CA Housing Plan released; updates on federal funds

Special Edition

March 2022

New Statewide Housing Plan Released

Last Thursday, the California Department of Housing and Community Development released a new Statewide Housing Plan that finds that California needs to build 2.5 million new homes by the end of the decade to meet its housing needs. Of the total, one million need to be targeted to lower-income households.

The plan, which was developed after a series of listening sessions and public surveys, lays out three strategies:

Keep Californians in their homes by preserving existing affordable homes
Produce more affordable and climate-smart housing without displacing existing residents
Continue to act with urgency to address homelessness and housing needs

What is really unique about the plan is that it is virtual and includes a data strategy and a data dashboard to help users dig into housing conditions and costs, housing needs, and housing production. Check it out here:

Statewide Housing Plan Landing Page (contains links to all other documents and resources associated with this plan)

Full Text Digital Statewide Housing Plan

Interactive Housing Data Dashboard

10-Year Housing Data Strategy

Governor Announces New Program for Homeless Response

Also on Thursday, Governor Newsom announced a new plan to help homeless residents who are struggling with untreated mental illness and substance abuse by compelling them to participate in up to 24 months of court-ordered treatment. Called the CARE Court, or Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment, the program is intended to connect each person with a care plan and a care team that can provide clinically prescribed individualized treatment, supportive services, stabilizing medication, and a housing plan.

Family members, first responders, mental health service providers and others will be able to refer people to county community care teams in each of the State’s 58 counties. Hospitalization and conservatorship could still be an option should the services offered not work, though the details of how this would be implemented has not yet been determined.

The proposal still needs to go through a process for approval and will require significant funding and the Legislature’s approval. The Governor has indicated that he will move this plan through the budget process, as opposed to the legislative process, which can require more procedures and time.

New Funding for the National Housing Trust Fund

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) just announced that $1.138 billion would be allocated to the National Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) in 2022. Of the total, $740 million will be allocated to the HTF. While good news-- and the largest amount allocated to date -- this amount is a fraction of the $15 billion in funding that was included in the President’s Build Back Better Act.

The HTF, administered by the U.S. Department of Urban Development, allocates funding in the form of block grants to states for the production and preservation of housing affordable to households earning less than 30% of Area Median Income. In 2021, California received $126.6 million from the HTF out of $690 million nationwide, or just over 18%. If the same holds true in 2022, California would expect to receive an estimated $135.8 million in new funding.

The CMF is administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which awards funding on a competitive basis for affordable housing, economic development, and community service facilities to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) or nonprofit affordable housing developers. In 2020, California received $24.7 million in CMF funding.