Los Angeles County Community Care Expansion (CCE) 

Preservation Grant Program - Capital Projects

PURPOSE

CCE Capital Projects is a grant program to fund physical rehabilitation improvements needed for Adult Residential Facilities (ARFs) and Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFEs) and Residential Care Facility for the Chronically Ill (RCFCI) located in Los Angeles County to remain operating. The program can also fund repairs needed to ensure facilities are compliant with licensing and health and safety standards.

ABOUT

Assembly Bill (AB) 172 established a state-wide effort to expand the state’s housing and care continuum, improve treatment outcomes, and prevent the cycle of homelessness or unnecessary institutionalization. In Los Angeles County, part of the funding made available by AB 172 will be utilized to preserve licensed residential care facilities in need of critical repairs or required upgrades, thereby potentially preventing facility closure which could result in exits to homelessness for a very vulnerable population. On April 7, 2023, the County of Los Angeles (County), through its Department of Mental Health (DMH), was awarded a total of $55,560,974 of State Community Care Expansion Program (Program) - Capital Projects (CP) fund.  DMH also allocated $11.2 million of Mental Health Services Act funds to be used for the same purpose and as the required match. The Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA) is acting as the agent of the County in administering the CP funds.  Any references to the County shall also refer to the LACDA acting as its agent.

Who is eligible to apply?

• Existing licensed Adult Residential Facility (ARF), as defined in Title 22, section 80001(a)(5) of the California Code of Regulations; Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE), as defined in Title 22, section 87101(r)(5) of the California Code of Regulations; or Residential Care Facility for the Chronically Ill (RCFCI), as defined in Title 22, section 87801(r)(5) of the California Code of Regulations; located within Los Angeles County.
• Facilities that currently serve at least one “qualified resident” as defined by an applicant or recipient of Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) pursuant to Subchapter 16 (commencing with Section 1381) of Chapter 7 of Title 42 of the United States and Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) section 12000 et seq., and an applicant or recipient of the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI) pursuant to WIC section 18937 et seq., who need the care and supervision that is provided by a licensed care facility that receives the grant. “Qualified resident” shall not include SSI/SSP or CAPI applicants or recipients who are receiving services through a regional center.
• Facilities that are in good standing with Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) or certify that the capital project funds will bring them into good standing, defined as licensees in “substantial compliance” with licensing statutes and regulations per Title 22, sections 80001(s)(8), 81001(s)(8), 87101(s)(9), and 87801(s)(7) of the California Code of Regulations.  To check current standing, please visit: https://www.cdss.ca.gov
• Facilities that have a critical gap in their financial ability to make the needed repairs or upgrades, placing the facility at risk of closure or at risk of reducing the number of beds for qualified residents.
• Facilities that have completed the pre-application technical assistance training.
• Facilities must have served at least one Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (DMH) or Department of Health Services (DHS) Enriched Residential Care (ERC) resident in the last 12 months (January 2023 to January 2024).

Who is NOT eligible to apply?

• Facilities located outside of Los Angeles County.
• Facilities vendored by regional centers are not eligible to apply.
• Facilities that did not serve at least one Los Angeles County DMH or DHS ERC resident in the last 12 months (January 2023 to January 2024).

What will be the grant amounts?

A minimum of $50,000 per facility will be awarded to approved applicants. Funds must be used to supplement, not supplant, any existing funds used to support these facilities.

What can the grant be used for?

Grant funds can be applied to physical repairs and upgrades for a facility within its property line. The grants can also fund repairs needed to ensure facilities are compliant with licensing standards. The below list includes eligible repairs and upgrades; the LACDA reserves the right to revise eligible items:

• Weather stripping repair
• Outdoor activity space upgrades
• Perimeter fencing
• Delayed egress
• Repairs to holes in walls
• Signal system upgrade (e.g., egress and ingress systems, signals/alarms on doors, integration to personal emergency responses systems)
• Elevator repairs
• Water damage repairs
• Appliance upgrades
• Furniture upgrades
• Locked storage area upgrades
• Fire protection upgrades
• Fire alarm systems upgrades
• Employee accommodations upgrades (e.g., break rooms)
• First aid supply upgrades
• Windows and screens repair and upgrades
• Carpet and flooring upgrades
• Interior paint upgrades
• Roof repairs or replacement
• ADA upgrades
• HVAC repairs or upgrades
• Repairs or upgrades to bedrooms, bathrooms and showers, common areas, kitchens (note: repairs or upgrades may not increase square footage of the facility)
• Seismic upgrades to applicable facility types with two stories or more
• Solar panel purchasing, installation, and other upgrades that will reduce long-term operating costs
• Other sustainable/green or energy-efficient building upgrades

What documents will need to be submitted with the application?

• A Physical Needs Assessment (PNA) report. A PNA report may be requested by emailing capitalprojects@ccecp.org. A PNA report is typically used to evaluate the viability of property to continue serving its intended purpose into the future. The PNA report will be prepared at no cost to the Facility Owner/Operator.
• If the Facility Owner is not also the Operator, then an Owner Participation Agreement (OPA) will need to be executed and submitted prior to the PNA report being commissioned. An OPA will be provided as part of the process for requesting a PNA for the Facility Owner and the Facility Operator to sign.

What is the application scoring criteria?

Applications deemed eligible will be scored utilizing a 100-point system that assesses the following considerations:

• Number of DMH/DHS ERC Residents (0-20 points)
• Percentage of DMH/DHS  ERC Residents (0-10 points)
• PNA – Section 1.2: Property Useful Life Table – Overall Property Rating (0-25 points)
• High Priority Service Provider Area (SPA): # of Facilities (0-15 points)
• High Priority SPA: 2023 Homeless Count (0-15 points)
• “Need Tier Level” as identified by the Equity Lens Index (0-15 points)

As Subject Matter Experts, LACDMH and DHS staff will score applications using an addtional 20-point scale on the following criteria:

• Facility has demonstrated history of accepting high acuity clients with behavioral health disorders.
• Facility has demonstrated history of retaining high acuity clients with behavioral health disorders.
• Facility includes staff that are well-trained in and have demonstrated compliance with DMH/DHS ERC procedures.
• Facility accepts individuals that are homeless or at-risk of homelessness.

Subject Matter Experts will score applications as follows:

• Meets 1 criteria: 0-5 points.
• Meets 2 criteria: 6-10 points.
• Meets 3 criteria: 11-15 points.
• Meets all criteria: 16-20 points.

Eligible applications will be ranked from highest to lowest score. Each eligible application will be given a “Funding Needed” amount based on the critical and/or immediate repairs identified in the PNA report and will be used to determine the starting point to negotiate a grant amount. Grant funding of no less than $50,000 per facility will be awarded to all approved applications in descending rank order until total grant funding available is expended. A minimum of 10 grants will be awarded to top scoring facilities with a licensed capacity of six (6) or fewer residents.

If my application is selected for grant funding, what documents will I need to submit?

• A copy of the facility CCLD license reflecting the facility address/location
• Government issued photo identification of Applicant
• Secretary of State Statement of Information and/or fictitious business name statement for the facility
• IRS Form W-9
• Sign a grant agreement
• Sign a Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions Agreement that shall limit the use of the property for five (5) years
• Other documentation or verification deemed necessary
• Applicant will be given a maximum of fifteen (15) business days to provide any missing information. Failure to provide needed documentation will constitute forfeiture of application.

What are ineligible uses for grants?

• Foundations for leased properties
• Projects that would expand or create a new usable space that would increase the square footage of the facility
• Provision of services
• Operating costs
  • Facilities should apply for Operating Subsidy Payment (OSP) funds if they have operating cost needs. 
  • For more information regarding OSP, please email DMH_CCE@dmh.lacounty.gov.
• Facilities must attest that they have not received assistance from other programs for the same purpose(s) as this grant program. Facilities vendored by regional centers are not eligible to apply.

How will grants be disbursed?

Grant funds will be issued via payment directly to the contractors engaged to complete the rehabilitation of the facilities.

Questions? 

General Program Eligibility Questions:
Please contact us by email: capitalprojects@ccecp.org or for more information visit: https://www.ccecp.org/

Online Application Questions:
Please contact us by email: CCE_info@growamerica.org or leave us a voicemail at (626) 547-4048 and we will return your call within 48 hours. 

Additional Information:

To meet the time and budget constraints associated with the program funding, the LACDA, in its sole discretion, will determine the final scope of work to be performed on a grantee’s facility. The LACDA will refer to the property’s PNA report and consult with the facility operator/owner to be informed of the critical repairs needed; however, it will be the LACDA’s final determination on type and extent of repair work to be performed. The LACDA’s decision will be guided by the agency’s need to meet time and budget requirements of the program.

The LACDA reserves the right to delay or decline applications for facilities that have any compliance issues, whether evident by record of existing citations or discovered through direct observations by LACDA staff. Such compliance issues can include, but are not limited to, Building Code violations for non-permitted additions or alterations to the building, and/or non-permitted use of the building per local zoning laws.

The County of Los Angeles may revise these guidelines as needed to ensure Project goals and requirements are met successfully.

Program funds must be obligated by December 31, 2026 and liquidated by September 30, 2028.