Harris County Community and Economic Development Department

1. Harris CountyCommunity and Economic Development Department Emergency Shelter Grant Workshop

2. Agenda • Overview of HCCEDD • Overview of ESG • Program Objectives • Eligible and Ineligible Activities • Recordkeeping & Monitoring • Questions & Wrap-up

3. Service Area

4. Service Area Unincorporated Harris County and its 15 cooperative cities. Bellaire Seabrook Deer Park Shoreacres Galena Park South Houston Humble Tomball Jacinto City Waller Katy Webster LaPorte West University Place Morgan’s Point Houston, Baytown and Pasadena receive their own community development funds and are not included in the Harris County service area.

5. How it Works

6. The Consolidated Plan • Five-year plan that addresses: • Housing; • Social services; • Infrastructure; and • Community revitalization needs. • Specifies types of projects to be funded • Application for federal funds under HUD’s formula grant programs: • CDBG; • HOME / ADDI; and • ESG. • Basis for assessing performance

7. The Consolidated Plan aids decision makers in creating strategies to address the following. • Employment and employability • Affordable housing • Adequate streets • Water, sewage and drainage systems • Quality education and Workforce Development • Parks and green space • Community facilities • Quality health care • Crime awareness and public safety and • Safe, peaceful and productive neighborhoods for low- and moderate-income communities

8. Request for Proposals (RFP) • Solicitation and acceptance of proposals • According to federal and state procurement laws and standards • Applicants must: • Be a non-profit organization or governmental agency or entity; • Expend funds within a 12-month period; • Have sufficient working capital; • Meet one Consolidated Plan Objective; • Meet one National Objective; • Benefit eligible residents in CEDD’s HUD Service Area.

9. Annual Action Plan (AAP) • Detailed description of the allocations of Harris County HUD entitlement dollars (CDBG, HOME, and ESG). • Discusses how resources generated by tax dollars will be utilized for the upcoming program year.

10. Agencies Receive Allocations • Contracts are developed between Harris County and agencies. • Funds are dispersed on a reimbursement basis. • Grants Management staff monitors all projects.

11. Consolidated Annual Performance & Evaluation Report (CAPER) • Describes progress. • Reports on and reviews county’s use of Entitlement funds. • Benchmark for projects to be funded. • Allows for self-assessment.

12. Emergency Shelter Grant

13. Overview The Emergency Shelter Grant program is designed to be the first step in a continuum of assistance to prevent homelessness and to enable homeless individuals and families to move toward independent living.

14. Objectives The objectives of the ESG program are to: • Increase the number and quality of emergency shelters and transitional housing facilities; • Operate these facilities and provide essential social services; and • Help prevent homelessness.

15. Match Requirement • 100% match. • The following may be used for match: • Cash; • The value or fair rental value of any donated material or buildings; • The value of any lease on a building; • Salary paid to staff to carry out the program; and • The value of the time and services contributed by volunteers at a rate of $5/hour.

16. Eligible Clients • A person must be homeless (or at great risk of becoming immediately homeless) to receive help from ESG projects. • HUD’s definition of a homeless person is someone who: • Is living on the street; or • Is in an emergency shelter; or • Would be living on the street or in an emergency shelter without HUD’s homelessness assistance.

17. Eligible Activities ESG eligible activities: • Renovation, rehabilitation and conversion of buildings for use as emergency shelters or transitional housing for the homeless; • Essential services; • Operating costs such as maintenance, insurance, rent, etc.; and • Homeless prevention.

18. Emergency Shelter Renovation, Rehabilitation or Conversion Renovation • Includes rehabilitation that costs less than 75% of the value of the building before rehabilitation. • Requires the rehabilitated building to be used as a shelter for three years.

19. Emergency Shelter Renovation, Rehabilitation or Conversion Major Rehabilitation • Includes rehabilitation that costs over 75% of the value of the building before rehabilitation. • Requires the rehabilitated building to be used as a shelter for ten years.

20. Emergency Shelter Renovation, Rehabilitation or Conversion Emergency Shelter Conversion: Conversion means a change in the use of a building to an emergency shelter for the homeless, where the cost of conversion and any rehabilitation costs exceed 75% of the value of the building after conversion.

21. Emergency Shelter Renovation, Rehabilitation or Conversion Ineligible costs: • Acquisition of real property; • New construction; • Property clearance or demolition; • Rehabilitation administration; • Staff training or fund raising activities associated with rehabilitation; and • Building maintenance and repairs.

22. Essential Services New Service or Quantifiable Increase ESG Funds: • Can be used for a new service; • Can be used for a quantifiable increase in service; • Cannot be used to replace existing government or non-profit funding of the same service.

23. Essential Services Eligible Activities: • Assistance in obtaining permanent housing; • Medical and psychological counseling and supervision; • Employment counseling; • Nutritional counseling; • Substance abuse treatment and counseling; and • Assistance in obtaining other Federal, State and local assistance. (mental health benefits, employment counseling, medical assistance, Veteran’s benefits, and income support assistance such as supplemental Security Income benefits)

24. Essential Services Ineligible Activities: • Existing services and staff; • Salary of case management supervisor when not working directly on participant issues; • Advocacy, planning, and organizational capacity building; • Staff recruitment/training; and • Transportation costs not directly associated with service delivery.

25. Operating Costs Eligible Activities • Operation • Insurance • Utilities • Furnishings • Payment for shelter maintenance • Rent • Repairs • Security • Fuel • Equipment • Food • Maintenance

26. Operating Costs Limitations on Funding Staff salaries (including fringe benefits) are limited to 10% of the grant. • Maintenance and security salary costs are not subject to the 10% cap. • Example: An organization receiving $55,000 in ESG monies for operational costs could only use $5,500 (10%) for operational staff costs.

27. Recruitment or on-going training of staff Depreciation Public relations or fund raising Operating Costs Ineligible Activities • Staff training, entertainment, conferences, or retreats • Bad debts/late fees • Mortgage payments • Costs associated with the organization rather than the supportive housing project (advertisements, pamphlets about organization, surveys, etc.).

28. Homeless Prevention Includes financial assistance to families who have received eviction notices or notices of termination of utility services if: • The family cannot make the payments due to a sudden reduction in income; • Assistance is necessary to avoid the eviction or termination of services; • The family will be able to resume payments within a reasonable period of time; and, • Assistance will not supplant funding for preexisting homelessness prevention activities from other sources.

29. Homeless Prevention Eligible Activities: • Short-term subsidies (90 days) for rent and utilities for families that have received eviction or utility termination notices; • Security deposits or first month’s rent for homeless families; • Mediation programs for landlord-tenant disputes; • Legal representation programs for indigent tenants in eviction proceedings; • Payments to prevent foreclosure on a home; and • Other activities designed to prevent homelessness.

30. Homeless Prevention Ineligible Activities • Housing/services to homeless persons • Long-term assistance (beyond 90 days) • Direct payments to individuals

31. Program Requirements • Documentation of Homelessness • Termination of Participation and Grievance Procedure • Participation of Homeless Persons in Policy-Making and Operations • Ensuring Confidentiality

32. Program Requirements Documentation of Homelessness Documentation must be: • Obtained from the participant or a third party; • Obtained at the time of referral, entry, intake or orientation to the ESG-funded project; • Maintained in the client file to determine the eligibility of persons served; • In the form of either the Individual Eligibility Form or other acceptable documents for different situations.

33. Program RequirementsTermination of Participation and Grievance Procedure Organizations must have a procedure that describes: • Program requirements; • Termination process; and • Grievance procedure.

34. Program RequirementsParticipation of Homeless Persons in Policy-Making and Operations Policy-Making • Service providers of ESG funds are required by law to provide for the participation of at least one homeless or formerly homeless person in a policy-making function within the organization. • All applicable policy-making homeless person(s) must be noted by organization’s board of directors.

35. Program RequirementsParticipation of Homeless Persons in Policy-Making and Operations Operations • Homeless participants must be involved in the operation of the ESG funded program. • Involvement can include participants’ employment or volunteerism in project activities.

36. Program RequirementsEnsuring Confidentiality To ensure the safety of participants fleeing domestic violence situations, ESG-funded organizations are required to: • Implement procedures to guarantee confidentiality; • Not publicly disclose the address/location of the family violence shelter (except with written authorization of person(s) responsible for the shelter facility’s operation); and • Keep written records or files of families under lock and key with limited access to those files.

37. Recordkeeping & Monitoring Overview • General recordkeeping requirements • Access to records • Retention of records • Monitoring • Reporting requirements

38. General Recordkeeping Requirements Records should be: • Accurate, complete, orderly; and • Maintained in order to: • Document all ESG funded activities; and • Demonstrate compliance with all applicable program and other requirements.* * According to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD)24 CFR Part 570 and Part 570.208.

39. General Recordkeeping Requirements ESG funded organizations must establish and maintain: • Administrative records • Financial Records, and • Project/case files.

40. Access to Records Records are used to create audits, examinations, excerpts and transcripts. The following have access to records of ESG funded organizations: • CEDD representatives; • HUD representatives; • Comptroller General’s Office of the United States; • Other authorized governmental agencies; • Citizens (24 CFR 570.508).

41. Monitoring The primary mission of monitoring is to ensure that organizations are: • In compliance with all regulations governing their: • Administrative; • Financial; and • Programmatic operations; and • Achieving their performance objectives within their schedule and budget, as outlined in the Agreement.

42. Monitoring Five steps in a monitoring visit • Notification letter • Entrance conference • Documentation, data acquisition and analysis • Exit conference • Monitoring letter

43. Reporting Requirements • Reporting requirements are specified by the Grantee (CEDD) in the Subrecipient Agreement. • Programmatic and Financial Reimbursement Request Reports are due monthly. • Quarterly and Annual reports may also apply.

44. Questions And Answers

45. Questions? Contact: Shanna Lebrum Senior Program Analyst (713) 578-2000, ext. (2051) shanna_lebrum@hctx.net Or visit our website at: www.cedd.hctx.net