs address the City’s affordable housing, homelessness, and community development needs, as identified in the City's current HUD-approved FYs 2015-2020 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;
• $44,100 to Bay Area Affordable Homeownership Alliance (BAAHA) to administer and monitor the City's Homebuyer Programs; and
• $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 2015-2020 Five-Year Consolidated Plan, which included the FY 2018-2019 Annual Action Plan, adopted by Resolution No. 2018-047 on June 4, 2018. This FY 2018-2019 CAPER covers the fourth year of the FY 2015-2020 Consolidated Plan cycle.
Previous Actions
The Action Plan containing the programs and activities carried out during FY 2018-2019 was approved by the City Council on June 4, 2018.
Applicable General Plan Policies
The General Plan Housing Element addresses the supply of affordable ownership and rental housing in San Leandro in Goal 53 - Affordable Housing Development. 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 23, 2019. The CAPER was available at City Hall, the Main Library, and on the City's website for public comment from August 30 through September 13, 2019. Letters were sent on August 23, 2019, 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 2018-2019 CAPER
PREPARED BY: Maryann Sargent, Senior Housing Specialist, Community Development Department