3B Public Hearing 2010 0920 - Laserfiche WebLink

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FY 2009-2010 CAPER -5- September 20, 2010 seventeen (17) parenting support groups, twelve (12) domestic violence education groups, and 132 enriching and developmentally appropriate children's programs. ♦ Davis Street Family Resource Center (DSFRC) The City also funded DSFRC with CDBG funds to provide supportive services to homeless persons. DSFRC provided an array of basic services for 865 homeless people. Services are modified to accommodate the special needs of homeless people (e.g., providing one-on-one case management, providing food that does not need to be cooked, and access to the clothing program). Homeless persons received various services, including a week's worth of groceries, clothing and household items, PG&E utility assistance, nutrition and health education, and life skills training designed to teach the participants how to budget and shop with limited resources and fixed income. DSFRC also provided these clients with information and referral to rental assistance and shelter services, employment support services, internal linkages to counseling and childcare, free acute medical and dental care, and enrollment and referrals to affordable health care plans. Priority: Increase and expand activities designed to prevent those currently housed from becoming homeless. ♦ Rental Assistance Program Through ECHO's Rental Assistance Program funded through the City's General Fund, six (6) families were given rental assistance (such as payments for delinquent rent or security deposits) to prevent homelessness. ECHO achieved 86% of its goal. ECHO prevented three (3) households from being evicted, placed three (3) households into housing, and provided information to 100 clients and support counseling for 182 program applicants. ♦ Tenant/Landlord Counseling Using CDBG funds, the City contracted with ECHO Housing for landlord/tenant counseling services to help maintain people in housing. Information and referral services were provided to 558 landlords and 255 tenant households. In FY 2009-2010, ECHO handled ninety-six (96) cases related to eviction and succeeded in preventing ten (10) households from being evicted. Staff also assisted with one (1) retaliation case, forty (40) landlord/tenant inquiries related to repairs, twenty-three (23) cases regarding security deposits, eight (8) instances involving rent increases, and one (1) occurrence of unlawful entry by a landlord. There were also ninety-three (93) miscellaneous inquiries (e.g., noise, neighbor disputes, parking, etc.). ECHO staff, furthermore, assisted eight (8) households with conciliation/mediation services. Lastly, staff referred fifty-three (53) households, or 224 persons, to small claims court and forty-seven (47) households, or seventy-five (75) persons, to other appropriate agencies. To educate tenants and landlords about their rights and responsibilities, ECHO distributed a total of 1,874 educational materials, provided sixty-five (65) public service announcements, and held three (3) trainings for property owners/managers. ECHO met or exceeded all of its goals by large percentages. ♦ Davis Street Family Resource Center The City's Redevelopment Agency contracted with DSFRC to provide housing services referring clients to rental opportunities in the city, including existing below-market rate (BMR) units. These services aim to prevent those currently housed from becoming homeless. An average of 120 callers per month inquired about housing assistance and the availability of affordable rental units. DSFRC staff placed sixty-two (62) families from San Leandro into housing units or