The Homeless Documents LibraryThis collection of documents was created as a tool for advocates of homelessness and low-income affordable housing related to solutions for homelessness.
Advocates will find the information here helpful as a reference for statistics and data, terminology, strategies and solutions to end homelessness and best-practices and data driven evidence that support solutions to end homelessness with the "Housing First" approach. This library is excellent for advocates as a tool for blogging and public speaking. |
|
Be Informed... Get Educated... Take Action!
Select a category from the main menu below
"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts
to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The City of Anaheim, California
NEW LISTING! Anaheim Policies and Procedures Regarding Property Owned By Homeless Persons - Filed Jan. 22, 2019
These are the updated policies and procedures regarding the treatment of personal stored property of persons experiencing homelessness in Anaheim in respect to enforcement of Anaheim Municipal Code 11.10.040. The terms in the updated municipal code are conditions of the settlement of the lawsuit, County of Orange vs. Orange County Catholic Worker which was filed on behalf of homeless persons in Anaheim in 2018.
Effective January 1, 2008, SB2 (Chapter 633, Statutes of 2007) requires every California city and county to engage in a detailed analysis of emergency shelters and transitional and supportive housing in their next Housing Element revision, regulates zoning for these facilities, and broadens the scope of the Housing Accountability Act to include emergency shelters as well as supportive and transitional housing.
A letter from the North Net Fire Training Authority asking Anaheim City Council informing Council about portable toilets installed by homeless advocates for the homeless people to use onRampart St. near the fire training facility.
Anaheim Consolidated Plan 2015-2019
The Consolidated Plan for the City of Anaheim, California has been prepared in response to a consolidated process developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Emergency Solution Grant (ESG), Home Investment Partnership (HOME) and Housing Opportunities for Persons with Aids (HOPWA) programs.
An Annual Action Plan is the annual operating plan designed to identify specific activities that Anaheim intends to pursue through the Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnerships, Emergency Solutions Grant, and other state and local housing and community development programs, to address the objectives identified in the Consolidated Plan.
In accordance with HUD regulations, this Citizen Participation Plan (CPP) is designed to provide opportunities for Anaheim residents to give input on community needs and priority uses of the following federal entitlement programs: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) and Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG).
Traditionally, cities have had the power and ability to control, more or less, the manner and method of growth and planning within their borders. In many states, including California, a mandate requiring that is codified. The central nature of the planning process to the idea of self-determination of a municipality is enshrined in most states’ legal processes. Not in the case of Disneyland.
The purpose of the legislative platform is to provide a means for summarizing the City’s core legislative principles for the purpose of advocacy efforts at the regional, state and federal level. Recognizing the importance of promoting City priorities and legislative initiatives, the legislative platform is developed to be consistent with the City’s long-term strategic vision, which focuses on our commitment to service, community and economic development initiatives.
Memorandum of Understanding between the Anaheim Police Management Association and
the City of Anaheim January 15, 2016 through January 14, 2018
the City of Anaheim January 15, 2016 through January 14, 2018
This is the current labor agreement between the City of Anaheim and Anaheim Police Department. It's a real snore, but worthy of scrutiny nonetheless.
"Nothing but the facts ma'am." This is Anaheim's own statistics regarding homelessness in the "City of Kindness." It reads like a dimestore novel.
The overarching goal of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Planning and Development (CPD) programs covered by the Consolidated Plan is “to develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities,” principally for low- and moderate-income persons. In this effort, HUD looks to its state and local government grantees to “extend and strengthen partnerships among all levels of government and the private sector, including for-profit and non-profit organizations, in the production of affordable housing.” (See 24 CFR 91.1)
This is the now infamous staff report prepared for city council by the City Managers Office for the January 24, 2017 city council meeting. The council failed to repeal the ordinance criminalizing sleeping outdoors of persons' experiencing homelessness. Council also reviewed the current policy regarding storage of homeless property and found that it is good to steal the few possessions homeless people have. This is the perfect example of how our county and cities dictate homeless policies for the homeless based on the principles of public health and safety.
This particular document is ancient history from around the same time as the Magna Carta. This goes back to September 30, 2015 when the homeless were excited about the county finally opening the doors of it's very first year-round homeless shelter. Once again, it was all political BS at the expense of homeless lives lost. If you use the data that we have available you could conclude that perhaps as many as 270 homeless lives have been lost. There is no telling how many lives could have been saved if there were only a place where they could escape the harsh elements associated with living outdoors in squalid conditions. Elected officials across the county should be ashamed of themselves. The leaders of our communities should somehow be held accountable for their lack of political will to promote solutions for homelessness. They should be held criminally responsible for their lack of urgency that no doubt resulted in at least some deaths of homeless people. Anyway, look at the shelter plan that never happened. You be the judge. Just more public safety policy rhetoric to read here.
Here it is in all its' glory. The very document that introduced the camping ordinance and the disposition and removal of homeless personal property stored in public space. This ordinance was passed into law on September 24, 2013 and has nothing positive to show as far as decreases in visible homelessness. Taxpayers money still spent year after year in the face of yearly increases in visible homelessness. HELLO TAXPAYERS! Are you satisfied with the lack of performance of local government in solving the homeless problem? Can you honestly say that you are getting enough bang for your homeless buck? Ask your mayor and city council to review the current policies for your city. Here's your chance to demand fiscal responsibility on the part of your local elected officials!
Information here regarding the Housing & Community Development Commission here in Anaheim.
These are the official federal guidelines to ensure citizen participation in all HUD funded programs with grants to local governments. This funding stream should be closely monitored by those of us advocating for people of low-income or homeless to maintain sufficient affordable housing in our communities.
I'll bet there's enough pork in this budget to house every homeless person in Orange County.
Download and fill out this application if you want to serve on a board or commission in the City of Anaheim.
The 2014-2021 Housing Element provides for the identification and analysis of existing and projected housing needs and articulates the City's official policies for the preservation, conservation, improvement and production of housing within the City of Anaheim.
The City of Anaheim's annual report on the General Plan submitted to the State Department of Housing and Community Development persuant to government code.
City of Anaheim Successor to the Redevelopment Agency/Anaheim Housing Authority AB 987 Affordable Housing Database.
Housing Opportunity Sites from 2006-2014 Housing Element.
Architectural renderings of the Anaheim Housing Authority affordable housing project to house seniors and homeless. Approved by Anaheim City Council on June 6, 2017.
The City of Santa Ana
SANTA ANA — Checks totaling about $400,000 will be given to 28 homeless people who were arrested during a sweep last summer at the Civic Center in a settlement approved by the City Council on Monday night. L.A. Times August 20, 1991
The Court of Appeal invalidated, on constitutional grounds, an ordinance of the City of Santa Ana (Santa Ana) which banned "camping" and storage of personal property, including camping equipment, in designated public areas. We granted the petitions for review of Santa Ana and the People to consider whether the ordinance is valid on its face and whether either of the actions involved in the consolidated appeal stated an "as applied" challenge to the ordinance.
California Supreme Court 1995
California Supreme Court 1995
In the summer of 1988, Santa Ana city officials formed a vagrancy task force to implement city council policy that "vagrants are no longer welcome in the City of Santa Ana." /2/ The stated mission of this task force was "to move all vagrants and their paraphernalia out of Santa Ana by continually removing them from places that they are frequenting in the City, such as Civic Center, Center Park, the mission, the Hospitality House on the east side of town, and other City facilities which offer refuge to them." /3/ To carry out this plan, the vagrancy task force recommended that city officials put pressure on charitable organizations to end distribution of free food to homeless people, leave sprinklers running for extended periods on public land, and conduct sweeps through
city parks to confiscate and destroy bedrolls and other property of homeless individuals found on public land.
Clearing House Review Journal of Poverty Law 1995
city parks to confiscate and destroy bedrolls and other property of homeless individuals found on public land.
Clearing House Review Journal of Poverty Law 1995
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA AMENDING SECTION 10- 551 AND ADDING NEW SECTIONS 10- 552, 10- 553 AND 10- 554 TO THE SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATED TO STORAGE OF PROPERTY, VEHICLE ACCESS AND VOLUNTEER SERVICES IN THE CIVIC CENTER AREA
EMERGENCY ORDINANCE: AMENDING AND ADDING NEW SECTIONS TO SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 10, ARTICLE 10 RELATED TO STORAGE OF PROPERTY, PROHIBITION OF ANIMALS, VEHICLE ACCESS AND SERVICES IN THE CIVIC CENTER AREA STRATEGIC PLAN NO. 5, 3)
Adopt an emergency ordinance to amend Section 10- 551 and add new Sections 10-552, 10- 553: and 10- 554 to the Santa Ana Municipal Code related to the storage of property, vehicle access and, volunteer services in the Civic Center area.
Adopt an emergency ordinance to amend Section 10- 551 and add new Sections 10-552, 10- 553: and 10- 554 to the Santa Ana Municipal Code related to the storage of property, vehicle access and, volunteer services in the Civic Center area.
Homeless Encampments, Authorized Encampments, Sanctioned Encampments, Safe Zones
This 2017 report by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (“the Law Center”) documents the apparent rapid growth of encampments of people experiencing homelessness or “tent cities” across the United States and the legal and policy responses to that growth. (This report uses the term “encampments” but recognizes that there are multiple ways to refer to the living situation of self-sheltering homeless persons).
This report, a joint effort of the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, documents the rise of homeless encampments and “tent cities” across the United States and the legal and policy responses to that growth.
Let's see if anyone has been listening to my speeches and reading my articles for the last couple of years. Here is a quote from this document: "Communities seeking to provide lasting solutions to end homelessness for people living in encampments should first develop a local action plan that engages both residents of the encampment and an array of community partners." I'm going to add the community itself as a critical partner in this endeavor. This is a 2015 report from the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). It provides the framework for developing local action plans in order to aid policy-makers, government officials, and practitioners in developing a thoughtful, coordinated, and collaborative plan to ensure that people living in encampments are linked to permanent housing.
This brief describes why encampments exist and the many benefits that encampments can provide to their residents. The brief concludes with recommendations to policymakers on how they can embrace encampments without failing to pursue more permanent solutions to homelessness.
A 2015 report by the National Coalition for the homelessness that identify common characteristics of large homeless encampments in 6 cities across America known for such large types of homeless encampments
A 2015 study by University of California Berkely regarding city sanctioned homeless encampments in Ontario, CA; Seattle, WA and Portland, OR
This is a Portland State University study/ guide from 2012 that presents a problem-solving approach to addressing the impacts of homeless encampments in public spaces.
Affordable Housing and
Permanent Supportive Housing Solutions
NEW LISTING! HOUSING AMERICA’S OLDER ADULTS 2019
Within the 65-and-over age group, most recent income gains have gone to the highest earners, and the number of households with housing cost burdens has reached an all-time high. Ensuring that middle- and lower-income households in this age range have the means to live affordably and safely in their current homes or move to other suitable housing will be a growing challenge. Meanwhile, many households in the 50–64 year-old age group have not recovered from the Great Recession, leaving them with lower incomes and homeownership rates than their predecessors at similar ages. For the nearly 10 million households in this age group that are cost burdened, ensuring financial and housing security in retirement will be a struggle. Joint Center For Housing Studies of Harvard University
The new listing above was featured in an article at
Homeless Perspective
October 16, 2019
The guidebook is composed of three major sections. First, the Planning section gives guidance to PHAs on how to collaborate and align resources to best prevent and end homelessness. The Programs and Policies section provides a detailed summary of best practices and policies for PHAs to increase access to housing. Finally, the Partnership section details how partnering with a variety of organizations can make a substantial impact on ending homelessness. Published in 2013 by U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH)
This white paper builds on recent Enterprise research on cost containment and solutions for expanding the supply of affordable homes, including Bending the
Cost Curve: Solutions to Expand the Supply of Affordable Rentals and Public Benefit from Publicly Owned Parcels: Effective Practices in Affordable Housing Development. Published in 2018 by Enterprise Community Partners.
Cost Curve: Solutions to Expand the Supply of Affordable Rentals and Public Benefit from Publicly Owned Parcels: Effective Practices in Affordable Housing Development. Published in 2018 by Enterprise Community Partners.
This is the annual report for 2018 from the National Low Income Housing Coalition on housing affordability in the U.S. The report documents the gap between wages and the cost of rental housing and makes comparisons nationally and regionally and provides critical information on housing wages, AMI, FMR, etc. The report contains a preface written by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders
A quick reference guide on what the numbers are, how to use the numbers when referring to Out of Reach, and where the numbers come from.
This report, or “Toolbox”, describes a series of alternatives that can be used to create the number and types of housing units needed to eliminate homelessness. Many of the tools discussed can also help to address the growing need for more “workforce” housing.
The scattered-site model provides great opportunity to integrate permanent supportive housing units in the general community, while maximizing available housing stock to achieve a range of housing types and unit sizes.
This is a brief detailing some of the "best-practices" in scattered-site housing for families developed by Homes For Families, a Massachussetts nonprofit organization. The brief also offers policy recommendations for implementation by other organizations into a model for scattered-site housing developments.
This is a part of a series of evidence-based practice kits created by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and is intended to help mental health authorities, agency administrators and Permanent Supportive Housing program leaders think through and develop the structure of Permanent Supportive Housing programs.
In a scattered-site rental housing program, a nonprofit housing organization acquires and renovates rental properties for low and very low income households. Depending on the neighborhood, the organization purchases houses or small apartment buildings located throughout the area. This manual is designed for Board Members and staff of nonprofit community development organizations that are not experienced in managing scattered-site rental housing.
In this paper, we shall argue that large-scale municipal housing, built and owned by the state, is by far the best option for solving the affordability crisis. In Part I, we will examine the history and policy failures that created the crisis. In Part II, we will make the case for municipal housing. PeoplesPolicyProject.org 2018
ADUs are an affordable type of home to construct in California because they do not require paying for land, major new infrastructure, structured parking, or elevators. ADUs can provide a source of income for homeowners. ADUs are built with cost-effective wood frame construction, which is significantly less costly than homes in new multifamily infill buildings.
SB 35 streamlines the creation of critically needed housing and ensures that all communities are accountable for meeting our housing needs.
OC Register article June 20, 2015. California’s ability to provide affordable housing wasn’t riding on the state Supreme Court’s recent ruling upholding the right of cities to mandate that new development projects include a certain proportion of low-priced residences.
Ten Principles for Developing Affordable Housing seeks to help those who wish to develop housing for low- and moderate-income households understand what it takes to make affordable housing projects happen. It also seeks to help policy makers and community leaders understand the principles behind the production of affordable housing.
The issue of housing affordability has become increasingly urgent in California, with rising housing costs and limited supply taking their toll on communities statewide. In his State of the City Address in January 2016, Mayor Robert Garcia issued a call to action to address the increasingly tenuous challenge of producing affordable and workforce housing for residents of Long Beach.
This is a housing study performed by the Joint Center For Housing Studies of Harvard University. The study looks at national housing markets, homeownership, rental housing and housing challenges.
In this 2016 paper, Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. lays out the challenges that advocates face and uses new research conducted by the FrameWorks Institute to put forward evidence-based messaging recommendations that can be used to advance a strong affordable housing and community development agenda. Their goal is to equip housing and community development advocates with evidence about which messages work (and which don’t) as well as to use communications to expand the public discourse on housing issues – ostensibly paving the way for real and lasting systems change.
This Report explores the ways in which housing can shape resiliency and boost sustainability for individuals and the communities in which they live. It explains the concept of community sustainability and the specific role of affordable housing in shaping our future.
The estimates provided in this report suggest that in most places and by most measures, housing development is both economically and fiscally
beneficial for communities in California, despite the housing downturn.
beneficial for communities in California, despite the housing downturn.
The purpose of the AHSC Program is to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through projects that implement land-use, housing, transportation, and agricultural land preservation practices to support infill and compact development,
Creating an affordable housing trust fund, with an identified revenue source that will generate ongoing funding without tapping into the state general fund, has the potential for reforming the state’s response to homelessness and for putting California on track for ending long-term homelessness.
Permanent supportive housing (PSH) offers subsidized housing for formerly homeless people with disabilities and chronic health conditions. It provides flexible and individualized support services that are offered to tenants, who can participate on a voluntary basis.
This Issue Paper looks at innovative ways that public housing agencies are supporting housing for formerly homeless people in the communities the researchers visited.
This document was prepared for the National Alliance to End Homelessness in 2009. In the past decade, a significant shift has begun to occur in efforts to address homelessness, with agencies and communities increasingly moving away from shelter and transitional housing strategies toward prevention and Housing First approaches, which seek to maintain households in housing whenever possible and rapidly re-house those for whom homelessness cannot be prevented.
An affordable housing study researched by The Brookings Institute and The Urban Institute. There is a lot to be learned about affordable housing and this is a good study to take in.
The Advocates’ Guide: An Educational Primer on Federal Programs and Resources Related to Affordable Housing and Community Development, is as the title suggests a guide to affordable housing. But on many levels it is much more than that. It is hundreds of pages of useful resources and practical know-how written by leading experts in the affordable housing and community development field with a singular purpose—to educate advocates and
affordable housing providers of all kinds about the programs and policies that make housing affordable to low-income people across America.
affordable housing providers of all kinds about the programs and policies that make housing affordable to low-income people across America.
A list of more than 20 programs that award loans and grants for the construction, acquisition, rehabilitation and preservation of affordable rental and ownership housing, homeless shelters and transitional housing, public facilities and infrastructure, and the development of jobs for lower income workers.
Information that you need to advocate for affordable housing. These are 20 different arguments in favor of affordable housing.
Approaches for Ending Chronic Homelessness in California through a Coordinated Supportive Housing Program
A Supportive Housing Program could limit eligibility to ensure people who access supportive housing the state creates are in need of the services supportive housing provides. Finally, the state could craft a coordinated process that promotes agency collaboration to advance public-private partnerships between state and local government, law enforcement, the non-profit sector, philanthropy, the business community, and consumers.
Communities have demonstrated and research has shown that RRH is a valuable strategy for quickly transitioning such individuals and families directly from shelter into permanent housing with needed and appropriate supports. To sustain RRH as a valuable community tool for ending homelessness, the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program and the Continuum of Care (CoC) program both include rapid re-housing as an eligible form of assistance.
Unused federal property is one resource that has not been used to full advantage despite the fact that states, local governments, and homeless service providers are able to acquire such property for free under Title V of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
This October 2013 report was commissioned by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and defines Title V of the U.S. Code that provides unused federal properties and how they can be acquisitioned for the purpose of providing services for the homeless.
This October 2013 report was commissioned by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and defines Title V of the U.S. Code that provides unused federal properties and how they can be acquisitioned for the purpose of providing services for the homeless.
The purpose of this Glossary is to facilitate a common language within HUD USER and the larger community of urban planners and developers, housing advocates, architects, builders, government officials, researchers, students, and all others concerned with the past, present – and especially – the future of housing in America. This glossary is not intended to be an authoritative source, but rather a handy reference to help familiarize you with some of the housing-specific terms you'll come across in our research publications and on our site.
Grants and Funding For Affordable Housing
The forecast includes SAMHSA’s plans for release of FOAs, including brief program descriptions, eligibility information, award size, number of awards, and anticipated release date. Please note: This information reflects current planning and is subject to change.
The Infill Infrastructure Grant Program was funded by Proposition 1C, the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2006. Its primary objective is to promote infill housing development.
The HOME Investment Partnerships Program was authorized by the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-625). HOME is a federal block grant program that provides funding to states and localities to be used exclusively for affordable housing activities to benefit low-income households.
The ESG Program provides funding to: (1) engage homeless individuals and families living on the street; (2) improve the number and quality of emergency shelters for homeless individuals and families; (3) help operate these shelters; (4) provide essential services to shelter residents; (5) rapidly re-house homeless individuals and families; and, (6) prevent families/individuals from becoming homeless.
Glossary of terms for grants.
The glossary of terms and acronyms for SAMHSA grants.
Funding Streams
