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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 2012.03.07 - 20018MISCELLANEOUS RESOLUTION #12046 March 7, 2012 BY PLANNING AND BUILDING COMMITTEE, DAVID W. POTTS, CHAIRPERSON IN RE: DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNITY AFFAIRS - COMMUNITY & HOME IMPROVEMENT DIVISION — EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANT ALLOCATION METHODOLOGY To the Oakland County Board of Commissioners Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen: WHEREAS Oakland County has received annual federal Emergency Shelter Grant funds since 1987 and has applied an approved methodology for distributing funds to qualified shelter agencies; and WHEREAS the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 (HEARTH), enacted into law on May 20, 2009, consolidated three separate homeless assistance programs administered by the E.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the McKinney- Vento Homeless Assistance Act into a single grant program and revised the Emergency Shelter Grant program renaming it the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program; and WHEREAS HUD's conversion from the Emergency Shelter Grant to the Emergency Solutions Grant expands the program's focus from addressing the needs of homeless people in emergency or transitional shelters to assisting people to quickly regain stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis and/or homelessness; and WHEREAS the ESG program regulations effective January 4, 2012 alters the scope and emphasis of eligible activities to include essential services, maintenance, operations and administration for homeless shelters and assists people to quickly regain housing stability through short-term rental assistance and other stabilization costs including security deposits, utility deposits and payments; and WHEREAS the Emergency Solutions Grant program requires the grantee to develop an allocation methodology to distribute ESG grant funds to emergency shelters and homeless prevention and/or rapid re-housing service providers; and WHEREAS the proposed allocation methodology reserves 7.5% for administration, 7.5% to manage the mandated Homeless Management Information System (HMIs), 60% to fund emergency shelters and 25% for prevention and/or rapid rehousing programs; and WHEREAS 60% of the funds allocated to emergency shelters will be awarded based on a formula of (Utilization + 2(Residency) + Capacity)/4 as displayed in Attachment A; and WHEREAS 25% of the funds allocated to homeless prevention and/or rapid rehousing service providers will be awarded to a maximum of two agencies based on factors of capacity/experience, outreach plan, HMIS, mainstream resources/leveraging and Oakland County Continuum of Care participation as detailed in Attachment A. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Oakland County Board of Commissioners authorizes the Emergency Solutions Grant program allocation methodology that reserves 7.5% for administration, 7.5% to manage the mandated Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), 60% to fund emergency shelters and 25% for prevention and/or rapid rehousing programs. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that 60% of the funds allocated to emergency shelters will be awarded based on a formula of (Utilization + 2(Residency) + Capacity)/4 as detailed in Attachment A. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that 25% of the funds allocated to homeless prevention and/or rapid rehousing service providers will be awarded to a maximum of two agencies based on factors of capacity/experience, outreach plan, 11 -1VHS, mainstream resources/leveraging and Oakland County Continuum of Care participation as detailed in Attachment A. Chairperson, on behalf of the Planning and Building Committee, I move the adoption of the foregoing resolution. PLANNING AND BUILDING COMMITTEE PLANNING & BUILDING COMMITTEE VOTE: Motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote with Gosselin absent. Attachment A Oakland County Emergency Solutions Grant Formula Allocation Methodology Background In 1988, the McKinney-Vento Act implemented the Emergency Shelter Grant as a way for the federal government to assist local units of government to fund emergency shelters. Although originally an independent grant to the County, it became part of the consolidated plan and its formula allocation was applied for through the annual action plan. At that time, the sole purpose of the grant was to fund emergency shelters and transitional housing programs. Specific statutory caps were required of 30 percent for essential services (case management, food, medical, transportation) 10 percent for shelter administrative costs, and 5 percent for County administration. Up to 100 percent of the grant could be used for shelter operations. In 1997, the Board of Commissioner's adopted the following formula to distribute the funding: Formula - Utilization + 2 (Residency) + Capacity 4 Definitions - Utilization: ratio of the number of beds utilized at 100% capacity during the previous program year Residency: ratio of clients whose last known address was a community that participates in the Oakland County CDBG program. This ratio is weighted by a factor of two. Capacity: number of available beds In 2004, the emergency shelter grant regulations were amended to allow up to 30 percent of the grant to be used toward prevention activities. As our allocation policy specifically required shelter beds, we limited the ability to apply for prevention funds to established shelters. No shelter requested their ESG allocation to be used for prevention during program years 2004-2010. On May 22, 2009, the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act (HEARTH act) was signed into law changing the focus of the program from addressing the needs of those in emergency or transitional shelters to assisting people to quickly regain housing stability after a crisis. The Emergency Solutions Grant name change reflects this new emphasis and the regulations became effective January 4, 2012. Emergency Solutions Grant Components The Emergency Solutions Grant allows for six basic components: 1. The Street Outreach component permits funds to be used for the cost of providing essential services necessary to reach out to unsheltered homeless people and connect them with appropriate services. 2. The Emergency Shelter component provides the cost of essential services and shelter operations for emergency shelter programs. Up to 60 percent of the grant or the amount granted to shelters during PY2010, whichever is greater, can be used for this component. The new regulations expanded the definition and removed the cap on essential services. We will be limiting the allowable services in our guidelines. Renovations to shelters and relocation are also eligible under this component put will not be a part of Oakland County's program. 3. Housing relocation and Stabilization Services for prevention and rapid re- housing pays for the non-rent financial assistance cost including rental application fees, security deposits, utility deposits and payments, moving costs, housing search and placement, case management, inspections, and program related costs for the provider. 4. Short-Term and Medium-Term Rental assistance provides a program participant up to 24 months of rental assistance during any three-year period. Oakland County will be limiting assistance for up to six months during any one program year. 5. The Homeless Management Information System is a mandated system which provides client level data and analysis and is required for program reporting. 6. Up to 7.5 percent can be used for Administrative Costs related to the planning and execution of the ESG activities including planning, general management, oversight, and coordination. Match The Emergency Solutions Grant requires a 100 percent match. This match will be passed on to the grant recipients. The match may be cash or an in-kind amount and cannot be counted as satisfying the matching requirement of another federal grant. Eligible types of match include cash contributions or noncash contributions including volunteer hours, real property, equipment, goods or services, or costs paid by program income. Scope of Proposed Activities, Allocation and Selection Criteria The Community & Home Improvement Division is proposing the following allocation and selection criteria: Street Outreach As there are other programs funding this component, we have opted not to include it in Oakland County's ESG program. Emergency Shelter 60 percent of the grant will be used to continue funding emergency shelters. Transitional housing providers are only eligible if they received funding in 2010 and are continually funded thereafter. A request for Proposals will be issued. All qualified agencies meeting threshold will be funded under the following formula: Formula - Utilization + 2 (Residency) + Capacity 4 Definitions - Utilization: ratio of the number of beds utilized at a minimum of 90% capacity during the previous program year Residency: ratio of clients whose last known address was a community that participates in the Oakland County CDBG program. This ratio is weighted by a factor of two. Capacity: number of available beds Housing Relocation and Stabilization Services/Rental Assistance The balance of the grant will be allocated for prevention and/or rapid re-housing programs. A maximum of two agencies will be funded through a request for proposal process based on the following scoring criteria: Capacity/Experience 40 points), Outreach Plan (25 points) HMIS (15 points), prior experience with use of Mainstream Resources/Leveraging (15 points), Oakland County Continuum of Care participation (5 points). HMIS The Homeless Management Information System lead agency will receive up to 7.5 percent of the grant. Administration Oakland County will retain 7.5 percent of the grant for administration, planning, implementation, reimbursement, monitoring and reporting. Resolution #12046 March 7, 2012 Moved by Taub supported by Gershenson the resolutions (with fiscal notes attached) on the amended Consent Agenda be adopted (with accompanying reports being accepted). AYES: Covey, Crawford, Dwyer, Gershenson, Gingell, Gosselin, Hatchett, Hoffman, Jackson, Long, Matis, McGillivray, Middleton, Nash, Nuccio, Potts, Quarles, Runestad, Scott, Taub, Weipert, Woodward, Zack, Bosnic. (24) NAYS: None. (0) A sufficient majority having voted in favor, the resolutions (with fiscal notes attached) on the amended Consent Agenda were adopted (with accompanying reports being accepted). I HEREBY APPROVE HE FOREGOINC7 PiESOLOM / 2— /1 STATE OF MICHIGAN) COUNTY OF OAKLAND) I, Bill Bullard Jr., Clerk of the County of Oakland, do hereby certify that the foregoing resolution is a true and accurate copy of a resolution adopted by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners on March 7, 2012, with the original record thereof now remaining in my office. In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the County of Oakland at Pontiac, Michigan this 7th day of March, 2012. R.,LJa „94. Bill Bullard Jr., Oakland County