2020 Annual Community Assessment Report

Home

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, 2021, the County's timeliness ratio was 1.43. 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 CDBG, HOME, and HTF projects to ensure timely implementation. HUD recommends that the County identify project obstacles and develop plans to address these obstacles to strengthen its programs. Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity The County continues to promote awareness and education of fair housing issues and takes actions which help minimize and eliminate the unfair treatment of individuals in housing. In PY2020, the OHCD conducted a total of 7 Fair Housing training/seminar sessions for property managers, homeless programs and for the general public. The OHCD's website has continued to be successful in increasing awareness of housing rights and resources. In PY2020, there were 2,464 hits to the website for people seeking information. The County's Fair Housing officer participated in 5 meetings with other Fair Housing officers. The Analysis of Impediments (AI) was completed in 2019. This identified a general lack of awareness of fair housing rights on the part of people with disabilities, members of the general public, landlords and property managers. The OHCD and partner agencies across the state have explored new ways to provide virtual training and education to the community, which was often limited to virtual interactions. The annual Fair Housing Seminar was conducted on a virtual platform and made accessible to state-wide attendance. This allowed the presenting agencies to expand the seminar beyond a one -day presentation. The seminar hosted various specialized panels who conducted 5 training sessions—one for each week of Fair Housing month (April). The audience consisted of an average of 731 people per session, of which 50% were first-time attendees, a substantial increase from previous years. A total of 149 attendees registered from the Big Island. The County's Fair Housing webpage posted the recorded trainings. There were 2,464 visits to the webpage. The virtual traffic increased as well as the phone and email inquiries. The Fair Housing coordinator provided assistance in response to 94 inquiries via phone or email. HUD encourages the County to continue its efforts to further fair housing. The CAPER was made available to Mr. Jelani Madaraka, Lead Civil Rights Analyst, HUD Honolulu Field