Washington County’s Department of Housing Services (DHS) seeks to partner with affordable housing owners to support the creation of 500 project-based permanent supportive housing (PSH) units. DHS will work collaboratively with owners interested in adding project-based PSH to their portfolios to develop a customized mix of funding and supports that are tailored to meet the needs of each project.

The menu of potential resources includes:

• Regional long-term rent assistance to make units affordable to PSH tenants;

• Housing retention case management services matched to each PSH unit through designated contracts with DHS-funded service providers;

• Resident services funding to support the needs of the building as a whole for projects that set aside at least 30% of their units for PSH;

• Funding to cover enhanced building operations for projects with at least 30% of units set aside for PSH;

• Gap financing for operating subsidies for qualified projects;

• Contingency funding to support investor confidence by covering costs for rent assistance beyond the Supportive Housing Services (SHS) program sunset date;

• Technical assistance funding to support project planning; and

• Access to a risk mitigation fund for all SHS-funded PSH units.

Affordable housing owners that qualified to partner with DHS in the April/May 2021 SHS Request for Programmatic Qualifications (#2021.051PQ) are invited to submit a brief response, not to exceed two pages, describing each proposed project-based PSH project. Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis.

Other interested organizations will have an opportunity to qualify for participation in subsequent funding rounds through a second RFPQ that will be issued in late 2021.

Washington County has launched an ambitious strategy to build a countywide system of care to address and prevent homelessness through services and supports that lead to housing stability and equitable outcomes. This work will be funded through resources from the regional Supportive Housing Services ballot measure that was passed by voters in the tri-county metro region in May 2020. The measure authorizes a new regional tax that will generate revenue for implementation of the SHS program from July 2021 through December 2030, with the potential for extension through voter renewal.

DHS’s Local Implementation Plan for the SHS program aims to create 1,665 supportive housing placements that combine permanent housing with ongoing supportive services. To achieve this goal, DHS is seeking partnerships with housing owners to help create at least 500 project-based permanent supportive housing units over the next three to five years.