Fort Walton Beach Resolution — 2019-08--2019-20 CDBG Action Plan — reading text

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 application, 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 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 daily case management, phone, mail, internet, showers, laundry, counseling, 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 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. 20 new shelter beds for chronically homeless and veteran men 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 Inclement Weather Shelter in Annual Action Plan 31 2019 OMB Control No: 2506- 0117( exp. 06/ 30/ 2018) Fort Walton Beach. CDBG funds were used to cover the costs of the 23 nights the inclement weather shelter opened. All of the persons housed were chronically homeless with a disability and a 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 are able to remain stable to avoid recidivism. All of 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 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 of 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 Annual Action Plan 32 2019 OMB Control No: 2506- 0117( exp. 06/ 30/ 2018)  housing intervention for them also reduces recidivism. The CoC has been providing training on homeless diversion, and has elimianted all caps on providing support services and fiancial assistance. The CoC mandates that households receive support based on their indivual 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 implented a Homeless Diversion program and is training all community organizatons 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 in- reach services. In- reach is the development of discharge planning processes for individuals due for release from institutional settings in the community. HHA is working with law enforcement and the medical community, in addition to service organizations, in order to capture all the clients possible and provide case management and services tailored to each individual' s needs prior to and upon discharge. Discharge Planning is recognized as essential in the homelessness continuum of care, both as a means to prevent homelessness and as a mechanism for identification of the chronic homeless who need support services along with affordable housing. Discussion Although the City does not provide direct services to the homeless it does support the strategies and efforts outlined in the Con Plan. The City is using CDBG to provide public services to the homeless and also funding for the expansion of a facility that ser'ves the homeless. 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 househofds. Others are coordinating housing assistance for homeless and at- risk families by emphasizing prevention, shelter referrals, and relocation services. Annual Action Plan 33 2019 OMB Control No: 2506- 0117( exp. 06/ 30/ 2018)  i Annual Action Plan 34 2019 OMB Control No: 2506- 0117( exp. 06/ 30/ 2018) AP- 75 Barriers to affordable housing— 91. 220(j) Introduction: The City' s Community Redevelopment Agency( CRA) encourages the private sector in their effort to secure additional public and private funds for affordable housing, community and economic development. No CDBG funds are allocated to provide homeless with affordable housing; however, the FWBHA and the City partnered to develop Sound Side Apartment Homes, a 200- unit affordable housing project. Applicants for these programs are also advised of the rehabilitation services of the Okaloosa County Development Corporation, which also provides housing and rehabilitation services through the State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP) program and the HOME Investment Partnership Program. Actions it planned to remove or ameliorate the negative effects of public policies that serve as barriers to affordable housing such as land use controls, tax policies affecting land, zoning ordinances, building codes, fees and charges, growth limitations, and policies affecting the return on residential investment As per the requirements of the adopted SHIP Affordable Housing Incentive Plan, the City will undertake the following actions to remove barriers to affordable housing (these actions will not be funded through the CDBG program): a. Expedite processing of permits for affordable housing projects, and b. The modification of street requirements. Other assistive strategies are: a. Down payment assistance and closing cost assistance; b. Acquisition of property for low- to moderate- income housing. Discussion: The CRA