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

Fort Walton Beach Recreation Center Summer Enrichment program and after school tutoring are available and near FWBHA residents. Actions planned during the next year to address the needs to public housing Due to the limited amount of CDBG funds, they are not used to directly support the FWBHA or its programs. Actions to encourage public housing residents to become more involved in management and participate in homeownership Due to the limited amount of CDBG funds, they are not used to directly support the FWBHA or its programs. If the PHA is designated as troubled, describe the manner in which financial assistance will be provided or other assistance The Fort Walton Beach Housing Authority has not been deemed as "troubled" by HUD. Discussion Due to the limited amount of CDBG funds, they are not used to directly support the FWBHA or its programs. Consolidated Plan FORT WALTON BEACH 99 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)  AP-65 Homeless and Other Special Needs Activities – 91.220(i) Introduction The City works collaboratively with the Okaloosa Walton Homeless Continuum of Care (CoC) to develop an effective systemic approach to homelessness that will fill jurisdictional gaps in services identified by the CoC and its diverse group of Stakeholders. The City is providing CDBG funds and resources for services that are identified through gaps analysis and data collection. The City continues to assist in the development of strategic solutions to homelessness that reduce costs to the community and reduce homelessness. Although the City does not directly provide services to homeless households the City has agreements with the local Continuum of Care (CoC) and other service providers that cover our jurisdiction for the provision of services. The CoC and the city have identified the one-year goals based off the CoC’s Annual Action Plan, however, these goals were determined to specifically meet the needs of the Fort Walton Beach community. The action for these goals will be funded through various federal, state, and local sources. 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. The City participates on the Okaloosa/ Walton Continuum of Care Board and assists agencies who help the homeless with expertise to address community concerns. CDBG funds are not sufficient to provide actual funding for these types of programs. Some of these agencies provide limited shelter and comprehensive transitional permanent housing services to homeless families, many of which have female heads of households. Others are coordinating housing assistance for homeless and at-risk families by emphasizing prevention, shelter referrals, and relocation services. Describe the jurisdictions one-year goals and actions for reducing and ending homelessness including Reaching out to homeless persons ( especially unsheltered persons) and assessing their individual needs Community Outreach is vital in Fort Walton Beach due to the high number of unsheltered chronically homeless persons located in the city. Outreach is provided by various organizations and funding sources including Healthcare for Homeless Veterans, PATH, and Emergency Solutions Grant. The CoC coordinates outreach efforts to ensure all areas of the jurisdiction are covered to identify and engage each person experiencing homelessness in Fort Walton Beach. Unsheltered persons are often disconnected from services and either unaware of supports that exist in the community or unable to navigate the system without support. This prolongs the length of time they experience homelessness and increases costs to the community. Outreach teams provide information, advocacy, referral, and case management wherever the person identified is at the time. The assessment process determines the condition of the identified household so they can be connected to the appropriate services and housing. Outreach teams have been trained in cultural competency, motivational interviewing, crisis-intervention, and trauma-informed care. All outreach teams participate in One Way Home, the local coordinated entry system. The data collected is used to match homeless households with the most appropriate housing intervention and services for that individual/ household as quickly as possible. Outreach case workers maintain contact as often as Consolidated Plan FORT WALTON BEACH 100 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)  possible and provide support services while they await housing placement or an available shelter bed to open. Referrals are made to support services, mainstream benefits, and behavioral health, and healthcare as needed. Assistance with mainstream benefits, obtaining identification, filling out housing applications, housing navigation, and assisting in increasing income through SSI/ SSDI and employment are provided whether the household is sheltered or unsheltered. The data collected through outreach and coordinated entry also quantifies the number of households experiencing homelessness and the unmet needs in the area. It is vital that the City has accurate and up to date information so it can continue to support the efforts to end homelessness and ensure scarce resources are being maximized. The City does not provide direct homelessness services, but works with various agencies that provide those services at the One Hopeful Place Community Resource Center campus. Addressing the emergency shelter and transitional housing needs of homeless persons One Hopeful Place is a shelter facility operated by Community Solutions Group. The City serves on the Board of Community Solutions of the Emerald Coast (the only shelter for single men in the area). The City has used CDBG funds to assist with expanding the campus to include a facility for women, and a medical clinic. The City has been very active in this endeavor in multiple ways, including leasing the property to Community Solutions. 50-bed shelter for chronically homeless and veteran men, 17-bed women’s shelter, and 48-bed cold night shelter were created through this project and it is currently undergoing further expansion. 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 the homeless preference for Section 8, others have been placed in HUD Permanent Supportive Housing, HUD-VASH, SSVF, ESG Rapid Rehousing, or HHA’s Housing Stabilization program. One Hopeful Place is also an access point for One Way Home, so all person residing at One Hopeful Place are assessed and added to the By-Name list to be referred for housing. One Hopeful Place also serves as the location for the Inclement Weather Shelter in Fort Walton Beach. CDBG funds were used to cover the costs of the nights the inclement weather shelter opened. All the people housed were chronically homeless with a disability and high vulnerability indices. Opportunity Place is a shelter for families located in the greater Fort Walton Beach area. Opportunity Place participates in the CoC, HMIS, and is also an access point for the coordinated entry system. Case management and support services are provided while households reside at Opportunity Place and the housing process functions the same as One Hopeful Place with some self-resolving and others being referred to supportive housing programs. Fresh Start for Families is a transitional housing program for households with children and recently began accepting unaccompanied youth that qualify for the program. Shelter House - the Domestic Violence Shelter also makes referrals to One Way Home and Fort Walton Beach’s Section 8 homeless preference. Shelter House collaborates with HHA and other service providers to ensure households exiting the facility are placed in safe housing as quickly as possible and can remain stable to avoid recidivism. All the facilities listed provide valuable data for required reporting and gaps analysis, participate in coordinated entry and the CoC, and meet a vital need in the community. Shelters reduce the cost of homelessness to the community while improving the Consolidated Plan FORT WALTON BEACH 101 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021)  health and well-being of residents, and expedite housing and linkage to mainstream benefits, and support services. 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 CoC has developed and implemented a coordinated entry system, referred to locally as One Way Home. One Way Home 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. One Way Home is 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 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 One Way Home 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. Helping low-income individuals and families avoid becoming homeless, especially extremely low-income individuals and families and those who are: being discharged from publicly funded institutions and systems of care (such as health care facilities, mental health facilities, foster care and other youth facilities, and corrections programs and institutions); or, receiving assistance from public or private agencies that address housing, health, social services, employment, education, or youth needs The CoC implemented a Homeless Diversion program and is training all community organizations that are interested in diverting people from homelessness. Diversion techniques include landlord negotiation, mediation, family mediation, and other techniques designed to keep households out of the homeless assistance system. HHA employs an outreach worker who also provides