The Consolidated Plan is designed to be a collaborative process whereby the County establishes a unified vision for community development actions. It offers the County the opportunity to shape the various housing and community development programs into effective, coordinated neighborhood and community development strategies. The Consolidated Plan services four principal functions as:
1. A planning document for the County, developed through a community needs assessment and citizen participation process;
2. An application for federal funds under HUD formula programs including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA);
3. A strategy to be followed in suing HUD formula programs to address priorities in the areas of housing, homelessness, and community needs; and
4. a five-year action plan that provided HUD and the county a basis for assessing performance.
The strategic plan must be developed to achieve the following statutory goals and objectives, principally for extremely low-, low- and moderate-income residents:
• provide decent housing and
• a suitable living environment and
• expand economic opportunities.
Every year an “Annual Action Plan" is submitted by the CDBG Program which states how Maui County intends to spend its CDBG funds and to otherwise work toward achieving the goals it set for itself in the long-term "Strategic Plan" portion of the Consolidated Plan.
The long-term Strategic Plan part of the Consolidated Plan looks at the housing and community development needs of low income people and the inventory of housing in the community. It also looks at money that is available, or that could be made available, to meet housing and community development needs. Then the Strategic Plan describes what the state or Maui County's priorities are for programs and policies to meet the housing and community needs of low income people.
In short, the Consolidated Plan requires the jurisdiction to identify all of its housing and community development needs, and then come up with a long-term strategy for meeting those needs. A key part of the strategy is setting priorities.