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FY 2025-29 Five-Year Consolidated Plan, FY 2025-26 Annual Action Plan and Budgets
<br />for CDBG, HOME, and ESG Programs
<br />June 3, 2025
<br />Page 10
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<br />survey. For this Consolidated Plan, staff conducted nearly three times the amount of
<br />community meetings and outreach as before while also conducting a survey.
<br />Fiscal Year 2025-29 Regional Assessment of Fair Housing
<br />The federal regulations for the Consolidated Plan require that grantees conduct an
<br />Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH), take appropriate actions to overcome the effects of
<br />impediments identified through that Assessment, and maintain records reflecting the
<br />assessment and actions (Exhibit 6). An AFH is a document that analyzes local and
<br />regional policies, procedures, and practices within a community that may limit a
<br />person’s ability to choose their residence free from discrimination, and addresses
<br />actions that may be taken to overcome these discriminatory housing policies,
<br />procedures, and practices
<br />While the requirement to complete an AFH must be fulfilled by individual grantees, HUD
<br />encourages regional collaboration for this planning effort. In Orange County, 19
<br />entitlement cities (Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley,
<br />Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Habra, Laguna Niguel, Lake
<br />Forest, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Orange, Rancho Santa Margarita, San
<br />Clemente, Santa Ana, Tustin, and Westminster) and 14 cities contracted with the
<br />County of Orange (Cities of Brea, Cypress, Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills,
<br />Laguna Woods, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Placentia, San Juan Capistrano, Seal Beach,
<br />Stanton, Villa Park, Yorba Linda, and all unincorporated areas of the County) elected to
<br />prepare a Regional AFH. The 19 entitlement cities and 14 cities contracted with the
<br />County of Orange entered into an agreement with MDG Associates, Inc. to complete the
<br />Regional AFH. The benefit of a Regional AFH is that it allows for a broader perspective
<br />on issues that may be impacting housing choice and/or mobility within the region as well
<br />as potential solutions and/or strategies. The Regional AFH provides an overview of
<br />laws, regulations, conditions, or other possible obstacles that may affect an individual or
<br />a household’s access to housing in a community. It also presents local and regional
<br />demographic profiles, assesses the extent of housing needs among specific groups,
<br />identifies existing barriers or impediments that may limit housing choice, and proposes
<br />actions to overcome those barriers.
<br />To prepare the Regional AFH on behalf of all of the cities and the County, MDG
<br />Associates conducted a broad array of outreach and engagement through community
<br />meetings, focus groups, and public hearings. MDG Associates reached out to tenants,
<br />property owners, homeowners, fair housing organizations, civil rights and advocacy
<br />organizations, legal services providers, social services providers, housing developers,
<br />and industry groups to hear directly about fair housing issues affecting residents of
<br />Orange County. Specifically, beginning in October 2024, MDG Associates held
<br />meetings with individual stakeholders throughout the County. In January and February
<br />2025, evening community meetings were held in Costa Mesa, La Habra, and Santa
<br />Ana. Also in February, MDG Associates held a focus group with a wide array of
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