Agenda Item   

AGENDA STAFF REPORT

 

                                                                                                                        ASR Control  22-000749

 

MEETING DATE:

09/13/22

legal entity taking action:

Board of Supervisors

board of supervisors district(s):

5

SUBMITTING Agency/Department:

County Executive Office   (Approved)

Department contact person(s):

Doug Becht (714) 834-2323 

 

 

Lilly Simmering (714) 834-6234

 

 

Subject:  Approval of Retroactive Memoranda of Understanding with the City of Dana Point

 

      ceo CONCUR

County Counsel Review

Clerk of the Board

Concur

Approved Agreement to Form

Discussion

 

 

3 Votes Board Majority

 

 

 

    Budgeted: N/A

Current Year Cost: N/A

Annual Cost: N/A

 

 

 

    Staffing Impact:

No

# of Positions:

Sole Source: N/A

    Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A

  Funding Source: N/A

County Audit in last 3 years: No

 

 

    Prior Board Action: 12/7/2021 #36; 3/9/2021 #28; 6/23/2020 #51

 

RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):

 

 

1.

Approve the Memoranda of Understanding between the County of Orange and the City of Dana Point to allocate $509,418 of Permanent Local Housing Application funding, retroactively effective July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2027.

 

2.

Authorize the Office of Care Coordination, Director or authorized designee to execute the Memoranda of Understanding as referenced in the Recommended Action above.

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY:

 

Approval of the Memoranda of Understanding between the County of Orange and the City of Dana Point will provide Permanent Local Housing Allocation program funds to assist persons who are at-risk of homelessness or experiencing homelessness.

 

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

 

In 2017, Governor Brown signed the Building Homes and Jobs Act (Senate Bill 2, 2017) which established a $75 recording fee on real estate documents to increase the summary of affordable homes in California. The State of California Department of Housing and Community Development (State HCD) created the Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) program to allocate the funds created by SB 2 to local governments. Of the PLHA funds, ninety percent will be distributed to Entitlement Jurisdictions, based on the 2017 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Formula Allocation, with the remaining 10 percent disbursed in a competitive process to Non-Entitlement Jurisdictions.

 

The County of Orange (County), as an Urban County, is eligible to apply for the Formula Allocation as an Entitlement Jurisdiction to receive PLHA funds from the State based on the 2017 CDBG Formula Allocation and will receive an allocation and administer the PLHA program on behalf of the Urban County cities of Brea, Cypress, Dana Point, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Stanton and Villa Park, as well as the unincorporated areas of the County.

 

On April 27, 2020, State HCD released a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the PLHA funds. The County PLHA Formula Allocation for 2019 was $1,272,164. Due to the number of real estate transactions recorded in each county varying from year to year, the revenues collected in subsequent years will fluctuate. Therefore, the five-year PLHA Formula Allocation amount is estimated not to exceed $7,632,984.

 

Prior Board of Supervisors (Board) Actions:

 

Board Date

Contract/Amendment

Action

06/23/2020

Approve the Permanent Local Housing Allocation Program (PLHA) Five Year Plan

Board Approved

03/09/2021

Approve amendments to Consolidated and Annual Action Plans

Board Approved

12/07/2021

Authorize submittal of a PLHA Year 2 Application

Board Approved

 

The PLHA guidelines require entitlement jurisdictions that are Urban Counties to ensure geographic equity in the distribution of funds to the Urban County cities. The County will achieve geographic equity by distributing funding to each city within the Urban County for an eligible activity chosen by the jurisdiction utilizing the formula allocation. While the PLHA Program allows funding for 10 eligible activities, the Urban County cities and the County chose the eligible activities under Section 301(a)(6) of the PLHA Guidelines related to homeless service delivery. This eligible activity includes assisting persons who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including, but not limited to, providing rapid rehousing, rental assistance, supportive/case management services that allow people to obtain and retain housing, operating and capital costs for navigation centers and emergency shelters, and the new construction, rehabilitation and preservation of permanent and transitional housing. The Urban County Cities of Dana Point and Laguna Beach as well as the County selected to fund eligible project/programs under this activity.

 

Therefore, at this time, under the PLHA Guidelines, the County must execute a Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with the City of Dana Point.

 

MOU with the City of Dana Point

 

The Office of Care Coordination has worked with the City of Dana Point to establish a MOU further outlining and detailing how PLHA will be utilized. The MOU between the County and the City of Dana Point establishes program content and purpose, along with specific guidelines for the implementation and administration of the PLHA Program to assist persons who are at-risk of homelessness or experiencing homelessness.

 

The City of Dana Point has created an Outreach Worker position to work with individuals and families experiencing homelessness and work to assist them in accessing supportive services and available housing resources.

 

Approval of the MOU with the City of Dana Point will continue to provide key resources and funding that contribute to street outreach efforts in the South Service Planning Area and support the overall System of Care. The MOU is retroactive to July 1, 2020, as that is when the funding first became available for expenditure and programming to the County and in support of the City of Dana Point’s commitment to addressing unsheltered homelessness. This is a retroactive contract because the Office of Care Coordination originally intended to bring all PLHA MOUs with cities together as one item. However, negotiations with other cities took longer than expected. Once the Office of Care Coordination transitioned to the County Executive Office (CEO), the previous procurement strategy of delaying this MOU until the finalization of the other City’s MOU negotiations was discarded. Moving forward, the Office of Care Coordination will bring each individual city’s MOU to the Board for approval independently. The City of Dana Point has performed pursuant to and consistent with the terms of this MOU since the retroactive date of July 1, 2020. By approving the Recommended Actions, the County will maintain vital homeless service infrastructure for individuals experiencing homeless and provide financial support to the cities to address homelessness.

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

 

There is no financial impact to the County, as this is strictly a pass through of funds.

 

 

STAFFING IMPACT:

 

N/A

 

ATTACHMENT(S):

 

Attachment A - Memoranda of Understanding with the City of Dana Point
Attachment B - Building Homes and Jobs Act (SB 2, 2017)