The Los Angeles County Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool (FHSP) is a nationally-recognized supportive housing rent subsidy program that supports thousands of people with exiting homelessness each year.
A recent National Public Radio feature highlighted both the challenges and successes of the “Flex Pool” effort.
Launched in 2014 as a public/private partnership and led by the Housing for Health Division within the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS), the “Flex Pool” has experienced exponential growth.
Together with non-profit partner Brilliant Corners, Los Angeles County has housed more than 12,000 people since its inception. How does this happen? The Flex Pool effort includes:
- Engaging landlords to cultivate and maintain a portfolio of scattered site housing
- Entering into agreements with permanent supportive housing (PSH) developers to develop and sustain project-based sites
- Facilitating placements into “enriched residential care” (ERC) settings
- Providing temporary financial assistance to obtain and maintain housing
Each month, Brilliant Corners moves 192 people out of homelessness and into permanent homes. The Flex Pool combines rent subsidies, landlord engagement, pinpointed tenant/landlord matching, and ongoing tenant services and intensive case management.
As the NPR story highlights, Brilliant Corners is responsible for securing a broad range of housing options and acting as the fiscal intermediary, including administering the rental subsidy and providing tenancy support. Similar models have now been launched in San Francisco and San Diego. The need for a “flexible pool” of funding arose because the County desired a reliable mechanism to provide ongoing local rental subsidies and long-term housing solutions out of time-limited funding opportunities.
To learn more, visit the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services’ Housing for Health website.