The Consolidated Plan outlines Louisiana's overall housing and community development needs and a strategy for meeting those needs for federal fiscal years 1995 - 1999 and includes a one year action plan for FY 1995 federal funds received from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The four state agencies participating in this consolidated planning process and the HUD funded program administered by each agency include the Governor's Office/Division of Administration/Office of Community Development (Small Cities Community Development Block Grant Program), the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency (HOME Investment Partnership Program), the Department of Social Services/Office of Community Services (Emergency Shelter Grants Program), and the Department of Health and Hospitals/HIV Program Office (Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program).
The FY 1995 allocation for the four HUD funded programs totaled $54,033,000; the specific allocation for each program was $38,941,000 for the Community Development Block Grant Program, $12,599,000 for the Home Investment Partnership Program, $1,689,000 for the Emergency Shelter Grant Program, and $804,000 for the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS Program.
The Consolidated Plan was developed using an effective citizen participation process involving citizen input from the past and present. The citizen participation process involved in the development of the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy and the FY 1994 Louisiana Community Development Block Grant Final Statement were very pertinent to the development of the Consolidated Plan. The State held four public hearings for the purpose of receiving comments on the draft Consolidated Plan. Notices of those hearings were published in newspapers. Written invitations to attend the public hearings and to submit comments on the draft plan were mailed to more than eight hundred persons, local governing bodies, public, private, and non-profit agencies, and other interested parties. All comments received were given every consideration in the finalization of the Consolidated Plan.
According to 1990 Census data, the population of the State was 4,219,973 persons of which 2,839,138 (approximately sixty-seven percent) were white, 1,299,281 (approximately thirty-one percent) were black, and 81,554 (approximately two percent) were of other races. Approximately fifty-four percent of the State's population meets HUD's definition of non-entitlement (communities with less than 50,000 population and parishes with less than 200,000 population). Approximately sixty-six percent of the occupied housing units in the State are owner occupied. The FY 1995 median income of the State is $31,100; the median income for the metropolitan areas is $33,300 and the median income for the nonmetropolitan areas is $24,700.
According to the 1990 Census, there were 1,716,241 housing units in Louisiana. Single family homes accounted for over two-thirds of the State's total housing inventory. Mobile homes were the fastest growing type of housing, increasing by almost 78 percent to make up 11 percent of the 1990 housing inventory. A greater percentage, nearly 66 percent, of Louisianans live in homes they own than the national average of 64 percent. During the 1980's, the State's owner-occupancy rate grew while the national rate decreased. The median value of one-family, owner- occupied houses increased from $43,000 in 1980 to $58,000 in 1990. This actually represents a 14 percent decline in real value when inflation is taken into consideration. In 1990, 20 percent of Louisiana homeowners had owner costs 30 percent or more of their household income.
Median, monthly gross rent in Louisiana rose by 3.8 percent in real terms from $339 in 1980 to $352 in 1990. Nationwide, the increase was 16.1 percent. In 1990, 45.7 percent of the State's renters had monthly housing costs that were 30 percent or more of their household income.
Approximately 68 percent of all rental units in Louisiana are occupied by very low and low income households. It is also estimated that very low and low income households occupy 35.2 percent of all ownership units. The percentage of substandard housing, both owner-occupied and rental, in the State's rural communities is greater than in urban communities. Many of these units, although occupied, are neither financially or structurally suitable for rehabilitation.
Affordable Housing NeedsSmall related renter households, including single-parent families, are the most severely cost burdened within the category of extremely low income, followed by large related renter households. Universally, over 60 percent of extremely low income renter and owner households experience housing cost burdens. Thirty-four percent of all very low income renter households experienced costs burdens as compared with 19 percent of all very low income owner households. Housing problems affect 91 percent of extremely low income large related renter households, followed by 76 percent of very low income small related households. Over 69 percent of extremely low income owners and 48 percent of very low income owners experienced housing problems.
Small related renter households represent approximately 46 percent of all low income renter households. Low income owners represent 61 percent of total households in this category, with non-elderly owners comprising the largest number of households (90,427) in this group. Elderly and small (1 and 2) member renter households experience, by a larger percentage (45 percent, cost burdens in excess of 30 percent of income. Small related, low income renter households and non-elderly households experience cost burdens at near equal percentages-38 percent and 37 percent respectively.
Overcrowded conditions, as well as inadequate kitchen and bathroom facilities, account for the most frequent problems experienced by large related renter households in all income categories.
Homeless NeedsAccording to the Census Bureaus' S-Night count for March 20-21-1990, the shelter and street enumeration count was 1,987 persons and the special place enumeration for persons with no usual home elsewhere was 1,891 for a total one night count of 3,878 persons. According to statistics provided by the Louisiana Interagency Action Council for the Homeless, the following represent client counts compiled from shelters and transitional housing facilities for selected nights: January 27, 1993 - 2,323 persons, May 9, 1993 - 2,130 persons, July 15, 1993 - 2,252 persons, and September 28, 1993 - 2,253 persons. Annual unduplicated counts reported by homeless facilities totaled 34,115 for 1993. There are ninety-three shelters in the State which have a capacity of housing 3,240 persons.
Additionally, in rural areas without shelter facilities, a minimum of 1,516 homeless individuals (800 families with 884 children) were reported to have received emergency housing and other homeless assistance during October, 1993. A minimum of 2,219 individuals (791 families with 1,305 children) received homeless prevention services. The estimated number of unsheltered homeless families was 94 (304 persons), families in emergency shelters was 98 (314 persons), and families in transitional housing was 68 (218 individuals). Estimates of unaccompanied youth in shelters was 238 and unsheltered youth was 351. Unaccompanied adults in emergency shelters was 819 and in transitional housing was 214.
Approximately sixteen percent of homeless persons have service needs related to severe mental illness only, forty-one percent related to alcohol/drug abuse only, twelve percent related to severe mental illness and alcohol/other drug abuse, approximately fourteen percent related to domestic violence, and approximately three percent related to AIDS/related diseases.
When homeless persons were surveyed concerning their greatest service needs, the most common responses were in the area of job training and assistance, including assistance with transportation, day care, and increased job training opportunities, and secondarily in the area of housing/shelter, including more shelters, expanded shelter capacity, more flexible hours, day programming, substance abuse recovery assistance, more affordable "decent" apartments, single room occupancy units, and Section 8 vouchers.
Public and Assisted Housing NeedsThe State of Louisiana does not have a State public housing agency.
In recognition of the fact that public housing authorities in Louisiana are important providers of affordable housing, a survey was conducted of all public housing authorities in the State in order to get a snapshot of the demand for public housing. The survey primarily was intended to get an estimate of the number of persons on waiting lists and the amount of time a person or family remained on a waiting list before securing housing.
The survey indicated a significant demand for public housing as reflected by the number of households on the waiting lists maintained by the housing authorities. There was some concern for promoting resident initiatives but the overwhelming concern was for the quality of public housing; both in terms of condition of the physical stock and the quality of life of the residents. Based upon the demand for public and assisted housing and the significant role public housing authorities play in the delivery of affordable housing, the State encourages public housing authorities to explore utilization of all available resources to promote increasing the stock and quality of public housing facilities throughout the State.
Census data for 1990 indicates that approximately thirteen percent of Louisiana residents have mobility impairments. The stock of existing housing serving low and moderate income owners and renters, especially substandard units, was not constructed with concern for the adaptability of those units for mobility limitations.
HIV in Louisiana is an impoverishing disease. Thus, throughout the progression of the disease, the ability to find affordable housing and to remain in one's home is a constant stress for persons who are HIV infected. Therefore, short-term rent, mortgage and utility payments, shelter, and a further continuum of rental assistance are universal needs. As health diminishes, persons living with HIV/AIDS experience significant need for ancillary and supportive services. According to the most recent statistics (Office of Public Health - Surveillance Report) there were 6,689 cumulative case of AIDS in Louisiana as of January 31,1995.
Barriers to Affordable HousingLand use planning, zoning, and code enforcement are local issues over which the State exercise no control; the State is not aware of any excessive exclusionary, discriminatory or duplicatory policies, rules or regulations which constitute barriers to affordable housing.
Fair HousingThe State is conducting an analysis of impediments to fair housing; that analysis will be complete no later than February 6, 1996.
Lead Based PaintBased upon information provided by HUD, it is estimated that approximately 954,190 housing units or 56 percent of the State's total housing units contain lead based paint.
A survey was conducted of all non-entitlement local governing bodies in the State to determine the community development needs in the State. Based on the responses to that survey, the ranking of the needs by order was public facilities, economic development, housing rehabilitation, social services, planning, and other (cash for capital). The top five needs in the public facilities category was sewerage treatment, sewerage collection lines, streets, water systems for improved fire fighting purposes, and improved potable water systems.
The three major reasons for Louisiana's lower than average income are lower than average unemployment to population ratio, lower than average earnings per employee, and lower than average non-employment income. In Louisiana the labor force participation rate for both men and women is lower than the rate in the rest of the nation. Although Louisiana does have a higher value added economy on average, earnings are lower because payments to production factors are proportionally higher to capital services and less to employee compensation as is the case nationally. About sixty percent of the State's population lives in areas under or partially under the CDBG small cities jurisdiction. These same areas, however, have only about forty-five percent of the State's employment. Earning differences are growing among the different occupational categories as opposed to industry classifications. The higher paying occupations are substantially a reflection of differences in educational attainment. The trend towards jobs requiring higher educational attainment has favored job growth in the larger metropolitan (entitlement and partially entitlement) areas because the non-metropolitan areas have populations with lower levels of educational attainment.
The primary objective of the Louisiana Community Development Block Grant (LCDBG) Program is to provide assistance to units of general local government in non-entitlement areas for the development of viable communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income. The HOME program objectives are: to expand the supply of decent and affordable housing for low and very low-income persons, to stabilize the existing deteriorating homeowner occupied and rental housing stock through rehabilitation, to provide financial and technical assistance to recipients/subrecipients (including the development of model programs for affordable low-income housing), to extend and strengthen partnerships among all levels of government and the private sector (including for- profit and non-profit organizations) in the production and operation of affordable housing. The purpose of the Emergency Shelter Grants Program is to help local governments and community organizations to improve and expand shelter facilities serving homeless individuals and families, to meet the costs of operating homeless shelters, to provide essential services, and to perform homeless prevention activities. The purpose of the HOPWA is to provide localities with the resources and incentives to devise and implement long term comprehensive strategies for meeting the housing needs of persons with acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or related diseases and their families.
For the major urban regions in the State, development of transitional, permanent and single room occupancy housing, and supplemental supportive service programs are the foremost needs. Non-urban areas also are in need of these same resources, and could benefit from programs which serve parish and/or multi-parish areas and involve broad based community participation and strong supportive service components. In many rural areas, there is a lack of nonprofit organizations possessing the expertise and resources to develop and maintain new programs. Local networks and coalitions are also necessary to inspire and promote community organizational activities to develop coordinated continuum of care systems.
To address the non-housing community development needs as determined by a survey of the non-entitlement local governing bodies, the priorities of the FY 1995 LCDBG Program are public facilities (potable water systems, water systems for firefighting purposes, sewer collection systems, sewerage treatment systems, and streets) and economic development (loans to a business/developer and grants to the local governing body).
Louisiana's anti-poverty strategy is to create more jobs, more employment enhancements and more educational advancement opportunities in order to reduce the number of households with incomes below the poverty line.
There are numerous state and federal programs providing financial assistance and other support services that can be coupled with funds from the four HUD funded programs covered in the Consolidated Plan. In addition, local governmental bodies, banks and other lending institutions, private developers, non-profit organizations, businesses, et cetera often inject funds which are used in conjunction with and to accomplish the goals of the four HUD funded programs.
In order to accomplish its goals, the four State agencies administering the HUD programs will coordinate (including financial assistance) with other state and federal agencies, banks, savings and loan institutions, interagency action councils, regional collaboratives and coalitions, nonprofit associations, community housing development organizations, academic institutions, housing industry members, private developers, et cetera.
Program evaluation and monitoring is the mechanism by which the State provides administrative oversight to recipients of HUD funds. Program monitoring and evaluation consists of three major functions: education (workshops, manuals, handouts, ongoing evaluation and assistance by tracking grantee performance/compliance, and on-site assistance (monitoring and technical assistance).
The State's federal allocation for the FY 1995 Louisiana Community Development Block Grant (LCDBG) Program was $38,941,000. The State established the following four program areas for the distribution of these funds. (1) Housing - $2.0 million dollars was set aside to provide safe and sanitary living conditions through housing rehabilitation or replacement housing for low/moderate income persons. (2) Public Facilities - approximately $26.5 million was allocated to improve existing or to construct new water and sewer systems and streets. (3) Demonstrated Needs - $2.5 million was set aside to alleviate critical/urgent needs involving improvements to existing water, sewer, and gas systems. (4) Economic Development - approximately $6.6 million was allocated to provide loans to local governing bodies which will assist a for-profit business and to provide grants to local governing bodies for infrastructure improvements which will assist a for-profit business.
The Louisiana Housing Finance Agency, as the administrator of the State's HOME Program, has reserved the FY 95 allocation of $12,599,000 in support of the following affordable housing categories: (1) $1,964,000 (or 15 percent of the HOME allocation) has been set aside for the exclusive use of State-designated Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs) to use in developing or sponsoring rental or homeownership projects. (2) $5,175,000 has been reserved to provide second mortgage, down payment and closing cost assistance for first-time homebuyers. These funds are used in combination with State Mortgage Revenue Bonds which provide below market rates for first mortgage financing. (3) $4.2 is available for primary or secondary financing to for-profit and non-profit developers of multi-family rental housing in areas not served by municipal participating jurisdictions. The balance of the grant is used by the Agency in support the administration of the various HOME supported programs.
The State Department of Social Services (DSS) proposes to distribute Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) Program funds to eligible units of general local government (parish governments and city jurisdictions of 10,000 or more population) which may make all or part of the grant amounts available to private nonprofit organizations. DSS continues to use a geographic allocation formula to ensure that each region of the State is allotted a specified minimum of State ESG grant assistance. Regional allocations are based on factors for low income populations in the parishes of each region. Within each region, grant distribution is conducted through a competitive grant award process. This selection process evaluates the extent to which proposed activities will address needs to "complete the development of a comprehensive system of services which will provide a continuum of care to assist homeless persons to achieve independent living".
The State of Louisiana was a recipient of FY 1995 Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Funds in the amount of $804,000. This dollar amount was later reduced by Congress by 8.1 percent to $739,000. The HIV Program Office will allocate the 1995 HOPWA funds to eight of the nine Department of Health and Hospitals Consortia Regions (this includes the entire state except Region 1 - New Orleans EMSA). With the benefit of experience from the 1994 HOPWA grant, the State of Louisiana decided to allocate the 1995 HOPWA funds through a 70/30 split. Eight HIV/AIDS residential facilities in eight different regions of the State will be allocated approximately 70 percent of the HOPWA funds. These funds are for new construction, renovation, rehabilitation, acquisition, conversion, lease and repairs of facilities or purchase of capital equipment. Six residential facilities currently exist around the State. Regions III and IX do not have any residential facilities, but both have expressed some interest in starting-up new HIV/AIDS residential facilities; therefore, funding was allocated to those regions. The remaining 30 percent will be allocated through a Request for Proposal through the Ryan White Title II Regional Consortia (this includes the entire State excluding Region I - the New Orleans EMSA). This coordinated effort was developed to insure the use of the HOPWA housing assistance funding first, then tapping the supplemental housing assistance funding through Ryan White Title II funds. HOPWA funds will be used to fund all rent and utilities assistance within the regions.
TOTAL FUNDING $739,000.00 HPO ADMIN. (3%) $ 22,170.00 TOTAL ALLOCATIONS $716,830.00 Residential Facilities $501,781.00 (70%) Rental Assistance $215,049.00 (30%)*The HOPWA allocations were determined by a weighted average of the total diagnosed AIDS cases by region for 1993, 1994, 1995 (through September 30, 1995).