The Work of Community Action in Utah

Updates on Housing Program from Utah CAAs April - December 2020

Community Action Partnership of Utah is the state association for 9 federally designated Community Action Agencies (CAA’s).  CAAs leverage Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) dollars with other resources under the direction of boards equally comprised of consumers, local elected officials, and other community stakeholders to strengthen communities and stabilize families as they work towards self-sufficiency.

Community Action Agencies in Utah include:

• Bear River Association of Governments (BRAG): Serving Box Elder, Cache, and Rich Counties
• Community Action Services and Food Bank (CASFB): Serving Summit, Utah, and Wasatch Counties
• Five County Association of Governments (FCAOG): Serving Beaver, Iron, Washington, Garfield, and Kane Counties
• Ogden-Weber Community Action Partnership (OWCAP): Serving Weber County
• Open Doors [formerly known as Family Connection Center]: Serving Davis and Morgan Counties
• Six County Association of Governments (SCAOG): Serving Juab, Millard, Sanpete, Sevier, Piute & Wayne Counties
• Southeastern Utah Association of Local Governments (SEUALG): Serving Carbon, Emery, Grand, and San Juan Counties
• Uintah Basin Association of Governments (UBAOG): Serving Daggett, Duchesne, and Uintah Counties
• Utah Community Action [formerly known as Salt Lake Community Action Program] (UCA): Serving Salt Lake and Tooele Counties)

Like many other community-based organizations, CAAs in Utah have responded to housing needs related to the COVID-19 Pandemic. This short report summarizes some key points of what CAAs have experienced from April 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020.

• CAAs have served 5,869 unduplicated households and the average household size was approximately 2.7 persons per household. The average household size increased from early in the pandemic, indicating that more families utilized the service as the pandemic increase.
• The network served 671% more families from mid-July to December 31, 2020.
  • During this time, pandemic unemployment benefits expired, rules for rental assistance became less restrictive, and the Utah Department of Workforce Service – Housing and Community Development launched a statewide media campaign.
• Agencies worked hard to build capacity to meet increased service demand.
  • Due to a technical issue in the CARES Act, Utah was unable to access approximately 74% of CSBG CARES Supplemental funds until a legislative fix was included in the Omnibus spending bill in December 2020.
  • Delays in funding made it more difficult to staff up for quick distribution of rental assistance.
• The percentage of customers who are White, Black, and Asian alone are lower than July 2019 Census rates for the general population; while Pacific Islander, Native American, and Multi-racial are higher. The percentage of customers who identify as Latinx is also higher than the 2019 Census Estimate.
• The majority of customers are very low-income (meaning they fall below 80% Area Median Income).
• The network would not have been able to meet demand with resources that existed prior to COVID-19 – but gaps still exist for low-income homeowners.

Network Wide Households Served by CAA

*Notes: 1) Some agencies are still entering data since last update in November; 2) these numbers do not include HEAT or Weatherization numbers.

Requests for Housing Assistance

Sources of Funding for Selected CAA’s (Households)

This is a breakdown of unduplicated households served through the HAP/RAP programs exclusively, through HAP/RAP programs with additional services or augmentation from other funding sources, or from non-HAP/RAP funding sources exclusively (such as EFSP, CSBG, CSBG-CARES, SSBG, and private funding sources). Only CAA’s utilizing the CAP60 database with specific settings are included at this time.

Race of Individuals Served in Statewide Housing Programs

Per Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Annual Report requirements, agencies report race that does not include a category for Latinx customers. Ethnicity tracks whether clients identify as Latinx. It is possible for a client to be reported as white Hispanic or Latinx, multi-racial Hispanic, Black Hispanic, etc.  

Comparison of racial composition in CAA housing programs with July 2019 Census population estimates.

Comparison of ethnicity composition in CAA housing programs with July 2019 Census population estimates.

Household Poverty Data

Poverty Level Data is from agencies that utilize CAP60 as a CSBG reporting database.

AMI data is from rental programs in the state.

Housing Status of Households Assisted by Selected CAA's