Pursuant to the bylaws of the Roseville Housing Authority, the City Council, acting as the governing board for the Housing Authority, holds its quarterly meeting the first Wednesday of March, June, September, and December, or as soon as possible thereafter. Staff has prepared the following status report regarding lease-up activity for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. The HCV Program provides income-qualified households in Roseville and Rocklin with rental assistance using funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This assistance is utilized at rental units that meet program specific housing standards, are owned by a willing property owner, and are within Roseville or Rocklin city limits. This rental assistance ensures that the household is able to afford to live in safe and decent housing. During the third quarter of 2022, there were 583 vouchers utilized in Roseville, 120 vouchers being utilized in Rocklin, and 3 in other jurisdictions (approved transfers out of the area) for a total of 706 families receiving rental assistance through RHA.

RHA is now authorized to provide 805 households with HCV rental assistance. This total consists of several special vouchers including 50 Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV) providing rental assistance to individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of experiencing homelessness; 75 vouchers allocated specifically for families on the waiting list with a head-of-household or partner that are non-elderly and disabled (NED vouchers) and 75 VASH vouchers for veteran households that come via referral from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Department. RHA applied for Special HUD-VASH fees in July 2022 and is still awaiting notification from HUD on a possible award that will assist in expansion of outreach to veterans and property owners. RHA is also administering 30 Project-Based Vouchers at the Main Street and Roseville Apartments which remain 100% leased.

Roseville Housing Authority continues to apply for additional vouchers and administrative fees when award or NOFA applications are made available from HUD to Public Housing Authorities (PHAs). RHA applied for additional Mainstream vouchers, as well as associated fees, in April 2022 and was awarded 10 additional vouchers in September and brings our total to 43 vouchers. Mainstream vouchers assist households who have a non-elderly head of household or partner with a disability and are transitioning out of institutional or other segregated settings, are currently homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless. With receipt of the additional vouchers, staff began outreach to our partner agencies who provide referrals and worked on streamlining the application and intake procedures for faster processing.

RHA administers the Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS) which is a component of the HCV program that provides additional assistance to families who are working to become free of public assistance. HUD has undertaken a major update of the FSS program and required PHAs to update their FSS Action Plans incorporating the new policies and to submit for approval. RHA recently received notification from HUD that the attached Action Plan was approved. RHA has also made major updates to our FSS Program and began working closely with Placer County Housing Authority (PCHA) as they launch their new FSS Program. The collaboration includes building and sharing a new Program Coordinating Committee (PCC) made up of Placer County agencies and businesses to assist the housing authorities in securing commitments of public and private resources for operation of the FSS program. These resources will assist participants with overcoming barriers they may encounter on their journey to self-sufficiency.

Each housing authority is required to be at least 95% leased-up for its voucher allocation or utilizing at least 95% of its annual budget authority to remain in compliance with HUD’s requirements. The lease-up rate for a calendar year cannot exceed 100% of its allocation of vouchers (per voucher type), and/or 100% expenditure of its annual budget allocation for the program. Agencies leasing up or expending 98% or more of its allocated vouchers and/or budget can reach high-performing status. RHA continues to meet HUD program requirements for high-performing status through 100% expenditure of its annual budget allocation. The attached table provides a monthly summary of RHA’s voucher programs for the first three quarters of 2022.

Although lease-up increased in the third quarter of 2022 and all 50 EHV vouchers have been issued, only 25 of the 50 vouchers were leased by the end of September 2022. Many barriers to housing exist for the recipients of EHV vouchers and staff continues to attend bimonthly meetings to work with the Homeless Resource Council of the Sierras and referring agencies to work to overcome the many different obstacles. HUD continues to express their satisfaction with RHA’s leasing efforts of this very challenging program.

RHA was recently notified by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) that the housing authority was a recipient of a 2022 National Award of Merit in Affordable Housing. The award was for the housing authority’s work with the Main Street Plaza & Annex on Main projects. The two affordable projects developed 65 units of housing and combined the city’s first project based vouchers with units reserved for veterans and residents with mental health/special needs. This project boasts the first permanent supportive housing units in the City of Roseville; and the contracted onsite supportive services assist all residents at the property with remaining housed.

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Dominick Casey, City Manager