Hawaii County presents first annual Homelessness and Housing Fund report; council seeks clearer data

HILO — Hawaii County's Office of Housing and Community Development on June 4 presented its first annual report on the Homelessness and Housing Fund, summarizing first-year investments and program outcomes and prompting council members to request clearer performance data tied to the county's strategic roadmap.

Division Manager Sharon Hirota told the Communications Reports and County Council Oversight Committee that, through April 30, 2024, grantees and partners had connected 150 households to stable shelters, helped 114 households secure housing via an emergency rental housing voucher program, delivered 1,129 street-medicine visits and logged 928 referrals through a shared engagement system. The county reported 578 individuals enrolled in the Engagement HUI, with 120 connected to shelter or housing programs, 93 assigned to case managers and 343 awaiting services.

The report, required by a resolution adopted in July 2022, lays out three outcome metrics the county will use to measure success: shortening the length of homelessness, increasing the number of households securing stable housing and reducing returns to homelessness. Hirota described a community-of-practice model that convenes grantee executive directors quarterly to coordinate outreach and avoid duplication of services.

"Over the last 12 months, we've embarked on an ambitious journey to address one of the most pressing issues facing our community," Hirota said in the presentation, and she highlighted several program investments: 15 HUD stability vouchers expected to be administered beginning mid-June, 13 community-based social service navigators deployed in May, emergency rent assistance launched May 20 with 515 portal applicants, new residential units and beds in West Hawaii, and a mobile medical van expected to arrive in July.

Service providers who spoke to the committee described frontline impacts. "By supplementing their income, supplementing their rental assistance, we're able to help them to find a home," said Roxanne Costa of Salvation Army Family Intervention Services, thanking the county for support for young adults aging out of foster care. Robin Garrison of Project Vision Hawaii said grant funding allows street-based medical care that keeps people out of emergency rooms.

Council members used the presentation to press for better alignment between the amounts and awards the county has distributed and the roadmap priorities that guided grant decisions. Several members asked staff to produce data that links each funded provider to the number of clients served and housing outcomes and to supply unduplicated counts so the council can assess the true reach and cost-effectiveness of programs.

Council member Le Loy asked whether staff are doing return-on-investment analyses and how the county might use legislative tools such as adaptive reuse and accessory dwelling units to accelerate housing. Hirota said deeper analytical work is underway and staff could bring cost-per-outcome information forward. Council members also urged timing future reports to align with the county's point-in-time count so the committee can better assess progress.

On emergency rent assistance, Hirota said staff estimated the program could assist roughly 700 households during the year, while noting many current portal applicants will be ineligible once applications are processed. On the homeowner assistance program, she said about $6.5 million had been paid to owner-occupants to prevent displacement and that an $8,290,000 allocation was expected to be expended before the program end date reported by staff.

Staff committed to provide additional breakdowns and clarifications, including a chart showing how many people each funded organization has served and been able to house alongside the amounts awarded. Hirota told the committee that some data is already collected in the Engagement HUI and the point-in-time count and that staff could present the requested crosswalk within weeks to a month.

The committee moved to close the file on Communication 847 after the presentation. The chair announced the motion carried with six members supporting and three members absent; the meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.

What happened next: staff said they will return with the requested data linking awards to the roadmap priorities and with unduplicated performance metrics to help the council evaluate program impact.