Santa Barbara County attempts second year of homeless housing grants
The
Santa Barbara County Grand Jury concluded that the county faces obstacles to
housing the homeless population through California’s Project Roomkey and Homekey
funding.
The
jury’s recently released report provided recommendations to the county and
cities to help tap into these grants.
Santa
Barbara County 2nd District Supervisor Gregg Hart said many of the guidelines
have already been executed.
“I
am pleased the county has already implemented most of the Grand Jury’s
recommendations through the Homelessness Strategic Plan, encampment response
protocol and county budget process,” he told the News-Press. “The Grand Jury
properly identified we need to continue to find additional sites for supportive
housing throughout the county, and wraparound services are essential for
ensuring the long-term success of people transitioning out of homelessness.”
ROOMKEY
County
officials struggled to find hotels that would open rooms to a high-risk
population as part of Project Roomkey, the report says. Roomkey provides
temporary housing with wraparound services whereas Homekey focuses on permanent
housing, usually in converted motels.
Generally,
hotel owners were not welcoming to the idea of housing homeless people, the
report says. The county established its Roomkey program with one South County
hotel that rented one wing for a limited amount of time; it could not find a
North County location.
At
the beginning of 2021, the hotel returned to its tourism clientele, and
officials found a location with room for 80 people in South County and rented
10 rooms in Santa Maria.
More
than 90 individuals have been sheltered in the Roomkey program, as of October.
The
city of Santa Barbara and the county are operating Roomkey sites currently with
80 at the hotels. CityNet will re-house participants from these sites, per a
recent agreement with the County utilizing State funds.
HOMEKEY
Local
governments were given five weeks from the Homekey funding announcement to
submit a proposal with properties, remodeling plans and partners.
Applications
were due Aug. 13. The buildings had to be occupied by the end of the year.
Santa
Barbara County worked with officials to speed up the construction process of
the property, an office building in Lompoc previously used by the County’s
Behavioral Wellness Department. (The building was an apartment complex before
being used as an office, so crews converted it back.)
“The
success story in Lompoc has been seen by housing leaders in Sacramento as a
model for California,” Supervisor Hart said.
The
current application process gives recipients a year to finish construction.
Officials
told the Grand Jury they “scoured the universe” for hotels willing to sell to
the County for the project and found one option.
The
county is drafting plans for the current funding cycle and has identified two
properties in South County and one in North County, Community Services
Department Director George Chapjian told the News-Press. It has submitted one
application so far for the ongoing cycle.
The
Grand Jury recommends the county and cities to list all the possible building
or renovation sites. Mr. Chapijan said officials hired a consultant in 2019 to
evaluate properties.
“This
has helped move the effort to identify feasible and available sites forward,”
he said.
The
state could help by identifying state-owned properties that could be acquired
for Homekey, but it was otherwise involved in the application process, he said.
County
staff hold two working groups with an intent to identify and progress Homekey
applications. Santa Barbara City staff are engaged in both groups.
OTHER INITIATIVES
Roomkey
and Homekey are tools the county can use to help the homeless population, but
there are other funding sources to utilize.
In
October, Santa Barbara County Supervisors approved an allocation of more than
half of 2022-2023 American Rescue Plan Act funds, or $12.6 million, to address
homelessness and housing.
They
also earmarked $1.2 million of restricted funds in the current fiscal year for
bridge housing, like hotel housing initiatives.
Homeless
Services has requested $26.6 million in ARPA funds to be expended over three
years, and the Supervisors have provided $22.2 million.
The
county hopes to add 100 beds, including a new shelter, tiny homes and pallet
homes, according to the Grand Jury report.
“The
Grand Jury is doing good work, and we appreciate their interest as it relates
to our County’s houseless population,” Mr. Chapjian said. “Their work has been
helpful.”
To
view the full report, go to sbcgj.org/2021/keystohousing.pdf.
Santa Barbara News-Press
by Annelise Hanshaw
November 30, 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment