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Services

PERSON CENTERED HOUSING SERVICES

CHANCE Housing provides a variety of person-centered housing services to adults and families with intellectual, cognitive, and developmental disabilities in Santa Barbara County.  CHANCE works primarily with persons and households who receive services funded through California’s Department of Developmental Services (DDS) and Tri-Counties Regional Center (TCRC).

As seasoned professionals, staff engage in a person centered process of intake and discovery; it is a time to meet the person and their circle of support.  Not only do we obtain and verify basic identifying information, but we begin to learn about a person’s unique situation.  Through a series of guided questions we discover what is important to them and for them; we learn why a current housing need has emerged; and we try to document what may not have worked or what worked very well in their current and previous housing scenarios.

Every individual is unique, as is their level of support, their culture, their family’s means, their IPP, their hopes and dreams, their capabilities, their challenges, and their service providers.  Also unique is the housing-related course of action, if any, that may have taken place by a person or agency before they become served by CHANCE.  It is during the intake process that a person’s puzzle is brought together and into greater focus, and a possible strategy to meet their housing needs emerges as a blueprint for action.

Without preconceived notions, CHANCE excels in treating our participants with respect and working to bring their individualized housing plan to fruition to help meet long and short term housing goals.  We protect the dignity of those we work with and we assume the positive.  CHANCE’s goal is to help achieve the possible while also ensuring understanding, being realistic and objective and seeking input with the informed consent of the person served and other family or conservator decision-makers.

Below is an idea of the kinds of services CHANCE can provide:

 

  1. Direct Services:
  2. Targeted Housing Case Management: Consult with individual – and if applicable family, guardian, conservator, authorized representative, Service Coordinator, service provider(s) and/or other members of an individual’s circle of support to determine the housing-related needs and choices of the individual.
    • Perform intake;
    • Perform basic individualized housing needs assessment;
    • Document budget, look at finances and resources, advise about areas of threat and where improvement is possible, advise possible additional sources of income, calculate affordability ranges with and without subsidy;
    • Note known issues and concerns;
    • Discover unknown obstacles, barriers, issues, and/or concerns – advise;
    • Discuss housing options in SB and costs thereof:
    • Develop and document the agreed upon collaborative strategy to best address the housing needs of the individual/family in short term and long term;
    • With circle of support members and team, implement the strategy;
    • Provide rental search assistance;
    • Provide, as able, assistance with:
      1. Relevant housing authority waitlist application;
      2. Rental unit application;
      3. Explore affordable housing options related to the person’s needs and choices;
      4. Consult with generic resources for move-in expenses, retrofit, and special needs funding;
      5. As needed, provide individuals/families obtaining housing through CHANCE’s efforts with case management support to term of authorization;
      6. Provide informational packet to persons served experiencing emerging or acute housing-related crisis;
      7. New development project-based affordable rental unit applications;
      8. Payment of security deposits, utility deposits, or other move-in costs (subject to funding availability and funder requirements) through loan or grant programs, including inspections, collections, and loan servicing;
      9. Provide housing-related individual and system advocacy;
      10. Provide problem resolution assistance;
      11. Attend housing-related meetings, as able, where complications exist and as may be requested by person served and/or their circle of support;
      12. Work to solve and fund accessibility rehab/retrofit needs;
      13. Be a one-stop source for on-call advice, troubleshooting as-needed, and passive and/or active surveillance of pending housing cases;
      14. Assist as able in cases of homelessness, temporary displacements to licensed settings, and where out of home respite placements are crisis housing;
      15. Recognize, monitor, and document cases of possible fair housing violations. Take appropriate actions or make suitable referrals;
      16. Other face-to-face or on-call services and assistance that may emerge on behalf of a person/family served with third-party agencies, service providers, housers, TCRC, landlords, etc.

 

  1. Active and/or Passive Surveillance: Monitor housing cases where activities, circumstances, or situations may require housing-related on-going oversight and surveillance.  Providing on-going Surveillance Services may prevent CHANCE from archiving a retired case and conducting periodic file destruction.  Typically such needs evolve in cases where persons/families have already undergone intake, assessment and other housing assistance, but they are in a holding pattern and/or their Authorization has expired.   Examples of instances where surveillance is necessary include:
  • Multiple Agency involvements, legal, APS, CWS, DVS, SIRs, mental/behavioral health, etc.;
  • Conservatorships, co-conservatorships; or where cases are directed by decision-makers from outside the catchment area;
  • Person/family have used CHANCE physical address for housing application and waitlist notification purposes;   
  • Person/family may have utilized funds/funding which has a longer file retention or Notification requirement;   
  • Waitlist application placement updates or questions;   
  • Periodic Housing Authority correspondence requirements;
  • Need to participate in new affordable housing developments;
  • Need to be included in housing lottery opportunities;
  • Have the ability to apply for new HA opportunities, programs, and developments;
  • Are monolingual Spanish (or other) speaking since housing-related correspondence and Notifications come in English for all federal, state, and local private housing entities;
  • May have participated in a Federal Grant Program with CHANCE’s assistance; May need Loan Servicing assistance; or paid off a loan; CHANCE conduct pay off and close out activities, including Landlord Notification and related documentation and releases;
  • May be vacating a previously rented unit and need access to inspection information, pictures, etc. in order to obtain return of their Security Deposit;
  • CHANCE needs ongoing access to the full and complete written file and historical record to conduct its current and future work, documentation, reporting, etc.

As necessary, CHANCE takes action on cases which are being surveilled.  For example, responding to requests for updated information from the HA, servicing loans, submitting applications for new affordable housing developments or applications, keeping people on the Search Board, closing out loans, keeping hard files on hand for Programs or Funds that have a longer file retention period.  Monitor cases on a long term basis to fulfill the future requirements which need to be met to accomplish TCRC & CHANCE’s shared goal (which the State paid for), namely, the acquisition of permanent affordable and accessible community-based housing and rent subsidies for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

  1. Federal Programs, Funding, & Administration
    1. Move-in Cost Grant Program: CHANCE seeks to work with local jurisdictions to apply for HOME (TBRA) or CDBG Grants to provide Security Deposit, Utility Deposit, and Rent Subsidy awards which: 1) may be available for the purpose of targeting the subject population; 2) will assist our extremely low-income households pay for move-in costs which they need to acquire and reside in affordable and accessible housing; and 3) are grants and do not have to be paid back, but can be re-used by the household to help in future moves.
    2. Move-in Cost Loan Program: CHANCE works with the Department to obtain one-time funds which can be used to assist persons with their security deposit, utility deposit, and possibly other costs associated with residential move-in and lease-up.  Loans issued under this Program must be paid back to CHANCE so that they can be recycled and re-used to house future needy persons/families served by TCRC.  CHANCE performs loan servicing, documentation, collections, and upon successful payoff, CHANCE will provide a good credit reference to credit reporting agencies, where applicable and/or requested;
    3. Accessibility Rehab/Retrofit Program: As able, and deemed necessary, work with TCRC, DDS, and foundations, agencies, and programs to apply for funding necessary to make a person’s/family’s housing accessible (e.g. grab bars, roll-in showers, ramps.) in accordance with identified needs. Project amounts vary.  Advocacy often required.  Pre-qualify, complete applications, make referrals, gather and provide documentation, oversee/monitor the construction as able and when necessary;
    4. Subsidized Rental Housing Application Program: Section 8; NED vouchers; Project-Based Section 8; Mainstream Vouchers; Public Housing; Tax Credit Projects; 811 Projects; Homeless/Family tenant-based rental assistance; City Housing Authority; County Housing Authority; Sub-jurisdictional Housing Authorities; Third-party affordable housing developers, owners and managers. Pre-qualify, application assistance, advising about and working with a person’s provider agencies to gather and provide required documentation; advocate as necessary for access; make referrals, monitor process.
    5. Active Surveillance – Federal Funds/Programs: Actively monitor select housing cases where funding from outside third parties may be involved; where file retention requirements are longer than TCRCs; or extend past authorization expiry; or where activities or situations may be: emerging or particularly complicated; have multiple agency oversight or involvements (CWS, APS);  legal processes; oversight by conservators; or cases that are being directed from outside CHANCE’s service area;
    6. Homelessness Designation Program: Assist eligible individuals/families as able to obtain a formal “Homelessness” designation; update relevant housing applications accordingly and for preference points, coordinated entry, vulnerability scoring; actively monitor for emergency housing and program options.  Included are in persons/families served considered “displaced” by private or governmental action and those moved from community into licensed settings or out-of-home respite beds as a short term solution to street homelessness or placement into licensed residential settings.  Additional Program actions may include access to coordinated entry systems and placement on Vulnerability Index and/or participation in the Annual Point-in-Time Count;
    7. Fair Housing Rights Program:  Individuals and families served by TCRC routinely experience a range of housing discrimination events.  These events are sometimes intentional and at other times are an unanticipated consequence of the regular activities or  operations of partner agencies, housers, property management firms, landlords, and others.  Where instances are identified by CHANCE and where it deems it can assist to help protect individual/family fair housing & renter’s rights, there are a variety of actions which can be taken, including: CHANCE’s proper file documentation; referrals such as rental housing mediators, legal aid, Office of Client Rights, DRC, State Council on Developmental Disabilities Central Coast; Helping individuals to engage in established grievance procedures; advising on or making written Requests for Reasonable Accommodation under ADA on behalf of individuals/families; making for HUD Fair Housing Violation Complaints; Making ADA Complaints; or other such acts and activities that may be suitable for individuals, families, or classes of the protected population served by Tri-Counties Regional Center in CHANCE’s service area.
    8. Housemate Program: Monitor, log, track and refer suitable persons/families served to known (existing) subsidized and unsubsidized roommate or housemate opportunities in CHANCE’s service area.  May include searching for or developing housemate leads from a variety of online or radio sources.
    9. Rental Application &, Online Rental Application Fee Program: Provide financial assistance in the form of a prepaid credit card which can be used by individuals, families and households of persons served to pay rental application submittal fees.  Many of the property management and rental companies which own or control community-based affordable housing units are moving to an online application submittal process whereby application fees are charged and must be paid online via credit card.  Few of individuals have credit cards and this program has been developed as a means to overcome the barrier of the emergence of the online rental application submission and the requirement of paying the application submission fees associated therewith.
    10. Capacity Building
    11. Participate in affordable housing public policy development for persons served;
    12. Participate in public, private, governmental, or non-governmental agencies/organizations to enhance community-based housing opportunities and resources for persons served and their families;
    13. Cultivate and maintain local landlord/property owner relations which serve to enhance opportunities for access to resources and affordable housing for persons served;
    14. Create & maintain list of units, owners, and property management or nonprofit housing partners;
    15. Develop grant applications as able to assist persons served and/or support costs for housing-related programs;
    16. Fair Housing and Anti-discrimination Documentation: Recognize, monitor, analyze, and document patterns and/or practices of housing-related activity, program, and agency actions which may be violations having a disproportionately negative effect on persons/families served.  Such documentation may inform greater public policy development and/or form the basis for Fair Housing actions, complaints, etc.