Mayors and counties urge continued HAP funding as HCD tightens program oversight

City and county leaders told a Senate subcommittee on May 20 that the Homelessness Housing Assistance and Prevention (HAP) program has helped jurisdictions open shelter, deploy safe parking and safe sleeping sites and move people to permanent housing — and they urged the Legislature to fund a seventh round at $1 billion or make HAP ongoing.

Mayor Todd Gloria (San Diego) told senators HAP helped San Diego expand shelter capacity from about 1,000 beds to more than 2,000 and fund safe parking, family reunification and other services. “She could finally breathe,” Mayor Gloria quoted a formerly unhoused woman who entered a HAP-funded safe parking program and later obtained housing, emphasizing the program’s human impact.

County officials and Continuum of Care leads from Sacramento, Riverside and other regions told the subcommittee HAP’s flexibility helped them pair state funding with federal and local resources and leverage housing, shelter and services. Sacramento County reported a 29% drop in its countywide point-in-time homelessness count since 2022 and said HAP funding helped expand shelter and rehousing operations. Riverside County reported large-scale leverage of HAP funds with over $130 million in combined local resources.

HCD oversight and conditions: Megan Kirkby, deputy director for housing policy at HCD, told the panel that HCD has strengthened oversight of HAP. Conditions for HAP 6 initial disbursements include fiscal closeout of earlier rounds (HAP 1–3), HMIS reporting compliance and, for later disbursements, higher obligation and expenditure thresholds and a compliant housing element for cities and counties. HCD said it is using fiscal dashboards, monthly reporting and corrective-action plans to target assistance to underperforming grantees.

Why it matters: Witnesses stressed that HAP has already placed tens of thousands of people into permanent housing and that sudden elimination of state HAP funding, paired with federal uncertainty about vouchers and tax-credit programs, would force jurisdictions to scale back shelter and housing investments. Local officials requested multi-year, predictable funding to reduce administrative burden and stabilize provider pay and operations.

Numbers and outcomes referenced to the subcommittee: HAP grantees reported placing more than 57,000 people into permanent housing since early 2023; the state allocated roughly $1 billion for FY 2024–25 disbursement (HAP 6); HCD issued a HAP 6 NOFA for the $760 million regional allocation and referenced a tribal HAP set-aside (roughly $30 million). HCD said 41 of 75 HAP 4 grantees were not yet fiscally ready for a second disbursement and described programs of technical assistance and peer convenings to accelerate performance.

Ending note: Local leaders backed stronger transparency and were open to accountability measures tied to outcomes and data quality; many asked the Legislature to commit to multi-year HAP funding to sustain shelter and housing initiatives while HCD continues to strengthen compliance and data reporting.