Agenda Item AGENDA STAFF REPORT ASR Control 23-000813
MEETING DATE:	11/28/23
legal entity taking action:	Board of Supervisors
board of supervisors district(s):	All Districts
SUBMITTING Agency/Department:	OC Community Resources (Approved)
Department contact person(s):	Dylan Wright (714) 480-2788
	Julia Bidwell (714) 480-2991

Subject: FY 2024-25 Funding Allocation Policy and Process

ceo CONCUR

County Counsel Review

Clerk of the Board

Concur

No Legal Objection

Public Hearing

3 Votes Board Majority

Budgeted: N/A

Current Year Cost: N/A

Annual Cost: N/A

Staffing Impact:

# of Positions:

Sole Source: N/A

Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A

Funding Source: See Financial Impact Section	County Audit in last 3 years: No
Levine Act Review Completed: N/A

Prior Board Action: 11/8/2022 #27, 7/14/2020 #68

RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):

Conduct a public hearing and consider public comment for the FY 2024-25 Funding Allocation Policy and Process.

Adopt the FY 2024-25 Funding Allocation Policy and Process for OC Community Resources Housing and Community Development Activities.

SUMMARY:

Conducting a public hearing and adoption of the FY 2024-25 Funding Allocation Policy and Process will support compliance with federal requirements and notify the public of the process for distributing federal housing and community development funds.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The Funding Allocation Policy and Process (FAPP) is a planning document required by the County of Orange (County) that outlines the methods used by the Urban County Program to distribute federal and local funds. Funds are allocated to applicants that request funding allocations for housing and community development activities that benefit low- and moderate-income communities and individuals. These funds are included under the following programs: Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grant Program (ESG), Orange County Housing Authority Operating Reserves and Strategic Priority Affordable Housing funds.

The Urban County Program is comprised of 12 cities with populations under 50,000 (small participating cities), two cities with populations over 50,000 (metropolitan cities) and unincorporated areas of Orange County. The 12 small participating cities include Brea, Cypress, Dana Point, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Los Alamitos, San Juan Capistrano, Seal Beach, Stanton and Villa Park. These cities are not eligible to receive Community Planning and Development program funds directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and have opted to participate in the Urban County Program. The cities of Placentia and Yorba Linda with populations of over 50,000 are eligible to participate directly with HUD as entitlement jurisdictions but have elected to join the Urban County Program as metropolitan cities.

The primary purpose of the FAPP is to set forth the policies that the Urban County Program will utilize to distribute federal and local funds for eligible housing and community development activities. The policies include the use of High and Low Priority designations that have been set forth in the FY 2020-24 Consolidated Plan with overall priority given to projects that meet High Priority needs.

The FY 2024-25 FAPP is the beginning of the annual funding cycle and includes the process for distributing funding for the second year of the three-year funding cycle for Housing Rehabilitation (HR), Public Services activities which are exempt from competing for funding and one-year funding cycle for Public Facilities and Improvements (PF&I) related activities. For FY 2024-25, the HR activities will be recommended for an award following the past HR Request for Proposal (RFP) results. If the performance measures are not met, funding for these activities may not be recommended in future year funding cycles.

Consistent with previous FAPPs, the following public service and administrative activities are recommended exempt from the competitive funding process: County obligations for administration, community centers, County’s emergency shelter programs and other low-threshold emergency shelters located in participating cities and fair housing activities.

For FY 2024-25 PF&I projects, a Request for Applications (RFA) process is being recommended to streamline City applications preparation and County review and is anticipated to be released in November 2023.

All activities selected under the RFA process will be monitored for satisfactory performance to determine recommendations for future funding.

On July 14, 2020, the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved the FY 2020-24 Citizen Participation Plan governing the process for notifying the public regarding the allocation of federal housing and community development funds and any amendments made to the allocation of those funds. The previous year's FAPP was approved by the Board on November 8, 2022. In compliance with federal regulations, the Citizen Participation Process began with the release of the public notice informing the public that the draft FY 2024-25 FAPP was available for public review and comment for a 30-day period beginning October 13, 2023, and ending November 13, 2023. The public notice was advertised in the following local newspapers on October 13, 2023: 1) The Orange County Register (English), 2) La Opinion (Spanish) and 3) Nguoi Viet Daily (Vietnamese). No public comments have been received at the time this Agenda Staff Report (ASR) was prepared. The FAPP was also presented to the City Managers’ CDBG Sub-Committee on September 28, 2023, and they concurred with the recommendations. A digital version of the public notice is also available on the web at https://www.ochcd.org/community-development. Printed copies of the FAPP were also made available by contacting OC Housing & Community Development staff.

OC Community Resources is recommending Board approval of the above recommended actions which will support the County’s efforts in building a responsive Homeless Services System of Care in Orange County. Those efforts reflect community input and investments from diverse stakeholders while supporting the availability of shelter beds and increasing access to community resources and housing programs. The recommended actions in this ASR also contribute to the overall Homeless Services System in addressing the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness in Orange County.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:

This is a non-financial ASR. The FAPP outlines the methods for the distribution of federal and local funding only.

STAFFING IMPACT:

N/A

ATTACHMENT(S):

Attachment A - FY 2024-25 Funding Allocation Policy and Process
Attachment B - FY 2023-24 Annual Action Plan
Attachment C - Public Notice, Affidavit and Proof of Publication