Emergency Rent Assistance
Emergency Rent Assistance programs support the County’s priority for community members to maintain long term stability through the avoidance of imminent eviction. These funds support eviction prevention for households who meet any of the following criteria: those with an eviction notice, written notice to vacate, or households at high risk who need additional short-term case management to support housing stability. These funds help prevent homelessness for people at risk.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Emergency Rent Assistance expanded to over $100M of annual funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP). In FY 2025, the Program Offer for Emergency Rent Assistance has narrowed to $3.8M of County General Fund and $1.8M of American Rescue Plan funds for a total of $5,623,600 of one-time-only dollars.
During this transition year, efforts will be made to right-size the staffing model, continue quality improvement work started during FY 2024, and explore the new Medicaid 1115 Waiver - Health Related Social Need (HRSN) rent assistance opportunity scheduled to launch in November 2024.
This budget note requests that County departments that disburse rent assistance should coordinate an evaluation of current and future practices to ensure that these practices maximize support to households in our community.
The Chair is asked to direct the Department of County Human Services and Joint Office of Homeless Services to work together to provide a briefing to the board by December 31, 2024, including detail on:
- An analysis of:
- unmet need (demand for services versus available services),
- appropriate staff-to-client case management ratios, including recommendations for acuity and housing status, and
- efficacy and outcomes of County-delivered services versus services delivered by contracted providers.
- The short-term (3 month) and long-term (12 month) post-subsidy housing stability and retention rates for households served with Emergency Rent Assistance in FY 2024.