Benton County says flexible housing subsidy pool has leased 40 units, rehoused dozens of residents

Julie Arena and Rebecca Taylor of the coordinated homeless response office updated the commissioners on the county’s flexible housing subsidy pool (FHSP), a state- and locally-supported program that the office says is focused on rapidly rehousing unsheltered households and providing wraparound supports.

Arena told the board the FHSP is built to be flexible and to avoid duplicating existing programs; she said the county has contracted outreach and case-management partners, hired a program coordinator and a housing navigator, and is coordinating with multiple community partners including the city of Corvallis and the local CCO.

Rebecca Taylor described the program’s recent results and partnerships. She said the FHSP has leased up 40 units and that the program’s count had recently shown 43 households housed (52 adults and 44 children), a total of 96 individuals as of an April data pull. Taylor and Arena said they are working with more than 10 private-market property managers and with three recent affordable-housing developments that agreed to set-aside units for program participants.

Why it matters: county staff said the FHSP provides direct rental assistance and short-term case management with the stated goal of helping participants reach long-term stability — for some participants by helping them access longer-term rental assistance programs such as Section 8 preference processes.

Key program details reported - Funding and policy origins: staff said the program built on state House Bill 4123 and the local planning work for House Bill 5019; the county acted as the local planning group for the latter and used those funding streams to launch the FHSP. - Partnerships and staffing: the county contracted case management and added a program coordinator and housing navigator (named staff include Penny Baloo and Mia Murphy) to lead private-market outreach and landlord engagement. - Private-market outreach: the county reported it has engaged more than 10 private-market property managers, has brokered relationships with three recent affordable developments (Third Flats, Union Pacific and River Green) and has hosted landlord engagement efforts including a property-manager thank-you luncheon. - Placements and counts: the team reported more than 40 leased-up units; a flyer and spreadsheet cited 49 adults and 44 children (93 people) in an earlier tally and an updated April 8 pull of 43 households for a total of 96 individuals. - New grant award: county staff said they applied for $1,000,000 through a Behavioral Health Housing 360 competitive grant and were awarded $900,000. The award will be managed as part of a multi-recipient cohort with other Oregon grantees.

County and city coordination County staff described a close working relationship with the city of Corvallis. Staff said the city had purchased or was pursuing acquisition of sites (Van Buren property, and a pending Harrison property) and that the county will work under intergovernmental agreements to provide supportive services at those sites. One purchase (Van Buren) already had HUD approval; the Harrison acquisition required further federal review, county staff said.

Ending: Commissioners were asked to note progress, continued outreach work with private landlords, and upcoming contract and IGA items tied to the county’s housing-acquisition efforts.