Salem's Federal Housing/Homeless Programs

Revised: December 2018

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

[Originally posted under the title, "Decoding Salem's Federal Program Lingo.'"]

Introduction
Salem receives federal support through a number of federal departments like USDA, USVA, USDOE, FEMA and HUD.  Those interested in housing and homelessness would do well to be familiar with the language of HUD, or the Federal Housing and Urban Development Department, HUD programs, and HUD-related structures, because, like it or not, HUD holds the purse, and determines national housing policy and resource allocation. 

Most of Salem's HUD funding is in the form of rental assistance (public housing, Housing Choice Vouchers [HCVs][fka "Section 8" vouchers], and project-based vouchers) and goes to the Salem Housing Authority (SHA).  HCVs are only available through housing authorities (HAs).  SHA has portability agreements with the Marion County and West Valley (Polk County) HAs, which allow families with a voucher in one HA's jurisdiction to move to another HA's jurisdiction. 

Salem also receives HUD funding through its Urban Development Department (UDD), Federal Programs division, which administers the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Partnership (HOME) programs.

Salem providers may also compete for HUD funding through the Balance of State or Rural Oregon Continuum of Care (ROCC), a collective of 28 counties that receives homeless assistance funding through HUD's Continuum of Care (CoC) program.

HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing - Salem Housing Authority
For the most part, SHA's HUD funding comes through the Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH).  PIH's job is to "ensure safe, decent, and affordable housing; create opportunities for residents' self-sufficiency and economic independence; and assure fiscal integrity by all program participants."  It operates largely through public and Indian HAs.

SHA is the third-largest HA in Oregon.  It is actively regulated by its funding sources, which include federal, state and local governments, as well as private investors.  Although SHA was established in 1969 under state law (ORS 456.075), it's organized as a division of Salem's UDD, and its executive director is the City Manager.  The City Council, minus the Mayor, acts as SHA's Board of Commissioners (or SHA Commission).  In addition to providing safe, decent, affordable housing to Salem and Keizer residents, SHA ably administers a variety of programs designed to assist low- and moderate-income families (which, by definition, may consist of a single individual) achieve self-sufficiency through stable housing, economic opportunity, community investment, and coordination with social service providers.  Details of SHA programs are available on SHA's website.  

A little history on one SHA program:  the Emergency Housing Network (EHN), which consists of 150 or so housing and social service providers who meet monthly, was originally a subcommittee of the Marion and Polk Continuum of Care Collaborative (aka, the Mid-Valley Housing and Services Collaborative), which was formed some time in the 00s for the purpose of receiving homeless assistance funding under HUD's CoC program.  When the Collaborative "merged" with the ROCC in 2011, EHN continued to act as Salem's primary housing and social services network and today doubles as SHA's Program Coordinating Committee (PCC), which HUD requires of all public housing authorities (PHAs) that have family self-sufficiency (FSS) programs.  See 4 CFR 984.202   The CoC structure described in Salem's 2015-19 Con-Plan at 137, para. 2, is what existed prior to 2011 (i.e., it is incorrect).

HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development - Salem's UDD and the ROCC
CDBG, HOME and CoC are programs of HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD).  CPD "seeks to develop viable communities by promoting integrated approaches that provide decent housing, a suitable living environment, and expand economic opportunities for low-and moderate-income persons."  By "integrated approaches", HUD means public-private partnerships.

The CDBG program has been around since 1974.  It is one of HUD's oldest, continuously run programs.  Its stated purpose is to provide decent housing and a suitable living environment, and to expand economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons.  The HOME program was started around 1990.  It is the largest Federal block grant to state and local governments designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income households.  Its stated purpose is to provide funds for direct (meaning not vouchers) rental assistance to low-income persons and building, buying and rehabilitating affordable housing.  Both programs require participants to develop a Consolidated Plan every five or so years, including developing and following "a detailed plan that provides for and encourages citizen participation in the planning process."  HOME participants are required to provide 25% matching funds.

The UDD's Federal Programs Division administers the CDBG and HOME grants.  Until 2018, Salem awarded CDBG and HOME funds through a competitive (sub)grant process using advisory committees to review grant applications and make recommendations.  However, in 2018, a long-standing controversy about grant applicants serving on the advisory committee came to a head, and the City decided to alter its process.  See here, here and here.  As of this writing, a new process has not been articulated.

The CoC program originated under President Ronald Reagan.  Its primary purpose is "to promote community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness."  To that end, CPD "competitively awards grants" for "new construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, or leasing of buildings to provide transitional or permanent housing; rental assistance; payment of operating costs; supportive services; re-housing services; payment of administrative costs; and grants for technical assistance." Private, nonprofit organizations, states, local governments, and instrumentalities of state and local governments are eligible to apply "if they have been selected by the CoC for the geographic area in which they operate."

Oregon's 36 counties are divided into seven CoCs, six in metro areas (totaling eight counties).  The remaining 28 counties make up the seventh CoC, called the Balance of State or Rural Oregon Continuum of Care (ROCC).  Each CoC is responsible for reviewing and ranking annual funding applications.  For many years, Salem, Marion and Polk Counties had their own CoC (see above), but in 2011, a decision was made to join the ROCC.  Since then, Salem-area providers have had to compete for funding against providers in 26 other counties.  They have also been expected to coordinate services with the other 26 counties.  Many feel this arrangement is sub-optimal, but political will to reform the local CoC is lacking.