Shared Regional Housing Services
Spotlight:
Barnstable County Shared Regional Housing Services Program
Year Two Updates
As the Barnstable County’s Shared Regional Housing Services (SRHS) Pilot Program continues into its second year, the Department of Human Services and Barrett Planning Group have collaborated to develop regional resources, provide technical assistance to towns, and plan next steps for the program. While the ARPA-funded two-year pilot program concludes on June 30, 2025, discussions are underway to determine options for communities who wish to continue receiving regional housing services, a recommendation of the Cape Cod Commission’s Regional Housing Strategy.
Virtual Office Hours: To launch the second year of the pilot program in July, Barrett Planning Group began hosting virtual office hours twice a month for municipal staff. Originally intended to allow communities to bring their housing-questions to the project team, these well-attended discussions have created a consistent opportunity for Town staff from across the region to share their experiences and insight with each other, as well.
Town Technical Assistance: As part of the ARPA-funded project scope, the project team has offered each community up to thirty hours of technical assistance for housing-related initiatives. To date, tasks initiated so far have included auditing sections of zoning bylaws, assisting with the development of an RFP for housing development on Town-owned property, working with the Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities to add units to the Subsidizing Housing Inventory, facilitating meetings with Town boards and committees, and more.
Regional Resources: Complete and ongoing regional projects for the pilot program include: a Summary of Municipal Affordable Housing Trusts across Cape Cod; an analysis of Community Preservation Act Housing Fund allocations by Town; Short Term Rental Reports by Sub-Market; and continued work developing a database of deed-restricted affordable housing within the region. The project team has shared these resources with each Town’s appointed SRHS program liaison and will develop additional regionally focused resources during this second program year.
Ongoing Dialogue: The project team has continued to engage with the Barnstable County HOME Consortium Advisory Council (BCHC), whose interest largely drove the Department’s pursuit of the pilot program. At the BCHC Advisory Council’s December 2024 meeting, Barrett Planning Group presented potential scenarios for future regional services based on a review of existing similar programs and community input during the pilot program.
Posted January 16, 2025
Barnstable County Shared Regional Housing Services Program Engagement
The Barnstable County Department of Human Services and Barrett Planning Group continue their work engaging stakeholders in conversations around the development, implementation, and sustainability of a Shared Regional Housing Services (SRHS) program, currently funded with a Barnstable County ARPA grant through June 30, 2025. On February 9th, the project team presented an overview of the program at the monthly meeting of the Cape & Islands Municipal Leaders Association (CIMLA) and announced plans to conduct virtual roundtable discussions with Town Managers/Administrators and other municipal staff. These discussions took place the last two weeks of February, with staff from ten out of the fifteen Cape Cod communities in attendance.
Most recently, the project team met with the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates on March 6th to provide an overview of the program and introduce plans for community-level meetings with local officials, staff, and other interested participants. These meetings are expected to take place in the spring leading up to the July 1, 2024 launch of direct community service activities.
Additionally, the Department of Human Services and Barrett Planning Group continue to confer with the Barnstable County HOME Consortium Advisory Council. Barrett Planning Group meets with the Advisory Council on an ongoing, bi-monthly basis to obtain their input on the development of the SRHS program. To date, BPG has met with the Advisory Council on four occasions.
The feedback garnered during these engagement opportunities has been instrumental in understanding the local needs for housing-related support services to the towns. Please continue to visit this page for updates.
View the Barnstable County Shared Regional Housing Services Pilot Program Implementation Plan (updated January 2024)
The Implementation Plan prepared October 30, 2023 was designed as a general guideline for the development and implementation of the Shared Regional Housing Services program. Certain terms and tasks will evolve over time as input is received through ongoing outreach during the implementation phase of the program.
Board of Regional Commissioners SRHS PowerPoint Presentation (view)
During the October 25, 2023, meeting of the Board of Regional Commissioners, the Barnstable County Department of Human Services and Barrett Planning Group presented an overview of the Shared Regional Housing Services (SRHS) pilot program, currently funded through FY2025 with county ARPA funds. The Department sought Commissioners’ approval to engage with each town’s Administration throughout this process. These conversations would allow the project team to introduce the SRHS program to communities, solicit feedback throughout the two funded project years, and ultimately to discuss their interest in sustaining the program after June 30, 2025. The Board of Regional Commissioners approved this request and endorsed the project moving forward.
As the Department of Human Services and Barrett Planning Group begin the process of engaging local administration, they will continue to consult with the Barnstable County HOME Consortium Advisory Council, a decision-making body that determines the allocation of the County’s HOME Investment Partnership Program funds and confers on regional housing issues and strategies. Advisory Council members consist of a representative with housing expertise from each of the fifteen towns; two at-large members; and the Affordable Housing Specialist of Cape Cod Commission as ex officio member. Together, the Advisory Council bring their extensive affordable housing knowledge to the development of the SRHS program.
As the work of the Shared Regional Housing Services pilot program advances, updates and enhancements to this page will be made. Be sure to check back often.
Shared Regional Housing Services Pilot Program Introduction
The Barnstable County Department of Human Services is pleased to announce the creation of a Shared Regional Housing Services Program. Established by County Ordinance 23-03 and funded with an appropriation from the Barnstable County American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) award, the Shared Regional Housing Services Program will be organized by the contracted consultant, Barrett Planning Group, LLC (BPG), in collaboration with and overseen by the Barnstable County Department of Human Services.
The preliminary work of this Program is set to commence on July 1, 2023, and is fully funded through June 30, 2025. During Program Year 1, the initiative seeks to advance the work of affordable housing and address existing issues.
Program Development work during year one includes tasks such as updating and enhancing the County’s existing municipal and affordable housing stakeholders contact list; establishing a Regional Affordable Housing database; develop or adopt universal templates for affordable housing documents such as deed restrictions, monitoring checklist, local preference documentation checklist, eligible purchaser certificates, etc.
During year two, we anticipate building on the foundational work of year one and expanding programming by engaging in municipal support activities to our 15 communities by providing experienced technical assistance on a broad range of affordable housing tasks that align with each community’s unique needs.
For more information on the Regional Housing Services Program, contact Joseph Pacheco, Director of Human Services, at joseph.pacheco@capecod.gov.
