Background
The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) is the state’s first regional housing finance agency, authorized through state legislation (AB 1487) in 2019. BAHFA is a joint effort of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)/the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). The Kelsey joined as a member of the BAHFA Equity Working Group, convened by UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute. The working group established an Equity Framework to serve as the foundation of the BAHFA Business Plan. The Funding Programs, funded by the 20 percent of regional housing revenue that BAHFA directly oversees, serve as the implementation plan for the Equity Framework within BAHFA’s statutory mandate. Furthermore, the Equity framework documents concepts, goals, criteria, and metrics across BAHFA’s strategic priorities of production, protection, and preservation. Along with racial and economic justice, The Kelsey was able to embed disability-forward recommendations throughout the framework which includes disability-forward production, preservation and protection metrics.
Equity Objectives & Disability-Forward Metric Recommendations
Below are sections pulled directly from the framework. Review the full framework for greater detail across all objectives and metrics.
Production Objectives
- Produce more affordable housing, especially for extremely low-income (ELI) households.
- Invest in historically disinvested areas
- Create affordable housing opportunities for lower-income households in historically exclusionary areas
- Create programs that address homelessness. Increase housing types, in coordination with counties, that directly serve the needs of unhoused residents (including permanent supportive housing), while developing strategies to ensure that operating and services subsidies are available and utilized to the greatest extent possible.
- Achieve regional climate and environmental justice goals.
Disability-Forward Production Metrics:
#3. Number and percentage of all homes created located in:
- Racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty (R/ECAPs) and racially concentrated areas of affluence (RCAAs)
- Equity Priority Communities
- Estimated Displacement Risk Area
- Transit Priority Areas e. Priority Development Areas
- High-Opportunity Areas
#4. Average affordability at project levels
- Number and percentage of extremely low-income (ELI), very low-income (VLI), and low-income (LI) units
#5. Number and percentage of total homes created as permanent supportive housing (PSH)
- Number of 100% PSH buildings and, for all, source(s) of operating and services subsidies
#6. Number and percentage of total homes to accommodate people with disabilities
- Number and percentage of total homes designed to meet California Building Code Chapter 11B requirements for ‘Residential Dwelling Units with Mobility Features’ and ‘Residential Dwelling Units with Communication Features’
- Number and percentage of total homes that exceed state and local accessibility requirements for people with disabilities through integration of design features and operational strategies for accessibility and inclusion1
- Number and percentage of total homes reserved for people with disabilities
- Of homes with mobility and sensory accessibility features, percentage occupied by people with disabilities e. Of buildings with these homes, average percentage of total units designated for people with disabilities
#12. Resident characteristics (race, age, family size, income, disability status, etc.) at move-in.
Preservation Objectives:
- Preserve expiring-use affordable housing to prevent displacement.
- Preserve existing unsubsidized housing and convert to permanently affordable housing.
- Target preservation investments for most impacted residents.
- Create opportunities for community-owned housing.
Disability-Forward Preservation Metrics:
#4. Number and percentage of all homes preserved located in:
- Racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty (R/ECAPs) and racially concentrated areas of affluence (RCAAs)
- Equity Priority Communities
- Estimated Displacement Risk Area
- Transit Priority Areas e. Priority Development Areas
- High-Opportunity Areas
#7. Number and percentage of existing units with Disabled Access
- Number and percentage of units with mobility accessibility features
- Number and percentage of units with sensory accessibility features
#8. Number and percentage of units made newly accessible and/or with enhanced accessibility features
#9. Average affordability levels
- Number and percentage of units for each income band (ELI, VLI, LI, M)
- Number and percentage of units serving households that were formerly homeless or at-risk of homelessness (e.g., buildings assisted with Homekey)
Protection Objectives
- Increase access to anti-displacement and homelessness prevention services.
- Support tenant education and advocacy.
- Prioritize protections and investments in households and communities facing the greatest housing precarity.
- Ensure adequate funding for tenant protections.
- Elevate the urgency of tenant protections through regional leadership.
Disability-Forward Protection Metrics:
#3. For legal assistance, counseling, or advice:
- Number of households served
- Tenant characteristics (race, age, family size, income, disability status, etc.)
- Case outcomes (tenancy preserved, “soft landing” secured, habitability improvements secured, etc.
#4. For emergency rental assistance:
- Number of households served
- Tenant characteristics (race, age, family size, income, disability status, etc.)
- Average amount of rental assistance provided
- Household outcomes (drawing upon existing reporting systems of service providers)
#5. For relocation assistance:
- Number of households served
- Average amount of relocation assistance provided
- Tenant characteristics (race, age, family size, income, disability status, etc.)
