Item 53 - Approve Local Homelessness Action Plan and HHAP3 Application

Home Browse Search

are offered services. In the upcoming fiscal year, the City of Santa will review a variety of data provide by 211 OC data to determine who is experiencing homelessness, being placed in housing, and retaining housing. The City will hold a focus group to create new, meaningful opportunities for people who have experience homelessness so that they have a voice in designing policies and programs and to help in devising solutions from first hand experiences. In addition, system level changes that may affect service, delivery or access to housing will be reviewed. In order to address barriers that could drive people from home to the streets, the City will continue to ensure that access to City funded programs are open and available to all. Racial equity training will be offered to frontline staff and service delivery specialists. The City will have continuous process improvement strategies to ensure community - wide accountability, transparency and achievement of goals using a racial equity lens. Strategies will be scaled up to prevent racial disparities in homelessness. It is important to note that federal fair housing laws prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex/gender, handicap/disability, and familial status. Specific federal legislation and court rulings include: • The Civil Rights Act of 1866 — covers only race and was the first legislation of its kind. • The Federal Fair Housing Act 1968 — covers refusal to rent, sell, or finance. • The Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988 — added the protected classes of handicap and familial status. • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) — covers public accommodations in both businesses and in multi -family housing developments. • Shelly v. Kramer 1948 — made it unconstitutional to use deed restrictions to exclude individuals from housing. • Jones v. Mayer 1968 — made restrictive covenants illegal and unenforceable. California state fair housing laws protect the same classes as the federal laws with the addition of marital status, ancestry, source of income, sexual orientation, and arbitrary discrimination. Specific State legislation and regulations include: Unruh Civil Rights Act — extends to businesses and covers age and arbitrary discrimination. • California Fair Employment and Housing Act (Rumford Act) — covers the area of employment and housing, with the exception of single-family houses with no more than one roomer/boarder. • California Civil Code Section 53 — takes measures against restrictive covenants. 16