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20 <br /> 1 A motion was made by Commissioner Hamilton, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to <br /> 2 approve Orange County SRTS Plan. <br /> 3 <br /> 4 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> 5 <br /> 6 7. Reports <br /> 7 a. Update on the Impact of New FY 2024-25 Emergency Housing Assistance Guidelines <br /> 8 The Board received an update on the impact of new Emergency Housing Assistance (EHA) <br /> 9 guidelines during the first quarter of fiscal year. <br /> 10 <br /> 11 BACKGROUND: The Emergency Housing Assistance (EHA) program made several eligibility <br /> 12 and policy changes for Fiscal Year 2024-2025. EHA can assist 12 households per month with a <br /> 13 payment of up to $4,500 if the following requirements are met: <br /> 14 • Earn 5 30%Area Median Income (AMI) <br /> 15 • Experience a "Life-Changing Event" (LCE) within the last three (3) months which affects <br /> 16 the ability to pay rent, OR receive a court summons for an eviction. <br /> 17 <br /> 18 Additionally, applicants are required to complete a written plan for income stability and making <br /> 19 rental payments in the future. <br /> 20 <br /> 21 Program Data <br /> 22 <br /> 23 The average number of applications per month increased from 47 before the changes to 63 after <br /> 24 the changes. However, the higher average was caused by a large, one-time spike in applications <br /> 25 in July. Otherwise, the average number of applications has stayed relatively consistent throughout <br /> 26 the past year, as seen in the accompanying chart: <br /> 27 <br /> New Applications 2023-2024 <br /> NOVEMBEFUECEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER <br /> 28 <br /> 29 <br /> 30 Given that the number of applications dropped significantly in August and September,the increase <br /> 31 in July is likely related to other factors such as summer holiday and school closures, rather than <br /> 32 the change in policy. The number of pending applications has fluctuated throughout the three (3) <br /> 33 months, but is typically in the range of 20-40. <br /> 34 <br /> 35 The average total amount spent per month since the policy change is$48,396.69,with an average <br /> 36 of$4,033.06 per household assisted. The average amount households receive is lower than the <br />