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<br />o Investing in and budgeting for tenant advocacy and holistic services (for <br />landlords as well) <br />o Long-term rent subsidies <br />• What isn’t working: <br />o Shelter Plus Care varies between jurisdictions, needs to be clearer for housing advocates <br />and tenants to understand <br />o Rapid Rehousing: short-term rental subsidies are not effective in addressing long-term <br />housing (still unaffordable after the subsidy ends) <br />o HUD funding/policy provides resources for these short-term subsidies while funding for <br />longer-term solutions like vouchers has decreased <br />Audience Questions <br />• For Housing Element, encourage advocacy for increased Section 8 funding or similar services for <br />both residents and developers to subsidize less than 30% AMI units. <br />o Rapid rehousing/shelter plus care is not successful, but that’s where the funding is <br />• Can we refer residents to the CBOs if we are not under a contract with the organizations? <br />o While there are income/jurisdictional guidelines on service, there are generally no <br />limitations on who can refer residents to the CBOs. <br />o Staff availability at CBOs is a limiting factor on how many referrals organizations can <br />accept <br />• Curious about other best practices or models that serve CBOs’ client base? <br />o East Bay Innovations: Section 811 public rental assistance was successful partnership with <br />Medicaid for persons with disabilities. Agencies worked with developers to set aside units <br />at Section 8 levels, and CBOs acted as referral agents for those units. Funding is no longer <br />available at the moment. <br />• Appreciate comments about the difficulty of inclusionary housing. However, that’s a common <br />element of market rate development projects. Are there examples of policies that make <br />inclusionary housing work better? <br />o One barrier is ensuring that application process and tenants are appropriate for the units, <br />and making sure requirements are being met. Recommend requiring developers to pay <br />on annual basis for cost of monitoring. <br />o County is using a single portal for applications, including inclusionary housing (creates a <br />pool of pre-screened applicants). Saves time for staff. Housing staff can share this with <br />Planning staff. <br />• Addressing living in place/accessibility: as we’re building these projects, what are the features you <br />would recommend that developers integrate upfront? <br />o East Bay Innovations: <br /> Units with roll-in showers <br /> Newer construction tends to have wider doorways/ADA compliant elevators. <br />Modifications for tenant needs is minor in newer buildings. <br /> Supportive service is key – building a relationship between service provider and <br />property so that problems can be anticipated and addressed as early as possible <br />o Universal design at construction <br /> Universal design website https://www.wbdg.org/design- <br />objectives/accessible/beyond-accessibility-universal-design and <br /> Additional resources attached (courtesy of Michelle, Starratt, Alameda County <br />Housing Director): Universal Design Guide and Infographic, Example design <br />standards adopted by a housing organization