Fort Walton Beach Resolution — 2025-13 Resolution Adopting the FY 2025-30 CDBG Consolidated Plan & FY 2025-26 Annual Action Plan — reading text

designated as troubled under 24 CFR part 902? No Plan to remove the ‘troubled’ designation Consolidated Plan FORT WALTON BEACH 82 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)  SP-55 Barriers to affordable housing – 91.215(h) Barriers to Affordable Housing Strategy to Remove or Ameliorate the Barriers to Affordable Housing The City has been in discussions with local housing authority as well as private organizations that are interested in building affordable workforce housing. The City reviewed the Land Development Code to determine what the city could do to encourage the development of workforce housing in the city. Ordinance 2099 was passed on April 26, 2022, which defines and sets new requirements for Workforce Housing. Additionally, City Council approved Resolution 2022-8 creating a Workforce Housing Incentive Fund with an initial funding allocation of $1.5 million. The city is also reviewing excess property owned by the city that could be used to assist in these developments. Consolidated Plan FORT WALTON BEACH 83 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)  SP-60 Homelessness Strategy – 91.215(d) Reaching out to homeless persons ( especially unsheltered persons) and assessing their individual needs Although the City does not directly provide services to homeless households the City works with the local Continuum of Care ( CoC) and other service providers that cover our jurisdiction for the provision of services. Under this category, the City will not undertake these activities but will support several operating agencies that are providing valuable services to prevent homelessness and to assist those who are already homeless. HHA and the CoC have developed an Action Plan for the CoC and has adopted these goals and objectives for the jurisdiction. Community Outreach is vital in Fort Walton Beach due to the high number of unsheltered chronically homeless persons located in the city. Fort Walton Beach also sees a number of transient persons experiencing homelessness and assertive outreach is necessary to quickly identify and engage persons in order to connect them to housing and services or assist them in transporting them to another destination, if needed. Outreach is provided by various organizations and funding sources including: Supportive Services for Homeless Veterans, facilitated by 90 Works provides outreach and engagement for homeless veterans in Okaloosa and Walton counties. The Department of Veteran’s Affairs funds the HUD VASH program which provides supportive housing for homeless veterans that meet the eligibility criteria. Outreach and engagement is provided by the Peer Specialist and HUD VASH case managers. Projects to Assist the Transition from Homelessness (PATH) is an outreach program that is funded through Substance Abuse Mental Health Agency and facilitated by Lakeview Center. PATH provides outreach and support services for unsheltered persons with a mental illness. Homelessness & Housing Alliance will begin providing outreach services to persons experiencing homelessness in Fort Walton Beach. HHA works closely with local law enforcement and law enforcement provides resource and referral to all unsheltered persons in the jurisdiction. All outreach providers input participants in the Homeless Management Information System which feeds the coordinated entry system for housing and services. The CoC coordinates outreach efforts to ensure all areas of the jurisdiction are covered in order to identify and engage each person experiencing homelessness in Fort Walton Beach. Addressing the emergency and transitional housing needs of homeless persons The City does not currently have enough shelter beds for all persons experiencing homelessness. It is a priority of the City to increase the number of beds available to reduce costs to the community and improve the health and circumstance of persons experiencing homelessness. Sheltered persons receive access to Consolidated Plan FORT WALTON BEACH 84 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)  daily case management, phone, mail, internet, showers, laundry, counseling, housing navigation, and employment assistance. Housing providers are able to locate them when housing placement is available and many persons and households self-resolve while staying in shelters which allows the scarce housing resources in the community to assist those that cannot self-resolve. One Hopeful Place is a shelter facility operated in the city of Fort Walton Beach. The facility provides case management, access to mail, phones, internet, showers, laundry, and other basic life needs. Some of the persons exiting the facility were able to gain employment, save money and locate housing with little or no financial assistance from other agencies, some were able to utilize Section 8 vouchers, others have been placed in HUD Permanent Supportive Housing, HUD-VASH, SSVF, ESG Rapid-Rehousing, or HHA’s Housing Stabilization program. One Hopeful Place also serves as the location for Inclement Weather Shelter in Fort Walton Beach. Opportunity Place is an emergency shelter for homeless single women and homeless households with children. The facility provides case management, access to mail, phones, internet, showers, laundry, and other basic life needs. Some of the persons exiting the facility were able to gain employment, save money and locate housing with little or no financial assistance from other agencies, some were able to utilize Section 8 vouchers, others have been placed in HUD Permanent Supportive Housing, HUD-VASH, SSVF, ESG Rapid-Rehousing, or HHA’s Housing Stabilization program. Opportunity Place is also an access point for the local coordinated entry system, so persons residing at OPI are assessed and added to the By-Name list to be referred for permanent housing placement. There is currently no transitional housing facilities for persons experiencing homelessness in the jurisdiction but transitional housing vouchers are available through the behavioral health provider for Okaloosa County for persons that have a mental illness or substance abuse. These vouchers can pay for hotel rooms and other non-permanent housing if a participant has a housing plan and exit strategy. HHA and SSVF also utilize hotel/motel vouchers for emergency shelter vouchers when no shelter is available. Helping homeless persons (especially chronically homeless individuals and families, families with children, veterans and their families, and unaccompanied youth) make the transition to permanent housing and independent living, including shortening the period of time that individuals and families experience homelessness, facilitating access for homeless individuals and families to affordable housing units, and preventing individuals and families who were recently homeless from becoming homeless again. The city will continue to collaborate with the CoC to help house chronically homeless households, families with minor children, veteran households, and unaccompanied youth who need assistance with accessing affordable housing units and preventing households from becoming homeless. The CoC has developed and implemented a coordinated entry system, which is operated and funded by HHA but is a CoC-wide implementation that relies on outreach teams and access points funded and operated by other agencies. HHA maintains the by-name list (Supportive Housing Registry) which all housing programs agreed to take referrals from. The CoC uses a centralized intake system meaning the community has one list for housing programs. Households on the list are referred to the most appropriate housing intervention based off of Consolidated Plan FORT WALTON BEACH 85 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)  the standardized assessment tool used by shelters and outreach teams and other trained assessors. The list is prioritized by vulnerability. School districts, hospitals, correctional facilities, behavioral health providers, victim services, law enforcement, DJJ, child welfare, and PHA's refer to coordinated entry and some have even been trained to complete the assessment and enter it into HMIS, where the list is housed. This reduces the length of time homeless. Matching homeless households with the right housing intervention for them also reduces recidivism. The CoC has been providing training on homeless diversion, and has eliminated all caps on providing support services and financial assistance. The CoC mandates that households receive support based on their individual needs and requires programs to provide that support until the household is independent and no longer needs assistance. If the household needs assistance after they have been exited from a program the CoC funds homeless prevention and housing stabilization to assist with maintaining housing and stability. The CoC promotes low-barrier housing and utilizes a housing first approach in order to assist households make the transition from homeless to stable housing. The CoC Annual Action Plan has includes an objective to implement coordinated entry to standardize assessment and prioritization processes and streamline connections to housing and services. The goals include: To reduce the length of time a household experiences homelessness using coordinated entry, street outreach teams, support services, and housing navigation. Support the implementation of strong coordinated entry processes that provide effective, low- barrier, comprehensive, and coordinated access to housing and services programs. Develop and strengthen best practices in population-specific coordinated entry strategies and processes Support rural and suburban areas to implement effective, regionally specific coordinated entry processes. The CoC has an objective in the CoC Annual Action Plan to assist people to move swiftly into permanent housing with appropriate and person-centered services. The goals for this objective include: Expand access to new and existing affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness. Connect people to rapid re-housing. Connect people with the most intense needs to permanent supportive housing. When implemented effectively, permanent supportive housing can result in fewer expenses for shelters, jails, ambulances, and emergency departments.12 Households in supportive housing programs receive support to get connected to SSI/ SSDI benefits when eligible, health and behavioral health care, social supports, employment and supported employment opportunities and workforce programs, and other supportive services that promote health and long-term housing stability. Consolidated Plan FORT WALTON BEACH 86 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)  Help low-income individuals and families avoid becoming homeless, especially extremely low- income individuals and families who are likely to become homeless after being discharged from a publicly funded institution or system of care, or who are receiving assistance from public and private agencies that address housing, health, social services, employment, education or youth needs To ensure that individuals and families do not return to homelessness, it is necessary to strengthen partnerships with, and connections to, a larger array of federal, state, local, and private programs that serve low-income households, including programs that: advance education and employment opportunities and