No Place Like Home

 Availability of grant funds for counties to be used for the development of  permanent supportive housing.

 RFP for $3.3 million in NPLH Noncompetitive Funds Available Here

 

 

Non-Competitive Funds

An amended NOFA was released on October 30, 2018 by CA – HCD for approximately $190 million in non-competitive NPLH funds. These funds may be used to acquire, design, construct, rehabilitate, or preserve Permanent Supportive Housing, which may include a Capitalized Operating Subsidy Reserve. Please refer to No Place Like Home Program Draft 2020 Amended Guidelines at http://www.hcd.ca.gov/grants-funding/active-funding/nplh.shtml for more complete information about the NPLH program and funding availability. 

This is a one-time allocation of funds. Non-competitive funds are allocated to counties by CA – HCD using information about population and Point-in-Time counts. Riverside County has been allocated approximately $3.3 million in non-competitive NPLH funding. Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health has issued an RFP for noncompetitive NPLH funding, available here. Please direct any questions to Thomas Peterson, (951) 538–6791, TPeterson@ruhealth.org and Marcus Cannon, (951) 715-5050, MCannon@ruhealth.org.

General Background

On July 1, 2016, Governor Brown signed landmark legislation enacting the No Place Like Home (NPLH) program to dedicate $2 billion in bond proceeds to invest in the development of permanent supportive housing for persons who are in need of mental health services and are experiencing homelessness, chronic homelessness, or who are at risk of chronic homelessness. The bonds are repaid through funding from the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA).

NPLH funds are used to finance capital costs of units in rental housing developments, including acquisition, design, construction or rehabilitation costs associated with the rental housing community along with capitalized operating subsidy reserves. 

Key features of the program include:

• A requirement that permanent supportive housing utilize low barrier tenant selection practices that prioritize vulnerable populations and offer flexible, voluntary, and individualized supportive services.
• A requirement that the County commit to provide mental health services and help coordinate access to other community-based supportive services for residents.
• A restriction on the amount of rent charged to be no more than 30 percent of the Area Median Income, as defined in the No Place Like Home Program Draft 2020 Amended Guidelines

For a complete explanation of the NPLH program, please review the No Place Like Home Program Draft 2020 Amended Guidelines, issued by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

Population to be Served

Permanent supportive housing is intended to be provided to adults with serious mental illness, or children with severe emotional disorders and their families and persons who require or are at risk of requiring acute psychiatric inpatient care, residential treatment, or outpatient crisis intervention because of a mental disorder with symptoms of psychosis, suicidality or violence and who are homeless, chronically homeless, or at risk of chronic homelessness.

At risk of chronic homelessness includes persons who are at high risk of long-term or intermittent homelessness, including persons with mental illness exiting institutionalized settings, transition age youth experiencing homelessness or with significant barriers to housing stability.

Process for Obtaining Funding

Counties are eligible to apply for funding acting independently as a development sponsor or together with another entity. RUHS – BH intends to develop and submit applications for funding in collaboration with qualified developer(s) with relevant experience in affordable housing development, permanent supportive housing, serving special needs populations, multi-family property management and asset management. Awards are made on a competitive basis as more fully described in the No Place Like Home Program Draft 2020 Amended Guidelines. 

To qualify for funding, the County must submit a Housing Plan to the California Department of Housing and Community Development that specifies the goals, strategies and activities that are in process or that will be initiated to reduce homelessness and make it non-recurring for the population identified above. 

The Housing Plan must reflect input from the following groups:

• County representatives with expertise from behavioral health, public health, probation/criminal justice, social services and housing departments;
• The HUD Continuum of Care for the County;
• Housing and homeless service providers, especially those with experience providing housing or services to those who are chronically homeless;
• County health plans, community clinics and health centers, and other health care providers;
• Public housing authorities; and
• Representatives of family caregivers of persons living with serious mental illness

Riverside University Health System – Behavioral Health has developed and submitted a Housing Plan in collaboration with the groups identified above and others. The Housing Plan is available on this website.

Development partners who are interested in developing permanent supportive housing in Riverside County are encouraged to submit an Expression of Interest. Click the Expression of Interest Online Application below to enter information using a submission portal OR click the Expression of Interest PDF Paper Application and submit as directed.

You can submit an Expression of Interest in 2 ways.

1. Click the Expression of Interest Online Application below to enter information using a submission portal OR
2. Click the Expression of Interest PDF Paper Application and submit as directed.  

  Expression of Interest Application

 Expression of Interest PDF Paper Application