Kings View details CalAIM Transitional Rent benefit rollout for Tulare County

Artameisa “Arty” Valdez, regional director for Tulare County at Kings View, presented the county task force with an overview of the CalAIM Transitional Rent Assistance (TRA) benefit and how it will operate locally.

"What is transitional rent? Um it is a calame community supports benefit. It's available to medical members actively enrolled in the ECM," Valdez said, explaining that TRA is a short-term, goal-oriented rent benefit paired with care management intended to support housing stability during critical periods.

Valdez said applicants must meet three broad requirements: one or more clinical risk factors, a social risk factor of experiencing or being at risk of homelessness, and membership in a transitional population (examples cited included people leaving inpatient or residential treatment, nursing facilities, carceral settings, recuperative care, or those aging out of foster care). She described allowable placements as either permanent settings (renewable monthly leases such as apartments, single-family homes, ADUs and supportive housing) or interim settings (tiny homes, hotels/motels serving as a primary residence, single-room occupancy) when permanent housing is not available.

Kings View staff listed covered costs and limits: TRA covers rent and rent-tied fees for up to six months per household; it does not cover security deposits or back rent unless those costs are expressly included in a lease that combines utilities or fees into rent. Required documentation for authorization, Valdez said, includes a lease (for permanent settings), a W-9 for the payee, housing inspection forms, the MCP referral form, a housing support plan and clinical verification of a qualifying risk factor.

Members sought operational clarifications. Miguel Perez Lopez noted rent ceilings and calculation differences, saying "rents have a ceiling set for permanent settings at 100 different area FMR. And then for interim housing settings ... that's a calculation that kind of happens to ensure that it doesn't over exceed and it's based on a daily rate." Staff emphasized interim placements are harder to authorize and that the state appears to prioritize permanent settings for TRA.

Task force members also discussed coordination with Managed Care Plans (MCPs) and ECM/community-support providers. Valdez and county staff said Kings View will serve as the contracted processor for TRA referrals in Tulare County and will work closely with Behavioral Health to ensure members eligible for specialty services can be connected to ongoing supports. Speakers stressed member choice: if a member prefers to keep an existing ECM provider, that choice should be honored while ensuring eligibility and avoiding duplicate federal billing.

Noah Whitaker and other staff highlighted timing and program limits: TRA is a six-month benefit within a five-year demonstration waiver. Months used under other CalAIM room-and-board benefits (for example, recuperative care) count against the six-month total. Whitaker warned of a 21-day referral clock in some cases: once a person obtains medical coverage, a 21-day period may start during which TRA referral and eligibility must be determined or the county may lose access to TRA for that individual.

Valdez and panelists urged providers to prepare complete referral packets and to coordinate early with Kings View and Behavioral Health so authorization and placement can proceed quickly. For providers and case managers, Valdez said the central referral portal is TRKings.org and added Kings View will contact referring parties for missing documentation to avoid delays.

The presentation closed with reminders that TRA is narrowly targeted in its initial rollout to populations engaged with behavioral health systems and that the state may expand eligible populations in future years. County staff encouraged continued outreach to frontline providers and the public to reduce confusion about who is eligible and how the benefit is accessed.

Ending: Kings View and Tulare County agencies will continue onboarding processes and coordination with managed care plans. Staff asked partners to route referrals through Kings View's intake and to expect ongoing technical discussions about interim-site eligibility and longer-term housing transitions.