Shasta County Board Of Supervisors vote to comply with new HHAP guidelines

SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. — The Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously, in a special meeting Tuesday morning, to have the Shasta County Housing and Community Action Agency (SCHCAA) director sign a new guidance letter that would resume Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) round three funding for the County which will additionally pave the way for round four funds if the county can follow the new guidelines.

According to the Governor's office, Gavin Newsom paused Homeless Action Plans (HAPs) recently throughout the state, suggesting that communities were not doing enough with the program; expressing his dissatisfaction with the current local direction while also realizing the collaboration on an effort like this would take:

Local leaders talked about the need for more city-county collaboration, more land use reforms to build housing faster, and to focus on keeping people housed who may be on the brink of homelessness — these leaders are our partners, and we all recognize we’re in this together.

As a consequence, the Governor is requiring all parties involved with HHAP funding to follow a new set of guidelines if they are to receive the rest of the funds which include cross-system partnerships with police or child welfare agencies, better allocation of housing resources and better access to low-income housing.

For those Unaware of the HHAP round three program, it is a grant-funded initiative that “provides local jurisdictions, including federally recognized tribal governments, with flexible funding to continue efforts to end and prevent homelessness in their communities” according to ca.gov. The program additionally encourages local officials to be more involved in the process so that progress can be made.

Last February, according to a Shasta County Board of Supervisors report, the board authorized the SCHCAA director to apply for HHAP round three funds on behalf of the Administrative Entity for the NorCal Continuum of Care then received over 975K to focus on the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) database, initial administrative steps, and support for the annual homeless Point in Time Count. Remaining funds to be used for Shasta County add up to 3.9 million.

During the open session, the board explained that the need to address homelessness is critical to county achievement, with the majority of members in agreement on wanting to push forward, not backward. Some residents of the county who spoke at the forum encouraged collaboration between all parties, explaining that as residents of Shasta County, all must participate if work can be done for the homeless.

KRCR spoke with District 1 Supervisor Joe Chimenti, who reflected on the board's unanimous vote:

I think it’s a very positive step going forward and I think the fact that across the Board we all agreed regardless of our political backgrounds that this was the right thing to do given the tragedies we have experienced over the last several days with innocent people in the homeless community being killed and the trauma created for the people who killed them because they were traffic accidents, it really is to me that jumping off point where we say ok, no more

According to the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, local counties and cities across the state who are affected by Newsom’s decision, have to send the signed letter, committing to the new guidelines, no later than Nov. 29 to resume the paused funding.

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