Special Programs

The Continuum of Care Program was created under the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act.  Continuum of Care is designed to promote permanent housing with supportive service to persons with disabilities coming from the streets and emergency shelters. Continuum of Care grants require a supportive services match equal to, or greater than, the Section 8 rental assistance award.

HUD selects projects for Continuum of Care funding in a national competition based on regional and national homeless assistance goals.  The Housing Authority chooses projects to include in an application to HUD through a Request For Proposals (RFP) and evaluation process.  Selected applicants receive rental assistance on behalf of a homeless tenant for five years.  The grants provide for a variety of housing rental situations, Tenant-Based (TRA), Sponsor-Based (SRA), Project-Based (PBA), and an SRO MRP Based Rental Assistance component.  If a Continuum of Care applicant proposes to fund rehabilitation efforts for project-based units, the Section 8 rental assistance award is for ten years.

Who is eligible?
To be eligible for the program, a person must be homeless (see definition below), with a mental illness, substance abuse problem, HIV/AIDS or a dual diagnosis, and must be referred by the community-based organization which provides supportive services under contract with the Housing Authority’s Continuum of Care program.  Applications received from these agencies are reviewed for Continuum of Care eligibility.

Homeless includes a family or individual who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence; and has a primary nighttime residence that is:

1. A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill); or
2. An institution that provides a temporary residence for persons intended to be institutionalized; or
3. A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings (street, park, hallway, freeway underpass).

The term “homeless” or “homeless individual” does not include any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained pursuant to an Act of Congress or a State law.

The HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program combines Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless Veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  VA provides these services for participating Veterans at VA medical centers (VAMCs) and community-based outreach clinics.

Every year since 2008, HUD and VA have awarded HUD-VASH vouchers based on geographic need and public housing agency (PHA) administrative performance.  The allocation process for HUD-VASH vouchers is a collaborative approach that relies on three sets of data: HUD’s point-in-time data submitted by Continuums of Care (CoCs), VAMC data on the number of contacts with homeless Veterans, and performance data from PHAs and VAMCs.  After determining which areas of the country have the highest number of homeless Veterans, the VA Central Office identifies VA facilities in the corresponding communities.  HUD then selects housing authorities near to the identified VA facilities, taking into consideration the housing authority’s administrative performance, and sends the housing authorities invitations to apply for the vouchers. There is at least one site in each of the 50 states, in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.
HACCC has received three separate awards of HUD-VASH vouchers to assist homeless veterans in Contra Costa County.  In total, HACCC administers 93 HUD-VASH vouchers.

HUD-VASH is a joint program with HUD, Veterans Affairs (VA) and local housing authorities.

HUD-VASH vouchers provide tenant-based permanent supportive housing to chronically homeless veterans.  Eligible homeless veterans are referred to HACCC by the VA medical center in Martinez, CA. Case management and other supportive services are provided by the VA medical center.

Eligibility:

• The VAMC in Martinez will determine eligibility of homeless veterans and families for the Program.
• HACCC will determine eligibility for the rental subsidy in accordance with the Housing Choice Voucher Program  and HUD-VASH program guidelines.

​Family Obligations:

• As a condition of continuing participation in the HUD-VASH Program, an eligible individual and/or family must receive case management services from the VAMC.
• The HUD-VASH rental subsidy is terminated if the individual and/or family fails to participate in case management, without good cause, as verified by the VAMC.

The Mainstream Voucher Program offers Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance to non-elderly persons with a disability. This program receives specially targeted funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Mainstream Program is a partnership between the Housing Authority of the County of Contra Costa and Contra Costa Health, Housing and Homeless Services  and the Housing Consortium of the East Bay who provide supportive services to persons with disabilities.

​This program currently offers fifty-five (55) Vouchers to non-elderly persons with disabilities and is administered through the HACCC’s Housing Choice Voucher waiting list.