To: Board of Supervisors
From: Family & Human Services Committee
Report Title: 2025-2030 Consolidated Plan Priorities
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☒ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE the 2025-2030 Consolidated Plan priorities for the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Act (HOME), and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) programs, serving lower income persons/families, as recommended by both the Finance Committee and the Family and Human Services Committee.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No general fund impact. CDBG, HOME and ESG funds are provided to the County on a formula allocation basis through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE (CFDA NUMBER):
• CDBG - 14.218
• HOME - 14.239
• ESG - 14.231
BACKGROUND:
2025-2030 Consolidated Plan Priorities: The Contra Costa County Consortium, a partnership of four cities (Antioch, Concord, Pittsburg, and Walnut Creek) and Contra Costa County, receives funds each year from the federal government for housing and community development activities. To receive federal funds, each Consortium city and the County must submit a strategic plan - the Consolidated Plan - every five years, to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), that identifies local needs and how some of these needs will be addressed with CDBG, HOME, and/or ESG funds. The Consolidated Plan must also demonstrate how the Consortium will meet national goals set by the U.S. Congress to develop viable communities by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment, and economic opportunities, principally for extremely-low, very-low, and low income persons.
For any project/program application to be considered for an award of CDBG, HOME, or ESG funds, the project/program must meet a Consolidated Plan priority and objective. Given the timing of the County’s Request for Proposals for FY 2025/26 CDBG/HOME/ESG funds, where applications are typically due in mid-December, the approval of the new 5-year Consolidated Plan priorities is necessary to assist County staff determine if an application is eligible for CDBG/HOME/ESG funds.
The preparation of the FY 2025-2030 Consolidated Plan began with holding six public community meetings and three service provider (housing, homelessness, and non-housing) group
meetings from March 2024 through July 2024. Individuals and representatives of various public agencies, community organizations, and service providers throughout the County were invited to attend these meetings. These meetings covered various topics, including:
• Affordable housing
• Persons with disabilities
• Single-parent/female-headed households
• Homelessness
• Economic development
• Seniors
• Youth and families
The Consortium also solicited input from community organizations, public agencies, and the general public through a pair of online surveys that were accessible beginning in the month of February 2024 through the end of July 2024. A copy of each of the surveys is attached (Attachment A and Attachment B). Consortium staff compiled and analyzed the survey data to come to the following observations:
1. There continues to be a high need for services that assist unhoused populations, or those at imminent risk of homelessness.
2. Affordable Housing activities are also a high priority. Of the eligible activities for affordable housing, the following were the highest ranking: 1) Construction of new affordable rental housing; 2) Preservation of existing affordable rental housing at risk of converting to market-rate housing; 3) Rehabilitation of existing affordable rental housing developments; and 4) New construction of work-force housing (e.g. teachers, firefighters, etc.).
3. Job training/development and pollution/property cleanup ranked the highest of the economic development services.
4. General infrastructure and public facilities continue to be a high priority, with the following category rankings requiring improvement or construction: 1) Youth centers; 2) Childcare centers; 3) Community centers; and 4) Parks and recreational centers.
Although the Consolidated Plan is still underway, County CDBG staff substantially completed the Needs Assessment section, taking into consideration the information collected from individual consultations, community meetings, focus group meetings and the survey information. A summary of findings has been compiled into both a housing/homelessness and a non-housing community development slideshow (Attachment D and Attachment E). As a result of the findings County CDBG/HOME/ESG staff proposes, for the next five-year period the four main priorities as follows:
1. Affordable Housing (new unit development and rehabilitation of existing units).
2. Homelessness (providing housing and services).
3. Non-Housing Community Development (Public Services, Infrastructure/Public Facilities, Economic Development categories).
4. Administration (Administration of the various Federal Programs).
These four priorities are further broken down into strategies or objectives. The strategies and objectives are the following:
• AH-1: New Construction of Affordable Rental Housing
• AH-2: Increase Homeownership Opportunities
• AH-3: Preservation of Existing Affordable Housing Stock
• AH-4: Permanent Supportive Housing and Special Needs Housing
• H-1: Housing & Supportive Services for Homeless
• H-2: Rapid Rehousing & Homelessness Prevention
• CD-1: General “Safety Net” Public Services
• CD-2: Special Needs Population
• CD-3: Youth
• CD-4: Fair Housing
• CD-5: Economic Development
• CD-6: Infrastructure/Public Facilities
• CD-7: Administration
The descriptions of each strategy/objective are found within Attachment C.
Family and Human Services Committee and Finance Committee Meetings
The Family and Human Services (FHS) Committee and the Finance Committee met on October 28, 2024, and November 4, 2024, respectively. The FHS Committee and Finance Committee both recommended the four listed Consolidated Plan priorities and accompanying strategies/objectives for the next five-year period (FYs 2025-2030). As the 2025-2030 Consolidated Plan is still in the process of being completed, staff indicated that the final draft of the 2025-2030 Consolidated Plan will be brought to the Board of Supervisors for its consideration at a future meeting in Spring 2025.
The Consolidated Plan priorities are typically considered by the Affordable Housing Finance Committee (AHFC) in addition to the FHS and Finance Committees. Unfortunately, due to lack of quorum, an AHFC meeting was unable to be held. Therefore, the affordable housing priorities are recommended by County staff.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Not approving the 2025-2030 Consolidated Plan priorities would delay the Consolidated Plan process and the CDBG/HOME/ESG application process, which could jeopardize the County's allocations from HUD of the various federal programs.