Redding Council Will Consider New Interim Role in NorCal Continuum of Care
On Tuesday, Redding’s elected leaders will consider taking on a limited role in assisting with administration for the seven-county housing collaboration. Doing so may help preserve federal and state funding as Shasta County withdraws as lead agency.
9.14.23 1 pm: We have corrected this story to clarify that the August 28 deadline is for posting of the CoC draft, not final submission.
On Tuesday, August 15, the Redding City Council will vote on whether to begin a new interim role in administrative management for the NorCal Continuum of Care, a seven-county housing collaboration that includes Shasta County.
Operating a Continuum of Care (CoC) is necessary in order to apply for, receive and distribute millions in state and federal funding annually, including funding from the federal Housing and Urban Development Agency (HUD). Eligibility for HUD funding requires posting a complex collaborative application for the combined seven North State counties participating in the NorCal CoC by August 28.
Shasta County’s abrupt decision to end its role as the lead agency for the NorCal CoC, effective August 21, is what has necessitated quick action by the City or another entity to pick up the collaborative application role.
After announcing its timeline for leaving the lead agency role Shasta County did quickly release a proposal for a consultant to complete the collaborative application process to ensure the funding remained in place. But the NorCal CoC Executive Board responded by asking for the posting to be removed, citing concerns about whether the County could follow through with the communication, staffing and funding needed to take on the consultant management process and related responsibilities appropriately.
That was when former City of Redding Mayor Kristen Schreder, the NorCal CoC’s Executive Board Chair, says she brought the idea of Redding taking on the role to City Manager Barry Tippin. Schreder said she asked Tippin to consider taking on the role as a temporary solution because of the critical needs that state and federal HUD funding provide for, and the short deadline the NorCal CoC faced to find a new collaborative applicant.
Schreder suggested the same idea to the NorCal CoC Executive Board. And on July 31, the Board voted unanimously to approve the redistribution of almost $60,000 to fund a possible new interim role for the City as the COC’s Collaborative Applicant for HUD funding.
It has been challenging to know how much the role of collaborative applicant may actually cost, largely because the County has not provided an administrative budget or list of revenue and expenses for its role in NorCal Continuum of Care over recent years, despite repeated requests from the NorCal CoC Executive Board.
In the absence of that historical financial data, Redding Community Development Manager Nicole Smith has used conversations with HUD representatives, County staff, NorCal CoC Executive Board members, and Shasta Advisory Board participants to help determine a cost estimate of approximately $37,000 for the City to complete the necessary tasks involved as collaborative appplicant.
This includes up to $30,000 to hire a consultant to fill the collaborative application and an additional $7,000 (at $88.50 an hour) for staff time to facilitate the process. With the reallocated $60,000 approved by the Executive Board on July 31, the City appears to have more than enough funding to complete the project.
Smith has been working with the NorCal CoC Executive Board for over a month to prepare for the City’s potential role. Her preparation included inviting quotes from potential consultants. Consultant quotes were due back to the City August 9, almost a week before the Council will vote. A staff report for Tuesday’s Council meeting indicates that staff have selected consultant Decipher HMIS which will charge the City just under $19,000 “to complete the preliminary tasks, the Collaborative Application, and post-submission activities associated with the process.”
Should the Redding City Council agree to the new role, City staff will have less than a month to complete and post the draft NorCal CoC Collaborative Application for all seven-counties.
Resources:
Read about what a Continuum of Care is, here.
See the City’s staff report for the NorCal Continuum of Care role, here.
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