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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-28 Housing & Human Services PACKET Ashland Housing and Human Services Commission Regular Meeting Agenda October28,2021:4:00–6:00pm Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://zoom.us/j/96686676912?pwd=KzJjTW1CL3JDN0FNMHhQQ3VpUzhIdz09 1.(4:00)Approval of Minutes (5 min) September 23, 2021 2.(4:05)Public Forum (5 min) 3.(4:10)Rent Burden Discussion(15min) 4.(4:25)November/December Meeting Schedule Discussion(15min) 5.(4:40)Overview of the Affordable Housing Program Presentation(30min) Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist 6.(5:10)Severe Climate Event Policy Stakeholder Meeting Discussion (25min) Rich Rohde,Echo Fields, Joy Fate 7. (5:35)Annual Update to the Council Discussion(15min) Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist 8. (5:50)(Liaison Reports)(10min) Liaison Reports Council(Gina Duquenne)Staff (Linda Reid) SOU Liaison (Unfilled)General Announcements/Local Housing SOU program report (Chris Mahan) Updates 9. (6:00)Upcoming Eventsand Meetings and Agenda Item Suggestions 10.(6:00)Adjournment Housingand Human Services Commission Memo TITLE:Rent Burden Discussion DEPT:Community Development DATE:October 28,2021 SUBMITTED BY:Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist HB 4006 was passed in 2018, and required Cities with a population over 10,000 whose residents that experience severe rent burden at a rate greater than 25% annually hold a public meeting to discuss the issue of rent burden, and opportunities for addressingand reducing rent burden. Oregon Housing and Community Services annually evaluates and provides data on the percentage of residents within a City that experience severe rent burden. The information provided by Oregon Housing and Community Services is provided as an attachment to this memo. Severe rent burden is defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as those who pay 50% or more of their income toward rent costs. Year# of Severely Renter # Severe Rent Total Renter Total Population Burdened HHBurdenedHouseholds 201835%1,4724,17821,002 201933.6%1,4164,21720,815 202031.7%1,4754,25620,960 202132.3%1,3604,21621,105 Memo DATE:10/28/2021 TO:Housingand Human ServicesCommission FROM:Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist RE:Holiday Meeting Schedule Every year the Housing and Human Services Commission members decide upon an alternatemeeting schedule for the months of November and December as the Commission’s regular meeting schedule conflicts with major holidays. The commission has several options: Schedule alternate meeting dates for both month’smeetings Schedule an alternate meeting date for onemonth and skip meeting the other month (commissions are allowed to skip one meeting a year) Skip one month’s meeting and schedule a longer meeting for the other month (possibly a retreat) DEPT. OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Tel: 541-488-5305 20 E. Main Street Fax: 541-488-6006 Ashland, Oregon 97520 TTY: 800-735-2900 www.ashland.or.us Memo DATE:10/28/2021 TO:Housingand Human ServicesCommission FROM:Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist RE:Overview of the Affordable Housing Program Power Point Presentation on the City of Ashland Affordable Housing Program. DEPT. OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Tel: 541-488-5305 20 E. Main Street Fax: 541-488-6006 Ashland, Oregon 97520 TTY: 800-735-2900 www.ashland.or.us Memo DATE:10/28/2021 TO:Housingand Human ServicesCommission FROM:Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist RE:Severe Climate EventWorkgroup Outreach Plan The three-memberSevere WeatherPlanning Workgroup met to discuss a process for eliciting stakeholder feedback regarding the development of the City’s Severe Climate Event Policy. Below is a summary of the recommendations that came out of that discussion. What:The City of Ashland is undertaking the process of developing a Severe Climate Event Policy to provide a plan to ensure the health and safety of the City’s most vulnerable citizens during emergent severe climate events. These events are becoming more and more common. Consequently,the City is wanting to develop a comprehensive plan to address the need for providing resources and access to respite for the people who do not have access to those resources to keep them safe during a variety of severe weather events which are a consequence of the changing climate.The City is looking to community stakeholders to provide input on the development of such a policy, in order to make it comprehensive and ensure that all voices impacted by the issues created by the changing climate have the opportunity to contribute their perspectivesand ideas. Who:The Commission is looking to those who are most impactedby severe climate events, those who work with vulnerable populations, and those whose physical resources are often utilized formally or informally as places of respite during extreme weather events, to provide input on best practices and considerations for the development of specific aspects of a Severe Climate Event policy. The Commission is relying on your unique perspectives and experiences to inform and shape the policyand an action planfor implementation. When:The Commission is looking to set parameters for various types of severe climate events that may necessitate the opening of a respite resource. Commissioners have looked at other community’s models and at public health information to inform these parameters. Options that have been proposed are below, along with data regarding the number of days that the City has initiated shelters for various severe climateevents or which may necessitate calling some form of respiteresource in the future. Model Parameters for calling a Severe Climate Event Respite Shelter Model #1 Cold35 degrees or below/45 if precipitating DEPT. OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Tel: 541-488-5305 20 E. Main Street Fax: 541-488-6006 Ashland, Oregon 97520 TTY: 800-735-2900 www.ashland.or.us Heat95 degrees or above SmokeUnhealthy for Sensitive Groups or Above Model #2 (City of Medford) Cold25° or less; 32° or less with additional factors that increase risk of cold exposure 102° or more; 80° or more with Heat additional factors that increase risk of heat exposure SmokeAQI of Very Unhealthy or More Shelters called by the City Administration Temperature:Heat-The City called for Cooling Shelters 9 days in 2021. Temperature:Cold/Inclement Weather(beginning in 2009 there was a Sunday nightshelter every week regardless of temperature. Then in 2012 two more nights were added for a total ofthree shelter nights every week. In 2014 another shelter night was added for a total of 4 nights a week. 2018and after OHRA coordinated the shelter every night of the weekwith 45 dedicated beds from November to April. OHRA also coordinated inclement weather shelter for those who were not already housed in the weekly shelter. Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice took over operation an inclement weather shelters as needed from beginning in 2019. (Reporting of shelter night number directly to me stopped in2013.) YearTotal # of Shelter Nights# of Emergency Shelter NightsTotal # of Guests Winter 2007-2008121253 Winter 2008-20091111102 Winter 2009-201021?189 Winter 2010-20112313206 Winter 2011-2012326448 Winter 2012-2013?636 Winter2013-2014885362 Winter 2020-20211060(no data from 1/24-1/28 shelters) Inclement Weather OHRA Winter 150094 Shelter Program 2020-2021 UU Pallet Continuous07 Shelters No data on smoke shelters Smoke:PM2.5 values for Medford 2011-2021(current). DEPT. OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Tel: 541-488-5305 20 E. Main Street Fax: 541-488-6006 Ashland, Oregon 97520 TTY: 800-735-2900 www.ashland.or.us Where:The Commission is looking for solutions to the problem of locations to serve as temporary daytime or night time shelters for vulnerable populations during severe climate events. One possibility is to develop a list of pre-approved locations (much like the City of Medford’s Severe Weather Event policy) which are assessed to meet the health and safety requirements (i.e. building code and fire safety requirements), and which are dedicated as available for certain days/nights of the week, preferably for multiple days in a row. If there was a calendar of available spaces, then,when anemergentsevere climateeventhappens, organizerswould know which location would be utilized based on the availability and the day of the week that the severe climate event or events take place. Why:The Community is regularly experiencing health and safety impacts due to climate change. The City and other community partners struggle to address these urgent needs as they arise. The City would like to come up with a plan for quickly mobilizing needed resources in terms of space/location, volunteers/staffing, and goods/services, and funding needs in order to be better prepared for and to react quickly to these increasing severe climate events. This is not unique to Ashland, as several other entities are also working on developing a policy to address these needs, if there is an opportunity for collaboration, the Commission would be open to hearing what those collaborative efforts might be. How:The Commission is looking to set up a model which identifies: Roles:Who will be responsible for which aspects of putting a plan into action? Resource Needs:What is needed to provide a safe climaterespite center? o Physical Location: Where will climate respite resources be located? o Staffing Needs: Volunteers? Volunteer Coordination? Trainings for Volunteers? Paid Staff? o Goods: Food, Water, Ice, Masks, Air purifiers, blankets? o Funding: For staffing,rental space, utilities, goods? DEPT. OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Tel: 541-488-5305 20 E. Main Street Fax: 541-488-6006 Ashland, Oregon 97520 TTY: 800-735-2900 www.ashland.or.us Housingand Human Services Commission Memo TITLE:Rent Burden Discussion DEPT:Community Development DATE:October 28,2021 SUBMITTED BY:Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist HB 4006 was passed in 2018, and required Cities with a population over 10,000 whose residents that experience severe rent burden at a rate greater than 25% annually hold a public meeting to discuss the issue of rent burden, and opportunities for addressingand reducing rent burden. Oregon Housing and Community Services annually evaluates and provides data on the percentage of residents within a City that experience severe rent burden. The information provided by Oregon Housing and Community Services is provided as an attachment to this memo. Severe rent burden is defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as those who pay 50% or more of their income toward rent costs. Year# of Severely Renter # Severe Rent Total Renter Total Population Burdened HHBurdenedHouseholds 201835%1,4724,17821,002 201933.6%1,4164,21720,815 202031.7%1,4754,25620,960 202132.3%1,3604,21621,105 Memo DATE:10/28/2021 TO:Housing and Human Services Commission FROM:Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist RE:Housing and Human Services Commission Annual Update to the City Council Discussion ______________________________________________________________________________ th The annual update to the council is scheduled for November 16.Below is the draft memo that staff put together using the suggestions from the Commissioners two years ago (as the commission did not do an update last year due to COVID).It would be great if the Commission could take a few minutes to go over this narrative below, along with the suggested updated information from 2020 and 2021 which staff has added, which are bold and underlined, and suggestchanges, additions, and edits as the Commission deems necessary. The Commissioner should also select a Commissioner to present the update at the virtual Council meeting. Mayor and City Council, The Housing and Human Services Commission is pleased to report on the work we have undertaken this year, and to provide a brief overview of the ongoing work which will be carried over in the next year. Affordable Housing Trust Fund The Housing and Human Services Commission oversaw thefirst ever grant awards of Affordable Housing Trust funds to eligible organizations. In 2018 the Commission reviewed applications and made award recommendations on this new source of funding to support the development of needed housing within Ashland by recommending the award of funds to two organizations; Columbia Care and Options for Helping Residents of Ashland. The awards to these two organizations supported the highest priority identified through several adopted city documents, the provision of affordable housing. The award of Affordable Housing Trust funds assisted these two organizations in the development of at least 30 units of affordable housing, and in the long term, the potential for a permanent shelter and/or transitional housing development. The City will once again be offering Affordable Housing Trust Funds to eligible applicants in January 2020. Over the past two years the Commission has worked to evaluate the previous grant review and recommendation process and will have a better more efficient process in the coming year as a result. In 2020the Housing and Human Service’s regular meeting schedule was disrupted by the onset of the pandemic and the related declaration of a state of emergency within the City which suspended all unnecessarymeetings. The City issued Requests for Proposals in January 2020 for both the regular CDBG program and for the Affordable Housing Trust funds. The Housing and Human Services Commission met in March 2020 to review and make recommendations regarding the applications received, which did not address issues related to the pandemic as the applications were solicited, written, and returned prior to the onset of the pandemic. The Commission reviewed and made recommendations on three CDBG funding requests and three Affordable Housing Trust Fund requests. Social Service Grant Program City staff and the H&HS commission completed the process of reviewing and making award recommendations regarding the City’s allocation of Social Service Grant Funds. For the 2019- 2021 Grant Cycle, the Housing and Human Services Commission undertook a two year long look at the funding priorities and garnered community and grantee feedback on how best to utilize the funding to meet the needs of the community. Along with a review of the funding priorities identified in the strategic plan, the Commission evaluated the grant application and the grant review processes to ensure the most thorough, and efficient review process, which provides the most impact to identified needsin the community while utilizing the funding in the most efficient manner. To that end the Commission recommended funding several projects, and not funding others. The projects that were recommended targeted identified service shortfalls within the community. One such project, the Addictions Recovery Center Community Engagement Mobile Response Unit, a pilot program that provides transportation in emergency situations for people experiencing drug induced crisis situations. This program addresses two priorities identified in the strategic plan, transportation, and mental health resources. The program offered an innovative solution to a problem, that is currently unmet within the community. The Community Engagement Mobile Response Unit, similar to the CAHOOTS crisis response model, provides emergency transportation to the detox center and will respond to calls from hospital emergency rooms, law enforcement and non-profit, service providers as needed. Similarly, the Commission recommended funding two organizations that have a long history of providing services in Ashland but have not asked for funding in the past. The La Clinica mobile unit provides, among other things, drop in mental health services, and Peace House, which provides thousands of meals every year to homeless and low income community members, both provide services identified by the strategic plan, to some of the most vulnerable populations in the community. The Commission also recommended supporting organizations that had projects funded inprevious years. Those that were recommended for funding again, either provided needed identified services, and/or are providing the biggest bang for the tax payer buck. The activities funded in 2018 served a total of 6,327 individuals at a cost of approximately $21.18 per person. Evaluation of service provider’s activities and outcomes are an ongoing goal for the Commission, and is a process which will continue to be improved over the next year to ensure the wisest, most effective use of these valuable resources. In 2021 City staff and the H&HS commission completed the process of reviewing and making award recommendations regarding the City’s allocation of Social Service Grant Funds. For the 2021 Grant Cyclethe H&HS commission awarded $135K in funding to 11 different activities. CDBG City staff and H&HS commission completed the process of reviewing and making award recommendations regarding the City’s allocation of Community Development Block Grant Funds. For the 2019 program year the Commission recommended funding projects that serve vulnerable populations within the city including homeless youth, and at risk families and children. This past year the Commission also evaluated and made recommendations on two projects outside of the regular grant Cycle to expend surplus funding and provide for identified needs within the community. One such project, the Ashland Housing Safety program is an innovative partnership between Ashland Fire and Rescue and Rebuild Together, a local non- profit serving seniors andpeoples with disabilities. This program has already assisted 8 households with health and safety repairs to prevent falls and create a safer living environment. In 2020 the H&HS Commission Completed the process of updating the Consolidated Plan for theuse of CDBG funding. The document was the culmination of a yearlong update process which included an extensive public outreach and feedback process. The Commission also reviewed and approved an update of the City’s Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, a document that outlines activities to ensure that the City works toward removing barriers to fair housing choice for all citizen’s. Homeless Goals The Housing and Human Services Commission has identified several goals related to alleviating issues of homelessness. These goals are ongoing as addressing them is primarily a community wide effort. The primary goals identified for the future are around generating resources to provide mental health services, exploring resources to encourage the development of a tiny house village, and supporting opportunities for the expansion of the car camping program. The Commission also has followed and will continue to follow the Ashland Winter Shelter Program, though the Commission itself had no direct impact on the creation of the One Site Shelter, many of the individual Commissioners were very involved in that effort and continue to be involved in a volunteer capacity. Education and Outreach In 2017 and 2018 members of the Housing and Human Services Commission worked with the Planning Commission and Staff to elicit public Comment regarding an update of the Housing Element goals and policies. The Commission hosted several meetings in which community members could comment on the draft document. In 2018 the Council adopted the Housing Element. In November of 2018 The Housing and Human Services Commission held a Public forum to discuss the issue of rent burden. The forum was attended by over 40 individuals concerned about the issue of rent burden in the Ashland Community. The Commission Held an Education and Community Engagement Forum in October of 2019 on Rental Housing Issues. The forum featured four panelist and Senator Jeff Golden was the Key Note speaker. In July 2021 the Housing and Human Services Commission held a virtual Post Legislative Session with Representative Pam Marsh to provide updates and information about bills related to housing and homelessness.