City Council Meeting: November 14, 2006

Agenda Item: 8-C 

 

To:                   Mayor and City Council 

From:              Martin Kennerly, Acting Director, Resource Management

Subject:          Senior Homeless Prevention and Rental Assistance Program Eligibility Criteria

 

Recommended Action

Staff recommends that the City Council approve the eligibility criteria and program services outlined in this report for the Senior Homeless Prevention and Rental Assistance Program.   

 

Executive Summary

The City Council approved $1.34 million of funds from the Low/Moderate Income Housing Redevelopment Fund for the Senior Homeless Prevention and Rental Assistance Program on June 26, 2006 when it approved the Santa Monica 2006-07 Budget. Section 33449 of the California Health and Safety Code allows for the provision of rental subsidies. At that time, staff stated that program details would be brought back to the City Council for approval.

 

Under the program, rental assistance would be provided to very-low income homeless seniors, 55 years old and older, who have participated, for a minimum of one year, in a case management program, including the Chronic Homeless Program, that documents their Santa Monica residency. This population is being proposed because it is generally the most vulnerable of the homeless population in the areas of personal safety and disease.

 

The program would also provide a one-time $2,000 homelessness prevention grant to Santa Monica households headed by someone 55 years old and older, which are in imminent danger of becoming homeless. Participants in both program components will be required to receive case management services in order to be eligible for the program. The program will be a component of Santa Monica’s homeless continuum of care and will use the existing inter-agency and inter-divisional structure currently used in the Chronic Homeless Program to refer applicants for services.

 

Discussion

During the 2006-07 budget study session, staff informed the City Council that it would present the Senior Homeless Prevention and Rental Assistance program in two stages, the first stage being the budget request stage, and the second stage being the program design stage. Funds from the Low/Moderate Income Housing Redevelopment Fund, normally used for affordable housing loans, would be used for a rent subsidy program, including administrative costs. Use of these funds also permits a local preference. The program design of the Senior Homeless Prevention and Rental Assistance Program was developed by the Housing Authority with the assistance of Human Services staff and representatives from the Santa Monica Legal Aid office, St. Joseph Center, Ocean Park Community Center (OPPC), and the Chronic Homeless Pilot Project executive steering committee.  At the budget study session, staff described the program as a 5-6 year pilot project with the long term fiscal goal of securing other public funding for the program. In addition, staff will also explore transitioning program participants to the Section 8 or HOME rental assistance programs.

 

The need for the rental assistance component of the program is based on staff analysis of the Coordinated Case Management (CCM) client database that documents that there remains a large unmet housing need for additional rental assistance vouchers in order to meet the needs of homeless clients, 55 years and older. The senior homeless population was selected by City staff because of its vulnerability to safety risks, and, most importantly, because of its vulnerability to disease. A recent 14 year study of homeless people in San Francisco, conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that homelessness exacerbates the physical problems that come with growing old, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

 

As of June 30, 2006, there were 246 homeless CCM clients 55 years of age and older who had been receiving City funded homeless services for one to five plus years.  Fifty-five per cent (135) have received City funded homeless services for more than three years. As Table #1 shows, these 246 homeless persons generally exhibit a wide range of disabling conditions including severe mental illness, alcoholism, drug abuse and chronic homelessness.  In addition, 53 are veterans and 137 are chronically homeless.

 

Table #1

CCM Documented Condition

1 to 5 plus Years in CCM as of 6/30/06

 

 

Severe Mentally Ill

105

Alcohol

50

Drug Abuse

45

Dual Diagnosis

46

Total

246

 

 

Meetings between City staff and community-based agency staff have made it apparent that there is an increasing unmet need to add a homeless prevention component to the RDA Senior Homeless Rental Assistance program.  All three participating agencies (Legal Aid, OPCC and St. Joseph Center) reported an increasing number of Santa Monica seniors who are either being evicted from or moving from their apartments because of a financial crisis in their lives, predominantly related to medical expenses. In addition, the 2000 Census documents that there are 1,932 Santa Monica residents, age 55 years old and older, who have incomes at, or below, the poverty line. They constitute the largest pool of Santa Monica residents who may require prevention assistance.

 

Based on case by case management assessments done by a participating agency, one-time emergency grants of up to $2,000 will be provided for homelessness prevention. Recipients must demonstrate that they have no other resources or assistance available, and, subsequent to the receipt of prevention assistance, that the household’s income will be sufficient to retain its housing. If a household at imminent risk of homelessness cannot afford to remain in its current apartment, assistance would be available to identify an affordable housing unit and to re-house the household.  All prevention assistance requests would be channeled through the Human Services Division’s Flexible Fund grant process, and would utilize the existing Human Services committee structure to process requests for assistance.

 

Commission Action

Both the Housing Commission and the Social Services Commission have reviewed and approved the Senior Homeless Prevention and Rental Assistance Program. The Housing Commission did so at its July 21, 2006 meeting while the Social Services Commission did so at its September 25, 2006 meeting.

 

Alternatives

The City Council could choose to direct City staff to target and prioritize a different group of homeless people to be eligible for both the rental assistance and the prevention components of the program or could decide not to approve the prevention component of the program.

 

Budget/Financial Impact

The City Council approved the operational budget for the Senior Homeless Prevention and Rental Assistance Program on June 26, 2006 as part of the City’s FY 2006-07 budget. All funds will be drawn from the Low/Moderate Income Housing Redevelopment Fund. Rental assistance and homelessness prevention funding in the amount of $1,200,000 is budgeted at account number 15695.577260, and administrative costs are budgeted at account number 15695.578150, in the amount of $140,000. 

 

 

Prepared by:

Bob Moncrief, Housing Division Manger

 

Approved:

 

Forwarded to Council:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martin Kennerly

Acting Director, Resources Management

 

P. Lamont Ewell

City Manager