Agenda Item Wording:
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Encampment grant application - Authorize staff to apply for the Encampment Resolution Program Round 5 up to $5,000,000 for operational funds for the Visalia Navigation Center to provide interim shelter and operational funds for the Majestic Gardens and Sequoia Village for permanent housing, and services coordination.
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Agenda Date: 06/15/2026
Prepared by:
Margie Perez, Housing Specialist, margie.perez@visalia.gov, (559) 713-4460
Nichol Ritchie, Finance Manager, nichol.ritchie@visalia.gov, (559) 713-4379
Renee Nagel, Finance Director, renee.nagel@visalia.gov, (559) 713-4375
Department Recommendation: Staff recommends that Council receive a summary of the funding available for the Encampment Resolution Funding Program and authorize staff to apply for Encampment Resolution Funding Round 5 up to $5,000,000 for operational funds for the Visalia Navigation Center to provide interim shelter and support Majestic Gardens and Sequoia Village for permanent housing, and services coordination.
Summary:
The Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) program is a competitive grant program through the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) available to assist local jurisdictions to provide support to people experiencing homelessness in targeted encampments and place them into permanent housing. On March 27, 2026, HCD released an ERF Round 5 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) as shown in Attachment A. The ERF program funds person-centered proposals that resolve unsheltered homelessness in encampments. Proposals should address safety and wellness in encampments, resolve critical encampment concerns, and transition people into interim shelter and/or permanent housing. The total estimated available funding is $93 million. Prior ERF NOFAs available funding ranged from $237 million to $298 million; therefore, ERF Round 5 represents significantly the lowest funding available to date.
ERF Round 5 is not intended to fund a community-wide encampment resolution program. Applications may propose to serve a single individual encampment, or an encampment zone of multiple encampments that meets all three conditions listed below. Fifty percent of funding will be prioritized for encampments identified on state right-of-way. The ERF 5 proposed encampment sites are Highway198 and South Route 63 (Mooney Boulevard).
Eligible activities include permanent housing, prevention and diversion, interim housing, non-housing services, and administration.
Background Discussion:
California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) released Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) Round 5 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) on Friday, March 27, 2026. The Encampment Resolution Funding Program funds, person-centered proposals that resolve unsheltered homelessness in encampments. The ERF Round 5 NOFA is on a statewide competitive basis. Proposals should address safety and wellness in encampments, resolve critical encampment concerns, and transition people into interim shelter or permanent housing. Proposals may strengthen existing, successful models and/or support new approaches that provide safe, stable, and permanent housing for people in encampments. Permanent housing placement is a priority for this round.
Funds Available: The total estimated available funding for ERF Round 5 is $93 million. Prior ERF NOFAs available funding ranged from $237 to $298 million; therefore, this is significantly the lowest amount of available ERF funding. Pursuant to the authorizing statute, up to 50 percent of the funds authorized for ERF Round 5 shall be prioritized for local jurisdictions with proposals that address encampments on State right-of-way.
Key Dates: The ERF Round 5 NOFA was released on Friday, March 27, 2026. The ERF Round 5 NOFA is due to HCD by June 30, 2026. Awards are expected to be announced in September of 2026. If remaining ERF Round 5 funds are available, a second NOFA may be opened in the fall of 2026. However, this is very unlikely since this round of funding is the lowest that has been available since the program began.
Eligible applicants: Eligible applicants are local jurisdictions including cities, counties and Continuums of Care (CoC). Local jurisdictions will have priority to apply for ERF programs on state right of ways over CoC applicants. ERF-Round 5 funds may only be used for proposals that connect people experiencing homelessness in encampments to interim shelter with clear pathways to permanent housing or place people directly into permanent housing.
Encampment Sites to Address: ERF Round 5 is not intended to fund a community-wide encampment resolution program. Applications may propose to serve a single individual encampment, or an encampment zone of multiple encampments that meets all three conditions listed below.
Pursuant to the authorizing ERF statute, up to 50 percent of the funds authorized for ERF Round 5 shall be prioritized for local jurisdictions with proposals that address encampments on State right-of-way. Applications proposing to address encampments on a state right-of way must obtain a letter of support from their local Caltrans District Office. The letter must include:
• A commitment from Caltrans in support of the ERF proposal.
• An acknowledgement that Caltrans will only take action on that encampment site in collaboration with the grantee, unless critical circumstances exist (imminent threat to life, health, safety, or infrastructure) and must be immediately addressed.
• Be signed by the local Caltrans Deputy District Director of Maintenance or their designee.
“Encampment” generally refers to any location where multiple individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness have established a place of residence, and where the ongoing presence and conditions of the site result in sustained or significant impacts to health, safety, public access, or infrastructure. Encampments may exist on public or private land and are typically characterized by the presence of personal belongings, makeshift or semi-permanent structures, and repeated or prolonged habitation.
The defining criteria of an encampment are not based on the number of occupants,
but on the degree of impact on:
• The individuals residing in the encampment, including exposure to environmental hazards, violence, or lack of access to services and housing;
• The surrounding community, including limitations to public access, increased health and safety risks, or strain on public systems; and
• Critical infrastructure and natural resources, including blocked rights of way, degraded environmental conditions, or damage to public property.
Applicants must provide justification for the prioritization of the specific encampment, encampment zone(s), or scattered sites proposed to be served. If an applicant proposes to prioritize multiple encampments (encampment zone), the encampments may only be addressed through a single application if all of the following apply:
1) There is a single justification for prioritizing the encampments,
2) The demographics and service needs of the residents of the encampments are sufficiently similar, and
3) The same set of services, and service providers, including outreach, interim and permanent housing programs, will be used to serve and house the individuals in the encampments.
Eligible Uses: Eligible uses include but are not limited to:
• Permanent Housing
o Delivery of Permanent Housing - Acquisition, construction, and/or rehabilitation to develop permanent housing.
o Rapid Rehousing - Rental subsidies, security deposits, landlord mitigation.
o Operating Subsidies - Operating subsidies for affordable or permanent supportive housing units.
• Prevention and Diversion
o Prevention and diversion to permanent housing, including flexible forms of assistance to prevent people that have been placed into permanent housing from losing their housing and returning to homelessness.
• Interim Housing
o New clinically enhanced congregate shelters, existing non-congregate shelters, and operations of navigation centers/shelters.
o Improvements to emergency shelters.
• Services Coordination
o Street Outreach to assist persons to permanent housing placement.
o Services Coordination access to workforce, education, and training programs. Services at a safe parking site and case management.
• Administration
o Up to 5% may be applied to administrative costs.
Proposal Requirements: ERF Round 5 funds may only be used for proposals that connect people experiencing unsheltered homelessness either to interim shelter with clear pathways to permanent housing or directly to permanent housing. ERF Round 5 will fund actionable, person-centered, local proposals that meet the ERF 5 NOFAs threshold requirements to provide stable housing and address the immediate health and safety needs of the individuals residing in specific encampments. Proposals must seek to resolve targeted experiences of unsheltered homelessness by addressing the safety and wellness of people within encampments, resolve critical encampment concerns, and transition individuals into interim shelter with clear pathways to permanent housing or directly into permanent housing, using data-informed, non-punitive, low-barrier, person-centered, Housing First, and coordinated approaches. Proposals may bolster existing, successful models and/or support new approaches that provide safe, stable, and ultimately permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness in encampments.
Staff Recommendations for Application:
Proposed ERF 5 Encampment Sites: Staff recommends the encampment sites to be 1) Highway 198 and 2) South State Route 63 (Mooney Boulevard) corridor extending from Highway 198 to Mooney Grove park.
To apply for priority funding on state right-of-way it requires a letter of commitment from the local Caltrans District Office. A new requirement in the ERF 5 application to apply for priority funding on a State right-of-way, the city must conduct the following items listed below and as shown in Attachment E - Caltrans Letter of Support. The coordinated service administrator(s) will assist in meeting these ERF 5 requirements.
o Work to resolve encampments to deter repopulation of sites.
o Report all weekly actions taken and document outcomes.
o Engage service-resistant individuals and use all tools available to resolve housing individuals.
Proposed ERF 5 Activities: Staff recommends the following proposed activities:
• Interim Housing - The Visalia Navigation Center at approximately $2,000,000 for two years of operational funds including rental subsidies for Visalia Navigation Center ERF clients.
• Permanent Housing - Majestic Gardens at approximately $1,000,000 for rental subsidies for 19-units, case management, and onsite security
• Permanent Housing - Sequoia Village at approximately $1,000,000 for rental subsidies for 19-units, case management, and onsite security.
• Services Coordination at approximately $1,000,000 for street outreach, transportation assistance, landlord liaison, Coordinated Entry Systems (CES) and Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) oversight, and client housing flex funds. Client housing flex funds consists of security deposits, rental applications fees, landlord mitigation funds, holding fees, credit repair, motel vouchers, furnishing, and rental subsidies. A to be determined non-profit(s) will be selected to administer coordinated services via a formal procurement process.
• Administration at no more than 5% of the grant award.
It’s very common for ERF proposed activities to be modified and/or removed according to the State’s requests. Therefore, if awarded ERF 5 funding, staff will return to council to approve appropriations according to State approved ERF 5 activities.
Compliance with State Encampment Funds: City and county applicants must identify whether they have a current and formal policy and/or ordinance to address encampments that fully complies with the California Interagency Council (Cal ICH) Guidance on Addressing Encampments as shown on Attachment B - Cal ICH Guidance on Addressing Encampments. To meet this requirement, applicants may submit internal standard operating procedures, staff training materials, and/or scope of work language from service or housing provider contracts that substantiate the jurisdiction meets all components required in the state guidance.
City and county applicants must provide the policy, ordinance, or any other documentation that substantiates the jurisdiction follows all components set forth in the state guidance. If there is no policy or ordinance to address encampments, or if the encampment policy is not fully compliant with state guidance, city and county applicant(s) must provide a timeline by which it will adopt or update the policy or ordinance to come into compliance with state guidance within three months of award. If the jurisdiction does not adopt a fully compliant policy within three months of award, the award may be rescinded and funds awarded to the next eligible applicant.
The compliant encampment ordinance must include:
• 48-hour written notice, unless there is an imminent threat to life, safety, or health..
o The 48-notice must include:
§ The anticipated date and time of the enforcement action,
§ Information on services, including shelter, that are immediately available to persons living in the encampment, and
§ Information on how unattended belongings will be handled the day of the enforcement action, including what will be stored, how they can be recovered, and the date by which they must be claimed.
§
The 48-hour written notice is not currently in place. The current policy is a 24-hour written notice. Staff believes, that the change would not have a direct impact on homelessness. This will not affect any necessary immediate criminal activity that requires immediate removal.
• Storage of collected items (Code Enforcement already meets this requirement)
o Personal belongings collected at the encampment site that are not a health or safety hazard shall be collected, tagged, and stored for not less than 60 days.
o Items include eyeglasses, operational wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, other medical equipment, habitable tents, personal papers (such as photographs, albums, ID's, bank statements, and legal papers), backpacks, containers, and operational bicycles, scooters, and strollers.
The Governor released a Model Encampment Ordinance on May 12, 2025, included herein as Attachment C - CA Model Encampment Ordinance. Adopting a local ordinance that is consistent with all core aspects of the Model Encampment Ordinance would be compliant with Cal ICH’s guidance and satisfy the ERF Round 5 NOFA requirements. The Model Ordinance is a tool for applicants to use in developing their own encampment policy, but an encampment policy may still be compliant with Cal ICH’s guidance if it diverges in some ways from this Model Ordinance.
State and Local Collaboration: The ERF Round 5 application requires collaboration with state and local partners to mitigate risk and address safety concerns while ensuring a pathway for individuals living in encampments to move into safe and stable housing. Proposals with encampments on State right-of-way require a letter of support from the local Caltrans District Office. The letter must include a commitment from Caltrans that they are in support of the ERF Round 5 proposal.
Homeless Management Information System (HMIS): Pursuant to HSC section 50254, ERF Round 5 grantees and their subcontractors must report client data into their local Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS), and that data must be shared quarterly with the statewide Homeless Data Integration System (HDIS).
Housing First Requirement: All ERF Round 5 grantees must comply with the core components of Housing First as provided in Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 8255) of Division 8 of the Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC). See Appendix E for the Housing First statute listing all core components in HSC section 8255(b)(1)-(11). State requirements regarding Housing First requirements are shown in Attachment D-Cal ICH Housing First Guidance.
Annual Reporting on Homeless Shelter Inspections: Effective July 1, 2025, all homeless shelters are subject to the AB 130 inspection and reporting requirements, for the purpose of this NOFA, ERF Round 5 grantees shall ensure that all homeless shelters receiving ERF Round 5 funds are subject to local annual inspections, that any identified violations are corrected within the timeframes prescribed by HSC section 17974.2(b). Jurisdictions that fail to submit annual reports pursuant to the AB 130 shelter inspection and reporting requirement or take required actions to correct a violation cannot receive state funding. Visalia has submitted its annual homeless shelter inspection report; therefore, the City is eligible to apply for ERF 5 funds.
Fiscal Deadlines: ERF Round 5 grantees must expend at least 50 percent and obligate 100 percent of their allocation within two years from the date of the award. All ERF Round 5 program funds must be fully expended within four years from the date of award. Any funds not expended by this deadline shall revert to the fund of origin and may no longer be available for use by the City.
Fiscal Impact including annual maintenance and operating costs: If awarded, Encampment Resolution Funding Round 5 funding could provide up to $5,000,000 to support encampment mitigation activities along Highway 198 and South Route 63 (Mooney Boulevard). If awarded ERF 5 funding, staff will return to Council for appropriation approval consistent with State-approved ERF 5 activities. No General Fund contribution is proposed or required as part of this grant application.
Prior Council Action:
● January 17, 2023 (23-0010) - Approval to apply for ERF Round 2 (ERF-2-R) for the development of the Visalia Navigation Center.
● December 4, 2023 (23-0424) - Approval to apply for ERF Round 3 (ERF-3-R) funds to for the Visalia Navigation Center and the Majestic Gardens project.
● July 15, 2024 (24-0263) - Appropriate $3,628,371 in ERF-2-R funds for the development of the Visalia Navigation Center.
● May 19, 2025 (25-0072) - Approval to accept ERF Round 4 (ERF-4-L) funds for the Visalia Navigation Center and Sequoia Village project.
Alternatives: None
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize staff to apply for Encampment Resolution Funding Round 5 up to $5,000,000 for operational funds for the Visalia Navigation Center, Majestic Gardens, Sequoia Village and services coordination.
Environmental Assessment Status: N/A
CEQA Review: N/A
Deadline for Action: 06/15/2026
Attachments: ● Attachment A - Encampment Resolution Funding Program Round 5 NOFA
● Attachment B - Cal ICH Guidance on Addressing Encampments
● Attachment C - CA Model Encampment Ordinance
● Attachment D - Cal ICH Housing First Guidance
● Attachment E - Caltrans Letter of Support
Strategic Goal: Indicates which City Strategic Goal(s) this item supports. Check all that apply.
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