Yolo County housing authority and Alta California Regional Center outline housing, transportation and employment needs for aging caregivers

At a meeting of the Davis Senior Citizens Commission, Yolo County Housing and Alta California Regional Center officials described local gaps in housing, transportation and long‑term planning for aging caregivers of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Ian Evans, identified as executive director of Yolo County Housing and president and CEO of New Community Development Corporation, and John Decker, director of community services at Alta California Regional Center, told the commission the ad hoc group formed after outreach and town halls across Yolo County found housing to be the single most consistent need. "One of the top needs, if not the top need as we went around the different communities in Yolo, was housing for individuals with caregivers," Evans said.

Decker gave a county snapshot and local counts, saying Alta California Regional Center serves roughly 2,427 Yolo County clients and that several hundred live with parents or family; he said in Davis there are 24 residents aged 55 and older who are regional center clients and about 110 adults living with aging caregivers. "We wanted to raise local awareness about different services and options," Decker said, noting the regional center maintains individual program plans and coordinates contracted service providers to deliver direct supports.

Presenters described several affordable‑housing projects that include unit set‑asides for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities: a West Sacramento project of about 37 units with 18 dedicated units receiving project‑based vouchers; the Brettonwoods project in Davis (first phase of 75 affordable units, with 10 units supported through regional center gap financing); and a Woodland project planned for 73 units with 19 dedicated units. Evans said the regional center has annual budget capacity to provide gap financing that can make affordable units competitive in tax‑credit financing rounds.

Transportation and accessibility also emerged repeatedly in town halls. Decker said sidewalk conditions and limited transit schedules were tangible barriers in some communities and that the regional center has pursued contract expansions and a subsidized ride‑share pilot to address gaps. "We brought on a company called GoGo Grandparent ... that allows our clients to have ride‑share rides," he said.

On employment, presenters emphasized an effort to support competitive integrated jobs rather than segregated work, highlighting local internships with the city and partnerships with state job fairs that have connected regional center clients with public employment opportunities.

Commissioners asked for details about where Davis units would be located and who would staff them. Presenters said regional center funding comes from the state general fund and Medicaid waiver dollars and that direct services are provided by contracted service providers; the regional center coordinates and monitors individual plans, typically with quarterly checks and, when necessary, additional in‑home supports.

A member of the public described personal difficulties with local service coordination, sidewalk access and transit, urging better local implementation. Presenters and commissioners agreed to continue discussion and requested the housing authority executive director return to a future meeting prepared to answer written questions about funding categories, wait lists and services for unhoused seniors and people with disabilities who are not regional center clients.

The presentation closed with presenters noting efforts to share the Yolo partnership model statewide through a housing‑authority network, and with commissioners flagging the November housing bond as a material statewide funding source that could affect local projects' viability.