FFA_Program_Plan_Form.pdf

Flexible Financial Assistance Program

Proposed Program Plan

This Program Plan and corresponding Program Budget and Evaluation Workbook is required as part of the Flexible Financial Assistant (FFA) Request for Proposal (RFP).

Please provide, clear, direct, and concise responses to each question below in a narrative or bullet-point format. If additional space is needed, text boxes will expand with a scroll bar to review extended information.

Agency:

Section I: Program Summary

1. Description of Services

a. Program Eligibility, Verification, Enrollment, and Prioritization

i. Describe your process for verifying program eligibility.

ii. Describe your process and timeline for enrolling eligible applicant households, including those who are at high risk of eviction and homelessness; have language, communication, or accessibility barriers; or are ineligible for federal housing subsidy programs.

iii. Based on analysis of need, the City anticipates the demand for FFA services will exceed available funds. To address this, a prioritized implementation model for the FFA program will be utilized to ensure that resources are focused on households with the highest risk of housing instability or loss of housing. The City intends to utilize a regional prioritization tool that is still in the design phase. The prioritization tool will assess vulnerability factors such as minor children in the home, age, length of tenancy, disability status and populations ineligible for federally funded assistance programs. Program may be required to implement and utilize a standardized assessment tool if such a tool is developed and adopted by the City during the contract period. Please describe how you will incorporate this prioritization tool into your intake processes.

b. Prompt and Accurate Financial Assistance Disbursements

i. Describe your experience promptly and accurately issuing (directly or through a subcontracted third-party vendor) thousands to tens of thousands of dollars per month in direct financial assistance to and on behalf of low-income residents. In your response please also describe how your agency meets the eligibility requirement of a minimum of three (3) years administering a large-scale financial assistance program in Los Angeles County. What evidence-based practices inform how your agency has disbursed financial relief to resolve urgent situations threatening housing stability or unit habitability?

ii. The agency must have an objective method to determine the amount of rental assistance provided based on the household’s need, determined prioritization tier and funds available, adhering to the progressive assistance model (see

Attachment 1. Allowable Financial Assistance Chart for details on permitted disbursements).

The FFA program should have the following funding categories:

1. Immediate one-time assistance up to a maximum of $5,000 per household, per year that are at risk of losing housing due to a financial emergency.

2. Ongoing monthly assistance, totaling no more than $10,000 per year per household, annually, to help the household maintain housing.

3. Up to $20,000 in eviction-prevention financial assistance for unlawful detainer-involved households that are receiving legal services for the Right to Counsel (RTC) program to support tenants with unlawful detainers in maintaining their housing or supporting relocation expenses.

What is your method for determining the amount of assistance that should be provided to a household and which funding category their assistance will fall into?

iii. Financial disbursement information must be recorded in an accounting/expense tracking software in a timely and accurate manner to receive City reimbursement. What tracking software will be used to record financial disbursement information? How often will it be updated? How will this database be responsive to internal and external audits of financial assistance disbursements?

iv. The agency must have a process for verifying property ownership prior to initiating property manager payment. Note financial assistance will not be provided directly to enrolled households without prior written authorization by

City staff. Payments must be made to property managers and/or utility providers on households’ behalf in a timely and accurate manner to the greatest extent possible. City staff recommend subscribing to one or more ownership databases to ensure prompt verification rather than requesting copies of property deeds or tax records. What databases do you subscribe to, or will you subscribe to, to ensure prompt verification of property ownership? If a delay in agency payments results in the landlord/utility provider assessing late fees on the tenant, what process does your agency have in place to cover those fees?

c. Housing Stability Case Management Services

i. Will your agency be providing case management services, or are you proposing to subcontract these services to another organization? If you plan to subcontract, who is the intended service provider?

ii. Housing stability case management services should include:

Problem Solving - Problem-Solving is a strengths-based, creative conversation with people experiencing an immediate housing crisis and may include conflict resolution, mediation, family reunification, and shared housing (leasing additional bedrooms in the unit to reduce rent burden).

Housing Stability Plan Development - A Housing Stability plan must be developed with the participant household, summarizing the household’s housing stability goals and the immediate and long-term steps towards such goals. The Plan should include steps to be taken by Agency staff and/or participant households, services and referrals to be provided, and reflect an individualized and tailored approach.

Housing Stability Case Management to Support Participant Households and

Property Managers - These services should include, at minimum, referrals to local and mainstream services (including but not limited to In-Home Supportive

Services, food assistance programs, Social Security Disability application assistance, Department of Mental Health, and the Santa Monica Housing programs); tenant education about Rent Control, habitability requirements, and the Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance; reviewing lease provisions; and exploring shared housing options for tenants with extra bedrooms to reduce rent burden. Housing stability case management services should be time-bound to a period of 6 months with clients with ongoing needs being referred to ongoing services. Case management services should also include responsive customer service to property managers working with participant households to address lease violations, provide mediation, ensure payments to property managers are accurate and on-time, and address any other concerns that arise.

Describe how your program will provide each of the above services and how the program will determine which program participants receive case management services.

iii. Describe your (or subcontractor’s) experience in providing assertive case management services and working with trauma-informed interdisciplinary teams to achieve housing stability for program participants. If utilizing a subcontractor, also describe past experience effectively managing subcontractor relationships with service providers.

iv. Describe the evidence-based case management models that will be utilized for this program.

v. Describe your process for referring ineligible applicants to other relevant services within the Santa Monica region. Describe your understanding of the

Santa Monica social safety net of services.

d. Access to Services

i. Provide a list of all program locations and the days and hours of operation. If your agency is not currently located in Santa Monica, describe your plan for effectively providing services in Santa Monica. Describe how you will offer a regularly scheduled physical presence where in-person support will be provided. Explain how the geographic location(s) of the program and days and hours of your program meet the needs of the City’s target population(s). Be specific about proposed uses of City or other public facilities.

ii. How will you design and implement multilingual outreach and engagement strategies to enroll and support Santa Monica’s low-income residents, including households that have not provided verification of legal residency status? What collaborations or evidence-based practices will inform these strategies? What support will you need from the City in order to implement your outreach and engagement strategies?

iii. How will you ensure that your services and activities will be accessible to people with disabilities, including developmental, mental health, and cognitive disabilities. Describe procedures for accepting and reviewing reasonable accommodation requests, and ADA training resources for public-facing line staff.

iv. Describe how your agency will operate within the City’s highly collaborative and coordinated service delivery system, including the following programs and services: Santa Monica’s Right to Counsel program, Rent Control, City Attorney’s

Office: Consumer Affairs Division, City of Santa Monica’s Housing and Human

Services Department, and mainstream County services (Department of Mental

Health, Department of Public Social Services, etc.), LAHSA’s Coordinated Entry

System, and the LA County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency (LACAHSA).

Note this program will work particularly closely with the agency administering the City’s Right to Counsel program by providing financial assistance disbursements to resolve unlawful detainer cases.

2. Data Tracking & Program Evaluation

Reference the Program Evaluation tab in the Program Budget, Evaluation, and Leadership Demographics workbook provided in the questionnaire.

a. How do you intend to track and manage program participant data? What experience do you have using Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) databases?

b. Describe the goals and indicators for the proposed FFA program.

c. Describe who will review this data, how often it will be reviewed, and how changes will be recommended and implemented.

d. Program reporting requires participant feedback on the quality and satisfaction of services provided. Describe the methods used to solicit this feedback and how often this will be conducted and compiled.

e. Describe and/or upload your agency’s policies/procedures related to the involvement of program participants in program design and evaluation.

Section II: Organizational Capacity

1. Organizational Capacity. Describe your organizational capacity to provide quality, evidence-based and highly effective services. In your description, include your agency’s vacancy rate in front-line, public-facing staff positions from FY 2024- 2025. Explain trends over time and how you will minimize front-line staff vacancies and turnover in the FFA program.

2. Conflict of Interest Policy: Explain your conflict-of-interest policy preventing staff or board members from working with households who are also their relatives, partners, or business associates and how it will apply to the FFA program.

3. Subcontractors. Attach an MOU for any subcontractors, if applicable.

Confirm attachment

4. Staffing Plan. Please upload (1) your agency’s organizational chart; and (2) official Job Descriptions for each City-funded staff position listed in your proposed Program Budget.

Confirm upload

5. Board Participation

a. Describe the role of the agency’s Board of Directors or governing body.

b. How many members serve on the Board?

c. How many times does the Board meet annually? During the calendar year 2025, how many times did the Board meet?

Complete the following section if applicable to your agency.

d. How many current Board members reside, work, or have a strong affiliation with an organization in Santa Monica?

6. Volunteers and Interns

a. To what extent will the program utilize volunteers and/or interns?

b. Include the projected average number of persons and hours volunteered annually and their common roles and responsibilities.

c. Briefly describe how volunteers and/or interns will be trained and supervised.

a. Equity and inclusion are core values for many agencies; however, we are especially interested in how these values are actively put into practice. Please describe how your organization operationalizes equity in its programs and services, particularly when working with vulnerable and historically marginalized populations. In your response, include how the FFA program will integrate equity through access, staffing and personnel practices, training for staff and board members, program design, service delivery, and outreach and engagement strategies.

b. Complete the “Leadership Demographics” tab in the Program Budget, Program

Evaluation, and Leadership Demographics workbook.

Confirm completion

7. Equal Access and Client Participation

Attachment 1: Allowable Financial Assistance

Type of Financial Assistance

Instructions Documentation Required

Security Deposit (relocation) May cover deposits for keys, fob key, mailbox, etc.

to secure housing.

• W-9

• Proof of ownership

• Lease agreement signed by landlord and adult tenants

Rental Assistance • Copy of habitability inspection

• Lease/ rental agreement OR verification of tenancy

• W-9 AND proof of ownership

• Receipts Rental Arrears May include late fees • Itemized statement of the bill including the amount agency paid per month

Utility Assistance, Arrears, and Deposits

Eligible utilities include gas, electricity, water, and trash

• Copy of bill for each month paid

Application Fee May include background check and credit check fees

• Receipt

Essential Furnishings May include items to ensure unit meets household ADA needs, and items required for unit to achieve habitability standards (such as a new mattress in the event of a bedbug infestation).

Agency staff may require ADA verification by a knowledgeable professional.

• Receipts for all items purchased

Moving Costs May include storage fees for up to three months, a rental van, and/or moving services needed in order to maintain or secure housing.

• Copy of bill reflecting monthly storage fee, itemized by month if covering multiple months

• Receipt and detail statement bill for moving services

Document Fees May include fees to obtain copies of birth certificate, driver’s license, tenant screening report, etc needed to support housing retention.

• Receipt

Employment May include expenses associated with gaining or keeping employment, such as uniforms, tools, license/ certification costs, and short-term vocational training when such funding cannot be covered by other sources and is needed to support housing retention.

• Receipt

Transportation Must be related to housing search, employment, and/or reunification

• Receipt of repairs, transit passes, or bicycle/ e-bike/ scooter purchases or repairs

Reunification Costs Must be required to secure housing and paid to transportation provider directly for relocation by bus, train, or plane.

Transportation option selected must be the most cost-effective option. May cover fuel costs for participants relocating with personal vehicles, in which case must provide gas cards instead of cash.

• Receipt of expenses

• For participants relocating with personal vehicles, must document mileage and fuel costs.

Check Box6: Off