Title
Staff Report for the City of San Leandro City Council to Hold a Public Hearing on the FY 2019-2020 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER); Adopt a Resolution to Approve the FY 2019-2020 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 2019-2020 CAPER; 2) adopt a resolution to approve the FY 2019-2020 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 October 9, 2020 through November 16, 2020. 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 2019-2020 CAPER reports upon the activities and projects described in the FY 2019-2020 Action Plan, the fifth year of the City’s FY 2015-2020 HUD Consolidated Plan. It accounts for the period of July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020.
Analysis
Similar to the last four 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 2019-2020 CAPER that highlights the City’s accomplishments in the fifth completed year of its FY 2015-2020 HUD Consolidated Plan.
Objective: Provide Decent Affordable 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 2019-2020, 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. RT Oakland | East Bay was approved by the City Council in spring 2017 to provide this service.
There were 12 housing rehabilitation grants allocated to low-income households including 4 households with either extremely low- and low-income senior citizens and/or disabled persons. The repairs that received grants in FY 2019-2020 included the installation of ADA grab bars and other accessibility improvements, plumbing repairs and fixture replacements, porch railing installments and dry rot repairs, replacement of water heater furnace, exterior painting, weatherization of windows or replacement with new dual glaze, roof repairs, energy efficiency upgrades, and code enforcement related yard clean-up and/or fence repair/replacement. The goal of this program is to preserve existing affordable ownership housing for low- and moderate-income households and to allow senior citizens to age in place.
Objective: Create a Suitable Living Environment
Priority/Action: Affordable Housing Needs/Reduce housing discrimination.
Eden Council for Hope and Opportunity Housing (ECHO Housing): In FY 2019-2020, 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 35 fair housing complaints. 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 2019-2020, Davis Street provided support to 7,740 total unduplicated persons, all of which were San Leandro residents. Davis Street provided grocery bags to clients with the food equivalent of 63,360 meals. Given HUD’s waiver of the Public Services funding cap in FY 2019-2020 and FY 2020-2021 and DSFRC’s rapid and adept response to the San Leandro community’s needs during the Alameda County Shelter in Place order to address the COVID-19 pandemic, staff recommended an increase in the FY 2020-2021 public services allocation.
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 2019-2020, CALICO served 23 San Leandro households that comprised of 49 people. Prior to the Alameda County Shelter In Place Order beginning in March 2020, CALICO Family Resource staff provided on-site crisis intervention, information and referrals to 35 unduplicated caregivers (71% of all people served) of children who were victims of abuse or witnessed violence or other similar traumatic experiences. During the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, the on-site crisis intervention was conducted via telephone calls due to COVID-19. Given HUD’s waiver of the Public Services funding cap in FY 2019-2020 and FY 2020-2021 and CALICO’s rapid and adept response to the San Leandro community’s needs during the Alameda County Shelter in Place order to address the COVID-19 pandemic, staff recommended an increase in the FY 2020-2021 public services allocation.
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 2019-2020, a total of 397 homebound seniors were served by this program. Given HUD’s waiver of the Public Services funding cap in FY 2019-2020 and FY 20-21 and SOS/MOW’s rapid and adept response to the San Leandro community’s needs during the Alameda County Shelter in Place order to address the COVID-19 pandemic, staff recommended an increase in the FY 2019-2020 public services allocation.
Spectrum Community Services: Spectrum works to support San Leandro Senior Citizens to stay healthy and independent by serving hot, nutritious meals in a supportive setting, five days a week. In FY2019-2020 453 low-income San Leandro Senior Citizens received hot, nutritious meals in a supportive setting for the first 2 quarters. Starting in Quarter 3, in response to COVID-19, Spectrum partnered with SOS/Meals On Wheels to provide their clientele hot delivered meals directly to their homes. Given HUD’s waiver of the Public Services funding cap in FY 2019-2020 and FY 2020-2021 and Spectrum’s rapid and adept response to the San Leandro community’s needs during the Alameda County Shelter in Place order to address the COVID-19 pandemic, staff recommended an increase in the FY 2020-2021 public services allocation.
Priority/Action: Community Development Needs -- Public Facilities Improvements.
Boys’ and Girls’ Club Major Renovation Project: One of two Community Public Facilities improvement projects in FY 2019-2020 was the allocation of $300,000 to the Boys’ and Girls’ Club’s major renovations to its facilities at 401 Marina Boulevard. The Boys’ and Girl’s Club’s funds were fully expended in FY 2019-2020.
Building Futures with Women and Children San Leandro Shelter Rehabilitation: The second of two Community Public Facilities Improvement projects in FY 2019-2020 was the allocation of $143,725 to Building Futures for Women and Children (BFWC) for ADA improvements and to address deferred maintenance to the San Leandro Homeless Shelter located at Saint Leander’s Church. The rehabilitation of the San Leandro Shelter was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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 2019-2020, the Consortium allocated to the City $221,998, of which $12,763 was allocated to cover City administrative overhead. The remaining $209,235 in funds were used to pay down construction pool funding to prior years’ affordable rental housing developments to which HOME Consortium funds were specifically allocated to three San Leandro affordable housing projects. In the last 6 years they are: $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 Marea Alta Phase 2). La Vereda has 85 new affordable senior rental housing units for very low-income seniors. Lease-up of this building happened in the Spring 2018 and completed construction in early 2019. The Certificate of Occupancy was issued in January 2020 and BRIDGE Housing closed its permanent loan in June 2020.
The City also appropriated local General Funds to the following programs in FY 2019-2020. 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;
• $15,000 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 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.
FY 2015-2020 Five Year Consolidated Plan Accomplishments
Significant progress was made to advance the HUD Five Year Consolidated Plan Goals and Objectives to address affordable housing and community development needs. Cumulatively over the past five years the following services were provided: ECHO Housing provided Fair Housing Services to 130 households; there were nearly 60 owner-occupied homes that were provided minor home rehabilitation grants; the City’s five public services partners provided assistance to nearly 33,000 people; over $250,000 in ADA accessibility improvements were made to public infrastructure around the City; a minor rehabilitation grant was made to the Luella Fuller Group Home preserving important affordable housing stock; and two affordable housing developments totaling 200 residential housing units (Marea Alta and La Vereda) were completed using HOME Partnership funds.
In the final year of the Five-Year Consolidated Planning period, the FY 2019-2020 Annual Action Plan was amended two times to program emergency assistance funds in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19). The amendments implemented the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Public Law 116-136 was adopted and authorized on March 27, 2020. HUD awarded the City of San Leandro two rounds of funding from this legislation. CARES Act Round I resulted in an allocation of $451,972 and Round III in the amount of $711,206 in Community Development Block Grant-Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) funds to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19.
Current Agency Policies
Current City Council Policy is defined by the FYs 2015-2020 Five-Year Consolidated Plan, which included the FY 2019-2020 Annual Action Plan, adopted by Resolution No. 2019-075 on May 6, 2019 with two Substantial Amendments made to it: first on June 15, 2020 by Resolution No. 2020-055 and the second on November 16, 2020 by Resolution No. 2020-___. This FY 2019-2020 CAPER covers the fifth year of the FY 2015-2020 Consolidated Plan cycle.
Previous Actions
The First and Second Substantial Amendments to the Annual Action Plan containing the programs and activities carried out during FY 2019-2020 was approved by the City Council on June 15, 2020 by Resolution No. 2020-055 and the second on November 16, 2020 by Resolution No. 2020-___ respectively.
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 Public Notice of this Public Hearing was published in the East Bay Daily Review on October 16, 2020 and sent to a mailing list of those who have expressed interest in the City’s CDBG funding activities. Due to the Alameda County Shelter In Place Order, the FY 2019-2020 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report will be available for review on the City’s website (<http://www.sanleandro.org/depts/cd/housing/plans.asp>). Upon request, a hard copy of the document may be made available to those without internet access or in a format accessible to persons with disabilities. Letters were sent on October 16, 2020, to the City’s “CDBG’s Mailing List” which includes CDBG service providers, homeowner associations, and community-based organizations.
ATTACHMENT
Attachment to Resolution
Draft FY 2019-2020 CAPER
PREPARED BY: Maryann Sargent, Senior Housing Specialist, Community Development Department