Jun 9, 2016 - Frontenac's Housing and Homelessness Services System (HHSS) ... management through the Housing First/Rapid
City of Kingston Information Report to the Housing and Homelessness Advisory Committee Report Number HCC-16-008 To:
Chair, Housing and Homelessness Advisory Committee
From:
Lanie Hurdle, Commissioner, Community Services
Resource Staff:
Sheldon Laidman, Director, Housing & Social Services
Date of Meeting:
June 9, 2016
Subject:
Rent Assistance Program
Executive Summary: The Housing First approach to homelessness embedded in the City of Kingston and County of Frontenac’s Housing and Homelessness Services System (HHSS) focuses on participants being housed in independent, permanent housing as quickly as possible. Once an individual or family experiencing homelessness is assigned a housing-based case manager under the Housing First/Rapid Re-Housing (HF/RRH) Program, the initial goal of the HF/RRH case manager and the client is to engage in a household specific search to secure housing for that client. Like many Ontario cities, Kingston has a low vacancy rate which results in limited housing options for those experiencing significant barriers obtaining housing. While intensive case management through the Housing First/Rapid Re-Housing Program (HF/RRH) assists with the management of behavioral barriers, financial assistance may be required to reduce financial barriers experienced by some clients. The Rent Assistance Program has been developed as a more creative and flexible approach to providing financial assistance to reduce the financial barriers of securing and maintaining housing for clients in the HF/RRH Program and seeks to maximize the limited financial resources available for rent subsidies. Recommendation: This report is for information purposes only.
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Information Report to Housing & Homelessness Advisory Committee Report Number HHC-16-008 June 9, 2015 Page 2 of 6 Authorizing Signatures: ORIGINAL SIGNED BY COMMISSIONER Lanie Hurdle, Commissioner, Community Services ORIGINAL SIGNED BY CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER Gerard Hunt, Chief Administrative Officer
Consultation with the following Members of the Corporate Management Team: Cynthia Beach, Corporate & Strategic Initiatives
Not required
Denis Leger, Transportation, Facilities & Emergency Services
Not required
Jim Keech, President and CEO, Utilities Kingston
Not required
Desiree Kennedy, Chief Financial Officer & City Treasurer
Not required
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Information Report to Housing & Homelessness Advisory Committee Report Number HHC-16-008 June 9, 2015 Page 3 of 6 Options/Discussion: Beginning in January 2015, the Housing & Homelessness Services System (HHSS) was introduced in the City of Kingston and County of Frontenac utilizing the Housing First approach. Housing First is a recovery oriented approach to ending homelessness that centres on quickly moving people experiencing homelessness into independent and permanent housing and then providing additional supports and services as needed. The basic underlying principle of Housing First is that people are better able to move forward with their lives if they are first housed. Locally, under the Housing First Program, clients are assigned housing-based case managers to support them in maintaining their housing. A rent supplement is not automatically attached to housing first case management supports. Often, case managers will work with clients to find housing that does not have a rent subsidy attached; however, where possible, rent supplements are provided to clients. Funding for rent subsidies is limited and not all clients housed through the Program will be able to receive rent assistance. Evidence-informed practice suggests that rent assistance can be a critical component of a client’s success in securing or maintaining their housing. The Service Manager and local Service Providers stress the importance of providing this support to newly housed persons. Often, the need for a rent supplement extends beyond the need for case management supports. This puts pressure on the rent supplement program as without turnover the number of rent supplements available will diminish over time. Locally, since January 2015, the primary focus has been on finding and maintaining housing for chronic shelter users. To date, 109 HF/RRH households have been housed. A portion of rent subsidies funded through the provincial Investment in Affordable Housing (IAH) Extension Program have been available for clients housed under this Program. To date, 54 households in the HF/RRH Program have received a rent supplement. A portion of these rent supplements are attached to units and others are portable and move with the tenant if needed. Rent supplements under the IAH Program will end in 2024 unless funding is extended by the Province. In 2015, the Service Manager conducted consultations with the service providers delivering the Housing First/Rapid Re-Housing Program, namely Home Base Housing and Addiction and Mental Health Services - KFLA, to develop a policy related to a rent assistance program designed to maximize the availability of rent subsidies considering the limited financial resources for this purpose. As a result of these consultations, a Rent Assistance Program has been designed. Under the Rent Assistance Program, the proposal is to provide a full rent supplement to clients identified by way of an assessment using the Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (SPDAT) and additional locally defined criteria as having the highest acuity and provide a lesser amount of rent assistance to clients with lower acuity scores based on the SPDAT assessment and locally defined criteria. The principle is that clients will increase their income as they progress through the HF/RRH Program, enabling them to pay a higher rent and thereby requiring less rent assistance. Clients with lower acuity scores are expected to progress through the program more quickly and require both case management and rent assistance for a shorter period of time than those clients with higher acuity scores.
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Information Report to Housing & Homelessness Advisory Committee Report Number HHC-16-008 June 9, 2015 Page 4 of 6 Presently, the 2016/17 provincial IAH funding allocation of $1.5M is allocated for rental housing and in 2017/18, allocated for rent supplements. As Service Manager, the City has made a request to the Province to switch the provincial IAH funding allocations for 2016/17 and 2017/18 which would provide rent supplement funding in the amount of $1,540,000 for 2016/17 for the delivery of the rent assistance program. City staff have been advised that they will receive a response from the Province in early July 2016. Should approval be received, $1,540,000 will be available in additional rent supplement funding to deliver the rent assistance program. The Rent Assistance program will be administered by the service providers delivering the HF/RRH program and the Housing Liaison Worker employed by Home Base Housing. The following are the general principles of the Rent Assistance Program. The available provincial IAH rent supplement funding will be assigned to target populations as follows: a. b. c. d.
Single individuals: 70 - 85% of the total rent assistance funding Families: 10 - 20% of the total rent assistance funding for the HF/RRH program Youth: 5 - 15% of the total rent assistance funding for the HF/RRH program Rural: 5 - 15% of the total rent assistance funding for the HF/RRH program
Within these target groups, client situations will be considered. To prevent a return to homelessness, households which were initially housed with a rent subsidy and which are being re-housed (existing clients) as a result of a pending eviction are given priority under this program. Next, households which are currently homeless and actively involved with their housing-based case manager (new clients) and have a goal of “securing housing” will be prioritized for rent assistance and finally any remaining rent assistance funding will be allocated to active (existing clients) HF/RRH clients who are leaving their current housing within the HF/RRH system by choice and not through pending or actual eviction. All HF/RRH clients in need of housing will be ranked for eligibility for rent assistance funding based on the composite score assigned to that client calculated by applying the prioritization score based on the SPDAT score and additional locally defined weighting applied for length of homelessness, shelter utilization/frequency and whether or not the client is considered to be chronically homeless. The level of rent assistance to be provided to clients will also be determined based upon the above prioritization score. The minimum rent assistance to be paid will be $150 per month. The maximum rent assistance to be paid will be the difference between the clients’ geared to income rent and the current CMHC average market rent for the unit size for which the client is eligible under local occupancy standards. Geared to income rent will be calculated based on maximum shelter allowance paid to clients in receipt of social assistance and for clients in receipt of other sources of income and with no social assistance benefits (OW or ODSP) their rent will be set at 30% of income determined by using the Notice of Assessment (NOA) on the prior year’s income tax return.
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Information Report to Housing & Homelessness Advisory Committee Report Number HHC-16-008 June 9, 2015 Page 5 of 6 Clients with the highest composite scores will receive the maximum rent assistance as described above and those scoring lower will receive rent assistance as follows: a. Those in receipt of Ontario Works (OW) benefits will receive $300 per month in rental assistance. b. Those in receipt of Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits will receive $150 a month in rent assistance. c. Those not in receipt of social assistance (OW or ODSP) benefits, and receiving another source of income – i.e. pension, employment, etc., rent shall be calculated at 30% of income determined by using the Notice of Assessment amount on the prior year’s income tax return. The client shall receive rent assistance to cover 75% of the gap between the calculated rent and the average market rent for the unit size for which they are eligible. The 2016 Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) average market rent for a bachelor apartment in Kingston is $679 and $921 for a one bedroom unit. Currently, a single person on Ontario Works (OW) with no dependents receives $376 for shelter allowance and $305 for basic needs for a total monthly income of $681. With rent assistance of $300 per month under the Rent Assistance program, a total of $676 would be available for a single person on Ontario Works to pay for monthly rent. A single person on Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) receives $479 for shelter allowance and $631 for basic needs for a total monthly income of $1,110. With rent assistance of $150 per month for persons on ODSP, single persons participating in this program and receiving ODSP would have $629 available to pay for monthly rent. With $1.5M in rent IAH funding for seven years using the traditional rent supplement funding model, by paying the difference between the market rent and the tenant’s calculated rent, it is anticipated that 36 households in the Housing First/Rapid Re-Housing Program could be assisted with this funding. Under the Rent Assistance Program guidelines it is anticipated that approximately 60 to 70 households in the Housing First/ Rapid Re-Housing Program could receive rent assistance varying from full rent supplement to $150/month, depending on source of income and acuity/prioritization score. Existing Policy/By-Law: 10 Year Municipal Housing & Homelessness Plan Notice Provisions: Not applicable Accessibility Considerations: Not applicable
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Information Report to Housing & Homelessness Advisory Committee Report Number HHC-16-008 June 9, 2015 Page 6 of 6 Financial Considerations: Presently, the 2016/17 provincial IAH funding allocation of $1.5M is allocated for rental housing and in 2017/18 allocated for rent supplements. As Service Manager, the City has made a request to the Province to switch the provincial IAH funding allocations for 2016/17 and 2017/18 which would provide rent supplement funding in the amount of $1,540,000 for 2016/17 for the delivery of the rent assistance program. City staff have been advised that a response from the Province will be received in in early July 2016. Should approval be received, $1,540,000 will be available in rent supplement funding to deliver the Rent Assistance Program. With $1.5M in rent IAH funding for seven years using the traditional rent supplement funding model (paying the difference between the market rent and the tenant’s rent) at an average rent supplement cost of $6,000/year approximately 36 households could be assisted. Under the rent assistance program guidelines it is anticipated that approximately 60 to 70 households will receive rent assistance varying from full rent supplement to $150/month. Contacts: Lanie Hurdle, Commissioner, Community Services 613-546-4291 extension 1231 Sheldon Laidman, Director, Housing & Social Services 613-546-2695 extension 4957 Other City of Kingston Staff Consulted: Lee Campbell, Manager, Housing & Child Care Valerie Watson, Housing Programs Administrator Exhibits Attached: Not applicable
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