2018 Annual Community Assessment Report

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5 1, v;, accesspoint for the homeless was lackingstaff coverage that delegated clients to housing;g g g� thus, CoC entities are not being provided with timely referrals to fill vacancies in order to house persons experiencing homelessness. Bridging the Gap (BTG), the entity which addresses the homeless needs of the neighbor islands, was consulted and has agreed to correct this deficiency. HUD wishes the County continued success in its planning and implementing actions to end homelessness. Community Empowerment The County provided opportunities for citizen participation during the development of the CAPER through local newspaper publications and availability of the document at various public facilities and libraries. Despite the opportunities available for public participation in the reporting process, no public comments were received for the CAPER submission. HUD encourages the County to continue to provide opportunities for citizen input to the planning and reporting process. Management of Funds In accordance with the CDBG regulations,the timeliness ratio benchmark should be 1.50 or below sixty days prior to the end of the County's program year. On the test date of May 2, 2019, the County's timeliness ratio was 1.47. The staff responsible for the CPD programs works diligently to ensure HUD funding is spent in accordance with program requirements. As timely project implementation and expenditure of funds have become a priority with HUD, the Department is pleased that the County has made it a priority to maintain a timeliness ratio of 1.50 or less. HUD anticipates the County will continue to achieve the timeliness goals and that these efforts will ensure future CDBG funding will not be compromised. Areas for Improvement and Recommendations The County needs to continue to monitor its ongoing regular CDBG, HOME, and HTF projects to ensure timely implementation. In addition,the County needs to finalize its plans regarding which County Office will be administering its future CDBG-DR award and move i forward with its CDBG-DR planning process. HUD recommends that the County identify project obstacles and develop plans to address these obstacles in order to strengthen its programs. l Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity i The County continues to promote awareness and education of fair housing issues and 1 takes actions which help minimize and eliminate the unfair treatment of individuals in housing. During PY18, the County conducted a total of 7 Fair Housing training/seminar sessions for property managers, homeless programs and for the general public. It also continues to maintain a fair housing website, which helps individuals who have fair housing inquiries. In PY2018, y there were approximately 1,000 hits to the website for people seeking information. To keep abreast of any changes in fair housing and to increase their knowledge,the County Fair Housing Officer participated in 4 meetings with other fair housing officers and attended 2 fair housing 11' 1. i