Homeless support program underutilized in Vallejo as federal grant funds pile up

VALLEJO – Federal grants administered by Vallejo’s housing division are going unspent as a program that provides emergency rental assistance for homeless residents has fallen far below project expectations, according to a report presented at Thursday’s Housing and Community Development Committee meeting.

The budget for two major grants administered by the Housing and Community Development division swelled to over $3 million this year but the division only spent $685,567, or 22% of the total working budget.

Some of the unspent grant funds were intended for the Tenant Based Rental Assistance program, which provides money for a deposit and up to 24 months of rental assistance for homeless people or people at risk of becoming homeless, but the program is dramatically underutilized. The housing division projected that the program would serve 90 households over five years but its third year progress report indicates that only eight households have received assistance so far.  

Housing Authority Administrative Manager Chari Francisco said that the biggest challenge in meeting the program goals is low staffing.  

“The program is not just us giving funds for the security deposit and for the monthly rent,”  Francisco said. “There is also case management that goes along with the program and that is what we are lacking right now.”

Vallejo’s housing division, which includes Vallejo Housing Authority, is responsible for administering federal grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which requires a comprehensive plan every five years and yearly progress reports in order for local housing authorities to continue receiving the funds.

At Thursday’s Housing and Community Development Commission meeting, Francisco presented the third annual progress report in the five-year reporting period.

In 2020, Vallejo’s housing division created a five-year plan which projected that division would spend $1 million in federal grants to fund the Tenant Based Rental Assistance program. In the first year, the city intended to serve 18 households and spend $217,000.

But during the first year, the housing division suspended the program because of a staffing shortage so no applicants received funding. The following year, the city dropped its goal to 10 households but approved only four applicants, according to an annual housing division report.

In the 2022-23 fiscal year, the city approved rental support payments for four more households. That year, the housing division spent only $48,000 on the program, according to Francisco’s presentation.

Francisco said that the second biggest challenge for the division in meeting the program expectations is that it is difficult for qualified applicants to find a rental. She said that program recipients must compete for available rentals with recipients of the Housing Choice Voucher program, also known as Section 8.

“Unfortunately, there is a stigma against renters who receive housing subsidies,” Francisco said. “Some landlords think that these tenants will leave rental units damaged” but that perception is unfounded, she said.

According to Francisco, over the past fiscal year, housing division representatives have gone to city events like the farmers market to conduct outreach to landlords in an effort to change the perception about tenants who receive rental assistance. This year, the housing division plans to expand the outreach efforts by inviting landlords and property managers to an orientation that explains how subsidy programs work.

The Housing Choice Vouchers and Tenant Based Rental Assistance are separate programs.

The rental assistance program provides temporary, emergency support for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and recipients are given preference for vouchers when they become available.

The Housing Choice Vouchers provide long term rental assistance to low income households. In the past fiscal year, Vallejo’s housing division has provided this ongoing federal housing assistance to 1,416 households, according to the annual report.

In 2015, the housing division opened the waitlist for the voucher program for the first time since 2007 and 21,000 residents signed up. According to the housing division, about half of the households who signed up met the program qualifications. The housing division anticipates reopening the waiting list later this year.

California’s Fair Housing law was amended in 2020 to prohibit landlords from discriminating against tenants who use federal, state or local subsidies to pay rent. In Vallejo, the organization Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California is in charge of screening and investigating discrimination complaints and represents residents in bringing discrimination complaints to the California Civil Rights Department.

Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California is one of three nonprofit organizations that received funds from the two major HUD grants through the city in fiscal year 2022-23. Together the nonprofits received $75,000 or 11% of the funds through the two grants that the housing division spent in fiscal year 2022-23, Francisco said.

The lion’s share of 2022-23 expenditures went to the pre-construction phases of the 125-bed navigation center, which has faced multiple delays. According to Francisco, the housing division expects the bulk of the unspent funds from the 2022-23 fiscal year to be used once construction begins on the navigation center during this fiscal year.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the name of the California Civil Rights Department.