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FY 2019 Year 36 CAPER CAPER 1 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-05 - Goals and Outcomes Progress the jurisdiction has made in carrying out its strategic plan and its action plan. 91.520(a) This could be an overview that includes major initiatives and highlights that were proposed and executed throughout the program year. The City of Northampton's Community Development Block Grant Program carried out it's 36th year of operation from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. The City is pleased to submit this Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) passed the standard 90 days of our program year, in accordance with CPD memo signed by Assistant Secretary, John Gibbs on May 7, 2020. Through a variety of sub-recipient grantee activities, Northampton residents with low- and moderate-incomes benefited from services that contributed to their health and well being. The City has benefited greatly from the continuous dialogue with its community groups, City boards & commissions, and public service agents. This year’s grant program was greatly influenced by the finished Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Plan and draft ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plan. Brainstorming sessions with a myriad of community stakeholders, focus groups with people with lived experience, public hearings and meetings with hard working City boards and committees, where all efforts contributed to a year full of valuable idea exchanges and dialogue. The Valley Community Development Corporation (CDC) and The Community Builders where putting the final touches onto the newly renovated Sergeant House, but it had not yet opened by the end of the program year. This SRO on Bridge Street, only a few minutes walk to downtown increased its capacity to 31 units, up from 16. The Community Builders closed on their funding for 12 rental units at Village Hill in the old state hospital property and were ¾ finished with construction by the end of the program year. All 12 of those units are affordable. The Community Builders also started construction on their 53- unit, Passive House certified affordable housing development at Village Hill. Dial/Self moved the final construction of four units for unaccompanied homeless youth and rehabbed another four units (total eight). They are in the process of raising money for their organization. Homeowners continued to participate in the City's Housing Rehabilitation Program to remediate code violations, although COVID-19 has slowed the process down significantly. Habitat for Humanity finished the construction and moved families into two of the four single-family homes on Glendale Road. The third house was completed and sold on June 30, 2020. The fourth house is nearing completion and has done their normal wall raising remotely due to COVID-19. Small businesses were assisted for those seeking to develop their skill in small business formation and handicap accessibility was enhanced. The CAPER 2 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) down payment assistance grants continued to provide low- and moderate-income applicants to purchase their first homes in the City. There were 13 public service agencies that were supported, including the two emergency shelters: Grove Street Inn and the Interfaith Winter Shelter. For how small the City of Northampton’s CDBG grant is, it leverages a lot of other resources to accomplish amazing things. The Office of Planning & Sustainability and the Mayor are happy to partner with H.U.D. to accomplish our goals for the City Comparison of the proposed versus actual outcomes for each outcome measure submitted with the consolidated plan and explain, if applicable, why progress was not made toward meeting goals and objectives. 91.520(g) Categories, priority levels, funding sources and amounts, outcomes/objectives, goal outcome indicators, units of measure, targets, actual outcomes/outputs, and percentage completed for each of the grantee’s program year goals. Goal Category Source / Amount Indicator Unit of Measure Expected – Strategic Plan Actual – Strategic Plan Percent Complete Expected – Program Year Actual – Program Year Pe Co Addressing Basic Needs Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Public service activities other than Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Persons Assisted 15000 19994 133.29% 2500 3843 15 Addressing Basic Needs Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Public service activities for Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Households Assisted 0 0 CAPER 3 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Addressing Basic Needs Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Homeless Person Overnight Shelter Persons Assisted 0 0 328 94 28 Affordable Homeownership for Families Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Public service activities other than Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Persons Assisted 0 0 Affordable Homeownership for Families Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Homeowner Housing Added Household Housing Unit 14 0 0.00% 5 0 0. Affordable Homeownership for Families Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Homeowner Housing Rehabilitated Household Housing Unit 0 0 Affordable Homeownership for Families Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Direct Financial Assistance to Homebuyers Households Assisted 15 11 73.33% 3 3 10 CAPER 4 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Affordable Homeownership for Families Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Buildings Demolished Buildings 0 0 0 0 Economic Development/Income Maximization Economic Development/Income Maximization CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Public service activities other than Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Persons Assisted 175 124 70.86% 95 86 90 Economic Development/Income Maximization Economic Development/Income Maximization CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Public service activities for Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Households Assisted 0 0 Economic Development/Income Maximization Economic Development/Income Maximization CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Facade treatment/business building rehabilitation Business 0 0 0 0 Economic Development/Income Maximization Economic Development/Income Maximization CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Jobs created/retained Jobs 25 45 180.00% 5 20 40 CAPER 5 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Economic Development/Income Maximization Economic Development/Income Maximization CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Businesses assisted Businesses Assisted 50 69 138.00% 25 64 25 Elimination of Slums and Blight Elimination of Slums and Blight CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Rental units constructed Household Housing Unit 0 0 Elimination of Slums and Blight Elimination of Slums and Blight CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Buildings Demolished Buildings 1 0 0.00% Homelessness Prevention Homeless Non-Homeless Special Needs CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Public service activities other than Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Persons Assisted 99 147 148.48% 99 185 18 Homelessness Prevention Homeless Non-Homeless Special Needs CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Homelessness Prevention Persons Assisted 550 1041 189.27% 390 147 37 CAPER 6 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Homelessness Prevention Homeless Non-Homeless Special Needs CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ HIV/AIDS Housing Operations Household Housing Unit 22 22 100.00% Housing for At-Risk and Special Needs Populations Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Rental units constructed Household Housing Unit 17 110 647.06% 8 8 10 Housing for At-Risk and Special Needs Populations Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Rental units rehabilitated Household Housing Unit 0 0 0 0 Housing for At-Risk and Special Needs Populations Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Homeowner Housing Added Household Housing Unit 0 0 0 0 Housing for At-Risk and Special Needs Populations Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Homeowner Housing Rehabilitated Household Housing Unit 0 0 0 0 CAPER 7 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Housing for At-Risk and Special Needs Populations Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Housing for Homeless added Household Housing Unit 8 16 200.00% 0 8 Housing for At-Risk and Special Needs Populations Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Housing for People with HIV/AIDS added Household Housing Unit 0 0 0 0 Housing for At-Risk and Special Needs Populations Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ HIV/AIDS Housing Operations Household Housing Unit 22 22 100.00% 27 27 10 Housing for At-Risk and Special Needs Populations Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Buildings Demolished Buildings 1 0 0.00% Housing Rehabilitation Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Homeowner Housing Rehabilitated Household Housing Unit 20 14 70.00% 5 4 80 CAPER 8 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Housing Support Services Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / CPA: $ Public service activities for Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Households Assisted 0 0 Housing Support Services Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / CPA: $ Homelessness Prevention Persons Assisted 200 243 121.50% 99 147 14 Improvement of Public Facilities Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Public Facility or Infrastructure Activities other than Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Persons Assisted 2040 8312 407.45% Improvement of Public Infrastructure Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Public Facility or Infrastructure Activities other than Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Persons Assisted 1500 1500 100.00% Improvement of Public Infrastructure Non-Housing Community Development CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Public Facility or Infrastructure Activities for Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Households Assisted 1400 1400 100.00% Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Public Facility or Infrastructure Activities other than Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Persons Assisted 0 0 CAPER 9 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Public Facility or Infrastructure Activities for Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Households Assisted 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Public service activities other than Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Persons Assisted 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Public service activities for Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Households Assisted 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Facade treatment/business building rehabilitation Business 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Brownfield acres remediated Acre 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Rental units constructed Household Housing Unit 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Rental units rehabilitated Household Housing Unit 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Homeowner Housing Added Household Housing Unit 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Homeowner Housing Rehabilitated Household Housing Unit 0 0 CAPER 10 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Direct Financial Assistance to Homebuyers Households Assisted 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Tenant-based rental assistance / Rapid Rehousing Households Assisted 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Homeless Person Overnight Shelter Persons Assisted 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Overnight/Emergency Shelter/Transitional Housing Beds added Beds 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Homelessness Prevention Persons Assisted 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Jobs created/retained Jobs 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Businesses assisted Businesses Assisted 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Housing for Homeless added Household Housing Unit 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Housing for People with HIV/AIDS added Household Housing Unit 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ HIV/AIDS Housing Operations Household Housing Unit 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Buildings Demolished Buildings 1 0 0.00% CAPER 11 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Housing Code Enforcement/Foreclosed Property Care Household Housing Unit 0 0 Planning and Administration Program Administration CDBG: $ Other Other 145000 84750 58.45% Preservation of Existing Affordable Rental Stock Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Rental units rehabilitated Household Housing Unit 0 0 Preservation of Existing Affordable Rental Stock Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Homelessness Prevention Persons Assisted 1521 1521 100.00% Preservation of Existing Affordable Rental Stock Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Other Other 0 0 Rental Housing for Families Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Rental units constructed Household Housing Unit 58 58 100.00% CAPER 12 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Rental Housing for Individuals Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $0 / HOPWA: $0 Rental units constructed Household Housing Unit 28 28 100.00% 20 0 0. Rental Housing for Individuals Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $0 / HOPWA: $0 Rental units rehabilitated Household Housing Unit 0 0 15 0 0. Rental Housing for Individuals Affordable Housing CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $0 / HOPWA: $0 Housing for Homeless added Household Housing Unit 22 0 0.00% Support for Emergency Shelter System Homeless CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Public service activities other than Low/Moderate Income Housing Benefit Persons Assisted 0 0 328 94 28 CAPER 13 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Support for Emergency Shelter System Homeless CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Homeless Person Overnight Shelter Persons Assisted 1400 1005 71.79% 328 94 28 Support for Emergency Shelter System Homeless CDBG: $ / Continuum of Care: $ / CPA: $ / ESG: $ / HOPWA: $ Overnight/Emergency Shelter/Transitional Housing Beds added Beds 0 0 0 0 Table 1 - Accomplishments – Program Year & Strategic Plan to Date Assess how the jurisdiction’s use of funds, particularly CDBG, addresses the priorities and specific objectives identified in the plan, giving special attention to the highest priority activities identified. The City places a lot of importance on creating affordable housing units, addressing the basic needs and creating economic development opportunities for of low- and moderate-income residents. During this program year, the City served 153% towards the goal addressing people's basic needs through public services, which became extremly important in March when the pandemic struck, but only 28% of our goal for helping people in homeless shelters. This low number may be reflective that many people who are homeless are homeless for longer periods of time. The City reached 100% of its goal of giving direct financial assistance to homebuyers, but 0% towards our goal of adding housing in the affordable housing for families category. Building affordable homes takes a long time and some parcel that we expected to be ready for our acquistion were not available till after the program year ended. The City's goal for Economic Development/Income Maximization exceeded two out of three indicators (Jobs created/retained 400% and Business Assisted 256%), and made 90% towards its indicator for Public Services other than Low/Mod Income Housing. The City only met 5% towards the Homeless Prevention indicator and goal and 4 out of 5 houses were rehabilitated towards the Housing Rehabilitation goal. Both of these projects were dramatically affected when the State shut down during the early months of the pandemic. The City met or exceeded most of the indicators towards the remaining goals except for the one house that was CAPER 14 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) expected to be demolished. The City was waiting on the State to transfer ownership. The City continues to fund and search for creative ways to make more affordable housing. With the recent completion of three single-family homes on Glendale Road (two occupied) and development of the 53 units (39 affordable) at Village Hill at the old state hospital, the City of Northampton continues to create affordable homes for first-time homebuyers and low- and moderate-income families. The renovation of Sergeant House, which was underway during the program year but completed until after, added 15 units. The project brought compassionate upgrades to the SRO - adding an elevator for access for people with disabilities and making the former attics spaces into the most desirable units. The City still does not have any inventory in Safe Havens and Housing First units, which was identified in the plan as a high priority. CAPER 15 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-10 - Racial and Ethnic composition of families assisted Describe the families assisted (including the racial and ethnic status of families assisted). 91.520(a) CDBG White 2,712 Black or African American 467 Asian 52 American Indian or American Native 44 Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 3 Total 3,278 Hispanic 878 Not Hispanic 2,400 Table 2 – Table of assistance to racial and ethnic populations by source of funds Narrative The largest ethnic minority in the City is Hispanic, followed by Black/African American, so this tracks with those families track that were actually served by CDBG funded activities. The above table does not include the following multi-racial categories: American Indian or Alaskan Native/White; Asian/White; Black African-American/White; American Indian/Alaskan Native/ Black African-American; Asian/Pacific Islander; and other multi-racial categories. In total, 3278 people benefitted from services funded in this program year, 878 (26.7% of total) of whom identified as Hispanic, 467 (14% of the total) of whom identified as Black/African American, and 52 (1.5% of total) of whom identified as Asian. CAPER 16 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-15 - Resources and Investments 91.520(a) Identify the resources made available Source of Funds Source Resources Made Available Amount Expended During Program Year CDBG public - federal 1,141,850 891,627 Continuum of Care public - federal 1,805,851 1,805,851 Other public - federal 2,538,334 1,668,334 Table 3 - Resources Made Available Narrative The "other" category is composed of many sources. CPA funded awards funded at $928,834 for the year. Of which $30k was awarded to Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity for a home on Glendale Rd, $250k was awarded to the Community Builders for a 53-unit project on Village Hill, $200k was awarded to NHA for a playground at their property, and $198,340 was awarded to Historic Northampton for a preservation assessment. The Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund awarded $200k for the construction of a mile long wheelchair accessible trail in a formerly conservation area. The Recreation Trails Program awarded $100k, for the construction of a wheelchair accessible trail in Leeds village, extending the rail trail. Smart Growth 40R approximately $50k towards the design of Main Street. Mass in Motion $50k for actions to improve public health equity through changes to the built environment and food security. CMAQ Bike awarded $1.2 million for regional expansion of ValleyBike to provide equitable transportation access. CHII $5k from Mass Department of Health to explore how to insure accessibility at the community resilience hub. Age Friendly grant $4.5k. The Continuum of Care (CoC) breakdown of what is allocated to Northampton is difficult to parse, because they run the CoC for Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire Counties. Their programs include the HMIS lead project, coordinated entry funding, planning funds and housing and supportive-services projects. There are other financial incentives that are available in Northampton, such as Opportunity Zones, but no developer used it this program year. Identify the geographic distribution and location of investments Target Area Planned Percentage of Allocation Actual Percentage of Allocation Narrative Description No geographic Priorities Designated 100 Programs are delivered city wide or in specific project locations. Table 4 – Identify the geographic distribution and location of investments Narrative CAPER 17 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) The City has not designated any HUD defined target areas. All public service activities, as well as the Housing Rehab program, First Time Homebuyer program and Micro-Business assistance programs are available to all income eligible Northampton residents across the City. It is possible, that future small business grants may be skewed towards the City center as COVID-19 seems to be hurting them more than other commercial corridors - but the City has no plans to priotize one group over the other. CAPER 18 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Leveraging Explain how federal funds leveraged additional resources (private, state and local funds), including a description of how matching requirements were satisfied, as well as how any publicly owned land or property located within the jurisdiction that were used to address the needs identified in the plan. CDBG allocations for public service agencies are very small amounts, compared to their overall budgets. Awards range from $3,000 - $13,000. The City’s support with CBDG funds is to leverage other funding awards such as Community Preservation Act funding, and other grants from the state and private organizations. The Valley Community Development Micro-Business Assistance Program received support from the Florence Savings Bank, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation, Capital One and TD Bank The renovation and expansion of Sergeant House, although only nearly complete during the program year, is a prime example of the types of leveraging that happens during projects. It was a $7 million project where a $150,000 in CDBG commitments leveraged $6,300,000 - comprised of $4,875,525 of Low Income Housing Tax Credit equity, $200,000 from the MA Affordable Housing Trust fund, $485,000 from the MA Housing Innovations Fund, $603,235 from the MA HIF 1 and HIF 111 Subordinate debt programs, $239,000 from the Consolidated Facilities Fund for the Department of Mental Health units, $500,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, $350,000 from the local Community Preservation Committee and $15,000 from a Kuehn Grant. The subtotal is $13,717,760 and with construction loan repayment. The City will looks to partner with organizations and seek multiple funding sources to leverage future CDBG funds. The land that Habitat for Humanity just completed their third home (out of four homes) on Glendale Road, was on land donated by the City and which used $30,000 of CPA funding. The City has successfully partnered with Habitat on several limited development projects like this over the years and plans to continue projects like this in the future. The City has finally taken ownership from the State on the parcels on Laurel Street and Burts Pit Road and will prepare the sites for disposition to an affordable housing developer. CAPER 19 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-20 - Affordable Housing 91.520(b) Evaluation of the jurisdiction's progress in providing affordable housing, including the number and types of families served, the number of extremely low-income, low-income, moderate-income, and middle-income persons served. One-Year Goal Actual Number of Homeless households to be provided affordable housing units 324 128 Number of Non-Homeless households to be provided affordable housing units 3,400 4,088 Number of Special-Needs households to be provided affordable housing units 40 40 Total 3,764 4,256 Table 5 – Number of Households One-Year Goal Actual Number of households supported through Rental Assistance 1,780 250 Number of households supported through The Production of New Units 24 7 Number of households supported through Rehab of Existing Units 15 16 Number of households supported through Acquisition of Existing Units 0 0 Total 1,819 273 Table 6 – Number of Households Supported Discuss the difference between goals and outcomes and problems encountered in meeting these goals. There is difficulty getting an unduplicated count for numbers served. Some people may utilize more than one public service program. For example, someone living in an SRO is probably attending the MANNA meals. Or someone using the tenancy protection program may also be attending the Literacy Project classes. CAPER 20 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) The number of people experiencing homelessness includes people served at the year-round Grove Street Inn and the Inter-Faith Winter Shelter but does not include the unsheltered population or those served by Safe Passage. Some of those clients are not considered homeless. There is no data available for the 17 emergency shelter beds operated by Soldier On at the Veterans Administration campus. The number of non-homeless households being supported is the tally of the total number served by CDBG subrecipient public services programs, minus the two shelter programs, but is not a total of all those served in the community by other programs. The number of households with special needs is an estimate, as the State does not release information on residential programming through either the Department of Development Services or the Department of Mental Health (DMH). The number of households being supported with rental assistance is the total number of Housing Choice Vouchers, Mass Rental Vouchers, and VASH vouchers administered by the Northampton Housing Authority. The rehab of existing units only included the participants of the housing rehab program. The number of units to be acquired is zero because the land that the City plans to develop eight units on (Emerson Way and Burts Pit Road) was not transferred to the City until after the program year. The City will begin the disposition process in early 2021 for those two projects. Although the rehab of the existing 15 units at Sergeant House was nearly completed, it was not finished until after the program year ended. The production of new units was well underway during the program year, but the 16 units at Sergeant House did not finish until after the end of the program year due to delays in construction, and one of the four units on Glendale Road built by Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity has not been completed yet. The residents at Sergeant House are all clients of Department of Mental Health (DMH). The delay in meeting these "worst case needs" in housing for these people with disabilities was a serious health risk, as they were housing insecure, severely rent burdened, or homeless during the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other "worst case needs" have begun to be addressed in the Analysi of Impediment to Fair Housing report that was finished in 2019. There were many needs identified in the report and action items have begun to be assessed by the Northampton Housing Partnership and the Office of Planning & Sustainability. Discuss how these outcomes will impact future annual action plans. All projects included in this year's Action Plan have been completed or are underway. Valley CDC continued to provide downpayment assistance grants to eligible households and provide financial counseling, while the Housing Rehabilitation Program continued to service single-family homeowners to remediate code violations and abate lead paint. In total, 13 social service agencies provided a multitude of needed programming to hundreds of Northampton residents. Small business assistance and workshops were provided to low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs. There are many reports, data sets, and events that the City will pull together to create CAPER 21 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) future action plans for CDBG funds. The first, is the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has clearly demonstrated the need for increased shelter capacity, likely non-congregate shelter, with the need for different protocols and staff requirements. This increases the City’s awareness for Housing First housing units and Safe Haven residences for those who are homeless or experiencing mental illness. Similarly, there is also a need for more low- and moderate-income housing and creating housing stabilization programs. COVID-19 has also exposed how precarious some small businesses are when economic downturns happen. The City will look to see how it can better serve its small businesses through grant opportunities. Other needs have been articulated in recent planning documents that have been adopted: the Impediments to Fair Housing (2019), the Mayor’s Working Group on Panhandling (2019), and the ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plan (2020). These documents will greatly inform the next Action Plan for 2021-2022. Eligible projects that are supported from these documents could include: public services to help renter or homeowners, creating affordable housing, resiliency hub or storage lockers for the homeless, shelters, and the removal of architectural barriers in houses, public infrastructure, or public buildings (not for general govt. use). As projects are completed, the City will move quickly to begin new eligible projects. The City's goals as outlined in the draft Climate Resilience & Regeneration Plan will further guide how future action plans will be allocated. Include the number of extremely low-income, low-income, and moderate-income persons served by each activity where information on income by family size is required to determine the eligibility of the activity. Number of Households Served CDBG Actual HOME Actual Extremely Low-income 2,884 0 Low-income 1,088 0 Moderate-income 236 0 Total 4,208 0 Table 7 – Number of Households Served Narrative Information In total 4,208 households benefited from CDBG project funding this past year. This is slightly above the historic average that the City has helped over the last 5 years. CAPER 22 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-25 - Homeless and Other Special Needs 91.220(d, e); 91.320(d, e); 91.520(c) Evaluate the jurisdiction’s progress in meeting its specific objectives for reducing and ending homelessness through: Reaching out to homeless persons (especially unsheltered persons) and assessing their individual needs The City continued to work closely with Eliot Community Homeless Services. The Eliot Street Outreach Coordinator and Eliot’s Street Outreach Clinician attended monthly meetings of the Next Step Collaborative and regularly reported on the needs and numbers of people living outside. The City continued with its updated protocol for addressing encampments, which became essential as the COVID-19 pandemic forced more people onto the streets. The encampment protocol was to identify, notify, assess, and take the appropriate action (services, post notice, etc.). Either Dial/Self, ServiceNet, or Tapestry Health can join the outreach effort as the inhabitants' needs are identified. People are directed towards services where possible. They were also given ample warning if they needed to relocate for safety reasons (i.e., camping in a flood plain) to avoid loss of personal items. Dial/Self staff continued serving unaccompanied homeless youth at their eight-unit shelter. They are in the process of raising money to pay off those units. The number of people living outside has increased dramatically in the last eight months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Successful models operating in other parts of the country are when outreach workers can immediately house homeless people into houses. This is made difficult during the pandemic by increased need due to congregate shelters going to less than full capacity and new homeless people. Street outreach is hugely successful when units are immediately available. The City will create a system that allows that kind of movement after engagement, although it has been difficult to identify funders and developers. Some homeless are couples who don't want to be separated in shelters. They are people with pets that shelters will not accommodate, are actively using substances, and/or suffering from mental health challenges. These complicate their housing, but it is not insurmountable. The City will continue to work regionally to create a robust homeless shelter network, share best practices, and build suitable housing arrangements for those who are homeless. In Northampton, ServiceNet’s Hampshire County Resource Center continued to provide case management services, laundry, shower facilities, emergency food and shelter services - despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Addressing the emergency shelter and transitional housing needs of homeless persons Community Action Pioneer Valley had fully taken over the Three County Continuum of Care (CoC) in 2019. The Three County CoC is composed of Berkshire, Franklin and Hampshire Counties and is primarily rural in nature. The Coordinated Entry system, mandated by HUD to serve the most vulnerable of the chronically homeless became operational again this year, after having complications with its data collection system previously. Moving the most vulnerable people through a system, however, only works when housing exists to refer people to, so the City will investigate creating housing first units and CAPER 23 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) continue to use real-estate-alchemy to create affordable units. There has been tremendous enthusiasm for the affordable homes that Habitat for Humanity created, the eight affordable units under construction by Hampshire Property Management Group, Inc. (chosen by lottery), and the newly renovated units at Sergeant House. Relevant service providers met weekly to discuss Coordinated Entry and periodically identify the most vulnerable of their clients and worked hard to find housing placements for them. The Community Development Planner has sat in on some of these meetings to understand where the City’s role was in the process. The City continued to support both shelters for individuals with CDBG funding. The Community Development Planner facilitated the Next Step Collaborative, a monthly gathering of housing and shelter service providers. This group has been meeting since 1994 to identify and address gaps in the local service delivery system. Craig's Doors, the Amherst winter shelter, will not open this fall - which has had a huge impact on the regional shelter system. The Town of Amherst is in conversations to create a non-congregate shelter in a new location. The Annex in Easthampton, which had provided six overflow beds to Northampton, will not operate this winter due to COVID-19 and staffing levels. When it is operational, it is truly a regional collaboration with people from ServiceNet, Friends of Hampshire Homeless, Our Lady of the Valley parish, and Soldier On. HUD funding no longer supports transitional housing units, nor emergency- shelters, with all the focus on permanent supportive housing. As a result, shelters have a difficult time identifying sufficient resources to support more than minimal staffing coverage, or property improvements or amenities. Multiple funding applications, soliciting private donations, and securing volunteer support are the necessary operational components; which take lots of staff time to produce and coordinate. Tapestry Health Systems, Eliot Homeless Services, ServiceNet, Inc. the Northampton Police Department, Forbes Library, Friends of Hampshire County Homeless, and MANNA all worked together this past year to identify, engage, and serve those people most at risk in Northampton. Helping low-income individuals and families avoid becoming homeless, especially extremely low-income individuals and families and those who are: likely to become homeless after being discharged from publicly funded institutions and systems of care (such as health care facilities, mental health facilities, foster care and other youth facilities, and corrections programs and institutions); and, receiving assistance from public or private agencies that address housing, health, social services, employment, education, or youth needs Soldier On continued to pick up and transport Veteran being discharged from the Hampshire County House of Corrections who chose to go and did not have other housing options. The jail continued their monthly round table sessions with local law enforcement and service providers to identify paths for people before release. Social workers from the local hospital attend Next Step Collaborative meetings to network with housing and shelter providers to avoid discharging patients into homelessness. The Department of Mental Health (DMH) increased their capacity to house clients with the expansion of CAPER 24 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Sergeant Housing SRO. Last year, DMH began discussions about creating Safe Havens Models in the community to house those unable to navigate traditional housing placements. This initiative was met with great enthusiasm from Northampton officials and those in advocacy groups, service providers, such as ServiceNet, Western Mass. Network to End Homelessness, and Cooley Dickinson Healthcare and from municipalities such as Easthampton and Amherst. DMH was moving towards implementing this, but COVID-19 has stopped their programmatic expansion due to budget constraints and public health concerns. DMH staff facilitated quarterly meetings with the Northampton Police Department to implement Jail Diversion Intervention strategies and identify clients at risk on the streets or living outside. ServiceNet's Hampshire County Resource Center continued to operate daily, providing office space for the Benefits Analyst, a medical exam room for Health Care for the Homeless doctors and nurses, and case management staff to link people with housing and services. This operation had to reduce its hours and the number of people allowed in the building due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Helping homeless persons (especially chronically homeless individuals and families, families with children, veterans and their families, and unaccompanied youth) make the transition to permanent housing and independent living, including shortening the period of time that individuals and families experience homelessness, facilitating access for homeless individuals and families to affordable housing units, and preventing individuals and families who were recently homeless from becoming homeless again The Hampshire County Resource Center, located at 43 Center Street (downtown), continued to serve as the entry portal for people finding themselves homeless to access case management. Their street outreach team, the Northampton Police Department, and other providers regularly refer people there for assistance. The Resource Center has showers, laundry, food, and healthcare available. It is anticipated that by providing these resources, people will opt to engage with a caseworker and make plans for improving the quality of life. The Resource Center has a small staff and no true dedicated funding source, but through a combination of grant sources, ServiceNet can sustain the program. The staff works hard to meet people’s current needs with whatever resources are available. There is no family emergency shelter in Northampton, but the Center for Human Development (CHD) operates Jessie's House in Amherst, where six families at a time are served. Soldier On has case management and a comprehensive service delivery system to serve men and women Veterans. They operate emergency shelter beds, transitional housing, permanent supported housing, and homeownership opportunities. They are located at the Northampton Veteran's Administration Medical Campus, where residents can access mental health and general healthcare. Soldier On has programs throughout Western Mass (Agawam, Chicopee, Pittsfield) and New York and provides technical assistance across the country to other organizations striving to develop similar systems of care.Dial/Self serves unaccompanied homeless youth in the Franklin/Hampshire county region. The year-old units of supported housing for youth in Northampton provide the first units for CAPER 25 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) youth in Hampshire County. Serving this population fulfills a long term goal of the City and addresses a high priority need, as assistance for this age group (18-24) is imperative in order to reduce episodes of adult homelessness. Shortening lengths of stay in the shelter is dependent on the availability of housing units for people to access. Funding and programmatic oversight needs to be secured if the City is going to move forward with Housing First units. The City continued to support the Community Legal Aid Homelessness Prevention Program, the Community Housing Support Services Program, and the SRO Outreach Project to keep people sustainably housed. Homelessness prevention is a high priority activity area for the City, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once a household loses a rental subsidy, it is very difficult for them to re-secure housing stability. Impacting homelessness "upstream" is a goal of the Continuum of Care, as well as the Western Mass Network to End Homelessness. The State's RAFT and ERMA programs, and along with the other resources provided for under the Governor’s Eviction Diversion Initiative, are critical for keeping people housed or getting them rehoused as quickly as possible. The Office of Planning & Sustainability had physical flyers with financial and legal resources available at the soup kitchen meals and with survival center food packages, and digital flyers were shared by the school departments newsletter, the library, monthly meetings, and on the City's website. The City continued to support prevention activities by providing CDBG funding to the Community Legal Aid Program and the Single Room Occupancy Outreach Project. CLA provides free legal assistance to families and individuals with low incomes who are facing eviction in Housing Court. With mediation efforts, the majority of tenancies are preserved. With more than half of the households presenting in Court already residing in rent assisted units, the issues revolve around life skills, financial literacy, and increasing their wages. CAPER 26 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-30 - Public Housing 91.220(h); 91.320(j) Actions taken to address the needs of public housing At the Northampton Housing Authority (NHA), the Resident Services Coordinator continued to oversee family developments. Hiring this position last year was the culmination of many years of requests by the City. This work grew out of tenants' involvement with the Hampshire Heights Healthy Hampshire and GrowFood Northampton programs to bring fresh produce to the site by using a grant to install raised community garden beds for the residents to grow their own food. A member of the Northampton Housing Partnership has worked tirelessly to gain formal recognition of the Tenants Association and bring resident concerns forward. The NHA received HUD 811 Mainstream Vouchers, which can be used by non-elderly disabled people, including chronically homeless people. These vouchers will help people to leave the emergency shelter system or get off of the streets. The NHA will utilize the Coordinated Entry list, and preference will be given to those highest on the list. NHA leadership regularly meets with the Three Country Continuum of Care, other Housing Agencies, and the Community Development Planner to discuss the Coordinated Entry list. While the NHA has many ways to help people get housed, all of the programs have seen more difficulty housing people due to COVID-19. Actions taken to encourage public housing residents to become more involved in management and participate in homeownership The Northampton Housing Authority's Board of Directors has always had tenant representation. The NHA has worked hard to involve more of its residents in participation in planning projects and keep a resident as a member of the board. For instance, the CDBG funded Hampshire Heights Playground was a community-inspired project designed to coordinate with the community. Additionally, the NHA has accepted the name of one of its residents to serve as 3-5 year term on the NHA Board of Directors.Typically, board members have been male, but last year saw a female resident join the board, and this year the new member is Latinx. The diversity of the board should only increase as more residents realize that they can represent their community. The Resident Services Coordinator has continued to help create additional programming and events that will enhance financial literacy and income maximization that could lead to homeownership opportunities. Actions taken to provide assistance to troubled PHAs The Northampton Housing Authority is not designated as troubled. The Analysis of Impediments (AI) to Fair Housing did conclude that the Housing Authority's local preference (for tenant selection) is a deterrent to housing mobility from other parts of the region into Northampton. The NHA Director has met with the Northampton Housing Partnership to discuss this and, after hearing a presentation, will continue to investigate how best to serve Northampton residents and those looking to move here. The CAPER 27 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) AI also identified the NHA not having a website as an issue, but this has also been addressed - and made available in Spanish. CAPER 28 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-35 - Other Actions 91.220(j)-(k); 91.320(i)-(j) Actions taken to remove or ameliorate the negative effects of public policies that serve as barriers to affordable housing such as land use controls, tax policies affecting land, zoning ordinances, building codes, fees and charges, growth limitations, and policies affecting the return on residential investment. 91.220 (j); 91.320 (i) The Analysis of Impediments (AI) Report from 2019 noted that when analyzing Northampton's current zoning concerning best practices nationwide to promote mixed-use, affordable housing and increase housing choice, the City is doing everything it should. The City is encouraging higher density development by promoting infill, using Transfer of Development Rights (TDR), permitting small lot residential development, encouraging mixed-use developments by allowing housing in all districts and industrial districts, permitting live/work units. It is working to increase housing diversity and affordability by allowing accessory dwelling units in all zones and providing density incentives for affordability. The Office of Planning and Sustainability started working on creating a two-family by right zoning amendment that would streamline the process and decrease the cost for creating two-family houses anywhere in the City. The City had previously established two Smart Growth Overlay districts in Massachusetts called 40R districts, which require an affordability component. Following recommendations made in earlier AI's, the City now permits up to six units by right with the site-plan review, has simple standards for larger multi-family structures, requires no traffic mitigation or parking for residential construction downtown, allows mixed-use housing by right with site plan review and doubled and in some cases tripled the density allowed in some zones within the urban core. By reducing lot size throughout the City, to better reflect existing development patterns, possibilities for 2-3 unit dwellings is increased. The City is also an eligible community for Opportunity Zones created by the federal government. The City's Office of Planning and Sustainability and Habitat Humanity have had design competitions previously to create affordable and sustainable single-family homes. These have culminated in several limited development projects, where people now live. Northampton also instituted a Senior Citizen and Veteran Tax Work Off Program to increase the chances that participants can afford to remain in their homes. Actions taken to address obstacles to meeting underserved needs. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) The AI Report has provided the City with several years of work, such as policies to change and complete projects. The Community Development Planner has monthly meetings with the Housing Partnership, where they have prioritized the AI Report's action steps and have begun to take steps towards meeting those needs. For instance, addressing the Small Area FMR that the NHA uses and investigating broker fees by private rental agencies. This is a barrier keeping people out of the City with its heavy upfront costs of moving, so a Housing Partnership subcommittee has been meeting to make recommendations to address CAPER 29 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) it. The Community Development Planner continued with the City’s involvement in the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness, Three County Continuum of Care meetings, staff support to the Northampton Housing Partnership, and the Next Step Collaborative. All of these meetings work towards meeting the needs of underrepresented and underserved people in our community. Additionally, the ADA Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan identified several barriers to people with disabilities in their access to City buildings, sidewalks, and programs. The ADA/Section 504 Coordinator also serves as the staff person for the Disability Commission and have together identified action steps towards addressing issues from the report. For example, the City applied for a planning grant to study how to make City buildings more accessible to people with disabilities. The City used CDBG funds to create ADA accessible curb cuts in downtown sidewalks and rail-trail entrances in Florence village center, but they were not completed by the end of the program year. These curb cuts were previously identified and prioritized in a 2018 study by Alta Planning + Design. The Community Development Planner has also taken the action steps identified in the Mayor's Work Group on Panhandling Report to the different community groups to start addressing them. This report comprised extensive survey work to understand better downtown activity perceptions by the general public and the needs of people engaged in street activity downtown. The report has informed the City’s effort to create a resilience hub that would serve as a daytime shelter/living room for those who are homeless or living in shelters. The City had applied for grant funding from the State to buy property but did not receive funding for it this last round. Other ideas that the City has started to investigate are storage lockers. The Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing and the Mayor's Work Group on Panhandling report contains many recommendations that will inform the City's work moving forward to address challenges people face within our control to ameliorate. Actions taken to reduce lead-based paint hazards. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) The City's Housing Rehabilitation Program conducted lead paint testing at every home that participated in the program, regardless of the current household composition. A single-family homeowner can participate in a 15- year deferred payment 0% interest loan program in which lead paint can be abated if necessary. The upward project cost limit of $45,000 was set high to permit abatement activities if needed. The Northampton Board of Health continued to keep up the database of units that have been abated and so certified as such. When funds were available, the Valley CDC's Homeownership Center continued to refer people to the State's “Get the Lead Out Program”.The rates of lead paint poisoning among children remain low locally, but this can be deceiving. The presence of lead paint is a silent discriminator, when landlords refuse to rent to families with young children because they are unwilling to certify that there is no lead paint or are unable to abate their units in compliance with the Massachusetts Lead Paint Notification law. The presence of lead paint can be assumed for every home built before the lead paint ban in 1978, which for Northampton is about 50% of the total housing stock. Once again, this was identified in the AI Report and is considered a barrier to family housing in Northampton. Lead paint abatement information will soon be made available on the City’s website and the City will consider disseminating the information at a landlord workshop in the future. CAPER 30 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) Actions taken to reduce the number of poverty-level families. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) The City continued to fund the Northampton Survival Center, the MANNA Soup Kitchen, and the SRO Food Pantry this past year. The provision of healthy food and community meals helps people avoid the choice they sometimes have to make between eating and paying housing or other costs. The Valley CDC Micro-Business Assistance program provided technical support to people thinking of starting or operating a small business for job creation, retention, and income maximization.The Literacy Project, the Center for New Americans, and Community Action's Youth Employment Readiness Program helped individuals and families gain education and employment skills to increase economic empowerment and self-sufficiency. These programs are all CDBG subrecipients.Discussions had begun last program year with the Northampton Housing Authority concerning participation in HUD's Small Area Fair Market Rent program. This would increase the ability of people with low incomes to use HUD Housing Choice Vouchers in Northampton. Because Northampton is included in the Springfield SMSA, fair market rents have been much lower than market- rate rents for decades. The NHA analyzes what converting to this program would mean, assuming the lack of additional funding to accompany such a shift means fewer people would be served over all. The Executive Director and a member of the Board of Directors for the NHA met with the Northampton Housing Partnership to discuss this in 2020, but it has since been unresolved. CDBG funds continued to support local small businesses that employ low-income people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Actions taken to develop institutional structure. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) The Office of Planning & Sustainability was involved throughout the year with the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness, the Three County Continuum of Care, the Next Step Collaborative, Valley CDC's Housing Stabilization Provider meetings, the Cot Management Committee, the Northampton Housing Partnership, and the Disability Commission. While the Mayor's Work Group on Panhandling had wrapped up and was a great meeting between various groups, the action steps and directives that it created gave groups like the Housing Partnership a renewed focus and energy. The Analysis of Impediments and the ADA Self-Evaluation/Transition Plan has had a similar impact on the Disability Commission. The ADA/Section 504 Coordinator, who also serves as the staff person for the Disability Commission, was moved to the Office of Planning & Sustainability at the end of the program year, which greatly increased the efficiency of getting ADA projects completed. Feedback on the operations and gaps in the system were discussed at various meetings throughout the year by the Community Development Planner, the Economic Development Coordinator, the Community Preservation Committee, the Office of Planning and Sustainability, the Human Rights Commission, the Disability Commission, the Police Department, the Health Department, the Building Department, the Public Works Department, all of whom work together to identify and address community issues. The Mayor, the Mayor's Chief of Staff, the Community Development Planner, Director of Planning & Sustainability, and the Economic Development Coordinator met monthly to CAPER 31 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) ensure a coordinated community development strategy. This stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic. All City Boards and Commissions subject to the Open Meeting law post their meeting notices and minutes on the City's website.The municipal structure that exists is collaborative and effective. The Action Plans that have been formulated by the Analysis of Impediments Update and the Mayor's Work Group both call for collaboration between the various entities that will be responsible for implementing a myriad of recommendations to ensure our community is welcoming and accessible to all. Actions taken to enhance coordination between public and private housing and social service agencies. 91.220(k); 91.320(j) The Next Step Collaborative meetings are City-sponsored gatherings of local housing and homeless service providers meeting monthly since 1994. Over the last year, 20-30 guests attended who were people living outside, living in emergency shelters, advocates for the homeless, people serving Veterans, people living with HIV/Aids, people in recovery, people living in subsidized housing, people managing subsidized housing, and people providing housing stabilization support services. This group has continued to advocate for getting Housing First units, expanded shelter capacity, and a resiliency hub (day shelter) to get out of the elements and provide services such as storage lockers or consultations with service agencies. While the need for more shelter space has been a consistent theme throughout the years, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for shelters and laid bare the need for more public and private housing as well. The Office of Planning and Sustainability continued to search for parcels to create limited development housing opportunities for affordable housing developers of single-family homes and create the right environment for larger developers to invest in the City. The City finally took title to a 1.73-acre property from the Northampton State Hospital that will be prepared for an affordable housing developer. The Community Development Planner and the Northampton Housing Partnership have met with the Northampton Housing Authority members to understand their processes better and look for solutions to the barriers identified in the AI. These meetings were just as much a meeting getting to know each other as they were information sharing. The Housing Partnership has expressed appreciation for NHA members talking with them, and NHA has expressed interest in having further discussions. Identify actions taken to overcome the effects of any impediments identified in the jurisdictions analysis of impediments to fair housing choice. 91.520(a) This last program year was spent examining the recommendations given by the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing in 2019 and soliciting public input at the Northampton Housing Partnership and the Next Step Collaborative meetings. The Housing Partnership and the Community Development Planner have taken the recommendations (action steps) from the report to task, prioritizing the issues and choosing those they are most likely to affect. The Housing Partnership works mostly as an advisory board to the Mayor and other commissions. Still, they are also instrumental in influencing public opinion on issues and starting conversations with stakeholders. The AI's input will inform the next several years of work CAPER 32 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) and be overseen by the Office of Planning & Sustainability. CAPER 33 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-40 - Monitoring 91.220 and 91.230 Describe the standards and procedures used to monitor activities carried out in furtherance of the plan and used to ensure long-term compliance with requirements of the programs involved, including minority business outreach and the comprehensive planning requirements Quarterly reports are required from all sub-recipients. The data in those reports is used to input into IDIS and is closely reviewed for progress and compliance with all applicable laws and regulations by both the Grants Administrator and the Community Development Planner. Performance outcomes are outlined in the Scope of Services at the beginning of each program year in the CDBG Agreement or Contract before the issuance of funds. When applicable, contracts also include requirements for submissions of other HUD reports such as Section 3, FFATA information, Department of Labor MBE/WBE reports, and Davis Bacon wage rate compliance certifications, payroll records, and on-site interviews conducted by the Community Development Planner.Public service applicants are interviewed during a competitive application cycle by a Review Committee composed of community members and City councilors. Organizational capacity and past performance are evaluated. Quarterly reports and on-site monitoring occur on a rotating basis with each public service subrecipient. Each public service sub-recipient is visited at least once in every two-year period. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced some of the in-person visits that we would have done to be remote. Contractors are informed about the above-mentioned reports and affirmative action hiring goals during meetings and in the contract document. Most smaller projects, such as housing rehab, are completed by sole owner businesses. Larger projects can do the outreach but often do not need to expand their workforce to complete a project. The housing rehab program requires solicitation for contractors, including the statements and actions that women/minority-owned businesses or Section 3 businesses are encouraged to apply. Citizen Participation Plan 91.105(d); 91.115(d) Describe the efforts to provide citizens with reasonable notice and an opportunity to comment on performance reports. Legal ads were published in the local newspaper for all public hearings and publication of the Draft Plan, Action Plan, and CAPER documents giving the dates of meetings and times available for review in the office. All documents were also uploaded to the City's website. Residents were encouraged to come in, call, or email with comments. For this CAPER, an ad was published in the Daily Hampshire Gazette on CAPER 34 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) December 7, 2020 with a link to the CAPER and instructions on how to comment or receive a paper copy. The public comment period was open till December 22, 2020. No public comments were submitted. The Community Development Planner discussed program goals, objectives, and outcomes with the Next Step Collaborative participants monthly and provided notice to an extensive email listserv about all public hearings, publication of documents, and applicable comment periods.The discussions at the various public hearings and meetings yielded valuable input. No other comments were received from the general public. Linkages were made during public sessions about work plans incorporated into CDBG Action Plans and CAPER reports and the opportunities to comment throughout the year. CR-45 - CDBG 91.520(c) Specify the nature of, and reasons for, any changes in the jurisdiction’s program objectives and indications of how the jurisdiction would change its programs as a result of its experiences. The majority of activities outlined in the Action Plan for the Program Year now being reported on proceeded without any issues. The COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Northampton by mid-March of 2020, with only a few months left in the program year. Most of the public services would not be considered essential, so they moved their operations online as best that they could. The need for certain public services, such as MANNA Soup Kitchen and the Northampton Survival Center only increased during the pandemic. No City of Northampton objectives were changed during the initial program year, but the inclusion of the CARES Act round of funding, the City amended its Action Plan to include objectives that better responded to the needs of people affected by the pandemic. These objectives went beyond the initial program year. Does this Jurisdiction have any open Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) grants? No [BEDI grantees] Describe accomplishments and program outcomes during the last year. CAPER 35 OMB Control No: 2506-0117 (exp. 09/30/2021) CR-45 - CDBG 91.520(c) Specify the nature of, and reasons for, any changes in the jurisdiction’s program objectives and indications of how the jurisdiction would change its programs as a result of its experiences. The majority of activities outlined in the Action Plan for the Program Year now being reported on proceeded without any issues. The COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Northampton by mid-March of 2020, with only a few months left in the program year. Most of the public services would not be considered essential, so they moved their operations online as best that they could. The need for certain public services, such as MANNA Soup Kitchen and the Northampton Survival Center only increased during the pandemic. No City of Northampton objectives were changed during the initial program year, but the inclusion of the CARES Act round of funding, the City amended its Action Plan to include objectives that better responded to the needs of people affected by the pandemic. These objectives went beyond the initial program year. Does this Jurisdiction have any open Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) grants? No [BEDI grantees] Describe accomplishments and program outcomes during the last year.