For the County of Los Angeles Department of Mental Health, HR&A assisted with the design of procedures, and helps guide the implementation of, the County's $116 million share of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Housing Program. The MHSA Housing Program provides capital and capitalized operating reserve subsidy loans for development of permanent, supportive housing for persons with serious mental illness who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This program is jointly administered by the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) and the Department of Mental Health, using funds from the MHSA that were allocated to each California County. Within 12 months, Los Angeles County succeeded in committing all of its funds to 30 projects (643 total units/497 units for MHSA clientele), of which 13 have advanced to loan underwriting by CalHFA. The first completed project funded from this program – a small motel conversion for Transitional Age Youth in Santa Monica – opened on September 11, 2009. Work on the MHSA Housing Program is one of several affordable housing assignments HR&A has undertaken for Los Angeles County. Others include facilitation of an inter-departmental task force effort to plan the expenditure of a one-time allocation of $80 million in surplus property tax revenue for services and housing for the homeless, which was approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2006, and annual evaluations of competitive developer proposals seeking to use County affordable housing funds derived from various federal, state and local redevelopment sources.
