In addition to the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department is assisted by a Disability Advisory Committee.

The HCD Housing Assistance Program (HAP) acts as the local housing authority for 12 rural counties: Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, Glenn, Inyo, Modoc, Mono, Sierra, Siskiyou, Trinity, and Tuolumne.

One of the primary purposes of housing authorities is to manage Section 8 housing, but other activities include Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) entitlements and HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funding.

The HCD has administered CDBG program for non-entitlement cities and counties (cities and counties under a specified population level that do not automatically receive CDBG funds directly from the federal government) since 1983, and administers HOME funding for cities and counties that do not receive HOME allocations directly from the federal government since the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990.

Since the passage of AB 2853 in 1980, the HCD has been empowered to review housing elements drafted by each region's Council of Governments through the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA), which must be adopted by the jurisdiction which is then responsible for ensuring there are enough sites and proper zoning to accommodate its RHNA allocation.