The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday proposed amendments on how to spend more than $9 million in federal grants for homelessness, housing and other services for low- and moderate-income residents in unincorporated areas and 13 cities.
Supervisors voted 5-0 to approve the proposed 2026-27 Annual Action Plan and an amendment to the 2019-20 Annual Action Plan, which will return to the board for a vote on May 5.
Officials said the Annual Action Plan guides spending of $9.36 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to support infrastructure, affordable housing and homeless services.
The county’s projected 2026-27 allocation includes roughly $6 million in federal Community Development Block Grants, $2.78 million in HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds and $562,000 in an Emergency Solutions Grant.
“These funds will be strategically utilized to address essential community needs, ranging from Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant infrastructure and street improvements to the construction of new affordable housing units and the strengthening of the regional homeless response system, including street outreach and emergency shelter services,” according to a county statement.
HOME program money will be allocated through partnerships with qualified housing developers, nonprofit organizations and county departments, Robert Gilliam, the county’s acting director of community development and housing, wrote in a report for the board.
“Funds support new construction of affordable rental housing for low and very low-income households within the HOME Consortium and unincorporated areas,” according to the report. “To expand the supply of safe, stable, and affordable housing, (the county) anticipates receiving approximately $2.8 million in HOME funds. Of this total, approximately $2.3 million is being strategically directed to a high-impact affordable rental housing development.”
The HOME project will create approximately 106 new affordable housing units, including 22 dedicated units for “transitional-age youth,” or TAY, with the remaining units for low- and very low-income county residents.
The Emergency Solutions Grant program to address unsheltered homelessness funds street outreach, emergency shelters, “rapid rehousing” efforts, homelessness prevention initiatives and the Homeless Management Information System, or HIMS.
ESG spending reinforces the county’s regional shelter and homelessness response system in alignment with the 2022 Homeless Strategic Action Plan.
“Funding will be deployed to strengthen core system infrastructure, expand evidence-based interventions, and enhance regional coordination to ensure measurable reductions in unsheltered homelessness,” Gilliam reported.
Priority ESG spending includes:
• “System-level investments that improve coordination, service delivery, and access to shelter connected to regional navigation centers;
• “Coordinated encampment response and proactive street outreach to connect unsheltered individuals to housing pathways;
• “Rapid rehousing interventions designed to reduce lengths of stay in emergency shelter and accelerate exits to permanent housing;
• “Strategic enhancements to HMIS and coordinated entry infrastructure to improve data quality, performance management, and system accountability.”
With the funding, the county aims to achieve measurable decreases in unsheltered homelessness, improve “system outcomes and performance,” accelerate transitions into permanent housing and enhance the county’s ability to provide “equitable, data-driven and results-oriented services across the full continuum of homelessness response,” according to the county staff report.
Supervisors also OK’d a substantial amendment to the 2019-20 Annual Action Plan to shift $425,000 in CDBG coronavirus funding.
“This adjustment allows for the reallocation of $300,000 to support nutritional services through senior meal programs in the western region of the county, while the remaining $125,000 will be redirected to fulfill funding requirements for other eligible existing projects,” according to the county statement.
The cities that receive portions of the county’s HUD funding are Adelanto, Barstow, Big Bear Lake, Colton, Grand Terrace, Highland, Loma Linda, Montclair, Needles, Redlands, Twentynine Palms, Yucaipa and the Town of Yucca Valley, Gilliam reported, Gilliam reported. The cities of Chino Hills and Rancho Cucamonga elected to participate only in the HOME program.
