County staff brief Task Force on HAP 6 requirements, encampment documentation and recent ERF awards

Tulare County staff and partner agencies used the March 19 task force meeting to review state HAP 6 application requirements, explain new encampment documentation demands, and outline a short timeline for completing a regionally coordinated plan.

Noah (county staff) said HAP 6 maintains a state emphasis on regional applications and system performance measures (SPMs) — including counts of people accessing services, point‑in‑time counts, exits to permanent housing, returns to homelessness within six months, and average time to housing. He said the application requires a regionally coordinated homeless action plan that lists partners, roles, and a budget for each eligible activity, and that the state is now asking for an inventory of interim and permanent supportive housing beds along with capital and operating costs for those beds. "This is a very heavy lift in a relatively short time frame," Noah said; staff estimated several people could spend dozens of hours compiling and analyzing the data.

The meeting discussed a new HAP 6 requirement to identify encampments and provide policies and procedures for encampment resolution. Staff said the guidelines did not define "encampment" in HAP 6 materials and that the county will seek clarity from the state; the requirement will demand cross‑jurisdictional coordination because encampments frequently move across city and unincorporated boundaries.

Staff described the HAP 6 timeline: applications are due in August with a finalized plan needed by mid‑June to allow county board review and internal approvals. The county urged partners to contribute data through the task force email list and to participate in planned workshops to compile the inventory and stakeholder documentation.

Separately, partners reported recent funding and project updates that connect to the HAP process. Margie (county staff) said the county received $3.1 million in Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) Window 3; approximately $1.6 million is intended to support the navigation center and operating costs, with the remainder to provide rapid rehousing rental subsidies for encampment exits. She also said a proposed $1.5 million request for capital and operating supports for Sequoia Village — a local permanent supportive housing project — remains under consideration. Margie announced a Homekey project, Majestic Gardens, will hold a grand opening on April 17 and said residents from the navigation center are moving into that Homekey site.

Task force members and city representatives reported local housing activity that will affect inventory counts for HAP 6: Visalia’s Demery Apartments and Rancho Culejo projects (combined planned or completed units cited by members), a Farmersville senior housing project with two phases and a potential family phase, and several voucher updates (emergency housing vouchers, mainstream vouchers and foster youth vouchers). Susie Ward reported the warming center had operated about 88 days, served 691 unduplicated individuals (including 89 new to the homeless response system) and was closing temporarily that night due to budget limits.

County staff urged partners to share detailed information about interim beds, board‑and‑care beds, operating subsidies and any funding gaps so the HAP 6 application can accurately describe and, where required, stabilize existing inventory before proposing new units. Staff estimated compiling the required SPM analysis and inventories will take a concerted regional effort and multiple workshops.

No formal votes or commitments were taken on the HAP application at the meeting; staff requested participating agencies forward data to the designated task force email address and prepare for follow‑up planning sessions.