RHTA program highlights first three years of technical assistance

The Regional Housing Technical Assistance (RHTA) Program was established by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) using $23.9 million in Regional Early Action Planning Grants of 2019 (REAP 1.0), with significant staff and other institutional support from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). 

The Program features a combination of local suballocations, regionally produced technical assistance, and consulting support for all 109 jurisdictions in the Bay Area to help with updates of 6th Cycle Housing Elements– the housing planning process the state requires each local government to complete every eight years.

The first round of grant funding ended in 2024. This work will continue until 2026 with REAP 2 funds. Here are some highlights from the first three years of the RHTA Program: 

• Helped 95 jurisdictions bring their Housing Elements into substantial compliance with state law as of December 2024.
• Granted about $11 million directly to the region’s 109 jurisdictions to support local priorities, including support for seven subregional Planning Collaboratives serving eight counties.
• Received the 2023 Planning Agency Award of Excellence from the American Planning Association (APA) California Chapter and the APA, California Chapter – Northern Section Award of Excellence (first place) in the Planning Agency Category.
• Created more than 300 pieces of regional technical assistance, including staff report templates and presentation materials, model ordinances and best practices documents, that are accessible to all jurisdiction staff in the ABAG-MTC Technical Assistance Portal. Download the full index of resources. 
• Developed data tools including the Housing Element Site Selection (HESS) tool, housing needs data packets and segregation and land use reports that were customized for all 109 jurisdictions in the Bay Area.
• Convened six peer cohorts and work groups to provide issue-specific trainings and targeted technical assistance.
• Hosted 30 live, interactive training webinars attended by nearly all Bay Area jurisdictions (100 of 109). Seven hundred twenty-six unique individuals registered for at least one webinar. Post-webinar views totaled more than 1,760 across California and the country.
• Provided free translation and interpreter services used by 34 jurisdictions across eight of the nine Bay Area counties. The jurisdictions’ 92 requests including translation of Housing Element summary materials, presentations, surveys, materials for farmer’s market tabling, virtual workshops, captions for videos, website text and meeting minutes. Materials were translated or interpreted into ASL, Cantonese, Dari, Farsi, Mandarin, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog, Tongan and Vietnamese.

Looking to next year, the RHTA Program will focus its technical assistance on Housing Element implementation and compliance with MTC’s Transit Oriented Communities Policy. Programming includes a regional work group on accessory dwelling units and a webinar with staff from the California Department of Housing and Community Development to discuss their requirements for the annual progress reports all jurisdictions must complete to track their progress in implementing their Housing Elements.