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Extracted from Consolidated Report

This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.

Orange County Grand Jury • 2021-2022

How is Orange County Addressing Homelessness?*

Published: September 19, 2022 4 pages Consolidated Report

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⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.

⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.

Findings 2 findings

collaboration for support of shelters and services, which has resulted in missed opportunities to end homelessness. The City of Yorba Linda disagrees wholly with the finding. The collaboration between Response the County, the Orange County Continuum of Care (COC) and cities in Orange County has resulted in the creation of shelters and services that better address unsheltered homelessness. This is especially the case among the 13 cities that comprise the North Service Planning Area (North SPA), which includes the City of Yorba Linda, that have worked collaboratively in recent years to address the issue of homelessness in the region. Some of the North SPA cities have contributed funding toward the construction of the Bridges at Kramer facility in Anaheim, and all have provided funding toward the construction and operation of the Navigation Centers in Buena Park and Placentia. Cities in the North SPA have also, both individually and collectively, funded homeless services and housing opportunities. There are an insufficient number of rental units available to those exiting Emergency

Shelters, resulting in the majority returning to homelessness when leaving the shelters. 4845 Casa Loma Avenue, Yorba Linda, CA 92886 714-961-7110 | www.yorbalindaca.gov Response to the Orange County Grand Jury report - "How is Orange County Addressing Homelessness?" The City of Yorba Linda agrees partially with the finding. On a Countywide basis, Orange Response County has oversight of the Coordinated Entry System which streamlines access and referrals to permanent housing opportunities. Often individuals and families experiencing homelessness who are working towards a permanent housing option may experience delays and barriers in securing rental units due to a variety of factors. Because of the barriers to housing faced by these individuals/families, the County has invested in programs with equipped staff to assist in finding and securing units successfully. These efforts have resulted in housing-focused emergency shelters, increased housing navigation and unit identification programming, and enhanced supportive services to assist those in need to secure permanent housing. By July 1, 2024, the County of Orange and cities should collaborate to open facilities that

Recommendations 3

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can house people with severe and persistent mental illness and addiction issues in a secure setting. The recommendation has been implemented. The 2022 Housing Inventory Count Response identified 2,793 units of Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH). PSH is long-term affordable housing paired with supportive services for people experiencing homelessness who may have other challenges, such as mental illness. PSH is prioritized for individuals experiencing the longest lengths of homelessness in Orange County and with high service needs as a result of the conditions they experience. Since the County's adoption of the Orange County Housing Funding Strategy in 2018 and through the Orange County Housing Finance Trust (OCHFT), a total of 1,273 PSH units have been completed, are in progress of funding, or under construction. The Housing Funding Strategy has established a target for the development of 2,700 new supportive housing units by 2025. The development of new PSH and affordable housing is an existing and ongoing collaborative effort between the County, the cities and OCHFT. By July 1, 2023, the County of Orange, cities and COC should collaborate to encourage
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the development of housing affordable to individuals exiting the emergency shelters in Orange County. The recommendation has been implemented. The County, cities, and COC have been Response working together to encourage the development of affordable housing and PSH that supports the needs of people experiencing homelessness and accessing the system of care. In 2019, the OCHFT was established to provide a funding tool that could be used to facilitate and encourage the development of affordable PSH units in Orange County, and to date OCHFT has funded seventeen projects. In addition, COC and the four public housing authorities - Orange County, Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Anaheim - have worked together to support the Emergency Housing Voucher program, which provides more than 1,000 special purpose vouchers for people CITY of YORBA LINDA Response to the Orange County Grand Jury report - "How is Orange County Addressing Homelessness?" experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness as identified by service providers in Orange County. The County continues to allocate additional resources to subsidize housing opportunities for households that previously experienced homelessness and/or households experiencing homelessness. Since the adoption of the Housing Funding Strategy, the County has authorized the utilization of more than 300 project-based Housing Choice, Mainstream and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers from the Orange County Housing Authority for permanent supportive housing developments throughout Orange County. The County has also allocated more than $135 million in Mental Health Services Act funding for supportive housing development that is administered at both the state and local levels, and partnered with developers to apply jointly for other available funding sources such as "No Place Like Home," "Housing for a Healthy California," and "Housing Accelerator" funds. Through its partnership with cities, the County has also worked with developers to identify prospective sites that may be eligible for State of California's Homekey Program funding. To date, more that $50 million in funding has been awarded to the County of Orange and to developer co-applicants for five motel conversions that provide 252 units of PSH around Orange County. The County and cities will continue to work closely with COC in various capacities to collaborate and encourage the development of affordable housing and PSH as part of the system of care. By December 1, 2022, the County or Orange, cities and COC should collaborate to
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increase the number of housing opportunities for Transitional Aged Youth. The recommendation has been implemented. Since June 2020, the County's Office of Response Care Coordination has worked to improve the homeless service delivery for transitional aged youth experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. The County provides oversight over the Coordinated Entry System and has worked to implement a separate process for transitional aged youth to be prioritized for available housing resources in Orange County. This has resulted in the implementation of a Transitional Aged Youth Registry, composed of youth participants experiencing homelessness in Orange County regardless of their household composition. Transitional aged youth service providers are invited to attend a collaborative case conferencing meeting to discuss individual cases, available housing resources, and dynamic prioritization through the Coordinated Entry System to ensure that the most vulnerable participants are receiving the most appropriate housing referrals. In addition, the Office of Care Coordination has begun tracking outcomes in the form of transitional aged youth-focused dashboard to understand the housing needs and analyze trends. The Office of Care Coordination and the COC have utilized this information to inform the implementation of housing resources and the solicitation of new housing resources specifically designed to meet the needs of the transitional aged youth experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness in Orange County. CITY of YORBA LINDA Response to the Orange County Grand Jury report - "How is Orange County Addressing Homelessness?" The Office of Care Coordination most recently applied for the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program, a funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) designed to reduce the number of transitional aged youths experiencing homelessness through a coordinated community approach. Also, funding from the State of California's Homeless, Housing Assistance and Prevention Program, provided to the County, cities, and COC, requires recipient jurisdictions to allocate a minimum percentage of the funding to create housing opportunities and resources for transitional aged youth. This focused funding resource has proven helpful in the planning and design of a homeless service system that meets the needs of transitional aged youth. At the local level, the City of Yorba Linda authorized 14 transitional aged youth units as part of the Oakcrest Heights residential development in Savi Ranch. The project was built by National Community Renaissance with funding assistance from the County's local Mental Health Services Act program. Should you have any questions or require any further information from the City of Yorba Linda, please feel free to contact our Assistant City Manager, David Christian at (714)961-7107 or dchristian@yorbalindaca.gov. Sincerely, Malte Mark Pulone City Manager

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.